Basic Weekly Menu Plan

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Each weekly menu is designed to be easy to make, time-saving and delicious.

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Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Don't forget about your holiday planning. If you have not yet seen the article on the Menus4Moms.com homepage that I've mentioned the last few weeks, be sure to check out 2008 Holiday Timetable: Get a Jumpstart on Holiday Planning by Marilyn Moll of The Urban Homemaker. This week is Week #7 - Shopping Week #2. Marilyn reminds us to "Complete as much shopping as possible. Take advantage of many items that are on sale before Thanksgiving! Check Thanksgiving menus and grocery lists: purchase any additional, needed supplies."
   
   
2. Use a large enough roast to have leftovers on Wednesday.
   
   
   

Roast Beef with Potatoes and Carrots

• 3-4 lb. roast, cut of your choice
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 4 small potatoes, quartered
• pepper
• Adobo seasoning

Trim fat from roast. Sprinkle with Adobo seasoning and pepper. Place meat in slow cooker. If your slow cooker has the ability to cook on the stovetop in the slow cooker pan, you can sear the meat on each side before putting it in the slow cooker. Put slow cooker on low (or auto if you can cook it on high for 2 hours and have it switch to low after 2 hours) and add vegetables. Cook 8 hours.

 

 

Sliced Peaches

Dinner Rolls

 

 

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. We recently restocked our freezer with meatballs, If you don't have any meatballs in the freezer, either buy a bag of pre made meatballs at the grocery store, or try this recipe for restocking your freezer.
   
   
2. This recipe came from my dear friend, Lori Gassler. Thanks, Lori, for sharing this “have again”!
   
   
   
   
   

 Sweet and Sour Meatballs

• 1 can of crushed pineapples
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce (I added a bit more of this)
• 24 meatballs (from freezer)  

Mix all ingredients except meatballs in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until well blended.  Add meatballs. Simmer for 10 min. Serve over cooked rice.

 

White Rice

Sugar Snap Peas

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Use leftover roast from Tuesday for this meal.
   
   
2. Tonight we are going to boil double the amount of potatoes we need for our Mashed Potatoes. Before you mash tonight's potatoes, set half of your boiled potatoes aside and cool for tomorrow night's Potato Salad. If you have time tonight, go ahead and prepare the potato salad to allow plenty of time to chill. If you cannot make the salad tonight, be sure to prepare early in the day tomorrow to allow chill time.

  Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches

Slice leftover roast beef thinly and heat. Place roast beef slices on top of bread and cover with hot gravy before serving.

 

 Mashed Potatoes

• 6 potatoes (plus potatoes for tomorrow's salad...see notes above and recipe below)
• 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. Serve with butter or gravy.

 

 

 Broccoli

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. If you do not have chicken in your freezer, you can buy some precooked chicken strips from the refrigerated meat section of the grocer.
   
   
2. This potato salad recipe has been a family favorite for years. Plan ahead because it needs to chill.
   
   
3. Save any remaining vegetables for tomorrow night's Chef Salad.
   
   
4. This Five Cup Salad will feed my family for two nights, but if you have big eaters you may want to double the recipe to make sure you have enough for tonight and tomorrow night.
   
   
   
   

 Chicken Pita Pockets

• 6 Pita bread pockets (preferably whole wheat for health)
• 1 lb. sliced chicken (from freezer) (approx. 1 lb. or 2-3 pieces)
• 1 sliced red or green* bell pepper
• 1/2 sliced red onions
• 4 oz. sliced mushrooms
• shredded lettuce
• 1 chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup sandwich peppers or relish
• 6 tbsp mayonnaise or other condiments as preferred

If your pitas are not ready to stuff, prepare them by cutting a sliver off of the widest side. I find that they stuff without cracking if I steam them or heat them in the microwave briefly to soften them. Prepare each pita as preferred using any combination of the above fillings.

 

GeGe's Potato Salad

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 egg
• 4 tbsp butter/margarine
• 3/4 tsp celery seed
• 1/4 tsp dry mustard
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup mayo* or salad dressing
• 7 med potatoes, cooked peeled and diced
• 3 hard cooked eggs, chopped
• paprika

In sauce pan, combine sugar and corn starch. Add next 7 ingredients. Cook and stir over low heat until bubbly. Remove from heat.
Add onion and mayo and cool. In a medium bowl, combine potatoes and hard cooked eggs. Gently fold in dressing. Chill. Just before serving sprinkle with paprika.

 

 

Five Cup Salad

 

• 1 cup pineapple chucks, drained
• 1 cup mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1 cup coconut flakes

Mix together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. The traditional dressing for a chef salad was originally Thousand Island so if you are up for trying a homemade version, I've included a recipe for you. These ingredients are on the grocery list, but feel free to substitute you own favorite dressing. If you decide to make the Thousand Island, plan ahead because it needs to chill.
   
   
   
   

   Chef's Salad

• 2 tomatoes, cut in wedges
• 8 cups salad greens
• 1/4 cup green onions, sliced
• 3 hard boiled eggs, sliced or cubed
• 2 cucumbers, sliced
• 1 lb. Salami or cooked deli ham* (thin), cut in strips
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 - 1 lb. cubed cooked, or deli* turkey
• minced parsley

To make salad, toss tomatoes, greens, green onions, and cucumbers together. Place in deep salad bowl and top with salami and turkey, cheese and eggs. Serve dressing separately in sauce bowl, sprinkled with parsley.

Thousand Island Dressing

• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 dash red pepper
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon catsup
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup Chili sauce

Combine all ingredients. Chill.

 

Leftover Five Cup Salad

 

 

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

This week's Grocery List can be downloaded here:

Grocery List for November 17-21 , 2008 - PDF

Grocery List for November 17-21 , 2008 - TXT (for PDAs or text editing)

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

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