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Monday - Recipes

• Ratatouille
• Whole Grain Bread
• Fruit Salad

Tuesday - Recipes

• Beef Enchiladas
• Spanish Rice
• Refried Beans

Wednesday - Recipes

• Grilled Chicken
• Glazed Carrots
• Broccoli Roll Ups

Thursday - Recipes

• Basil Balsamic Grilled Fish
• Seasoned Green Beans
• Grilled Corn on the Cob

Friday - Recipes

• BBQ Chicken Pizza
• Salad
• Fruit of Your Choice

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. This is an extremely healthy dish and paired with whole wheat bread and fruit salad you get a meal packed full of vitamins and nutrients.
   
   
2. I realize that the recipe for Ratatouille looks intimidating, but don't be put off by appearances. It is easy once your vegetables are cleaned and it is very good.
   
   
3. Today's dinner is a great way to take advantage of summer produce. Visit your local farmer's market to pick up fresh, locally grown veggies for this meal. I was skeptical about this dish at first, but after preparing it I was sold. It is delicious when served with crumbled feta cheese on top.
   
   
4. The ratatouille uses two onions but I have put a bag on the list. Saute the rest and stock your freezer.

 Ratatouille

• 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes* (about 3 medium) or 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch squares
• 1 large red bell pepper or yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch squares
• 3 medium zucchini, sliced
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 3 Tbs dried basil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed through a press
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 (6 ounces) can tomato paste
• 1 (5 ounces) can pitted ripe olives, drained and chopped coarsely
• 3 Tbs chopped fresh basil (I have omitted)
• Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients except tomato paste, olives, and basil in slow cooker. Mix well and cook on high for 3 hours. Add tomato paste, olives, and basil, mixing well. May be served hot, cold, or room temperature. If you work outside the home, you could have the vegetables cut up and refrigerated with instructions for an older child to put them in the slow cooker and turn it on in the afternoon.

 

Whole Grain Bread

  Fruit Salad

Chop your favorite fruits and serve mixed in a bowl, with or without fruit dressing. Strawberries and bananas are on the grocery list; feel free to change this to your favorites.

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Use ground beef from your freezer and thaw if you have enough. Otherwise, be sure to add ground beef to your grocery list plus some extra if you can, and cook to restock your freezer.
   
   
2. Tonight's recipe will make 2 pans of enchiladas so you can invest one in your freezer. Be sure to label your frozen dishes with cooking instructions!
   
   
3. If you have cooked beans in the freezer already, you can skip the soaking and cooking of the dried beans and use those. Otherwise, start your beans in the morning so they will be ready for dinner.
   
   
   

Beef Enchiladas

• 2 lbs. ground beef (from freezer)
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 package corn tortillas (24)
• 2 cans Enchiladas Sauce
• 1 cup refried beans (from below)
• 2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded

Mix thawed (cooked) ground beef from freezer with vinegar, garlic, chili powder and salt. On your tortilla spread a light coat of refried beans down the middle, top with beef mixture and then cheese.  Tri fold and place tri fold down in 9x13 pan.  Once your pan is full pour a can of sauce on top and sprinkle with cheese.  This recipe will make two pans.  One can of sauce for each pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.

Adapted from Betty Crocker, submitted by Lisa H.

Spanish Rice

• 3 T. olive oil
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 green pepper chopped, seeded
• 1 c. long grain rice (or brown rice* for healthier version)
• 2 c. chicken broth (if you are using brown rice add extra water)
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 1/2 t. cumin

Saute onion, garlic, and green pepper in oil until transparent. Add rice and brown until lightly browned. Mix the rest of the ingredients and add to pan. Cover and cook 20-25 minutes (longer, closer to 45 minutes, for brown rice).

  Refried Beans

• 1 bag black turtle beans (pinto or red beans also work)
• cumin
• Adobo or garlic salt
• olive oil
• 1 can red enchilada sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Rinse beans in a colander and check to be sure there are no stones or other debris. Place beans in a dutch oven and cover with water so that the water is twice as deep as the beans. Heat to boiling and boil for 2 minutes. Turn heat off and cover, let sit for 1 hour. Drain beans in colander and rinse pot. Place beans in slow cooker and cover with water, making sure the water is twice as deep as the beans. Cook on Hi for 5 hours or Low for 8-10 hours.

