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Monday - Recipes

• Barbecue Ribs
• French Fries
• Cole Slaw
• Baked Apples

Tuesday - Recipes

• Tuna Pasta
• Spinach Salad

Wednesday - Recipes

• Chicken Cordon Blue
• Acorn Squash
• Leftover Spinach Salad

Thursday - Recipes

• Baked Fish
• Couscous
• Parmesan Zucchini

Friday - Recipes

• Grilled Chicken
• Corn on the Cob
• Fruit Salad

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Today's Labor Day (US) meal is a mid-day cookout that will have you so full you won't need to plan dinner! But if you are not in the US and/or you have to work today, you can slow cook the ribs while you are gone and throw them on the grill or bake them in the oven when you get home.
   
   
2. You may boil your ribs at a slow simmer instead of cooking them in the oven. Slow cooking is the secret to great ribs. If you prefer to smoke the ribs, see Fabulous Foods for Famous Dave's cooking tips.
   
   
3. To prevent a messy grill, cook these in foil.
   

 Barbecue Ribs

Submitted by Kristy

• 4 pounds pork spareribs
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup rum
• 1/2 cup chile sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 dash ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cut spareribs into serving size portions, wrap in double thickness of foil, and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Unwrap, and drain drippings. (I usually freeze the drippings to use later in soups.) Place ribs in a large roasting pan.

In a bowl, mix together brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, rum, chile sauce, garlic, mustard, and pepper. Coat ribs with sauce and marinate at room temperature for 1 hour, or refrigerate overnight.

Preheat grill for medium heat. Position grate four inches above heat source.

Brush grill grate with oil. Place ribs on grill, and cook for 30 minutes, basting with marinade.

 

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French Fries

I use frozen fries for ease, but feel free to make homemade fries if you are feeling energetic!

 

 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.

 Baked Apples

• 6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 2 T. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 T. water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until apples are tender. Serve hot or cold.

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Make a large spinach salad tonight and save half for Wednesday night. Add croutons and any other "crunchies" just before serving each night.
   
   
   
   

Tuna Pasta

• 1 box (16 oz.) tri color pasta
• 1 can (6 oz.) tuna
• 1 package (12 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 cup ranch dressing

Cook pasta according to package directions. About 5 minutes before pasta is finished cooking, pour frozen vegetables into boiling pot of pasta. Bring to a second boil. Drain. Place pasta/vegetable mixture in a bowl. Add can of drained tuna. Pour ranch dressing in and toss to coat.

This can be served warm or cold. If you want it warm, just drain and add tuna, dressing and toss. If you would like to serve it cold, drain pasta/vegetable mixture with cold water until cooled. Then add tuna and dressing and toss.

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.

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. 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
• 1 cup (4 oz package) Swiss cheese, grated
• 1 egg, beaten

Heat oven to 350°F. 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 tops with egg. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

 

 

  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.

Leftover Spinach Salad

 

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. Marinade chicken for tmorrow night. See recipe below for marinade.

 

   Baked Fish

• 2 lbs. tilapia fillets
• 1 tsp. salt
• Dash of pepper
• 4 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• Adobo to taste
• Paprika (optional)

Sprinkle both sides of fish fillets with salt and pepper. Mix together melted butter, lemon juice and adobo. Dip fish into butter mixture; arrange into an ungreased square pan. Pour remaining butter mixture over fish. Cook uncovered into a preheated 350°F oven, until fish flakes easily with fork, for 25 to 30 minutes. If desired, sprinkle with paprika before serving.

Couscous

 Parmesan Zucchini

• 3-4 small zucchini, sliced thin
• 1/2 onion, chopped (from freezer)
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese (much better if you grate it yourself, I would not recommend the kind from the green can!)

In a small skillet, saute the vegetables and seasonings in the olive oil for 5-8 minutes or until crisp tender. Reduce heat to low and add parmesan cheese. Cook 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

 Grilled Chicken for Friday

• 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.See Friday for tomorrow's instructions.

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. Tonight we are going to replenish our freezer supply of cooked chicken by grilling chicken for dinner and freezing the leftovers. If you have a large family or growing boys, you may want to double this recipe in order to have some leftover.
   
   

 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 if you did not do this last night.. Grill chicken until it reaches 160° at the thickest part, or until white all the way through and juices run clear. If you do not have a grill, you can bake the chicken in the oven.

Any extra chicken can be chopped or shredded and frozen for future use.

 

Corn on the Cob

Fruit Salad

Your favorite combination of canned or fresh fruit. Be sure to use up any fruit you have purchased recently. I suggest grapes, banana, apple, and pineapple (these are on your grocery list). Serve with sweetened yogurt mixed with softened cream cheese.

 

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

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