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Basic Weekly Menu Plan

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Grocery Tip of the week

Banana Strategy

To keep bananas from getting overripe, put them in the fridge in a plastic bag. They won't turn dark, and will keep for a week.
Cmele

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Monday
  • Oven Fried Chicken
  • Greens of Your Choice
  • Buttermilk Biscuits
Tuesday
  • Pork Chops and Applesauce
  • Glazed Carrots
  • Lima Beans
Wednesday
  • Pepperoni Pizza
  • Salad
  • Pineapple Parfait
Thursday
  • Chicken Pasta Salad
  • Bread of Your Choice
Friday
  • Michele's Signature Salmon
  • Rice Pilaf
  • English Peas with Butter
  • Apple Slices

 

 

This week's Grocery List can be downloaded here:

Grocery List for September 8-12 , 2008 - PDF

Grocery List for September 8-12 , 2008 - TXT (for PDAs or text editing)

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

Printer-friendly version

Would you like the nutrition data, point values, and meal makeovers for the current menu?


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Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

  1. This is a really easy chicken recipe that my husband introduced me to when we first met. Sometimes we add a slice of Swiss cheese to the top of each chicken breast the last 5 minutes of baking time. Be sure to add swiss cheese to your grocery list if you would like this addition.

  2. Since you will be using the oven tonight anyway, it might be a good time to buy extra chicken breasts, especially if you did not cook extra chicken last week. Season with a few of your favorite spices (we like Montreal Chicken Seasoning from McCormick; Mary Ann likes Adobo Seasoning) and bake along with tonight's dinner. Allow this extra chicken to cool while you're eating dinner and then cube and freeze for restocking purposes. If you decide to do this, make sure to add extra chicken to your grocery list.


Menus 4 Moms recipe Oven Fried Chicken
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/3 c. dry bread crumbs
  • 1/2 tsp. dried basil, oregano, or italian seasoning*
  • 1/8 tsp. pepper
  • 1 tbsp. margarine or butter, melted

Rinse chicken. Pat dry. In a small mixing bowl stir together the bread crumbs, herb, and pepper. Add the melted margarine and toss to coat.

Arrange chicken pieces in a baking dish. Sprinkle the top of each chicken piece with the crumb mixture, pressing onto the chicken to coat.

Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender and no longer pink. Do not turn.

 

Menus 4 Moms recipe  Sautéed Greens of Your Choice

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

 

 Menus 4 Moms recipe Buttermilk Biscuits
  • 4 cups self-rising flour
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1-1/2 cups 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. Bake half of the biscuits on cookie sheet at 475°F until brown. Place the other half of the biscuits on a cookie sheet or other flat pan and put in the freezer until frozen. Before going to bed or early the next morning, bag the biscuits in a dated freezer bag for later use. If cooking thawed biscuits, follow normal cooking instructions. To cook frozen biscuits, extend cooking time. Serve hot biscuits with butter and jelly.

 

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

  1. If you plan to serve the applesauce cold, be sure to make it in advance so it has time to chill.

 

Menus 4 Moms recipe Pork Chops and Applesauce

  • 6 pork chops, trimmed of fat
  • bread crumbs
  • 2 eggs
  • oil for browning

Tenderize pork chops with a metal pounder. Beat eggs in a bowl. Put bread crumbs in a container large enough to fit one pork chop in it at a time. Dip each pork chop in the bread crumbs, then the egg, then back into the bread crumbs. Line a 9x13 pan with heavy duty foil and preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat oil in a fry pan. Brown the breaded pork chops lightly on each side. Place chops in the foil lined pan and bake covered at 350°F for 1 hour, turning halfway through.

Homemade Applesauce:

  • 5 Granny Smith apples
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1-2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1-2 tsp. sugar

Wash, peel, core, and slice apples. Place all ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer, stirring occasionally until apples are tender. You may need to add more water if it cooks down. You may either serve these hot as slices or mash them up and serve them as hot or cold applesauce.

 

 
Menus 4 Moms recipe 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.

 

Menus 4 Moms recipe Buttered Lima Beans
  • 1 (16 oz.) package frozen lima beans
  • 1 tbsp butter

Cook lima beans according to package directions. Drain. Add butter to taste.

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

  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.

 

Menus 4 Moms recipe Pepperoni Pizza
  • Your favorite pizza dough recipe (see notes above)
  • 28 oz. can spaghetti sauce
  • 2 cups mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • pepperoni

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

 

 

Salad
 


Menus 4 Moms recipe Pineapple Parfait
  • 2- 20oz. cans pineapple chunks or tidbits, drained
  • 16 oz. ricotta or cottage cheese
  • 16 tsp. honey (about 1/2 cup)
  • toasted shredded coconut, for garnish

Whip ricotta cheese until smooth. In 4 parfait glasses, layer 1/4 cup pineapple, 1/4 cup ricotta cheese, and 2 tsp. of honey. Repeat layers and top with remaining pineapple. Garnish with toasted coconut and serve.

 
 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

  1. This makes a LOT of salad.  Thanks again to the Stephens and Lyle families for sharing this recipe.

  2. Keep the lettuce separate and add it in right before eating.  If the lettuce sits in the salad for too long it will get soggy. 


Menus 4 Moms recipe Chicken Pasta Salad
  • 5 cups chicken (about 3 breasts), cooked and cubed (from freezer)
  • 2 cups grape halves
  • 2 cups chopped lettuce
  • 12 oz. spiral pasta, cooked and drained
  • 1/2 cucumber, sliced and quartered
  • 3 green onions, diced (optional)


Toss together in a bowl. 

Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar (I sometimes use plain white vinegar if that’s all I have)
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. dried chopped onion
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp. parsley


Mix all ingredients in a sealable container and shake well.  Pour over the salad and mix in. 


Bread of Your Choice

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday: none

Menus 4 Moms recipe Michele's Signature Salmon
  • 4 (6 oz) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 2 tsp. minced garlic
  • ½ cup sliced almonds
  • ½ med. red onion, thinly sliced
  • 10-12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Place salmon skin side down in shallow roasting pan. Top with Soy sauce, garlic, almonds, onion and tomatoes Cover fish with a foil tent. Bake at 350°F for 30 - 40 minutes.

Alternate ingredients: Substitute Spanish or Vidalia onions for Red onions, or top with parsley or Italian seasonings. Substitute any citrus fruit for tomatoes: oranges, pineapple, lemons or limes (even mango or papaya).

 

Menus 4 Moms recipe Rice Pilaf
  • 3 T. olive oil
  • 1 medium onion chopped (from freezer)
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1/2 green pepper chopped, seeded
  • 1/2 red pepper chopped, seeded
  • 1/2 cup of frozen peas, thawed
  • 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 peppers in oil until tender. 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).

 
 
English Peas with Butter
 
 
Apple Slices

 

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

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