Basic Weekly Menu Plan

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

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday: none

Chicken Pepper Pasta

•  4 tablespoons butter
•  1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
•  1 medium red bell pepper, cut into strips
•  1 medium yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
•  1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh garlic
•  1-1/2 cups cooked chicken (from freezer), thawed and chopped or cut into strips
•  1 tsp dried tarragon leaves
•  3/4 teaspoon salt
•  1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
•  8 ounces uncooked dried vermicelli (extra thin spaghetti)
•  1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
•  1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (found bagged in the dairy section)
•  3/4 cup half & half

Prepare vermicelli according to directions and drain in a colander in the sink. Melt butter in large skillet and add onion, bell peppers, and garlic. Cook on medium high until vegetables are tendercrisp. Remove vegetables from pan and add chicken, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Cook until chicken is hot. Add vegetables, mozzarella, half and half, and Parmesan cheese to chicken. Reduce heat and cook on low until cheese is melted. Rinse vermicelli in hot water until noodles are warm. Add vermicelli to pan and toss gently. Serve warm.

 

Crusty Bread

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.

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. I prefer to use my slow cooker to bake my ham so I don't have to run the oven for several hours.
   
   
2. There is no need to add any liquid to the ham. It will make its own juices. I personally like to add brown sugar to this dish by sprinkling about a cup over the top of the ham. I then baste the ham throughout the day by pouring it's juices over the brown sugar-topped ham.
   
   
3. We are cooking with planned leftovers in mind tonight so I have added a large size ham to the grocery list for tonight's meal. This will allow for plenty of leftovers. Over the next few weeks we will use these leftovers in a variety of recipes. Plan to eat the baked sliced ham tonight, save some of the leftovers for Friday night's soup by dicing about 2 cups, then save the rest of the ham by cubing or chopping it for the freezer. If you have enough leftovers, you could also cut some into slices for a future use.
   
   

 Crock Pot Baked Ham

• 8 lb. ham, preferably smoked butt or shoulder

Place ham in slow cooker and cook 8-10 hours on low. Slice before serving. Shred or chop any leftovers and freeze in 1-2 cup portions.

 

 

Corn Casserole

• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten

Melt butter in a sauce pan, add flour, and stir until thick. Add milk slowly, stirring constantly. Turn off heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Pour into a greased 9x9 casserole dish. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes or until firm and slightly brown.

Steamed Broccoli (fresh* or frozen)

French Bread

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. If you did not make the pork tenderloin and restock your freezer with pork two weeks ago, be sure to add a small pork tenderloin to your grocery list.
   
   

 Sweet and Sour Pork

• 1lb. pork loin, cooked and cubed (from freezer)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1 (15 1/4-oz.) can pineapple chunks in juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• Hot cooked rice, (optional)
  

Preheat oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Stir-fry green pepper and onion in hot oil for 2-3 minutes or till crisp-tender. Remove from wok. Add more oil, if necessary. Reheated pork in wok; keep warm.

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. In a small pan combine the juice, brown sugar, vinegar, cornstarch and soy sauce. Bring to a boil; cook about 1 minute or till thickened, stirring constantly.

Return green pepper and onion to wok. Stir in pineapple and the thickened pineapple juice mixture. Cook and stir until heated through. Serve with rice, if desired.

adapted from recipe found at theotherwhitemeat.com

White Rice

 

 

Fortune Cookies

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. Make a large salad tonight and save half for Friday night. Add croutons, bacon bits, sunflower seeds, and any other "crunchies" just before serving each night.
   

 

 Roast Beef with Potatoes and Carrots

• 3-4 lb. roast, cut of your choice
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 1 lb. small red potatoes, quartered
• pepper
• Adobo seasoning

Trim fat from roast. Sprinkle with Adobo seasoning and pepper. Place meat in slow cooker. If your slow cooker has the ability to cook on the stovetop in the slow cooker pan, you can sear the meat on each side before putting it in the slow cooker. Put slow cooker on low (or auto if you can cook it on high for 2 hours and have it switch to low after 2 hours) and add vegetables. Cook 8 hours.

 

 

 

Salad 

 

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. The Split Pea Soup Recipe comes from the Ham Plan article.
   
   
2. We are using planned leftovers from our ham on Tuesday. If you didn't cook the ham, don't forget to add diced ham to your grocery list.
   
   
3. Using the leftover salad from Thursday night, add croutons, bacon bits, sunflower seeds, and any other "crunchies" just before serving.
   
   
   

Split Pea Soup with Ham (from busycooks)

• 1 lb. split peas
• 8 cups ham stock (if you have it, or 8 more cups of chicken stock)
• 8 cups chicken stock (use bouillon cubes* or chicken broth* if you don't have chicken stock)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp thyme
• 1 onion - chopped (from freezer)
• 2 carrots - diced
• 2 ribs celery - diced
• 2 cups diced ham* or smoked sausage (from Tuesday)
• soy sauce
• Tabasco sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Rinse split peas and soak in water for 1 - 2 hours. Place in a large pot with the ham stock and chicken broth. Add bay leaf, thyme, and onion. Simmer, partially covered, for 1 1/2 hours.

Add ham, carrots, celery and simmer for an additional 1 - 2 hours, or until the peas have cooked into a smooth soup. Season with soy sauce, tabasco sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

 

Leftover Salad

 

Apple Slices

 

* 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 October 19-23, 2009 - PDF

Grocery List for October 19-23 , 2009 - TXT (for PDAs or text editing)

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