Printer-friendly Weekly Menu Plan

Thaw shredded beef and onion in the microwave. Place in a Dutch oven or large fry pan with sliced mushrooms and melted butter and cook until mushrooms are tender and beef and onions are hot. Stir in flour and next 2 ingredients; cook and stir 1 minute. Stir in soup. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sour cream, and heat thoroughly. Serve over noodles. Serve over cooked egg noodles.

Peas and Carrots

Salad

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

Prepare the Frozen Fruit Salad any time today and freeze for tomorrow.

Kielbasa Skillet Stew

5 bacon strips, cooked
1 onion, sauteed (from freezer)
olive oil
1 to 1-1/2 lbs. smoked kielbasa (fully cooked), thinly sliced
2 - 15.5 oz. cans great northern beans, undrained
2 - 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 can chopped green chiles
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. pepper

In a large skillet, cook sausage in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Add remaining ingredients except bacon and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Crumble bacon. Serve hot with bacon on top.

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

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.

Green Beans

Frozen Fruit Salad
(for tomorrow)

2 T. sugar
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 T. milk
2 T. lemon juice
1 can mandarin oranges
1/2 cup pecans (optional)
1 cup maraschino cherries, quartered
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
lettuce leaves

Mix cream cheese and milk. Add mayonnaise, lemon juice, dash salt, pineapple, pecans, cherries, and sugar. Fold in whipped cream (do not stir). Freeze. Serve on lettuce leaf.

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

Use your favorite bread machine recipe. If your bread machine has a timer, use it so that your bread will be done at dinner time.
If you start the soup in the morning, the soup has all day for flavors to mingle and develop. If you do not have a pressure cooker, use your crockpot.
This recipe, as any soup recipe, is flexible, designed to use what you have. When I don’t have barley I substitute brown rice. If I don’t have all the veggies I use what I have. If I have leftover diced turkey or chicken, that can be substituted for the chicken thighs. My motto is use what you have.

Chicken Barley Vegetable Soup

Compliments of Marilyn Moll of UrbanHomemaker.com

6 chicken thighs, skinned (or other chicken parts, as preferred)
2/3 Cup barley
8 Cups chicken stock* or water
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 small carrots, sliced
1 Cup chopped broccoli florets (optional)
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped or 2 TB tomato powder (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TB tamari, or naturally fermented soy sauce
1 tsp. basil
1/8 tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. thyme
Dash of cayenne pepper
2 TB minced fresh parsley

Put all of the ingredients except the parsley into an 8 qt. stock pot or 5 liter or larger pressure cooker such as a Duromatic™. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. In the Duromatic™ bring ingredients to second red ring and pressure for 15 minutes; allow pressure to drop naturally. Or simmer the soup conventionally for 1-1/4 hours, stirring occasionally, in a large stock pot. Remove the chicken thighs from the soup. When cooled slightly, remove the meat and cut into bite sized pieces. Return the meat to the soup. Simmer the soup an additional 10-15 minutes if desired. Adjust seasonings to taste, and add the parsley and serve.

Homemade Bread

Frozen Fruit Salad
(Prepared yesterday)

Set salad out for 30 minutes before cutting. Serve on a lettuce leaf.

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday: none

Chicken Pepper Pasta

4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 medium yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh garlic
1-1/2 cups cooked chicken (from freezer), thawed and chopped or cut into strips
1 tsp dried tarragon leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
8 ounces uncooked dried vermicelli (extra thin spaghetti)
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (found bagged in the dairy section)
3/4 cup half & half

Prepare vermicelli according to directions and drain in a colander in the sink. Melt butter in large skillet and add onion, bell peppers, and garlic. Cook on medium high until vegetables are tendercrisp. Remove vegetables from pan and add chicken, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Cook until chicken is hot. Add vegetables, mozzarella, half and half, and Parmesan cheese to chicken. Reduce heat and cook on low until cheese is melted. Rinse vermicelli in hot water until noodles are warm. Add vermicelli to pan and toss gently. Serve warm.

Celery Stuffed with Pimiento Cheese

Zucchini and Tomatoes

Olive oil
1 small zucchini, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 small onion, sliced into 1/4-inch wedges
1-2 Tbsp. water, as necessary
2 small tomatoes (or 1 large tomato), cut into wedges
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese

Saute onion and zucchini in olive oil. Add water if needed. When vegetables are starting to get tender, add tomatoes and seasonings. Serve warm sprinkled with Parmesan Cheese. (You may serve this over pasta if you wish.)

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.

Alfredo Chicken Pizza

Your favorite pizza dough recipe (see notes above)
1 jar (1 lb.) of alfredo sauce
1-1/2 cups cooked chicken (from freezer), shredded
2 cups Mozzarella Cheese
1 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 pkg. (8 oz.) sliced mushrooms

Make pizza dough according to recipe and roll out on a pizza stone or pan. Layer remaining ingredients in order given. Cook at 400° until brown and bubbly.

Chinese Cabbage Salad

1 head napa cabbage
1 bunch minced green onions
1/3 cup butter
2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles, broken (discard the seasoning packet)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 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 Wednesday night.) Combine dressing, crunchies, and cabbage immediately before serving. Serve immediately.

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

Monday - Recipes

Tuesday - Recipes

Wednesday - Recipes

Thursday - Recipes

Friday - Recipes

Grocery List

Monday Recipes

Beef Stroganoff over Egg Noodles