You are here:  Home / Weekly Menu / Archive / June 16-20, 2008

Monday

• Roast Pork Tenderloin
• Creamed Peas
• Applesauce

Tuesday

• Tacos
• Black Bean Salad
• Mexicorn
• Fried Ice Cream

Wednesday

• Grilled BBQ Chicken
• Sauteed Okra
• Cornbread Casserole

Thursday

• Pork Lo Mein
• Salad
• Fortune Cookies

Friday

• BBQ Chicken Pizza
• Leftover Salad
• Smoothies

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Pork is one of our features for planned leftovers this week. Buy a tenderloin large enough to feed your family for 2 meals at least, preferably more. We will be cubing the leftovers for Pork Lo Mein later in the week and any more leftovers that you have after the Lo Mein on Thursday can be frozen for future use.
   
   
   

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.

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.

Applesauce

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. I suggest making soft tacos with whole wheat tortillas for a healthier meal, but you may substitute hard tacos if you wish.
   
   
2. If you don't have black beans in the freezer, you may prepare dry black beans according to the package directions or these instructions and freeze all but 4 cups, using those for the Black Bean Salad.
   
   
3. If you don't have browned taco seasoned ground beef in the freezer, make sure to add several pounds to your grocery list to restock your freezer supply.

 Tacos

• 1 lb. browned taco seasoned ground beef (from freezer)
• 1 pkg. whole wheat tortillas
• cheddar cheese
• shredded lettuce
• chopped tomatoes
• salsa

Reheat taco seasoned ground beef. Serve meat with remaining ingredients at the table so everyone can make their own tacos.

 Black Bean Salad

• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tsp. sugar
• 4 cups black beans (from freezer*, thawed & rinsed, or 1 can, rinsed)
• 2 cups cut corn, drained
• 2 cups chopped red bell pepper
• 4 Tbsp. dried parsley

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

Mexicorn

Fried Ice Cream

• 1 sheet of pie pastry from the refrigerator section
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 qt. ice cream (preferably vanilla)
• oil for deep frying
• 2/3 cup honey

In a large, ungreased baking dish, place the unrolled pie pastry flat on the bottom. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the pastry. Prick whole surface with fork and bake at 400°F for 10 - 12 minutes or until pastry is lightly browned. cool on a wire rack for 5 - 10 minutes.

In a large, resealable plastic bag, place the cooked pastry and coarsely crush. Transfer "crumbs" to a shallow bowl. Using a small ice cream scoop, form about 8 scoops of ice cream and roll each scoop in the pastry "crumbs". cover and freeze for 2 hours or until firm.

In an electric skillet or deep-fryer, heat oil to 375° F. Fry frozen ice cream balls for 8-10 seconds on until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Place immediately into chilled bowls and drizzle with honey. Serve immediately.

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. We are going to grill extra bbq chicken tonight for use on Friday's pizza. Chop your leftover chicken into cubes or shred it and place in leftover container for BBQ Chicken Pizza.
   
   
   

 Grilled BBQ Chicken

• 4lbs. chicken parts (we like boneless, skinless)
• 1 bottle of your favorite bbq sauce* or your favorite bbq sauce recipe

Place chicken in container and pour bbq sauce over your chicken, reserving some of the bbq sauce for basting. Turn chicken over to coat well. Let marinade at least 30 minutes.

Preheat outdoor grill for medium-low heat. Spray rack lightly with oil spray to prevent sticking. Place chicken on grill rack and grill about 5-10 minutes , basting with remaining bbq sauce as you desire. Turn chicken over and cook on other side about 5-10 minutes more or until juices run clear.

 

 Sauteed Okra

• 2 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen okra (not breaded)* or about 1 lb. fresh okra, sliced with tops removed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, if desired

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add okra, salt and pepper to taste, and pecans, if desired. Pan fry okra, stirring occasionally, until no longer "slimy", about 15 minutes. Allow okra to "brown" but not burn. Serve warm.

 Cornbread Casserole

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 pkg corn muffin mix (I used Jiffy)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can cream-style corn

In a mixing bowl, beat first five ingredients until combined. Stir in the corn. Pour into a greased 11x7 baking dish. Bake, uncovered at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and pull away from sides of dish.

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:   

1. Use leftover pork from Tuesday to make this a super speedy meal.
   
   
2. Make a large salad tonight and save half for leftovers tomorrow. Add any crunchies and salad dressing just before serving each night to keep salad crispy.

 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.

Salad

 

 

Fortune Cookies

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

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.
   
   
3. Wednesday we made BBQ chicken and saved some for tonight's meal. If you did not save any, use chicken from your freezer and season with your favorite bbq sauce, or add extra chicken to your grocery list.

 Barbecue Chicken Pizza

• Prepared pizza crust
• 1 jar barbecue sauce
• 1 cup cooked chicken (from freezer or from Wednesday)
• Sliced red onion
• 2 cups cheddar cheese

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

 

 

Salad

 

 Fruit Smoothies

• 1/2 quart vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup frozen strawberries* (or in-season fresh fruit of your choice)
• 1 banana
• 1 cup orange juice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and serve cold. If you prefer a more slushy effect, add crushed ice (if your blender can handle it). If your blender doesn't have a strong motor, thaw the strawberries before blending.

 

 

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

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