Weekly Menu Plan

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Welcome to the menu for October 10-14! In order to make the best use of Menus 4 Moms, before beginning the Menu please read the Menus 4 Moms plan basics and the Busy Cooks Pyramid as Menus 4 Moms will be based on these items each week. If you have questions, please check the FAQ page.

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Menu for October 10-14, 2005

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Monday - Recipes

Cheesy Broccoli Soup
Jello Fruit Salad
Crusty Bread

Tuesday - Recipes

Stovetop Chicken Meal
Green Beans
Mango Slices

Wednesday - Recipes

Lasagne
Salad
French Bread

Thursday - Recipes

Easy Chicken Fajita Skillet
Refried Beans
Cornbread

Friday - Recipes

Steak
French Fries or Tater Tots
Spinach
Celery stuffed with Pimiento Cheese or Peanut Butter

Grocery List

This week's Grocery List can be downloaded here:

Grocery List for October 10-14, 2005 - PDF

Shopping List Software format (download shopping list free Windows software)

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. This soup will make about 6 one cup servings, but it is rich and filling. If your family needs more, double this recipe.
   
2. Don't forget to prepare your Jello salad early in the day so it will be set in time for dinner.

 Cheesy Broccoli Soup

• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 lb. Velveeta prepared cheese product, chopped into 1-1/2" cubes for easier melting
• 1 pkg. (10-16* oz., depending on how much broccoli you want in the soup) frozen broccoli, thawed and drained
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. marjoram
• 1/4 tsp. Adobo

Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan (6 qt. is good) on stovetop. Add onion and saute until tender. Add flour, stirring constantly for 1 minute over medium heat.

Add milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 1 minute. Add all remaining ingredients and cook until cheese is melted and soup is heated through.

 
Jello Fruit Salad

• 1 small package orange gelatin
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• lettuce leaves

Mix gelatin in hot water until dissolved. Add all other ingredients, pour into a mold or 8x8 pan and chill until set. Serve on a lettuce leaf.

  
Crusty Bread

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Today's main dish is a Menus 4 Moms original. It is quick and easy using pantry items, so it is a perfect meal for a busy night. I would say you could make this from pantry to table in 20 minutes, easily.

Stovetop Chicken Meal

• 1 box whole wheat rotini or other pasta
• 1 box Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix* (may substitute 2 pkg. Lipton's spring vegetable)
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 1-1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken, from freezer (you can substitute canned tuna for the chicken)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (substitution)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (substitution)
• 1 can (4 oz.) mushrooms, drained
• 1 cup light sour cream
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Combine noodles and soup mix with 2 cans of broth and cook until tender. Do not drain. Add chicken. In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Add to chicken and noodles and heat through. Serve hot.

 Green Beans, fresh* or canned

Clean, snap and string if necessary, and steam until tender. Mix in melted butter and salt or sugar and serve warm.

  Mango Slices

If you can find fresh mangos, use them. If you can't, many stores carry these in a glass jar in the produce section.

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. We are going to make 2 8x8 pans of lasagna so you can freeze one. Trying to describe how to divide everything doesn't seem very clear here, but hopefully you will all get the point. Just divide everything in half and then assemble two separate pans of lasagna according to the instructions.

Easy Lasagna

• Easy sauce (recipe below), divided in half
• 10 oz. lasagna noodles
• 1 beaten egg
• 3 cups ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 2 T. parsley
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 16 oz. mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced, divided in half
• 8x8 foil pan

Mix egg, ricotta, Parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper. Divide in half. In each 8x8 pan, place 3 T. sauce and 3 T. water. For each pan, use half of the mixture in the following way:

Top water and sauce with a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles, half of ricotta mixture, 1/3 of mozzarella cheese, and half of sauce. Repeat layers and top with the last 1/3 of mozzarella cheese. Bake one pan at 375° for 30 minutes or until bubbly and freeze the other.

Easy Sauce

• 1 28 oz. can spaghetti sauce, flavor of your choice
• 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 lb. browned ground beef, from freezer

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, then divide in half to use with each pan of lasagna.

