Printer-friendly Weekly Menu Plan | Recipes | Grocery List | June 26-30, 2006

Unroll crescent rolls and separate into 8 triangles. Place 5 triangles in ungreased 9 inch pie pan pressing pieces together to forma crust. Reserve 3 triangles for top crust. Combine remaining ingredients in large mixing bowl. Pour into crust. Roll out each remaining triangle so longest side is 9 inches. Cut into ½ inch strips. Crisscross strips over filling to form a lattice top. Flute edge. Bake at 325 for 60 to 70 minutes or until knife inserted 2 inches from edge comes out clean. Do not overbake. Cool 10 minutes before cutting in wedges.

Peas and Carrots

Cook a bag of frozen peas and carrots with a pat of butter and a tsp. of sugar until heated through.

Spinach Salad

Simply make a salad as you usually would, but substitute baby spinach leaves for lettuce. My husband, who hates cooked spinach, loves these salads. One night as we were eating this salad and talking about how much he dislikes cooked spinach, my then 7 year old daughter chimed in about how yucky spinach is... as she asked for more salad. We are careful never to actually call this a spinach salad in our house. <g>

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

Tonight's stir fry can use chicken, beef, shrimp, or simply go vegetarian. If you use meat, precooked meat from the freezer works great - just thaw and saute with the vegetables.
This is a good meal to add any vegetables that you have on hand that may need to be used up such as green beans, carrots, mushrooms, etc. Do not be limited by the listed ingredients if you have other items that can be added or substituted.
Edamame are soy beans salted and boiled in the pod. They are a popular Japanese snack that is sold frozen. If your local grocer, health food store, or oriental food store sells them, definitely give them a try. They are very popular with children since they are a finger food and kids like popping the beans from the pod into their mouths. If you can't find them, serve Snow Peas with dip.

Stir Fry

1-2 lbs. chicken, beef, or shrimp* (optional)
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 white onion, sliced
1 Tbsp. sesame oil (optional)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
jarred stir fry sauce, such as Kikkoman's

Start cooking rice according to directions. Steam veggies until tender crisp and drain. This will help keep the liquid from the vegetables from turning your stir fry into "stir soup". Heat sesame and olive oils in a large fry pan or wok. Stir fry vegetables and cooked meat until tender and slightly brown on the edges. Add stir fry sauce and heat through. Serve over rice.

Rice

Edamame

Boil 1 bag of frozen edamame in salted water until they float. Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water, and sprinkle with coarse salt. Serve at room temperature by holding the pod to your mouth and squeezing until the beans pop into your mouth. Discard the pod.

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

Prepare your tomato and cucumber salad in the morning or the night before.
Start marinating your chicken by tonight for tomorrow. The longer it marinates, the better it is.

Slow Cooker Lemon Pork Chops

6 pork chops, trimmed of fat
1 medium onion, sliced & rings separated
1 lemon, washed and sliced

Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. lemon pepper
1 Tbsp. Adobo seasoning

Mix marinade ingredients. Place pork chops in slow cooker. Cover pork chops with marinade and top with onion rings and lemon slices. Cook on high for 2-4 hours or low for 4-6 hours depending on how quickly your slow cooker cooks. Pork is medium well done when it is 160° and is well done when it is 170°.

Cabbage and Onions

1 head cabbage
1-2 onions
2 tsp. butter

Chop cabbage into wedges, then into 1-2" squares. Chop onion. Saute both in melted butter on stovetop until somewhat tender, adding salt and pepper to taste. Cook gently until desired texture.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 ripe tomatoes, minced
1-2 cucumbers, minced
1 lg. red pepper, minced
1 lg. red onion , minced
basil, oregano, tarragon, and parsley (fresh if available, dried if necessary) to taste
Lots of fresh ground pepper
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Stir in olive oil until well-coated. Serve chilled.

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

The longer your chicken marinates before grilling, the better it will be. I recommend preparing the marinade at least 24 hours in advance for the best flavor, but if necessary, start marinating the chicken in the morning for grilling at dinnertime. We will make a large batch of chicken so we have plenty of leftover to use in other dishes this week (Planned Leftovers) and to freeze for later. Using grilled chicken from your freezer in place of boiled or sauteed chicken gives your casseroles and soups a great flavor, so put your freezer bags of chicken in the freezer and use them in any recipe that calls for chopped cooked chicken.
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. Reserve half of each part to use tomorrow.
Start the Ranch Pasta Salad early so it can chill before dinner.

Grilled Chicken

4 lbs. chicken parts of your choice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. garlic salt or Adobo
1/2 tsp. pepper

Place marinade with chicken in a zipper bag and marinate overnight. Grill chicken until it reaches 160° at the thickest part, or until white all the way through and juices run clear. Serve half of the chicken tonight and reserve 1-1/2 cups for tomorrow's pizza. Any extra can be chopped or shredded and frozen for future use. If you do not have a grill, you can bake the chicken in the oven.

Chinese Cabbage Salad

1 head napa cabbage
1 bunch minced green onions
1/3 cup butter
1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles, broken
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 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, 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. (Remember to reserve half of each part of this salad for tomorrow night.) Combine dressing, crunchies, and cabbage immediately before serving. Serve immediately.

Ranch Pasta Salad

1 lb. whole wheat pasta shells
2 handfuls baby carrots, chopped
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 package frozen baby peas, thawed
1 cup real mayonnaise, more if it seems dry
1 package ranch dressing mix

Mix all ingredients. Chill for 1 hour or more.

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

Thanks to Becky Nance for tonight's pizza recipe!
Combine the leftover cabbage salad items just before serving.
If making your own pizza crust, set your bread machine timer to have the dough ready at dinner time for your convenience. If your bread machine doesn't have a timer, pizza crust can be prepared early and refrigerated. I find that it is easier to roll this way as well.

Chicken Club Pizza

Prepare and bake the pizza crust of your choice at 350° about 7 minutes, then remove.

Sauce:

1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 packet of Ranch dressing powder
1 clove of pressed garlic.

Mix well and spread on the crust. Layer on the following ingredients:

1 medium tomato, cut in half and thinly sliced
1/2 small onion (thinly sliced)
1/2 red bell pepper (thinly sliced)
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken (from Thursday)
5 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 cups of shredded cheese blend (like cheddar/jack)

Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Bake about 15 more minutes until cheese bubbles.

Leftover Chinese Cabbage Salad

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