Weekly Menu Plan

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Monday - Recipes

Grilled Hamburgers and Hot Dogs
Vegetable Sticks and Dip
Potato Salad
Grapes
Cherries in the Snow

Tuesday - Recipes

Panko Chicken
Broccoli Casserole
Peas
Peaches

Wednesday - Recipes

Tex-Mex Pasta Skillet
Sugar Snap Peas
Strawberries and Bananas

Thursday - Recipes

Stuffed Pork Chops
Brussels Sprouts
Cooked Apples
Hot Dinner Rolls

Friday - Recipes

Chicken Divan
Sourdough Bread
Chinese Cabbage Salad

Grocery List

This week's Grocery List can be downloaded here:

Grocery List for May 29 - June 2, 2006 - PDF

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

Printer-friendly version

Before using Menus4Moms for the first time, please browse the Menu Plan Basics (links are to the left).

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday (Memorial Day):

Almost everything for this meal can be prepared in advance, freeing you to enjoy time with your family and friends. This is a great meal for easy entertaining.
Mix and mold your hamburger over the day before.
Prepare the Cherries in the Snow and potato salad the day before so they will have time to chill.

Grilled Hamburgers and Hot Dogs

I usually use 1 lb. of ground beef, an egg, and Adobo seasoning (easily found in the spice section of most grocery stores; substitute garlic salt if you can't find it) to make patties. We are going to increase this mixture to 5 lbs. of ground beef, 5 eggs, and *lots* of Adobo seasoning. You may add some bread crumbs if you wish. Shape patties for tonight's dinner, then take the extra meat and divide it equally between hamburger patty shapes and meatball shapes for the freezer. Flash freeze the meatballs, then put into dated freezer bags. Freeze the hamburger patties with wax paper between each layer in a dated freezer bag, or freeze them individually on a cookie sheet and bag them later when they are frozen.

Grill hamburger patties and hot dogs and serve on buns with your favorite condiments.

Vegetables Sticks and Dip

Potato Salad

3 lbs. new potatoes, cooked and cooled
1/3 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup stone-ground mustard
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 Tbsp. dried parsley

Cut cooked potatoes into bite-size cubes and put into a large bowl with onion. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over potatoes and onion, mixing well. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

Grapes

Cherries in the Snow

2 (21 oz.) cans cherry pie filling
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese
1 (12 oz.) container Cool Whip, thawed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 in.) angel food cake

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and vanilla until smooth. fold in whipped topping. Pour half of the cream cheese mixture into a 9x12 inch glass dish. Slice the angel food cake and lay evenly over the top of cream cheese mixture in dish. Spread remaining cream cheese mixture over cake. Cover top with cherry pie filling. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours before serving.

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

"Panko breadcrumbs are the superhero of breadcrumbs. It is not rice (like some people think). The ingredient list reads as follows: bleached wheat flour, dextrose, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and palm oil, yeast and salt. Originally from Japan (they are often referred to as Japanese-style breadcrumbs), panko breadcrumbs are larger, flakier and lighter. They endow any breaded item with several advantages -- they brown better, do not get soggy on the inside and stay crunchier on the outside. They are beautiful, and I highly recommend using them to create deliciously crunchy fried foods or even super-crisp breaded chicken cutlets... Panko breadcrumbs are sold at most Asian markets and you can even buy them off the Internet from specialty Asian food sites." excerpted from DIY Network's Food Network Kitchen

Panko Chicken

1-2 cups Japanese panko breadcrumbs (if you can't find them, use regular breadcrumbs)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 lb. chicken tenders (uncooked, frozen or thawed)

Put mayonnaise and breadcrumbs in separate bowls. Dip chicken tenders into mayonnaise, then breadcrumbs. Place on a baking sheet (stoneware works best) and bake at 350° until brown and cooked throughout.

Broccoli Casserole

1 16 oz. bag frozen chopped broccoli, cooked
1 T. dried minced onion
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. marjoram
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in large sauce pan. Add flour and stir for one minute. Add milk slowly and beat with a whisk. Add chicken bouillon, spices, onion, and Parmesan cheese. Mix with cooked broccoli and put in a greased casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°.

