Weekly Menu Plan

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Weekly menu links

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Monday

Meatloaf
Mashed Potatoes
Bacon Ranch Green Beans

Tuesday

Roast Sticky Chicken
Wild Rice
Steamed Broccoli
Dinner Rolls

Wednesday

Crockpot Enchiladas
Black Bean Salad

Thursday

Meatloaf Sandwiches
Pasta Salad
Jello Parfait

Friday

Chicken Barley Vegetable Soup
Crusty Bread
Salad

Grocery List

This week's Grocery List can be downloaded here:

Grocery List for December 31 - January 4, 2008 - PDF

Grocery List for December 31 - January 4, 2008 - TXT (for PDAs or text editing)

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

Printer-friendly version

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Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

When you make tonight's meatloaf, make an extra loaf for the meatloaf sandwiches on Thursday. If you end up having leftover meatloaf from tonight, just freeze the second loaf and use the leftovers from the first loaf for your sandwiches. The grocery list is doubled for this purpose. If you end up freezing a loaf, be sure to label your frozen dishes with cooking instructions!
Prepare the sticky chicken for tomorrow so it can marinate overnight in the spices.

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° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done.

Repeat for second loaf. You can cook both loaves at the same time but you may need to add a little additional time.

Mashed Potatoes

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.

Bacon Ranch Green Beans

1 package (16 oz) frozen green beans
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled or bacon bits* (I like Hormel Real Bacon Bits)

In a skillet, saute the green beans in butter. Add the salad dressing mix and toss to coat. Just before serving, sprinkle in the bacon and mix.

Roast Sticky Chicken Preparation (for tomorrow)

1 large roasting chicken
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
4 teaspoons salt

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a re-sealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

Save 2 cups of chopped or shredded chicken from tonight for the soup on Friday. Any extra can be bagged and frozen for soups and casseroles if you are not eating it as leftovers. Save your broth for Friday's soup, also.
If you do not have any black beans in your freezer for tomorrow's Black Bean Salad, tonight might be a good night to restock. See this recipe for instructions on preparing beans for your freezer. I have added a bag of dried beans to the grocery list for this purpose.

Roast Sticky Chicken in the Crockpot

Chicken prepared last night
1 cup onion, chopped

When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in crockpot. Cook on low for 5 hours. The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. Use a meat thermometer to ensure that the meat is thoroughly cooked (180° is well done for a whole chicken). Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.

This recipe was originally created by Mimi Hiller of Mimi's Cyber Kitchen, http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/ and this version was actually an adaptation written by Lynn Nelson, former guide of Busy Cooks, http://busycooks.about.com

Wild Rice

Steamed Broccoli (fresh* or frozen)

Dinner Rolls

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

Make the black bean salad ahead of time so it can chill.

Crockpot Enchiladas

1 lb. ground beef, cooked (from freezer)
1 medium onion, sauteed (from freezer)
1/2 tsp. Adobo seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 whole wheat flour tortillas
1 can corn, drained
1 10-oz. can enchilada sauce
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
2 cups shredded cheddar or Mexican blend* cheese
sour cream

In a bowl, combine ground beef, onion, Adobo, salt, and pepper. In another bowl, mix the Rotel and enchilada sauce. Place 2 tortillas in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place half of the following in layers over the tortillas: meat, corn, sauce mixture, and cheese. Repeat layers. Cook on low 5-6 hours.

Black Bean Salad

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. sugar
2 cups black beans (from freezer*, thawed & rinsed, or from last night if you prepared beans for the freezer as mentioned in last night's notes, or 1 can, rinsed)
1 cup cut corn, drained
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 Tbsp. dried parsley

Combine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and sugar. Mix well and combine with remaining ingredients. Toss before serving.

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

Use leftover meatloaf from Monday for tonight's sandwiches.
Prepare the Jello Parfait in the morning.

Meatloaf Sandwiches

leftover meatloaf, cut into thick slices
sliced cheese (I like Provolone* for this, but kids would rather have American)
sourdough bread

Slice the meatloaf into 1/2 inch thick slices and place slice on top of a piece of bread. Top with a slice of cheese. Warm in microwave for a few seconds until cheese has just started to melt. Place another piece of bread on top and warm for a second.

Pasta Salad

8 ounces rotini pasta, cooked and chilled
2 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained
1/2 cup diced Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup pitted black olives, drained (optional)
1 cup Italian-style salad dressing

Combine all ingredients and serve chilled.

Orange Jell-O Parfait

1 sm. Jell-O (orange)
1 c. sour cream
1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can mandarin oranges, drained well

Mix the Jell-O packet with the sour cream. Add vanilla and mix well. Fold in Cool Whip. Layer fruit and Jell-O mixture in parfait glasses. Chill. Serve cold.

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

If you start the soup in the morning, the soup has all day for flavors to mingle and develop. If you do not have a pressure cooker, use your crockpot.
This recipe, as any soup recipe, is flexible, designed to use what you have. When I don’t have barley I substitute brown rice. If I don’t have all the veggies I use what I have. If I have leftover diced turkey or chicken, that can be substituted for the chicken thighs, which is what we are doing tonight with our leftovers from Tuesday's Roast Sticky Chicken. (If you did not have any leftovers from Tuesday, add the chicken thighs to your grocery list.) My motto is use what you have.
If you did not save your chicken stock from Tuesday, be sure to add 4 cans of chicken broth to your grocery list.
Make a large salad tonight and save the extra for leftovers over the weekend. Just add your cheese, salad dressing and any "crunchies" each night just before serving.

Chicken Barley Vegetable Soup

Compliments of Marilyn Moll of UrbanHomemaker.com

6 chicken thighs, skinned (or leftover chicken from Tuesday*)
2/3 Cup barley
8 Cups chicken stock* (leftover from Tuesday) or water
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 small carrots, sliced
1 Cup chopped broccoli florets (optional)
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped or 2 TB tomato powder (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TB tamari, or naturally fermented soy sauce*
1 tsp. basil
1/8 tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. thyme
Dash of cayenne pepper
2 TB minced fresh parsley

Put all of the ingredients except the parsley into an 8 qt. stock pot or 5 liter or larger pressure cooker such as a Duromatic™. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. In the Duromatic™ bring ingredients to second red ring and pressure for 15 minutes; allow pressure to drop naturally. Or simmer the soup conventionally for 1-1/4 hours, stirring occasionally, in a large stock pot. Remove the chicken thighs from the soup. When cooled slightly, remove the meat and cut into bite sized pieces. Return the meat to the soup. Simmer the soup an additional 10-15 minutes if desired. Adjust seasonings to taste, and add the parsley and serve.

Crusty Bread

Salad

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

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