Weekly Menu Plan

Although the peaches are absolutely delicious with honey and nuts, you may want to serve plain sliced peaches for the younger children. Although the peaches are absolutely delicious with honey and nuts, you may want to serve plain sliced peaches for the younger children.

Easy Garden Alfredo

12 oz. egg noodles
16 oz. bag frozen mixed vegetables
12 oz. jar Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup sliced green onions

Cook noodles according to package directions. In the last 4 minutes of cooking time, add frozen vegetables to the boiling noodles. When done, drain noodles and vegetables and return to pan. Add Alfredo sauce, starting with 1/2 jar and adding a little at a time until you like the consistency. Add green onions. Heat on medium until sauce is heated through. Serve immediately.

Note: To lower the fat content of this dish, you could use less alfredo sauce and add a little milk.

Green Beans

Sourdough Bread

Heat and serve with butter.

Honey Nut Peaches

3 small peaches, pitted and sliced
3 T. chopped pecans or walnuts
3 tsp. honey

Preheat broiler (toaster oven is fine). Lay peach slices on broiling pan and drizzle with honey. Sprinkle with nuts and broil for 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday: none

Basil Balsamic Grilled Fish

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
Few drops hot pepper sauce
1/4 c. minced fresh basil (or 1/8 c. dried)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 lbs. firm-fleshed fish (excellent with mahi-mahi, swordfish, salmon steaks)

Whisk together the vinegar, oil, and hot pepper sauce. Stir in the basil. Pour over the fish and marinate about 45 minutes, turning once. Broil or grill about 4 minutes on each side, depending on thickness of fish.

Brown Rice

Grilled Summer Vegetables

Recipe is here.

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

My family finds this Pea Soup recipe to be filling all by itself, but if your family thinks a meal without meat isn't complete, serve it with the ham slices listed. Sometimes I add shredded ham from the freezer to the soup for extra flavor.
The banana pudding is a good way to use overripe bananas, but ripe ones are delicious too. You can make the dish early and refrigerate until ready to serve. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to make.
After supper, 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. Soak overnight.

Pea Soup

2 cans chicken broth
1- 12oz. package dried green peas, rinsed and checked for stones
1 t. tarragon
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 T. butter
1 T. flour
2 T. lemon juice
1/4 cup milk

Cook peas on low in crockpot all day. Drain. Blend broth, peas, and spices in blender. In a large pan, melt butter and stir in flour to make a paste. Add blender contents and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add milk and lemon juice. Stir well and serve.

Adapted from Mom's Best Pea Soup by Jonni McCoy in Miserly Moms.

Crusty Bread

Easy Banana Pudding

4 bananas
Vanilla wafers
1 oz. box instant banana pudding
2 cups milk
2 egg whites (carefully separate to make sure no yolk gets in them)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Prepare banana pudding with 2 cups of milk according to instructions. Refrigerate. Spray a pie plate or 8"x 8" casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Line the bottom and sides with vanilla wafers. Slice bananas over the vanilla wafers. Remove pudding from refrigerator and spoon over bananas.

Beat egg whites, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed until stiff peaks form. Spoon on top of pudding, swirling to make peaks. Brown pie at 300° until meringue is light brown. Cool and refrigerate.

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

Make your salad tonight, but before adding salad dressing, reserve half of it for tomorrow night. Add dressing and crunchy ingredients just before serving each night.
Make your Jello salad for tomorrow so it has time to set up. I know that mayonnaise and Jell-O sounds like a scary combination but it is really good.

Chicken Enchiladas

2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken (from freezer)
1 can cream of chicken soup (substitute)
1 can chicken broth
8 oz. sour cream
1 onions, sauteed (from freezer)
1 bell pepper, chopped & sauteed
cilantro
cumin
Adobo or garlic salt
6 whole wheat flour tortillas (if you can't find them, get regular ones)
2 cups Mexican blend cheese

Combine soup, 3/4 can chicken broth, and sour cream. Set aside 1 cup of this mixture. To the remaining mixture, add chicken, onion, pepper, and spices to taste. Add 1 cup of the cheese.

Place 2-3 T. of mixture onto each tortilla, roll up, and place the tortillas in a 9x12 pan. Add the remaining chicken broth to the reserved soup mixture and pour over enchiladas. Sprinkle remaining cheese over enchiladas. Cook at 350° until bubbly.

Refried Beans

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

You should have soaked your beans overnight. (If you didn't, rinse and drain them and cover them with water 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.

Mexican Salad

variety of lettuces, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded & chopped
1 can corn, drained
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 can black olives, drained
1 tomato, diced
1 bottle ranch salad dressing

Jell-O Salad (for tomorrow)

Combine all fresh ingredients and serve with ranch dressing.

1 small package orange gelatin
1 cup hot water
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup 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.

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

I recommend periodically making a double (or triple) pizza dough recipe in your bread machine or large mixer and freezing the extra dough for an easy lunch or dinner another day. The Urban Homemaker has a double pizza dough recipe that is very good. It has variations for garlic, herbed, or seeded dough.
If you are using a bread machine to make dough, time it so that it is ready just before you want to cook the pizza. If you are using a frozen pizza dough, be sure to allow enough time for it to thaw. I like to thaw it for several hours in the refrigerator.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Prepared pizza crust
1 jar barbecue sauce
1 cup cooked chicken (from freezer)
Sliced red onion
2 cups cheddar cheese

Make pizza dough according to recipe and roll out on a pizza stone or pan. Spread with barbecue sauce. Layer remaining ingredients. Cook at 400° until brown and bubbly.

Leftover Salad

Jell-O Salad (made yesterday)

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

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