Peas

Frozen peas are on the list, but you may use canned if you prefer. I like to heat the frozen peas with about a teaspoon of sugar and a tablespoon of butter.

Peaches

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday: none

Tex-Mex Pasta Skillet

8 oz. spiral pasta (whole wheat if you can find it)
1 lb. ground beef , cooked (from freezer)
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp. parsley
1 tsp. salt

Cook pasta according to directions. Do not overcook, leave slightly firm. While pasta is cooking, combine remaining ingredients except cheese in a large saucepan. Stir gently over medium heat until heated through. Drain pasta. Add cheese and pasta to skillet, mix thoroughly, and serve warm.

Sugar Snap Peas

These taste best when lightly sauteed in butter. If you wish, add a tsp. of sugar for flavor, but they are usually sweet without it.

Strawberries and Bananas

Slice and serve mixed in a bowl. Garnish with vanilla yogurt if desired.

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday: none

Stuffed Pork Chops

4-6 boneless thick pork loin chops
8 oz. crumbled blue cheese
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 tsp. dried chives
adobo seasoning (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)

Using a sharp knife, cut a slit into each pork chop to make a pocket, taking care not to cut all the way through. Mix together cheese, bacon, and chives. Divide cheese filling into loose balls equal to the number of pork chops you are cooking. Stuff each pork chop with the ball of cheese filling and secure opening with a toothpick. Sprinkle lightly with adobo and pepper on both sides of chops. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until done. These can also be baked in the microwave.

Brussels Sprouts

2 pints fresh Brussels Sprouts* or 1 package frozen Brussels Sprouts
1/2 cup chopped onions, sauteed (from freezer)
1 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sour cream

Steam sprouts until tender, or cook according to package directions. Combine thawed onions with juices, flour, brown sugar, and mustard in a saucepan, mixing well. Gradually add milk while heating, stirring constantly. Bring mixture to a boil; simmer for 2 minutes. Reduce heat and add sour cream; heat thoroughly. Pour Brussels sprouts into a serving dish and cover with cream sauce.

Adapted from a recipe on a bag of Pictsweet Brussels Sprouts

Hot Dinner Rolls

Cooked Apples

5 Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup water
1-2 tsp. vanilla
1-2 tsp. sugar

Wash, peel, core, and slice apples. Place all ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer, stirring occasionally until apples are tender. You may need to add more water if it cooks down. You may either serve these hot as slices or mash them up and serve them as hot or cold applesauce.

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

If you want to save a little money, you can double the broccoli and half the chicken in the Chicken Divan recipe.
You can prepare the individual parts of the cabbage salad in the morning to help ease dinnertime preparations. Do not combine the three parts (dressing, crunchies, and cabbage) until ready to serve.

Chicken Divan

4 cups cooked chicken, cut up (from freezer)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 16 oz. pkg. frozen chopped broccoli, cooked
1 small bag Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix

Heat soup and cheese until melted. Remove from heat. Add mayonnaise, lemon juice, and curry. Mix well. In a 9x12 casserole dish layer all of broccoli, then all of chicken, then all of soup and cheese mixture. Cover with stuffing mix. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Chinese Cabbage Salad

1 head napa cabbage
1 bunch minced green onions
1/3 cup butter
2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles, broken
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Shred or chop the head of cabbage. Combine the green onions and cabbage in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Melt the butter in a pan. Mix the ramen noodles (discard the seasoning packets), sesame seeds and almonds into the pot with the melted butter. Spoon the mixture onto a baking sheet and bake the crunchies in a 350° F oven, turning often to make sure they do not burn. When they are browned remove them from the oven. In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, oil, sugar, and soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, let boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from heat and let cool. Combine dressing, crunchies, and cabbage immediately before serving. I usually only combine what I think we will eat that meal and repeat the procedure each time we are going to eat the leftovers. Serve immediately.

Sourdough Bread

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

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