 

  Salad

 

French Bread

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. Today we are going to use up the other half of the Velveeta cheese. If you prefer, you could eliminate the cornbread and serve the chicken dish on whole wheat tortillas.
   
2. If you have cooked beans in the freezer already, you can skip the soaking and cooking of the dried beans and use those. Otherwise, start your beans in the morning so they will be ready for dinner.

 Easy Chicken Fajita Skillet

• 2 cans chicken broth
• 1 lb. boneless chicken, cut into 1" cubes
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 cups elbow macaroni (preferably whole wheat), uncooked
• 2 cups red or green bell peppers, from freezer, thawed
• 1 onion, from freezer, thawed
• 1 lb. Velveeta prepared cheese spread, cut into 1-1/2" cubes

Cook chicken with chili powder and salt in a fry pan until cooked through. Add broth and bring to a boil. Stir in macaroni and cover, reducing heat to medium-low. Simmer 5 minutes and add peppers and onions and Velveeta cubes. Cook until cheese is melted, stirring frequently.

  Refried Beans

• 1 bag black turtle beans (pinto or red beans also work)
• cumin
• Adobo or garlic salt
• olive oil
• 1 can red enchilada sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Rinse beans in a colander and check to be sure there are no stones or other debris. Place beans in a dutch oven and cover with water so that the water is twice as deep as the beans. Heat to boiling and boil for 2 minutes. Turn heat off and cover, let sit for 1 hour. Drain beans in colander and rinse pot. Place beans in slow cooker and cover with water, making sure the water is twice as deep as the beans. Cook on Hi for 5 hours or Low for 8-10 hours.

Drain beans, reserving liquid (place colander on a lg. pan or bowl then pour beans in). Separate beans into 2 cup servings in freezer bags, reserving 4 cups of beans for tonight's meal. Cover beans in each bag with some of reserved liquid.

Mash 4 cups of beans, adding enough liquid to make beans mushy and soft. Heat 2 T. olive oil in a fry pan and add mashed beans and spices to taste. Stir until hot and bubbly. Heat enchilada sauce in a sauce pan and serve beans topped with enchilada sauce and shredded cheddar cheese.

  Cornbread

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 can corn, drained

Preheat oven to 425°F. Put half of the olive oil in a 9x9x2 cast iron skillet and preheat in oven without burning oil. Mix all remaining ingredients in a bowl. Pour batter into preheated cast iron skillet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. Tonight is a rare treat - steak! Since it is expensive, it is not something we often indulge in, but once every few months we will add this to our menu. For anyone in your family that doesn't care for steak, or if it is out of your budget, grill some chicken or fish instead, or serve the kids hot dogs or hamburgers.
   
2. The Baked Spinach recipe is a little confusing as it is written. Instead of trying to layer the spinach and flour (??), I recommend mixing the flour in with the eggs, then mixing the spinach and eggs in a bowl instead of layering. Pour the whole thing in the pan then continue with the recipe.

 Steak

• 1 steak for each adult and 1/2 steak for each child under 12 (there are 4 steaks on the menu, adjust this for your family)
• Adobo
• Pepper

Trim fat from each steak. Sprinkle liberally with adobo and pepper on each side and let sit 10 minutes. Grill until done to your preference.

 French Fries or Tater Tots* (frozen)

 

 Baked Spinach

Recipe provided by:

Submitted by Joanna Wallbillich

• 1 1/4 pounds spinach
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart baking dish.

Clean spinach thoroughly. Remove all excess water. Chop spinach. Arrange spinach and flour in layers, nestle beaten eggs about midway between the layers.

Combine cheese and bread crumbs. Mix in optional parsley, if desired. Sprinkle over top of spinach. Mix butter or margarine, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over all ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 50 minutes to one hour.

 

 Celery Stuffed with Pimiento Cheese* or Peanut Butter

 

* Indicates that of the options listed, this item is the one on the grocery list.