Basic Weekly Menu Plan

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Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Use any leftover chicken from tonight in your Chicken Orecchiette on Wednesday. Just reheat it for a short time in the microwave on Wednesday.
   
   
2. Make some extra broccoli tonight to save for toppings on our Potato Bar on Friday.
   
   
   
   
   

Crockpot Lemon Pepper Chicken

• 1 whole roaster/fryer chicken (about 5 pounds)
• 2 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning

Spray crockpot with olive oil spray. Put washed, cleaned out whole chicken in the crockpot. Sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning. Cook on high 5-6 hours or on low 8-10 hours. There is no need to add liquid as the chicken will make it's own juices while in the crockpot.

 

Steamed Broccoli

 

Tammy's 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.

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. If you don't have browned ground beef in your freezer, be sure to add it to the grocery list and consider adding an extra 5 pounds to cook for freezer restocking.
   
   
2. If you don't have sauteed onion in your freezer, make sure to add it to your grocery list.
   
   
   
   
   

 Easy Beef and Pasta Supper

• 1 lb. ground beef, browned (from freezer)
• 1 onion, chopped and sauteed (from freezer)
• 1 28 oz. jar pasta sauce
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 16 oz. Mueller's Ready Cut pasta (large elbows)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Combine first five ingredients over medium heat and heat until simmering. Add cooked, drained pasta and stir. Sprinkle with cheese before serving.

 

 

Sugar Snap Peas

 

 Garlic Bread

• 1 loaf ciabatta* or Italian bread
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Slice bread in half length-wise. Mix butter and garlic well. Spread each half with half of the garlic butter mixture; sprinkle a small amount of grated Parmesan cheese over each half of bread, if desired, and place halves together on baking sheet. . Bake at 350°F until bread is crusty and butter mixture is bubbly.

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Use chicken from Monday night. If you do not have any leftovers, don't forget to add more chicken to your grocery list.
   
   
2. Make a large salad tonight and save half for tomorrow night. Add croutons, bacon bits, sunflower seeds, and any other "crunchies" as well as salad dressing just before serving each night.
   
   
   

Chicken Orecchiette

• 1 (16 oz) package Pasta LaBella Orecchiette
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup yellow pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup green onions
• 3 cups cooked and cubed chicken meat (from Monday or from freezer)
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped (or 2-3 tsp. dried)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 oz. feta cheese (the kind that is flavored with basil works great)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and place hot pasta in mixing bowl. Pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar over pasta. Add tomatoes, bell peppers, scallions, and chicken. Toss well. Add basil, salt, pepper, feta, and Parmesan cheese. Toss well and serve immediately.

 

 

Salad



Crusty Bread

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. This is an easy dinner that is a big kid-pleaser. Dads may prefer additional pepperoni, so feel free to add more slices to some of the crescents.

 

 Pepperoni and Cheese Crescents

• 2 cans low-fat crescent rolls
• 48 slices of pepperoni
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 28 oz. can spaghetti sauce

Unroll crescent dough and separate into 16 triangles (as pre-cut). Place 3 slices pepperoni (or more for Dad) on each triangle. Sprinkle with 1-2 Tbsp. mozzarella cheese and a dab of Parmesan cheese. Starting with with shortest side, roll crescents toward opposite point. Place on baking sheet and bake at 375° for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown. Open spaghetti sauce. Reserve 1 cup for Friday's dinner. Warm the remaining spaghetti sauce and serve with crescents for dipping.

 

Leftover Salad

 

Crunchy Apple Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

• 1 large head red leaf lettuce, torn into small pieces
• 2 Granny Smith apples, unpeeled, washed and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 oz. Swiss cheese, grated
• 4 oz. cashews, chopped
• 1/2 cup light olive oil
• 1 T. minced onion
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. poppy seed

Layer lettuce, apples, cheese and cashews in large bowl. In a blender, mix oil, mustard, sugar, vinegar, and poppy seed. Pour over salad just before serving.

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. Bake some extra potatoes tonight if you want to use some for leftovers over the weekend.
   
   
2. I've made this a meatless meal tonight for those of you following the Lenten tradition of no meat on Fridays. If you would prefer to include meat tonight, you can add meat chili, bacon bits, or even sliced chicken to make this a more complete meal.
   
   
   

Baked Potato Bar

• 6 baking potatoes
• shredded cheddar cheese
• steamed broccoli (from Tuesday, reheat in microwave for about 2 minutes)
• sour cream
• butter
• 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). Cut open and mash insides (leave insides in potato). Top with preferred toppings from above or serve plain and let each person top their own from your "toppings bar".

 Smoothies

• 1/2 Qt vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup strawberries, fresh (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 and you are using frozen strawberries, thaw the strawberries before blending.

 

 

* 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 March 23-27, 2009 - PDF

Grocery List for March 23-27 , 2009 - TXT (for PDAs or text editing)

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

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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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