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Monday - Recipes

Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce
Green Beans
Garlic Cheese Bread
Red Grapes

Tuesday - Recipes

Easy Chicken Fajita Skillet
Peaches
Cinnamon Bread Sticks

Wednesday - Recipes

Barbecue Ribs
Corn on the Cob
Buttermilk Biscuits

Thursday - Recipes

Stuffed Meatloaf
Baked Potatoes
Carrot Sticks and Dip

Friday - Recipes

Broccoli Quiche
Baked Asparagus
Apples and Cheddar Cheese Slices

Grocery List

This week's Grocery List can be downloaded here:

Grocery List for March 27-31, 2006 - PDF

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

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Today we are making a big batch of Bolognese meat sauce for the freezer. This recipe makes a lot of sauce and is absolutely delicious. If you have never made spaghetti sauce with Italian sausage, I encourage you to give this recipe a try before substituting your own recipe. You won't be sorry!
   
   
2. There is a lot of chopping and simmering to do for this recipe, so I recommend making the sauce in the morning. This is an excellent dish to make ahead and let it sit in the refrigerator for a day or two, as the flavors intensify the longer it sits. It also freezes very well.
   
   
3. Since we will be chopping so many vegetables today, we are going to go ahead and chop and saute some extra bell peppers and onions for the freezer. Save some out for the Chicken Fajita Skillet tomorrow night and the Stuffed Meatloaf on Thursday.

 Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce

• 2 lbs. Hot Italian Sausage
• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 lg. yellow onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 cans crushed tomatoes (28 oz.)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 T. dried oregano
• 2 T. dried basil
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 2 cans tomato paste (6 oz. each)
• 1/8 tsp. cinnamon

Remove sausage from casing (the rubbery-looking skin on the link). Place in pan with 1/4 cup water and crumble with spoon while browning. When cooked, drain in colander and rinse with very hot water (this washes the extra grease off); set aside.

Brown ground beef, drain, rinse as above, and set aside.

Heat olive oil in dutch oven. Saute celery, onion, and pepper until tender. Add sausage, beef, tomatoes, bay leaf, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Simmer covered for an hour. Add wine, tomato paste, and cinnamon. Simmer covered for 15 minutes. Cool and refrigerate until dinner time. Warm sauce before dinner and serve over whole wheat spaghetti. After dinner, separate the extra sauce into dated freezer bags and freeze for later use. You may want to leave at least one bag in the refrigerator because it is so good you are going to want to have some as leftovers for lunch or a weekend dinner this week!

 

 Green Beans

 Garlic Cheese Bread

• 1 loaf of French bread
• Pam™ olive oil spray
• Italian blend cheese, shredded
• garlic salt or Adobo

Slice bread and lay flat on a cookie sheet. Spray each slice with olive oil spray. Sprinkle with garlic salt or Adobo. Sprinkle with shredded cheese blend. Bake at 350° until cheese is melted and starting to brown.

 

 Red Grapes

 

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday: none

 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, chopped and sauteed, from last night
• 1 onion, chopped and sauteed, from last night
• 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.

 Peaches, canned* or fresh
 Cinnamon Bread Sticks

• Pillsbury refrigerated bread sticks* (or homemade bread stick dough that is ready to be baked)
• cinnamon & sugar mixture

This easy recipe is a kid pleaser. Twist the bread sticks by holding each end and twisting in opposite directions. Roll gently in cinnamon and sugar mixture and bake as usual.

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Tonight we are having an indoor picnic, so you may want to hype it up with the kids and put a picnic tablecloth on the table (a plastic tablecloth is probably a good idea with the messy ribs).
   
   
2. The biscuit recipe is a very easy one to make. If you have never made biscuits, try this one before buying canned biscuits. Do not substitute regular milk for buttermilk; buttermilk is what gives the biscuits their wonderful flavor.
   
   
3. You may broil the ribs to finish instead of grilling if you prefer.

 Barbecue Ribs

Recipe provided by:

Submitted by Kristy

• 4 pounds pork spareribs
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup rum
• 1/2 cup chile sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 dash ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cut spareribs into serving size portions, wrap in double thickness of foil, and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Unwrap, and drain drippings. (I usually freeze the drippings to use later in soups.) Place ribs in a large roasting pan.

In a bowl, mix together brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, rum, chile sauce, garlic, mustard, and pepper. Coat ribs with sauce and marinate at room temperature for 1 hour, or refrigerate overnight.

Preheat grill for medium heat. Position grate four inches above heat source.

Brush grill grate with oil. Place ribs on grill, and cook for 30 minutes, basting with marinade.

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 Corn on the Cob (frozen)

 

 

 Buttermilk Biscuits

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

Combine flour and butter, cutting with a fork. Stir in buttermilk. Add more flour if too wet, more buttermilk if too dry. When dough is rolling consistency, knead a few times and turn out onto a floured surface. Roll out and cut with a biscuit cutter. Bake on cookie sheet at 475° until brown. Serve with butter and honey or jelly.

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday: none

 Stuffed Meatloaf

• 1/2 cup cooked onion (from Monday)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped roasted red bell pepper (from a jar, well drained)
• 1-2 tsp adobo seasoning
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup of bread crumbs
• 1-1/2 lbs ground beef
• 3/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1-1/2 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
• 20 very thin slices of Genoa Salami (About 4 oz)

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except spinach, cheese, and salami. Mix well and press out into a 17x8" rectangle on wax paper. Layer spinach, then cheese, then salami on top. Using wax paper to start (but not rolling it into the loaf), roll up meatloaf jelly roll style into an 8" log. Lift into loaf pan (this is very good baked in a stoneware loaf pan). Bake at 350° for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a meat thermometer stuck into the center of the loaf reads 160°. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan and slicing.

 Baked Potatoes

 Carrot Sticks with Dip

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. I am including ingredients for one quiche on the grocery list. If you would like to make extra to freeze, feel free to do so but be sure to add the extra ingredients to your list.
   
   
2. This is a good time for asparagus so let's take advantage of that this week by buying fresh asparagus. If you have never bought asparagus fresh, look for the smallest stalks as they are tender and flavorful. To prepare them, wash them with water and hold the fat end near the end with your left hand and hold the stalk near the middle with your right hand. Make a snapping motion with your hands and the tough ends will snap off exactly where they should.

  Broccoli, and Cheese Quiche in a bag

Recipe is here. If you are avoiding meat on Fridays, make the suggested quiche without the added meat. If you want to add meat, you can add it per the guidelines.

 Baked Asparagus

• 1-2 lbs fresh asparagus
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1-2 Tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
• Salt and pepper to taste

Line a baking pan with foil for easy clean up. Mix oil and soy sauce and pour onto foil-lined pan. Prepare asparagus according to the notes by washing and snapping the ends. Gently roll the asparagus in the oil and soy mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (easy on the salt since soy is salty). Roast for 10-15 minutes at 350°.

 Apples with Cheddar Cheese Slices

 

 

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