Effortless Weekly Menu Planning for the Summer Heat

Struggling with meal planning? Here’s my real-life weekly menu from Copenhagen! I’ve got my timer set for 15 minutes and my diary open—time to get our menu plan sorted. It doesn’t take long, but it makes everything run more smoothly and keeps me out of the supermarket every other day, woo hoo! Summer is here, lots of celebrations and last-minute changes to our schedule so, as I mentioned last week, I’ve extra supplies on hand of ready-made meal items. KISS = Keep it simple, Sweetie! This past weekend we were at the summerhouse and, as the weather was fabulous we had all our meals al fresco, yay!

A woman in a pink swimsuit smiles for the camera while holding a travel mug and wearing a blue towel around her neck, with a beach background. — Morning dip and coffee at our Swedish cabin

A pink rose and white flowers in a small glass vase on a table decorated with a patterned tablecloth. In the foreground, a plate with slices of cucumber is visible, along with a glass of water. — I always like to cut a fresh bloom from the garden or add a candle for some hygge on the dinner table

Here’s a look at what we ate this past week. Some days went to plan, others… not so much! But that’s real life!

Spicy beef and veggie pasta. I took a pack of spicy “gyros” beef from the supermarket, fried it up with mushrooms and tomatoes, added in several handfuls of fresh spinach, a few glugs of cream and mixed in wholemeal pasta.

A frying pan with a creamy meat dish, featuring ground beef, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes, with a wooden spoon resting on the edge.

A skillet with a mixture of cooked beef, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and fresh spinach, with a wooden spoon resting inside.

Roast chicken legs (already roasted, straight from the Swedish supermarket delicatessen counter) with a quick oven-baked ratatouille (using up tomatoes, peppers, onion, courgette from the fridge) with herbs, garlic and olive oil. And a readymade potato gratin from the supermarket (I used half of the pack for hubby and me, and froze the rest for another time). Everything baked in the oven at the same time – simple!

A tray of colorful chopped vegetables, including yellow and red bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and zucchini, placed in an oven for roasting.

A package of Peka Potatisgratäng (potato gratin) sitting on a wooden surface, with a glass dish of prepared potato gratin in the background.

Classic Danish frankfurter sausages with a simple tomato and coriander salad, shop-bought potato salad, coleslaw and pickled beetroot. (I got my love of pickled beetroot from my Granny and my Mum!) The Danes eat their sausages with both mustard and ketchup. Usually mixed together!

A pack of 'Klassisk Frankfurter' sausages on a wooden table, accompanied by a container of potato salad, fresh tomatoes on a blue plate, and a vase of flowers.

A plate with a grilled sausage accompanied by slices of tomato, a portion of coleslaw, pickled beets, and various sauces including mustard and ketchup.

A couple of evenings we were out for dinner, celebrating my birthday. More on the celebrations in another post!

A woman with a short hairstyle is smiling and holding a glass of white wine at a dinner table surrounded by friends and various dishes, with a Danish flag and candles in the background. — Social dining at Kanalhuset, Christianshavn with my Danish Besties

A woman with short hair, wearing a blue top and a striped scarf, sitting at a restaurant table with a glass of white wine, smiling at the camera. A wine bottle and a candle are on the table, with other diners in the background. — Italian dinner with the family at Ambra, Copenhagen

Another dinner this week was a simple risotto – a great way to use up what you have in the fridge, freezer and pantry (this week was butternut squash from the freezer, sage from the garden, leftover bacon and fresh parmesan)! I make risotto in my instant pot, no need to stand over the pot and stir. Put in your ingredients, walk away…and it always turns out fabulous! Watch my video below to see how quick and easy it is and click here to see all my quick and easy recipe videos.

And on those days when everything is happening all at once, we revert to smørrebrød! In Denmark we usually eat smørrebrød for lunch (open sandwiches with various toppings). But it’s a fantastic, speedy, build-your-own dinner when life is busy or the family are eating at different times. Here you can see spejlæg (a fried egg), leverpostej med rødbeder (liverpâté with pickled beetroot), rullepølse (rolled pork) and agurk (cucumber). All on slices of healthy rugbrød (Danish ryebread) – the best in the world, ha ha!