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. You may boil your ribs at a slow simmer instead of cooking them in the oven. Slow cooking is the secret to great ribs. If you prefer to smoke the ribs, see Fabulous Foods for Famous Dave's cooking tips.
   
   
2. To prevent a messy grill, cook these in foil.
   
   

Barbecue Ribs

Submitted by Kristy

• 4 pounds pork spareribs
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup rum
• 1/2 cup chile sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 dash ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Cut spareribs into serving size portions, wrap in double thickness of foil, and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Unwrap, and drain drippings. (I usually freeze the drippings to use later in soups.) Place ribs in a large roasting pan.

In a bowl, mix together brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, rum, chile sauce, garlic, mustard, and pepper. Coat ribs with sauce and marinate at room temperature for 1 hour, or refrigerate overnight.

Preheat grill for medium heat. Position grate four inches above heat source.

Brush grill grate with oil. Place ribs on grill, and cook for 30 minutes, basting with marinade.

 

 

Baked Beans

• 2 cans pork and beans
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce or more to taste
• 1 tsp. prepared mustard, or more to taste

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes.

Coleslaw

• 1 bag prepared broccoli or cabbage* slaw, or homemade shreds
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. vinegar
• 2 tsp. sugar

Combine last 3 ingredients and refrigerate covered until ready to use. Mix with shredded slaw vegetables just before serving.

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. The prep work for this dish is very quick and easy. My kids enjoyed it...even with the spinach!
   
   
2. Make a large salad and save half for dinner Thursday night. Add any crunchy items, cheese, and dressing just before serving each night to avoid salad getting soggy.
   
   
   
   

Spinach Lasagna

• cooking spray
• 1 box lasagna noodles
• 1 (oz.) jar spaghetti sauce
• 4 cups mozzarella cheese
• 1 (8 oz.) container Ricotta cheese
• 4 cups fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup water

Spray bottom and sides of a crockpot. Place a few spoonfuls of sauce on the bottom to avoid noodles sticking. Break uncooked lasagna noodles into pieces and place about 1/3 of the pieces in a layer on bottom of the pot. Pour about 1/3 of the sauce evenly over the noodles. Next, place about 1/2 of the Ricotta and 1/3 of the mozzarella over this layer of sauce. Place 1/2 of the spinach over the cheese layer. Place a few spoonfuls of sauce lightly over the spinach. Repeat the layers starting with the broken noodles, sauce, cheeses, spinach and a little more sauce. Finally, layer the last 1/3 of the broken noodle pieces over the top. Cover completely with remaining sauce. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese over the top. Pour water around the edges. Cover and cook on low for about 3 hours or until noodles are soft. You may want to check after 2 hours and push down any noodles that are not covered with sauce.

 

Salad

Italian Bread

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Use ground beef from your freezer and thaw if you have enough. Otherwise, be sure to add ground beef to your grocery list plus some extra if you can, and cook to restock your freezer.
   
   
2. Tonight's recipe will make 2 pans of enchiladas so you can invest one in your freezer. Be sure to label your frozen dishes with cooking instructions!
   
   
3. If you have cooked beans in the freezer already, you can skip the soaking and cooking of the dried beans and use those. Otherwise, start your beans in the morning so they will be ready for dinner.
   
   

Beef Enchiladas

• 2 lbs. ground beef (from freezer)
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 package corn tortillas (24)
• 2 cans Enchiladas Sauce
• 1 cup refried beans (from below)
• 2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded

 

Mix thawed (cooked) ground beef from freezer with vinegar, garlic, chili powder and salt. On your tortilla spread a light coat of refried beans down the middle, top with beef mixture and then cheese.  Tri fold and place tri fold down in 9x13 pan.  Once your pan is full pour a can of sauce on top and sprinkle with cheese.  This recipe will make two pans.  One can of sauce for each pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.

Adapted from Betty Crocker, submitted by Lisa H.

Spanish Rice

• 3 T. olive oil
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 green pepper chopped, seeded
• 1 c. long grain rice (or brown rice* for healthier version)
• 2 c. chicken broth (if you are using brown rice add extra water)
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 1/2 t. cumin

Saute onion, garlic, and green pepper in oil until transparent. Add rice and brown until lightly browned. Mix the rest of the ingredients and add to pan. Cover and cook 20-25 minutes (longer, closer to 45 minutes, for brown rice).

 Refried Beans

• 1 bag black turtle beans (pinto or red beans also work)
• cumin
• Adobo or garlic salt
• olive oil
• 1 can red enchilada sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Rinse beans in a colander and check to be sure there are no stones or other debris. Place beans in a dutch oven and cover with water so that the water is twice as deep as the beans. Heat to boiling and boil for 2 minutes. Turn heat off and cover, let sit for 1 hour. Drain beans in colander and rinse pot. Place beans in slow cooker and cover with water, making sure the water is twice as deep as the beans. Cook on Hi for 5 hours or Low for 8-10 hours.

Drain beans, reserving liquid (place colander on a lg. pan or bowl then pour beans in). Separate beans into 2 cup servings in freezer bags, reserving 4 cups of beans for tonight's meal. Cover beans in each bag with some of reserved liquid.

Mash 4 cups of beans, adding enough liquid to make beans mushy and soft. Heat 2 T. olive oil in a fry pan and add mashed beans and spices to taste. Stir until hot and bubbly. Heat enchilada sauce in a sauce pan and serve beans topped with enchilada sauce and shredded cheddar cheese.

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. This recipe came from the $5.00 Dinner Challenge at Menus4Moms.net, the social network of Menus4Moms. Back in February, Mary Ann hosted this challenge to find a well-balanced healthy dinner that costs $5 or less for the entire meal serving 6. Amy O, a member over at Menus4Moms.net submitted this winning recipe.
   

 

 Zucchini Linguini

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, canola or veg oil
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large zucchini, halved and sliced
• 1 can diced tomato with basil garlic and oregano (slightly drained)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 of a 16 oz pkg linguini, cooked

Bring water to a boil, cook pasta 10-12 minutes, drain and toss with 1 tablespoon oil. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion in oil with salt and pepper for 2 minutes. Stir in zucchini. When zucchini begins to soften, add tomatoes, garlic and Italian seasoning. Cook until heated through. Toss with cooked Linguini, serve warm at room temp and its also good cold.

 

 

 

 

Leftover Salad

 

 

 

Five Cup Salad

• 1 cup pineapple chucks, drained
• 1 cup mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1 cup coconut flakes

Mix together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

 

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. This makes a LOT of salad so I am putting on the menus for today so you can have leftovers over the weekend.   Thanks again to the Stephens and Lyle families for sharing this recipe.
   
   
2. Keep the lettuce separate and add it in right before eating.  If the lettuce sits in the salad for too long it will get soggy. 
   
   
   
   

Chicken Pasta Salad

• 5 cups chicken (about 3 breasts), cooked and cubed (from freezer)
• 2 cups grape halves
• 2 cups chopped lettuce
• 12 oz. spiral pasta, cooked and drained
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced and quartered
• 3 green onions, diced (optional)

Toss together in a bowl. 

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar (I sometimes use plain white vinegar if that’s all I have)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. dried chopped onion
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. parsley

Mix all ingredients in a sealable container and shake well.  Pour over the salad and mix in. 

Bread of Your Choice

 

* 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 13-17, 2009 - PDF

Grocery List for July 13-17 , 2009 - TXT (for PDAs or text editing)

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