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Monday

• Basil Balsamic Fish
• Zucchini Casserole
• Fresh Fruit Salad

Tuesday

• French Dip Sandwiches
• Tammy's Roasted Potatoes
• Cucumbers and Tomatoes

Wednesday

• Stuffed Shells
• Lemon Green Beans
• Italian Bread

Thursday

• Beef and Bean Burritos
• Corn Salad

Friday

• Chicken Salad Pita Pockets
• Cucumber and Tomato Salad
• Potato Chips
• Frozen Grapes

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday: None

 Basil Balsamic Fish

• 1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• Few drops hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 c. minced fresh basil (or 1/8 c. dried)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 lbs. firm-fleshed fish (excellent with mahi-mahi, swordfish, salmon steaks)

Whisk together the vinegar, oil, and hot pepper sauce. Stir in the basil. Pour over the fish and marinate about 45 minutes, turning once. Broil or grill about 4 minutes on each side, depending on thickness of fish.

 

 

Zucchini Herb Casserole

• 1/3 cup uncooked long grain white rice
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, cubed
• 1 cup sliced green onions
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/4 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 1/2 cups seeded, chopped tomatoes
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
  

Combine the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, until rice is tender.

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a shallow 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the zucchini, green onions, and garlic 5 minutes, or until tender. Season with garlic salt, basil, paprika, and oregano. Mix in the cooked rice, tomatoes, and 1 cup cheese. Continue to cook and stir until heated through. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Fruit Salad

Your favorite combination of canned or fresh fruit. Be sure to use up any fruit you have purchased recently. I suggest grapes, banana, apple, and pineapple (these are on your grocery list).

 

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Start your roast in the morning. If it is hot where you live, consider putting your slow cooker outside to avoid heating up the house.
   
   
2. Save 3 cups of meat from tonight's roast for Thursday's burritos.
   
   
3. Today's cucumber and tomato salad can be made fresh in the morning. You should make enough for tonight and Friday, so if you need to double the recipe, be sure to add the ingredients to the grocery list. Smaller families should be able to get by with just one recipe for both nights.
   
   

French Dip Sandwiches

• 3-4 lb. roast
• 2 tbsp. yellow mustard
• 1 package onion soup mix
• French rolls

Place meat in slow cooker, cover with mustard and sprinkle with onion soup mix. Cover and cook on low for 8-12 hours (depending on how hot your slow cooker cooks). When fully cooked, carve into thick slices or shred. Strain broth and skim fat if desired. Serve meat on French rolls with juice in small bowls or saucers for dipping.

Tammy's Roasted Potatoes

• 6-8 large baking potatoes,cubed
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pkg. onion soup mix

Combine cubed potatoes, olive oil, and soup mix in a large, resealable bag. Shake until potatoes are well coated. Coat a 13x9 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place seasoned potatoes in baking dish and bake at 350° F for 45 minutes or until tender.

 

 

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 ripe tomatoes, minced
• 1-2 cucumbers, minced
• 1 lg. red pepper, minced
• 1 lg. red onion , minced
• basil, oregano, tarragon, and parsley (fresh if available, dried if necessary) to taste
• Lots of fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 squeeze lemon

Stir in olive oil - enough to "coat" everything. Serve chilled.

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Today we are going to make a large pot of spaghetti sauce. Although I like meat sauce, this time we are going to make marinara because we will be using it in over our shells and saving some for future use. Start your marinara sauce late in the morning in your slow cooker and let it simmer all afternoon. After preparing your sauce, cool and freeze in 2 cup portions, all but what is needed for the shells.
   
   
2. Feel free to use fresh tomatoes in place of the canned tomatoes if you have them. It's still a little early here for my tomatoes to be ripe in the garden so I'm using canned.
   
   
3. If you don't have any black beans in the freezer, rinse and sort a bag of beans tonight and set them to soak so they will be ready to cook tomorrow morning.
   
   
4. Make the Lemon Vinaigrette tonight for use on the green beans and save the rest for your Corn Salad tomorrow night.
   

 

  Marinara Sauce

• 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
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. basil

Combine all ingredients and simmer in a slow cooker for 4-5 hours on low.

  Stuffed Shells

• 1/2 box of jumbo shells or manicotti
• Marinara sauce
• 3 c. Ricotta cheese (easy to make from milk if you are interested)
• 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp Parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 16 oz. Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Cook shells according to package directions. Mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, salt, and pepper. Stuff shells or manicotti with cheese mixture and place in a 13" x 9" baking dish coated with non-stick spray. Spoon marinara sauce over each shell and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350°F.

