You are here:  Home / Weekly Menu / Archive / Jan. 21-25, 2008

Monday

• Chicken Enchiladas
• Refried Beans
• Spanish Rice

Tuesday

• Roast Pork Loin
• Baked Potatoes
• Creamed Peas

Wednesday

• Spaghetti and Meatballs
• Salad
• Garlic Bread

Thursday

• Quick Pork Lo Mein
• Egg Drop Soup
• Fortune Cookies

Friday

• Baked Potato Soup
• Crusty Bread
• Salad
• Apple Crumble

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. These chicken enchiladas are a family favorite.
   
   
2. We are separating the recipe into 2 smaller pans for planned leftovers. If you have a larger family you may want to cook all the enchiladas in one 9x13 pan and not have any leftover to freeze.
   
   
3. We regularly cook a bag of dried beans and freeze the extra in juice for use in place of canned beans. If you have not done this, you can cook some dried beans using these directions or you can buy a couple of cans of black beans. I've added a bag of dried beans to the grocery list. So make sure you delete them if you already have freezer beans.
   
   

  Chicken Enchiladas

• 2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken (from freezer)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (substitute)
• 1 can chicken broth
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 1 onions, sauteed (from freezer)
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped & sauteed
• cilantro
• cumin
• Adobo or garlic salt
• 6 whole wheat flour tortillas (if you can't find them, get regular ones)
• 2 cups Mexican blend cheese

Combine soup, 3/4 can chicken broth, and sour cream. Set aside 1 cup of this mixture. To the remaining mixture, add chicken, onion, pepper, and spices to taste. Add 1 cup of the cheese.

Place 2-3 T. of mixture onto each tortilla, roll up, and place the tortillas in 2- 9x9 pans. Add the remaining chicken broth to the reserved soup mixture and pour over enchiladas in each pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese over enchiladas. Cover foil pan tightly with foil or plastic wrap and freeze, making sure to label with ingredients and baking instructions. Cook other pan of enchiladas at 350°F until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

  Refried Beans

• 4 cups black beans with juice (from freezer)
• cumin
• Adobo or garlic salt
• olive oil
• 1 can red enchilada sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mash 4 cups of beans, adding enough juice to make beans mushy and soft. Heat 2 T. olive oil in a fry pan and add mashed beans and spices to taste. Stir until hot and bubbly. Heat enchilada sauce in a sauce pan and serve beans topped with enchilada sauce and shredded cheddar cheese.

  Spanish Rice

• 3 T. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 green pepper, chopped and 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)
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 1/2 t. cumin

Saute onion, 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).

 

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Save some of tonight's pork for Thursday's Quick Pork "Lo Mein".
   
   
2. Bake 4 extra potatoes tonight for our Baked Potato Soup on Friday.
   
   
   

Roast Pork Loin

• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp marjoram
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 (about 3-4 lbs.) boneless pork loin roast

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together all seasonings; rub over pork. Place in a shallow roasting pan, preferably sitting up on a roasting rack. (If you do not have a roasting rack that fits in your pan, try rolling up pieces of aluminum foil and laying the rolls across the pan like a rack.) Bake, uncovered, for about 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160° F. Let stand for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Baked Potatoes

• 8 baking potatoes (4 for tonight and 4 for Friday)
• butter
• sour cream
• any additional toppings your family may like

Spray potatoes with olive oil spray. Coat with coarsely ground salt and pepper. Poke several times with a fork and cook in microwave until centers are hot and tender (start with 6 minutes and go from there). Serve the 4 for tonight with butter, sour cream, and any other toppings your family enjoys. Let the 4 potatoes for Friday's Baked Potato Soup cool and then store in your refrigerator until Friday.

 

 

 

Creamed Peas

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• 2 cups frozen peas (use a 10 oz box, or measure 2-cups from a bag of loose frozen peas)

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add flour and stir with a whisk for 1 minute. Do not brown the flour and butter mixture. Continue stirring constantly and add the milk gradually. Add salt, pepper, and sugar. Heat to a simmer and continue cooking, stirring constantly, for one minute. Add peas and heat to a simmer. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until peas are tender-crisp. Do not overcook.

