Printer-friendly Weekly Menu Plan

Tonight's dinner can be prepared in advance, making it a great meal for days when extra-curricular activities keep you running until right before dinner.
A less expensive alternative to deli ham is the thinly sliced deli meats from Oscar Meyer in the refrigerated meat section. I use them all the time.
Save 8 slices of ham for Thursday.
Remember not to serve honey to children under 1 year old.

Ham and Cheese Wraps

Large wraps or tortillas (flavored are fine)
2 lbs. Deli ham (enough to save 8 slices for Thursday's Chicken Cordon Blue)
Shredded lettuce
Sliced tomatoes
Shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
Honey dijon spread

Honey Dijon Spread
Mix all ingredients well:

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup stone-ground mustard
2 Tbsp. honey

Spread each wrap with honey dijon spread. Layer lettuce, tomato, ham, and cheese on top. Closing bottom first, roll each wrap up tightly. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Ranch Pasta Salad

1 lb. whole wheat pasta spirals (for a change of pace)
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.

Grapes

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

I have added 5 lbs. of ground beef to the grocery list. Brown all of it while cooking tonight's dinner and freeze the extra 4 pounds in 1 pound increments (about 1 cup) in dated freezer bags for future meals.
Add green chilis to only half of the pie if you have small children or family members with sensitive palates.

Cheeseburger Pie

Tip

Adding a little water to ground beef while you are browning it helps keep it crumbled in small pieces. Drain in a colander and rinse with hot tap water to remove extra fat.

1 pound lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 can diced green chiles (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
1/2 cup Bisquick® mix (healthier homemade substitute)
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Heat oven to 400°F. Grease 9-inch pie plate. Cook beef and onion until beef is brown; drain. Spread in pie plate; sprinkle with salt, chiles, and cheese. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate. Bake about 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Acorn Squash

1 acorn squash for each 2 people

Wash acorn squash, cut in half; scrape out seeds. Place upside down into a glass baking dish containing 2 Tbsp. water. Cook in microwave until squash is tender, (time depends on your microwave strength and the number of squash you are cooking).

Remove from microwave, turn squash right side up in same dish. Into each hollow, place:

1 tsp. brown sugar or honey
1 tsp. butter
dash salt

Cook in microwave until butter mixture is bubbly. Serve hot.

Cole Slaw

1 bag prepared cabbage slaw, or homemade shreds
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. vinegar
2 tsp. sugar or sugar substitute

Combine last 3 ingredients and refrigerate covered until ready to use. Mix with shredded slaw vegetables just before serving.

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday: none

Hash Brown Soup

1 sauteed Onion (from freezer)
3 cans chicken broth
1 Large bag Frozen Hash browns
1 Can cream of Celery Soup (substitutions)
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup (substitutions)
1-1/2 cups milk
1 pound Velveeta Cheese

Combine onion and broth, bring to boil. Add hash browns, bring to boil. Add soups (don't dilute) and milk, bring to boil. Add Cheese. Heat until cheese melts. Optional, serve with bacon bits on top.

Dinner Rolls

Salad

Make a large salad tonight and save half for Friday night. Add any crunchy ingredients and salad dressing just before serving each night.

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

If you do not have access to puff pastry sheets, you can substitute refrigerated crescent rolls. Puff pastry sheets are typically found in the frozen dessert section with pies and cakes.

Chicken Cordon Blue

1 package Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets, thawed
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, chopped (from freezer)
8 slices of deli ham, from Monday
1 cup (4oz package) Swiss cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten

Heat oven to 350°. Roll out puff pastry sheets and cut into 8 evenly divided squares. Place a folded slice of ham in the center of each square. Evenly divide chicken and cheese between rectangles on top of ham. Pull up corners of rectangles to center and twist. Pinch edges to seal. Place on a cookie sheet lined with foil (for easy clean up) and sprayed with olive oil spray. Brush with egg. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Steamed Broccoli with Lemon Juice

Creamed Corn

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.
Although the chocolate-dipped pretzel rods are easy to make, they need to be prepared ahead so that the chocolate has time to harden.

Make Your Own Pizza

Homemade or store-bought pizza dough
28 oz. can of spaghetti sauce
Toppings of your choice
Shredded cheeses (mozzarella and Parmesan are on the list)

Make or buy your dough for the pizza crust like you usually do, then divide the dough. I suggest making squares that are about 7" - at least one for each person - and putting them together in either a larger square or rectangular shape and prebake for about 7 minutes at the temperature called for in your dough recipe. Let cool. Set out all the toppings before baking the second time and let everyone make what they like. For convenience you might only use spaghetti sauce, but if you family is a fan of white pizzas you may prefer to change that to alfredo sauce. Suggested toppings include mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, pepperoni, ham, sausage, chicken, black olives, jalapeno peppers, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, pineapple and anything else your family likes. Once completed, bake the pizzas until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

Leftover Salad

Chocolate-dipped Pretzel Rods

8 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bag salted pretzel rods
colored sprinkles
wax paper

Melt chocolate chips in a tall, skinny microwave save container (I used a tall coffee mug) until soft. The chips will retain their shape until stirred, even when they are melted. Stir gently. Dip pretzel rods into chocolate one at a time, turning gently until at least half of the rod is coated with chocolate. Roll rod in sprinkles. Place on wax paper until chocolate is hardened.

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