Drain beans, reserving liquid (place colander on a lg. pan or bowl then pour beans in). Separate beans into 2 cup servings in freezer bags, reserving 4 cups of beans for tonight's meal. Cover beans in each bag with some of reserved liquid.

Mash 4 cups of beans, adding enough liquid to make beans mushy and soft. Heat 2 T. olive oil in a fry pan and add mashed beans and spices to taste. Stir until hot and bubbly. Heat enchilada sauce in a sauce pan and serve beans topped with enchilada sauce and shredded cheddar cheese.

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. We will be putting some investments into our freezer with today's meal. The grocery list will reflect doubling the amount of chicken for tonight but if you can, try tripling the amount. Also, if you didn't make the BBQ chicken last week, save some chicken from tonight for Friday's BBQ Chicken Pizza.
   
   
2. My kids don't like broccoli so when I found this recipe I thought it might be worth a try. Sure enough, though it's not the healthiest side dish around, my kids love it, especially when they get to make their own roll-up. For those of you a little more health conscious...skip the crescent rolls and stick to your traditional steamed broccoli with a little cheese on top.
   
   

 Grilled Chicken

• 2 lbs. Chicken
• 1 small bottle Zesty Italian Salad Dressing

Marinade chicken in salad dressing for a least 1 hour before grilling.

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. Cube the remaining chicken and freeze in 1 lb. portions. If you do not have a grill, you can bake the chicken in the oven.

 

Glazed Carrots

• 1 bag baby carrots
• 2/3 c. honey
• 6 tbsp. butter

Cook carrots in a small amount of water until tender crisp. Drain water, add honey and butter. Cook on med. low until carrots are glazed, turning carrots once or twice.

Broccoli Roll-Ups

• 1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• about 1 cup frozen broccoli florets, thawed and patted dry

Place broccoli in microwave safe dish and cook for about 2 minutes to allow broccoli to start to become a little tender.

Separate crescent dough into the scored triangles. Place a small amount of cheese and one or two broccoli florets along the wide edge of each triangle; roll up the dough. Place point side down on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375°F for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown.

 

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. If using fresh ears of corn you can either grill in the husks or out of the husks. I have never grilled in the husks so the recipe for today will be for ears NOT in the husks. If you want to try grilling in the husks try grilledcornonthecob.com. It looks like pretty good information, but again...I have NOT tried this method.
   
   
   

   Basil Balsamic Fish

• 1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• Few drops hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 c. minced fresh basil (or 1/8 c. dried)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 lbs. firm-fleshed fish (excellent with mahi-mahi, swordfish, salmon steaks)

Whisk together the vinegar, oil, and hot pepper sauce. Stir in the basil. Pour over the fish and marinate about 45 minutes, turning once. Broil or grill about 4 minutes on each side, depending on thickness of fish.

 Seasoned Green Beans

• 1 lb. fresh green beans, slightly steamed
• 2 T. butter
• 1/2 package Good Seasonings Italian dressing mix

Melt butter in large fry pan. Add green beans. Sprinkle with the 1/2 package of seasoning mix and stir well while sauteing.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

• frozen or fresh* ears of corn
• melted butter

If using fresh corn, soak your corn in water for about 30 minutes before wrapping in aluminum foil, turning your corn about every 5 minutes because they will float on the water.

Place each ear of corn (fresh, soaked and drained; or frozen) on a separate sheet of aluminum foil. Brush butter over each ear. Wrap in foil. Place over hot coals on grill.

Grill 25 -35 minutes, turning occasionally, until heated through.

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. 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.
   
   
2. 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.
   
   
3. Last week we made BBQ chicken and saved some in the freezer for tonight's meal. If you did not save any from last week, use some of your leftover from Wednesday.

 Barbecue Chicken Pizza

• Prepared pizza crust
• 1 jar barbecue sauce
• 1 cup cooked chicken (from freezer or from Wednesday)
• Sliced red onion
• 2 cups cheddar cheese

Make pizza dough according to recipe and roll out on a pizza stone or pan. Spread with barbecue sauce. Layer remaining ingredients. Cook at 400° until brown and bubbly.

 

 

Salad

Fruit of Your Choice

 

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

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