Weekly Menu Plan

Weekly menu links

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Monday - Recipes

Chicken in Basil Cream Sauce
Greens
Fruit Cocktail

Tuesday - Recipes

French Dip
Macaroni and Cheese
Steamed Broccoli Casserole

Wednesday - Recipes

Angel Hair Pasta with Pesto
Peas and Carrots
Crusty Bread

Thursday - Recipes

Black Bean and Beef Burritos
Roasted Red Pepper Salad

Spanish Rice

Friday - Recipes

Honey Pecan Chicken
Grilled Asparagus
Spinach Salad

Sliced Peaches

Grocery List

This week's Grocery List can be downloaded here:

Grocery List for May 14 - 18, 2007 - PDF

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

Printer-friendly version

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Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

Wash all of your basil tonight. Mince enough for tonight's recipe and store the remaining basil in a ziplock storage bag in the refrigerator for Wednesday's fresh pesto recipe.

Chicken in Basil Cream Sauce

1/4 C. milk
1/4 C. dry bread crumbs
6 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

Sautéed Greens of Your Choice

Wash 3 cups greens and sauté in butter with salt. You may add chopped onions for extra flavor.

Fruit Cocktail

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

Start your roast in the morning.
Save 3 cups of meat from tonight's roast for Thursday's burritos.
The Macaroni and Cheese can be prepared 1-2 days in advance and refrigerated until ready to use.

French Dip Sandwiches

3-4 lb. roast
2 tbsp. yellow mustard
1 package onion soup mix
French rolls

Place meat in slow cooker, cover with mustard and sprinkle with onion soup mix. Cover and cook on low for 8-12 hours (depending on how hot your slow cooker cooks). When fully cooked, carve into thick slices or shred. Strain broth and skim fat if desired. Serve meat on French rolls with juice in small bowls or saucers for dipping.

Macaroni and Cheese

2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard (optional)
1/4 tsp pepper
2-1/2 cups milk
2 tbsp butter
2 cups (8 oz) shredded American or Cheddar* cheese, divided
8 oz Mueller's Elbows (about 2 cups), cooked 5 minutes and drained

In medium saucepan combine corn starch, salt, dry mustard and pepper; stir in milk. Add margarine. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in 1-3/4 cups (425 ml) cheese until melted. Add elbows. Pour into greased 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with reserved cheese. Bake uncovered in 375 degree oven 25 minutes or until lightly browned. This can be prepared ahead of time and kept refrigerated until you are ready to bake. Add 5-7 minutes to the cooking time if cold.

Steamed Broccoli (fresh* or frozen)

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

Tonight we are making an easy and delicious pesto sauce. If you can get fresh basil at your local farmer's market or from a friend who grows it, do! If not, look for it in little plastic packages in the produce section of the grocery store.
For taste, be sure to use either shredded Parmesan cheese (available in a bag from Sargento and others) or get a block and grate it yourself. Do not use the pre-grated stuff in the green canister!
If you don't have any black beans in the freezer, rinse and sort a bag of beans tonight and set them to soak so they will be ready to cook tomorrow morning.

Homemade Pesto with Angel Hair Pasta

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup light olive oil
2 1/2 Tbsp. pine nuts
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 lb. angel hair pasta, prepared according to instructions

In a food processor (preferred) or blender, blend the basil and olive oil on medium speed. Add remaining ingredients except pasta and process, scraping the sides. Save 1/2 cup in the refrigerator for tomorrow night and mix the rest with the hot angel hair pasta. Never heat pesto!

Peas and Carrots

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

Crusty Bread

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

Use 3 cups of the leftover meat from Tuesday's French Dip roast for tonight's burritos. If you haven't already done so, shred the meat by hand or in a food processor. On the stovetop, cook the shredded meat with taco seasoning according to the package directions.
If you are making a pot of black beans, drain and rinse them (they should have been soaking overnight) and cook them all day on low. Reserve 3 cups for tonight's burritos and freeze the rest with the juice in 2 cup servings.
Depending on your family size, you may wish to use half of the fillings to make 6 burritos tonight and the other 6 to make a pan of enchiladas to freeze. To make enchiladas, spread the tortillas with the beans and beef as directed below, then sprinkle with cheese. Roll up tortillas and pour red or green enchilada sauce (not on grocery list) over enchiladas in pan. Cover with heavy duty foil and freeze. To bake, cook at 400° for 45-60 minutes or until heated through, uncovering for the last 10 minutes. You may sprinkle extra cheese on top for the last 10 minutes if you wish.
If you are feeling industrious, you can roast your own peppers for the Roasted Red Pepper Salad. There are instructions for roasting peppers at Southern Food.