 

  Lemon Green Beans

• 1 pkg. (28-30 oz.) frozen green beans* or about 1 1/2 lbs. fresh green beans with ends removed and beans snapped
• ¼ cup Lemon Vinaigrette (see below)

Cook green beans according to package directions. Drain. Place in bowl and season with salt, pepper and vinaigrette. Toss to coat.

 

Lemon Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed from about 2 lemons* or bottled lemon juice)
• 1/2 cup vinegar (I used white-wine vinegar)
• 4 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 cups olive oil (the extra virgin light tasting is best for this recipe or use salad oil)

Mix first 5 ingredients in a small bowl or jar thoroughly until sugar and salt have dissolved. Add olive oil and stir until combined. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks in airtight container.

 

  Italian Bread

Use your favorite type of bread, either homemade or from the grocer. If you wish, you may serve it with a small dish of olive oil sprinkled with Italian herbs and Parmesan cheese for dipping.

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. Use 3 cups of the leftover meat from Tuesday's French Dip roast for tonight's burritos. If you haven't already done so, shred the meat by hand or in a food processor. On the stovetop, cook the shredded meat with taco seasoning according to the package directions.
   
   
2. If you are making a pot of black beans, drain and rinse them (they should have been soaking overnight) and cook them all day on low. Reserve 3 cups for tonight's burritos and freeze the rest with the juice in 2 cup servings. If you would like a side dish of refried beans to go along with your burritos, the recipe is below.
   
   
3. Depending on your family size, you may wish to use half of the fillings to make 6 burritos tonight and the other 6 to make a pan of enchiladas to freeze. To make enchiladas, spread the tortillas with the beans and beef as directed below, then sprinkle with cheese. Roll up tortillas and pour red or green enchilada sauce (not on grocery list) over enchiladas in pan. Cover with heavy duty foil and freeze. To bake, cook at 400°F for 45-60 minutes or until heated through, uncovering for the last 10 minutes. You may sprinkle extra cheese on top for the last 10 minutes if you wish.
   
   
4. Use some of the Lemon Vinaigrette that you made for your green beans last night in your Corn Salad recipe tonight. If you still have some leftover, save it and use on salads.
   
   
5. Wash enough grapes Friday. Put washed grapes in the freezer. If you haven't tried frozen grapes before, be warned that they are rather tart. You can roll the wet grapes in a little sugar before you freeze them if you want. My kids love this fun, cold, refreshing treat.
   
   
   
   
   

   Black Bean and Beef Burritos

• 3 cups seasoned shredded beef (see notes above)
• 3 cups seasoned black beans (see below)
• shredded cheddar cheese
• 12 large flour tortillas (preferably whole wheat for health)
• Shredded lettuce
• Chopped tomatoes
• Sour cream

Heat beef and bean fillings in the microwave until evenly hot. Steam or microwave tortillas until warm so they won't crack when filling and rolling. Spread 1/4 cup each of the seasoned black beans and beef on each tortilla. Add shredded cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes. Roll each tortilla up and serve.

Seasoned Black Beans

• 3 cups black beans, prepared according to notes above and mashed
• Adobo seasoning to taste
• Cumin to taste

Mix all together until well blended.

 

Refried Beans

Mash 4 cups of beans prepared according to the notes section above, adding enough liquid to make beans mushy and soft. Heat 2 T. olive oil in a fry pan and add mashed beans and spices (adobo, cumin, salt) to taste. Stir until hot and bubbly and serve topped with shredded cheddar cheese.

 

 Corn Salad

• 2 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen corn
• 2 medium red pepper, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander (or fresh basil)
• salt
• pepper
• 2/3 cup Lemon Vinaigrette (see recipe above)
  

Thaw frozen corn kernels. Pat corn dry. Toss together in a bowl, corn, bell peppers, coriander, (basil if you want to try a little something extra) and vinaigrette. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. Tonight we are using chicken from the freezer. If you do not have enough chicken in the freezer, you can buy some precooked chicken strips from the refrigerated meat section of the grocer or buy some chicken parts and cook to restock your freezer.
   
   
2. Don't forget about the frozen grapes in the freezer that we prepared on Thursday. Take them out of the freezer about 15 minutes before you serve them to allow them to thaw just a bit.
   
   
   
   

 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 tomatoes
• 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.

Leftover Cucumber and Tomato Salad (from Tuesday)

Potato Chips

 

 

Frozen Grapes

 

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

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