Basic Weekly Menu Plan

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Get the meal makeovers, nutrition data, dietary exchanges and point values for the menus.

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Tonight we will be restocking our freezer with chicken. Buy as much as you can afford if you can find it on sale. If you can't find any chicken on sale, then just make enough for at least tonight and Wednesday and be on the look out for sales on chicken and purchase some when you can. I buy it when I find it on sale and freeze it as I bring it home from the store. Then when I have a collection in my freezer, I thaw and cook it all at once. This is what I'll be doing tonight.
   
   
2. Tonight's chicken requires only a few minutes of preparation. However, it tastes great the longer and slower you grill! So make sure you start your grilling at least 1 1/2 - 2 hours before you want to eat. If this is not an option for tonight, make something quick for dinner tonight and enjoy this great recipe over the weekend.
   
   
3. Take advantage of early spring asparagus with today's vegetable. When you buy asparagus, look for small stalks. Tiny stalks mean tender asparagus, large stalks mean it will be tough.
   
   
4. I doubled the ingredients for the Spinach Salad on the grocery list so there would be enough for tonight and tomorrow night. If one bag of spinach and one package of strawberries is enough for two meals for your family, just delete the doubled ingredients from your grocery list. Go ahead and wash all the spinach and strawberries for both nights, then add the dressing each night separately so it will keep better
   
   
5. This dressing recipe makes a lot so we will use it again tomorrow on leftover Spinach Salad and on Thursday for our Fruit Salad. You may still have some leftover so plan on using it as a dressing on a salad next week, too.
   
   
   
   
   

Honey Pecan Chicken

• 3 - 4 lb split chicken breasts

Basting sauce:

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 2 T. water
• 1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper

Honey-Pecan Sauce:

• 3 T. honey
• 2 T. butter or margarine, melted
• 2 T. chopped pecans, toasted
• 2 t. lemon juice

Prepare Honey Pecan Sauce by mixing all ingredients together.

Brush grill rack with vegetable oil. Heat grill. Mix all basting sauce ingredients together in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place chicken on grill, skin sides up, and mop or brush basting sauce over chicken. Grill chicken 5 to 6 inches from medium heat 25 to 35 minutes; turn chicken over. Mop with basting sauce. Cover and grill 35 to 45 minutes longer, turning and mopping 2 or 3 times with basting sauce until juices are clear. Discard any remaining basting sauce.

Serve chicken with Honey-Pecan Sauce.

Grilled Asparagus

• 1 lb. fresh asparagus
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• dill

Wash asparagus and snap tough ends off. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a little bit of dill. Grill until tender. In order to keep the tips from burning, you should either wrap them in foil or face them to a cool part of the grill.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

• 1 pkg. baby spinach leaves, rinsed well
• 1 pkg. Strawberries, quartered
• Poppy Seed Dressing, recipe below

Poppy Seed Dressing

• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp dry mustard
• 2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup white vinegar
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 2 cups salad oil (or any light vegetable oil)
• 3 tbsp poppy seed

Mix sugar, mustard, salt and vinegar. Add onion powder and stir thoroughly. Add oil slowly, beating constantly with a whisk until thick and well blended. Add poppy seed and beat for a few more minutes. Store in cool place or in the fridge for up to two weeks. Can also be served over fruit such as grapefruit or avocado.

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. A jar of Alfredo sauce will make tonight's meal a breeze to prepare.
   
   
2. This dish is a great vegetarian dish, but you can easily add cooked chicken from the freezer if you have meat eaters.
   

 

 

Linguini with Vegetables and Sauce

• 28 oz. jar of Alfredo sauce
• 1 lb. box linguini
• 1 1/2 cups chopped chicken from freezer, (optional)
• 1 bag (14 oz.) bag frozen broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots
• 1 can (14 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
• Parmesan Cheese (to taste)

Prepare linguine according to directions, cooking frozen vegetables in with linguini. Drain all and return to pan. Add sauce and chicken (if desired) and heat. Heat tomatoes in microwave or on stovetop. Serve pasta mixture topped with tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.

 

 

 Garlic Bread

• 1 loaf ciabatta* or Italian bread
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed or minced

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° until bread is crusty and butter mixture is bubbly.

 

Leftover Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Tonight we are using chicken from Monday night (or from the freezer).
   
   
2. Wash enough grapes for tonight's fruit salad and for tomorrow's frozen grapes. Put Friday's portion 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.
   
   

 

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.

Potato Chips

 

 

Fruit Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

• 2 plum, chopped
• 1 cantaloupe, chopped
• 1 banana, sliced
• 2 kiwi, chopped
• 1 cup seedless red grapes
• 1/2 cup Poppy Seed Dressing (from Tuesday)

Wash, mix and cut up all fruit. Stir in dressing and toss to coat. Add more dressing if desired.

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. Don't forget about the frozen grapes in the freezer that we prepared last night. Take them out of the freezer about 15 minutes before you serve them to allow them to thaw just a bit.
   

 Easy Cheeseburger Pie

• 1 pound cooked ground beef (from freezer)
• 1 large onion, chopped and sauteed (from freezer)
• 1 can diced green chiles (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
• 1/2 cup Bisquick® mix
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs

Heat oven to 400°F. Grease 9-inch pie plate. Combine beef and onion. Spread in pie plate; sprinkle with salt, chiles, and cheese. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate. Bake about 25 minutes or until bubbly.

 

 

Broccoli Salad

• 3 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 3/4 cup cheddar cheese
• 2 T. chopped onion
• 3/4 mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 T. red wine vinegar* or cider vinegar
• 6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled; or REAL bacon bits*

In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, cheese, and onion. Combine the mayo, sugar, and vinegar; pour over the broccoli mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Just before serving, stir in the bacon.

Frozen Grapes

 

 

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. If you don't have a grill, try baking the fish in the oven at 350°F until the fish is white and flaky.
   
   

Lemon Pepper Grilled Fish

• 2 lbs. bass, crappie, croaker, whiting (sea mullet), or flounder (or other flaky white fish)
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• generous sprinkling of lemon pepper seasoning (1 Tbsp)
• generous sprinkling of adobo* seasoning or garlic salt (1 Tbsp)

Place fish in a shallow dish for marinating. Combine all other ingredients and pour over fish. Marinate 20 minutes. Grill over medium heat until flesh is white and flaky.

 

 

Seasoned Green Beans

• 1 lb. fresh green beans, slightly steamed
• 2 T. butter
• 1/2 package Good Seasonings Italian dressing mix

Melt butter in large fry pan. Add green beans. Sprinkle with the 1/2 package of seasoning mix and stir well while sauteing.

 

Wild Rice

 

* 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 July 6-10, 2009 - PDF

Grocery List for July 6-10 , 2009 - TXT (for PDAs or text editing)

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Find sale prices on the grocery list items with our new Grocery Deals feature (brought to you in partnership with MyGroceryDeals)

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