Black Bean and Beef Burritos

3 cups seasoned shredded beef (see notes above)
3 cups seasoned black beans (see below)
shredded cheddar cheese
12 large flour tortillas (preferably whole wheat for health)
Shredded lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
Sour cream

Heat beef and bean fillings in the microwave until evenly hot. Steam or microwave tortillas until warm so they won't crack when filling and rolling. Spread 1/4 cup each of the seasoned black beans and beef on each tortilla. Add shredded cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes. Roll each tortilla up and serve.

Seasoned Black Beans

3 cups black beans, thawed and mashed
Adobo seasoning to taste
Cumin to taste

Mix all together until well blended.

Roasted Red Pepper Salad

2 jars roasted red bell peppers
1 clove garlic
2 T. red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
6 T. olive oil

Cut peppers into 1" strips and put in a bowl. Mince garlic (or press). In a small dish, combine garlic, vinegar, 1 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Stir until salt dissolves. Add oil and mix. Pour over peppers, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Bring to room temperature before serving and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spanish Rice

1 chopped onion, sauteed (from freezer)
black pepper
chili powder
cumin
Adobo seasoning
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
Olive oil
1 can (15 oz.) chicken broth
1 cup water

Saute onion in olive oil in a Dutch oven until tender; remove from pan. Add 2 T. olive oil to pan and brown the uncooked rice. Do not burn! Add chicken broth and water (this will sizzle loudly when the liquid meets the hot oil), add seasonings to taste, and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 20 minutes; do not open. When cooked, add onions and any other warmed items you may have on hand that would be good in rice (corn, salsa, Rotel, etc.). Stir gently and serve.

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

Tonight's chicken requires only a few minutes of preparation. However, it tastes great the longer and slower you grill! So make sure you start your grilling at least 1 1/2 - 2 hours before you want to eat. If this is not an option for tonight, make something quick for dinner tonight and enjoy this great recipe over the weekend.
Take advantage of early spring asparagus with today's vegetable. When you buy asparagus, look for small stalks. Tiny stalks mean tender asparagus, large stalks mean it will be tough.
Feel free to double the size of your spinach salad (and the grocery list ingredients) for easier weekend meal preparation. Add croutons and any other "crunchies" just before serving each night.

Honey Pecan Chicken

3 - 4 lb split chicken breasts

Basting sauce:

1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. water
1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

Honey-Pecan Sauce:

3 T. honey
2 T. butter or margarine, melted
2 T. chopped pecans, toasted
2 t. lemon juice

Prepare Honey Pecan Sauce by mixing all ingredients together.

Brush grill rack with vegetable oil. Heat grill. Mix all basting sauce ingredients together in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place chicken on grill, skin sides up, and mop or brush basting sauce over chicken. Grill chicken 5 to 6 inches from medium heat 25 to 35 minutes; turn chicken over. Mop with basting sauce. Cover and grill 35 to 45 minutes longer, turning and mopping 2 or 3 times with basting sauce until juices are clear. Discard any remaining basting sauce.

Serve chicken with Honey-Pecan Sauce.

Grilled Asparagus

1 lb. fresh asparagus
olive oil
salt
pepper
dill

Wash asparagus and snap tough ends off. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a little bit of dill. Grill until tender. In order to keep the tips from burning, you should either wrap them in foil or face them to a cool part of the grill.

Spinach Salad

Spinach leaves* (baby) or spinach salad mix
Croutons
Sunflower seeds
grated carrot
salad dressing

Wash greens thoroughly and pat dry. Mix half of spinach and "crunchy" ingredients together just before serving, saving the other half for tomorrow night. Add salad dressing to taste.

Sliced Peaches

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

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