Basic Weekly Menu Plan

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Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Tonight we are gong to cook extra rice to save a step on Wednesday when we will have Fried Rice. Cook enough rice for your family for two nights.
   
   
   

Beef Stroganoff

• 1 lb. ground beef (from freezer)
• 1 medium onion, chopped (from freezer)
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1-2 pkg. fresh sliced mushrooms
• 1 Tbsp. butter , melted
• 1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1 container (8 oz.) sour cream
• cooked rice

Thaw beef and onion in the microwave. Place in a Dutch oven or large fry pan with sliced mushrooms and melted butter and cook until mushrooms are tender and beef and onions are hot. Stir in flour and next 2 ingredients; cook and stir 1 minute. Stir in soup. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sour cream, and heat thoroughly. Serve over cooked rice.

 

  Broccoli with Lemon Juice and Adobo

• 16 oz. frozen broccoli* , steamed, or 2 bunches fresh broccoli, chopped & steamed
• lemon juice
• Adobo seasoning

Cover broccoli with 1 Tbsp. lemon juice (more to taste if needed) and sprinkle with Adobo seasoning. You may add grated Parmesan cheese as well.

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Tonight we are going to double this recipe for the freezer. I have added the doubled portions in (parentheses) at the end of each row of ingredients to help you remember to double.
   
   
2. The size of the baking dishes you will use tonight depends on your family. The doubled recipe will fill up 2-9x13 pans. You could separate this into smaller pans if you desire. Try one 9x13 to use for tonight and fill 2 8x8 freezer safe pans for freezing. Make sure to label your freezer dishes with directions for thawing and baking.
   
   
3. Make a large salad tonight and save half for Friday night. Add any cheeses, dressings, and crunchy items just before serving each night to keep salad from getting soggy.
   
   

  Pepperoni Spaghetti Bake

• 1 lb ground chuck, from freezer (2 lbs .ground beef)
• 1 medium onion, chopped (2 onions)
• 1 small green pepper, chopped (2 peppers)
• 1 (4 oz) can mushrooms, (2 cans)
• 1 (26 oz) jar pasta sauce (2 jars)
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce (2 cans)
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning (2 tsp)
• 1 lb spaghetti, broken into small pieces (2 lbs.)
• 3/4 cup milk(1 1/2 cups)
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten (4 eggs)
• 1 (5 oz) pkg sliced pepperoni (2 pkg.)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (3 cups)
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 cups)
• Freezer Wrap

Place a large pot of water over high heat. Bring to a rapid boil. Boil spaghetti as directed on the package. Drain and rinse. Place ground chuck in a large skillet over medium high heat, or if you have browned ground beef in your freezer, thaw and use that. Add the onion, green pepper and mushrooms to browned beef. Cook until meat is browned being sure to crumble the meat. Drain. Add the pasta sauce, tomato sauce and Italian seasoning. Stir until well combined. Simmer for 15 minutes. Place the eggs and milk in a large bowl and blend. Place the spaghetti in the egg mixture and toss to cover. Lightly spray a large baking dish (or dishes if you are doubling this for the freezer) with a non stick cooking spray. Place half of the spaghetti mixture into the bottom of the pan. (If you are doubling, you will place a fourth of the spaghetti in the bottom of each of two pans, then 1/4 of the sauce over the spaghetti in both pans, and so on.) Place half of the meat sauce over the top of the spaghetti. Repeat for another layer. Put the casseroles in the refrigerator to cool. Once cooled, top the casseroles with the pepperoni and 2 cheeses. Wrap dishes to be frozen with freezer wrap, label with the following cooking instructions :(Thaw the casserole overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil. Bake 45 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake another 15 minutes or until cheese has completely melted.), and freeze for up to 2 months.

For the dish you will use tonight, preheat oven to 350°F, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes or until cheese melts.

Salad

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. This is an authentic Japanese fried rice recipe and is delicious. Mary Ann took cooking lessons when she lived in Japan and this is one of the recipes she learned. It can be made vegetarian style or you can add meat, such as baby shrimp (frozen are easy), cubed cooked chicken, or beef strips. I have not added meat to the grocery list so if you want meat in the fried rice you will need to add it to your grocery list.
   