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. If you do not have any meatballs in your freezer, you can purchase a bag of frozen meatballs at the store or you can plan on making meatballs today. I've added 5 lbs. of ground beef to the grocery list for this purpose. You can either follow the M4M Freezer Meatballs recipe that we have used before, or you can use your favorite meatball recipe. I've included my new favorite meatball recipe below and added the ingredients to the grocery list. Be sure to edit your grocery list based on what meatball recipe you chose to use.
   
   
2. Make a large salad tonight and save half for Friday night. Add croutons, bacon bits, sunflower seeds, and any other "crunchies" just before serving each night.
   
   
   

  Meatballs

• 5 lbs. ground beef
• 1 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup steak sauce (I like A1) or worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp basil
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp onion powder

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl by using your hands. (Yes, it's easiest to just get messy and mix away!) If your mixture is a little too dry add a little more steak sauce or worcestershire sauce. If your mixture is a little too moist, add a little more bread crumbs. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place on foil lined baking sheets (the kind with sides!) and bake at 350°F for about 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally with tongs. Allow to cool. Divide into 5 portions: 1 for tonight and 4 in labeled, freezer safe containers.

 

  Spaghetti with Meatballs

• 1 (28 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 onion (from freezer), thawed
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. basil
• meatballs
• 1 (8 oz.) pkg. spaghetti noodles, cooked according to package directions

Combine all ingredients and simmer in a slow cooker for 4-5 hours on low.Serve over cooked spaghetti noodles.

 

 

 Garlic Bread

• 1 loaf ciabatta* or Italian bread
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 4 tsp. minced garlic

Slice bread in half length-wise. Mix butter and garlic well. Spread each half with half of the garlic butter mixture and place halves together on baking sheet. Bake at 350°F until bread is crusty and butter mixture is bubbly.

 

 

Salad

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. Use leftover pork from Tuesday to make this a super speedy meal.

 Quick Pork "Lo Mein"

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb. cooked pork roast, cubed (from Tuesday)
• 2-3 (3 oz.) pkg. pork flavored Ramen Noodles
• 1 1/2 cups water (may need more water if you use 3 pkg. of noodles)
• 1 red* or yellow pepper, cut into strips
• 2 cups broccoli florets* or cauliflower, thawed
• 3 med. green onions, chopped
• 2 tsp parsley
• 1 1/4 tbsp soy sauce

Heat oil in skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add pork and stir fry until reheated, about 2 minutes. Break apart Ramen Noodles and add to skillet with water, seasoning packet and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until noodles are soft.

 

 Egg Drop Soup

• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 green onion with part of green top, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• dash of pepper
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• frozen wanton sheets (optional)

Heat chicken broth, salt and pepper to boiling in saucepan. Stir green onions into eggs. Pour egg mixture slowly into boiling broth, stirring constantly with fork to form shreds of egg.

If you want to add fried wantons to your soup, you can buy frozen wanton sheets (wrappers - not on the grocery list), thaw them and slice them into strips. Deep fry the strips and serve on top of soup.

Fortune Cookies

 

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. This recipe came from our friends Chris and Lucy Baldwin years ago and has been a favorite ever since. If you don't like your potato soup thick, you can always add extra milk.
   
   
2. If you did not bake extra potatoes on Tuesday, be sure to allow extra time tonight to cook and cool 4 potatoes.
   
   
   
   

 Baked Potato Soup

• 4 large baking potatoes, baked and cooled (from Tuesday)
• 2/3 cup butter or margarine
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups milk
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 green onions, chopped and divided
• 12 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled, and divided
• 1 1/4 cups (5 oz.) cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
• 1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise, scoop out pulp and set aside. Discard skins. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thick and bubbly. (This will take some time.)

Add potato pulp, salt, pepper, 2 tbsp green onions, 1/2 cup bacon, and 1 cup cheese. Cook until cheese is melted and soup is heated through. Stir in sour cream. Serve with remaining green onions, bacon and cheese as a garnish.

Crusty Bread

 

Salad

 

 

Apple Crumble

• 1 cup baking mix (I use Bisquick)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1 can pie-sliced apples, drained or 2 cup sliced apple*
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Grease the bottom and sides of an 8x8 or 6x10 inch baking dish. Blend first three ingredients in a bowl. Cut margarine into bits and add to mix. Spread 1/3 of oat mixture in bottom of pan. Place apple slices over mixture. Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture and cinnamon. Bake 30-35 minutes at 350°F. Serve warm with ice cream.

 

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

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