October 2026

October 2026 Family Meal Plan — 4 Full Weeks (Wed–Tue)

Notes

• **Changes from the first draft:** four full Wed–Tue weeks only (no stub week); overnight oats and Frischkäse-Toast removed; Savory Oat Porridge and Greek Chickpea Salad and Egg Salad Sandwich removed from the rotation (all take more effort than the "low effort lunches only" rule allows); one fancy breakfast per week instead of two.
• **Fall additions:** Spatchcock Roast Chicken (Weeks 1 and 3), Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Soup (Week 1), Butternut Squash Pasta with Sage and Parmesan (Weeks 2 and 4). All new and untested, along with Caramelized Garlic Fish and Smashed Beef Kebab.
• **Quick oatmeal:** Apple-Cinnamon Quick Oatmeal replaces overnight oats. About 10 minutes on the stove.
• **Hüttenkäse bowl:** kept for the adults only, since Cozy will not eat cottage cheese; she gets the Yogurt-Granola-Fruit Bowl on those mornings. The project profile still lists cottage cheese as an Erica "no" — if that has changed, ignore this; otherwise swap Skyr or Quark into her bowl (noted in the recipe).
• **Lunch focus (food circle):** dinners already cover concentrated protein and starch, so lunches lean on groups 2 and 3 (vegetables and fruit) with a lighter protein.
• Leftover soups and stews: add bread (1) and a piece of fruit (3).
• Leftover Linsen-Bolognese: add a handful of raw veg such as cucumber or pepper (2) and fruit (3).
• Hummus and Veggie Wrap: has wrap (1) and veg (2); add fruit (3). Use cucumber or pepper sticks, not raw carrot, for Erica.
• Tomato-Cheddar Toasts: has bread (1) and cheddar (4); add veg (2) and fruit (3).
• Frozen Pizza Lunch with Arugula: arugula covers veg (2); add fruit (3).
• Tuna Mayo Rice Bowl: has rice (1), peas and cucumber (2), tuna (5); add fruit (3).
• **Leftover lunches:** roast chicken, soups, Linsen-Bolognese and the chickpea stew all keep 2–3 days. The Butternut Squash Soup recipe is written for 4 portions (3 dinner + 1 lunch).
• **Fish plan (Justin):** about one fish night a week, starting with Salmon Caesar Salad as requested, then the mildest fish options. Week 3 has two fish nights (Teriyaki Salmon, tuna pasta); swap tuna pasta for another pantry dinner if that is too much fish.
• **Ingredient overlap pass:** Butternut squash appears in Weeks 1, 2 and 4, so one squash a week covers the soup and the pasta.
• **New aisle.conf entries needed:** butternut squash, whole chicken, pretzels and pear. Run `./lint.sh` after adding them.
• **No microwave:** leftovers reheat in a small pot or pan on the stove. For the Tuna Mayo Rice Bowl, cook a double batch of rice with the Caramelized Garlic Fish (Week 2) or Teriyaki Salmon (Week 3) dinner and use the extra for lunch. Soup is mashed rather than blended (no immersion blender).
• **Halloween (Sat 31 Oct):** falls in Week 4, which already has 2 eating-out slots.
• **Titles:** several titles here (Coconut Fish and Tomato Bake, Hähnchen-Farro-Bowl, Black Bean and Sweet Potato Skillet) come from file names rather than confirmed `title:` fields — adjust if the site shows them differently.
• **Baking projects:** one bake a week, on the weekend, all in the style of the Easy Banana Bread (one loaf, 8 slices, no chocolate anywhere). Four different loaves across the month: Easy Banana Bread, Butternut Squash Spice Loaf (with candied pumpkin seeds), Apple-Cinnamon Loaf (with a brown sugar caramel glaze) and the new Pear-Ginger Loaf with Oat Streusel. The three new loaves use half whole wheat flour. Eat at breakfast or with tea, and freeze slices so nothing goes stale in the small fridge. Bananas are best for the banana bread when already spotty, so set aside ones that are ripening in the fruit bowl.
• **Kita snacks** are just the morning box — Kita covers Cozy's actual lunch. Every week uses the same two fruit-forward options, since Cozy likes fruit and has not been eating the cheese or salami: Brezeln und Obst (dry pretzels keep all week) and Brötchen mit Butter und Obst (buy the Brötchen the same day or the day before). Retired: Apfel-Käse-Salami, Gurke-Hummus-Cracker, PB&J Vollkornbrot, Banane-Nussmus-Brot, Butter-Jam Vollkornbrot.
• Swap anything freely — these are starting points, not a schedule.

Other months: September 2026