   
2. You may not have heard of tamari. It is a premium soy sauce that has the wonderful rich flavor of soy sauce but does not taste as salty. It can be quite expensive at health food stores, but the Food Lion in my area carries it for $.99/bottle. It is definitely worth trying; it is all we use except for marinades that require large quantities of soy sauce.
   
   
3. Calrose rice is not the same as white rice. Look for it with the white rice in your grocery store. Cook your rice at least an hour before you plan to start your fried rice. It works better if it is still slightly warm when you fry it.
   
   
4. Edamame are soy beans salted and boiled in the pod. They are a popular Japanese snack that is sold frozen. If your local grocer, health food store, or oriental food store sells them, definitely give them a try. They are very popular with children since they are a finger food and kids like popping the beans from the pod into their mouths. If you can't find them, serve Snow Peas with dip.
   

Fried Rice

• Calrose rice, cooked (about 2-3 cups)
• 1 egg
• 1 onion, chopped
• frozen peas and carrots, thawed
• corn if you like it
• meat (optional, not on grocery list)
• soy sauce or tamari

Cook calrose rice according to directions. Heat some oil in wok or deep fry pan (I use about a tablespoon) and scramble one egg in it. Remove egg and add some more oil (I add about 3 tbsp) to the pan, heating. Add chopped onion, some thawed peas & carrots (and corn if you like), and anything else you like in your rice. We sometimes add leftover chicken or canned baby shrimp. When the onions are tender, add the rice and add soy sauce to taste and stir with a big flat wooden spoon or large cooking chopsticks, if you have them (mine are about 18" long). Add the cooked egg near the end of cooking time and stir well. When the rice is heated through and a bit crispy, it is ready to serve.

 

 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.

 

 

 Edamame* or Sugar Snap Peas

Boil 1 bag of frozen edamame in salted water until they float. Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water, and sprinkle with coarse salt. Serve at room temperature by holding the pod to your mouth and squeezing until the beans pop into your mouth. Discard the pod.

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. For those of you with dairy allergies, you can skip the Brussels sprout recipe and just cook the Brussels sprouts on the stove top in water. Then, after draining, season to taste with salt and pepper. The grocery list does, however, reflect the Brussels Sprouts with Cream Sauce recipe. (add this to makeover but delete here)
   
   
2. Couscous, a staple grain in many North African countries, is a coarsely ground semolina pasta. You can find boxed couscous, both flavored and unflavored, near the rice in your grocery store. If you haven't had couscous before, give it a try. Just follow the directions on the box. My kids love it but be warned...my toddler makes a total MESS eating couscous!
   

 

 Mandarin Topped Chops

• 6 pork chops (we like boneless thin pork loin chops but any cut works)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• pepper to taste

In a skillet, brown chops on both sides in oil. Top with oranges, sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until meat juices run clear.

 

 

 

   Brussels Sprouts with Cream Sauce

• 2 cups frozen Brussels sprouts
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. chopped onion (from freezer)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 tsp. dry white wine
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Cook Brussels sprouts according to package directions but without salt.

Meanwhile, in small saucepan over low heat, or in double boiler, melt butter. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, 3 minutes or until soft. Add flour and cook, stirring frequently, about 1 minute. Gradually add milk, wine and pepper; cook until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat; stir in cheese until melted. If sauce becomes too thick, add additional 1-2 tablespoons skim milk. Drain brussels sprouts; pour sauce over sprouts. Makes 4 servings. Fat 4 grams. Cholesterol 2 milligrams.

Reprinted from Cooks.com.

Couscous

 

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. You may have pizza dough in your freezer from several weeks ago if you doubled the recipe when we last had pizza. If not, 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. Thanks to Paula for tonight's pizza recipe!
   

Greek Pizza

• Your favorite pizza dough recipe (see notes above)
• olive oil
• oregano
• basil
• garlic salt or adobo*
• 1 bag baby spinach
• 2 ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 4 oz. feta cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese

Arrange ingredients on pizza crust in the order listed. Bake at 450°F until hot and bubbly.

 

Salad

Grapes

 

* 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 February 16-20, 2009 - PDF

Grocery List for February 16-20 , 2009 - TXT (for PDAs or text editing)

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Eating healthy? Find out how to get the meal makeovers, nutrition data and point values for the menus.

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