Please check the message board if you have questions or comments about these recipes.

Monday - Recipes

Carne Guisada
Mexican Salad
Spanish Rice

Tuesday - Recipes

Lentil Soup
Cornbread
Raw Veggies and Dip

Wednesday - Recipes

Beef Vegetable Stew
Crusty Bread
Salad

Thursday - Recipes

Chicken in Basil Cream Sauce
Angel Hair Pasta
Green Beans
Brussels Sprouts

Friday - Recipes

Waffles
Scrambled or Fried Eggs
Bacon
Smoothies

Grocery List

This week's Grocery List can be downloaded here:

Grocery List for January 9-13, 2006 - PDF

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

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Tonight's dish is a wonderful slow cooker beef dish that provides a meal for tonight and leftover beef for stew on Wednesday, so don't eat all of the leftovers! If your family prefers food less spicy than mine, substitute diced tomatoes for the Rotel.
   
   
2. Tonight we are having Mexican Salad so we will prepare it ahead and save half for Wednesday night. I like to put all of the vegetables together but save out the dressing until I am ready to serve each portion.
   
   
3. You will need to chop two bell peppers for tonight's meal, but I have added extra to your grocery list to dice and saute for the freezer. We will also buy an entire bag of onions to chop and saute. Plan to do this tonight. Keep the cooked onion in the refrigerator to use this week, and what you haven't used by Friday should be bagged in individual freezer bags and frozen for future use. This will help with prep time for future meals. See the menu notes for more info.

 Carne Guisada

• 3 lbs beef stew meat
• 2 cans diced Rotel tomatoes with green chiles* or plain diced tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 T. flour
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 diced bell pepper
• whole wheat tortillas

Place stew meat, 1/4 cup water, salt and pepper in slow cooker. Turn heat to high and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Drain juice from the Rotel tomatoes into measuring cup. Add Rotel, garlic, bell pepper, and onions to crock pot. Stir and let simmer on high for 30 minutes. Add cumin, oregano, and chili powder to crock pot and stir. Blend the Rotel juice and enough water to equal 1 1/2 cups liquid.Add flour to the liquid & stir into meat/veggie mixture. Let cook on LOW for 3-4 hours until sauce is nice and thick. (If you like runnier gravy three hours is good.) Serve with tortillas.

 

 Spanish Rice

• 3 T. olive oil
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 green pepper chopped, seeded
• 1 c. long grain rice (or brown rice* for healthier version)
• 2 c. chicken broth (if you are using brown rice add extra water)
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 1/2 t. cumin

Saute onion garlic and green pepper in oil until transparent. Add rice and brown until lightly browned. Mix the rest of the ingredients and add to pan. Cover and cook 20-25 minutes (longer, closer to 45 minutes, for brown rice).

 

 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
• croutons
• 1 bottle ranch salad dressing

Combine all ingredients except croutons and dressing, reserving half for Wednesday, and serve with ranch dressing and croutons.

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. This lentil soup can be made either on the stovetop or in a slow cooker. I cooked mine on low for 4 hours in the slow cooker and it was just about right.
   
   
2. Any leftover vegetables from the veggies and dip can be chopped and added to the beef stew tomorrow night.

 Lentil Soup

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups cooked onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cans chicken broth, or homemade broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups dried lentils
• 1 tsp. dried dill
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 dried red chile pepper, or a dash of crushed red pepper*
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• Adobo to taste
• 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese (for garnish)

In a Dutch oven, heat oil and saute celery and carrot until tender. Add thawed onion from freezer and minced garlic. If using a slow cooker, transfer to slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients except vinegar, salt, pepper, and feta cheese and heat to a simmer. Cook on the stovetop for 30 minutes or in a slow cooker until lentils are tender. Stir in remaining ingredients except feta. Discard bay leaves and chili (if using) and serve garnished with crumbled feta 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 (optional)

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.

 

 Raw vegetables and dip

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. We are using leftover roast from Monday for tonight's beef stew. If you didn't make the roast, you can use browned ground beef.
   
   
2. If you had any leftover vegetables from the veggies and dip last night, chop them and throw them in the stew.

 Beef Vegetable Stew

• Leftover shredded roast & juices
• Frozen stew vegetables
• 15 oz. tomato sauce
• 2 cans beef broth (if you are using juices from the roast, 1 can* + 2 cups of water will be plenty)
• 1 cup brown rice, lentils, barley, or other grain
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 2 tsp. dried parsley
• other spices, as desired
• 1 chopped onion

Combine all ingredients in your slow cooker and simmer for several hours until the rice (or other grain) is tender.

 

  Salad

Use the salad you prepared on Monday, adding croutons and salad dressing just before serving.

  Crusty Bread

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. The chicken recipe is for 4 pieces, so plan to double this if you need to. The grocery list does not include doubling the recipe.

 Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce over Angel Hair Pasta

• 1/4 C. milk
• 1/4 C. dry bread crumbs
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 3 T. butter or margarine
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1/2 C. chicken broth
• 1 C. heavy whipping cream
• 1 4-oz. jar diced pimientos, drained
• 1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 C. minced fresh basil (or 1 t. dried)
• 1/8 t. pepper
• 1 t. cornstarch
• angel hair pasta, cooked

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place milk and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in milk, then coat with bread crumbs. In skillet over medium heat, brown chicken on both sides in butter and olive oil. Remove and place in preheated oven to keep warm.

Add broth to skillet. Bring to a boil over medium heat and stir to loosen browned bits from pan bottom. Stir in whipping cream and pimientos, boil and stir for 1 minute. Reduce heat. Stir in Parmesan, basil and pepper and cook until heated through. Mix cornstarch with extra chicken broth and stir into skillet if needed to thicken sauce. Pour over chicken. Serve over angel hair pasta

Source: Dunbars Pimientos ad

 

 Brussels Sprouts with Cream Sauce

• 2 c. frozen brussels sprouts
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 tsp. dry white wine
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Cook brussels sprouts according to package directions but without salt.

Meanwhile, in small saucepan over low heat, or in double boiler, melt butter. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, 3 minutes or until soft. Add flour and cook, stirring frequently, about 1 minute. Gradually add milk, wine and pepper; cook until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat; stir in cheese until melted. If sauce becomes too thick, add additional 1-2 tablespoons skim milk. Drain brussels sprouts; pour sauce over sprouts. Makes 4 servings. Fat 4 grams. Cholesterol 2 milligrams.

Reprinted from Cooks.com.

 

 Green Beans

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. Any extra waffles you have can be frozen for easy and healthy breakfasts. If you are feeling industrious, make an extra batch just for the freezer.

  Waffles

• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup pecan meal (optional but delicious)

Mix dry ingredients well. In a separate container mix wet ingredients. Combine and mix until just smooth. Spray waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray and cook according to the instructions for your waffle iron.

 Scrambled or Fried Eggs

 Bacon

 Smoothies

• 1/2 quart vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 banana
• 1 cup orange juice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and serve cold. If you prefer a more slushy effect, add crushed ice (if your blender can handle it). If your blender doesn't have a strong motor, thaw the strawberries before blending.

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