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Monday

• Meatloaf
• Mashed Potatoes
• Zucchini and Tomatoes

Tuesday

• Green Bean and Turkey Bake
• Salad
• Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Wednesday

• Crockpot White Chicken Chili
• Salad
• Bread of Your Choice/ cornbread

Thursday

• Homemade Waffles
• Bacon
• Scrambled Eggs
• Fruit Cocktail

Friday

• Lemon Pepper Fish
• Acorn Squash
• Herbed Rice

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Tonight we are going to make extra mashed potatoes to use in our Green Bean Turkey Bake tomorrow. The grocery list will reflect doubling the recipe.
   
   
2. The meatloaf recipe freezes easily so lets plan on making an extra for the freezer. Won't it be nice to have some extras in the freezer during the busy holiday season! The grocery list will reflect the extra loaf.
   
   
3. Since we will be chopping a couple of onions, I've put a whole bag on your grocery list to replace the chopped onions in your freezer.
   

 

Meatloaf (Double to make 2 loaves)

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup dry red wine* or beef broth
• 1 tsp. Adobo* or garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp. thyme
• an additional 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 large jar chopped pimento

Mix all ingredients well except additional cheese and pimento. Press out on wax paper to a rectangular shape, 1/2" thick and the length of your loaf pan. Sprinkle with the additional cheese and the pimento, then roll up jelly-roll style using the wax paper to get the roll started. Place loaf pan upside down on wax paper over the rolled up meatloaf and flip all of it rightside up to put loaf in the pan. Bake at 325°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done. For the second loaf, roll up the same way, but then wrap in freezer safe packaging and label with cooking instructions.

Mashed Potatoes (double to make extra for tomorrow night)

• 6 potatoes
• 4 Tbsp. butter
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 oz. cream cheese
• milk
• Adobo seasoning to taste

Peel potatoes and quarter. Boil in enough water to cover potatoes until potatoes are tender. Drain. Mix all ingredients except milk and mash with a potato masher or large fork. Add enough milk to make potatoes creamy. If you like very creamy mashed potatoes you can use a mixer to get a good whipped consistency. If you like lumpy potatoes, I recommend using a fork or potato masher to maintain a more solid consistency. If you want a healthier version, omit sour cream and cheese, mix with skim milk and add butter buds for flavor.

  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.)

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Tonight we are using turkey from the freezer leftover from Thanksgiving. If you do not have any leftover turkey, you can substitute deli meat turkey. Just be sure to add it to your grocery list.
   
   
2. If you did not make extra mashed potatoes last night, you can either use instant or boil some potatoes and mash them for tonight (see recipe above).
   
   
3. Make enough salad for 2 nights, but don't add croutons and dressing until you are ready to serve it. That will save prep time tomorrow.

 

 Green Bean and Turkey Bake

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• ¾ cup milk
• 2 cans cut green beans, drained
• 2 cups cubed turkey (from freezer)
• 2 cups French's French Fried Onions
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 cups hot mashed potatoes

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a casserole dish, combine soup, milk. Mix well. Stir in beans, turkey and 1 cup fried onions and 1 cup cheese. Spoon mashed potatoes on top. Bake, uncovered, 45 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and onions. Bake 3 minutes or until onions are golden brown.

 

Salad

 

 Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

Combine flour and butter, cutting with a fork. Stir in buttermilk. Add more flour if too wet, more buttermilk if too dry. When dough is rolling consistency, knead a few times and turn out onto a floured surface. Roll out and cut with a biscuit cutter or upside down glass. Bake on cookie sheet at 475°F until brown. Serve with butter and jelly.

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday: none

 Crockpot White Chicken Chili

• 4 chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 cup chopped onion, cooked (from freezer)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried leaf oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
• 2 cans (about 15 ounces each) great northern beans, drained, rinsed
• 1 can (12 to 15 oz.) corn, drained
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, optional

Mix onion, garlic, chicken broth, cumin, oregano, salt and Tabasco in 3 1/2 to 6-quart crockpot. Add cubed chicken breasts. Cover and cook on low for 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours, or until chicken is tender (this may vary depending on how hot your crockpot cooks). Stir in beans, corn, and cilantro, if using. Cover and cook on low 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

 

 

Leftover Salad

 

 

Cornbread* or Bread of Your Choice

• 1 cup cornmeal 
• 1 cup flour     
• ¼ cup sugar      
• 3 tsp baking powder         
• 1 tsp salt                    
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 (12 oz.) 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.

 

 

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. Any extra waffles you have can be frozen for easy and healthy breakfasts. If you are feeling industrious, make an extra batch just for the freezer. (Think busy holiday mornings!)
   
   
2. I like to cook my bacon in the oven to avoid the messy cleanup of pan frying. If you've never tried bacon this way, just line a cookie sheet (the kind that HAS edges) with aluminum foil, arrange the bacon on the foil and bake at 350°F for about ten minutes. Take pan out of oven and turn over bacon with fork or tongs. Place pan back in oven for about 10 more minutes or until desired crispiness is reached.
   
   

  Waffles

• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup pecan meal (optional but delicious)

Mix dry ingredients well. In a separate container mix wet ingredients. Combine and mix until just smooth. Spray waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray and cook according to the instructions for your waffle iron.

 

 

Bacon* or Sausage

 

 

Scrambled Eggs

• 6 large eggs
• 6 teaspoons low-fat milk
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 Tablespoon butter for frying

In small bowl, mix together eggs, milk and salt. Heat butter in frying pan. Add egg mixture to frying pan and as the eggs start to set, begin to stir and flip until all eggs are cooked.

 

 

Fruit Cocktail

 

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. If you don't have a grill, try baking the fish in the oven at 350°F until the fish is white and flaky.
   
   
   

 Lemon Pepper Grilled Fish

• 2 lbs. bass, crappie, croaker, whiting (sea mullet), or flounder (or other flaky white fish)
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• generous sprinkling of lemon pepper seasoning (1 Tbsp)
• generous sprinkling of adobo seasoning or garlic salt (1 Tbsp)

Place fish in a shallow dish for marinating. Combine all other ingredients and pour over fish. Marinate 20 minutes. Grill over medium heat until flesh is white and flaky.

 

 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.

 

Herbed Rice

• 3 T. olive oil
• 1 medium onion chopped (from freezer)
• 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)
• herbs of your choice (basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, etc.)

Thaw onion. Saute 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).

 

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

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