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:

1. The prep work for this dish is very quick and easy. My kids enjoyed it...even with the spinach! If you would rather have meat lasagna, just omit the spinach and substitute 1 pound browned ground beef in place of the spinach. I've made it both ways and it tastes great either way. Be sure to edit your shopping list if you don't use the spinach.
   
   
2. Make a large salad and save half for dinner Wednesday 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

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. My daughter brought this recipe home from preschool several years ago as a Thanksgiving Turkey craft and it has been a post-Thanksgiving tradition ever since. I shared it with you last couple of years and it seemed to be a hit with Menus4Moms, too!
   
   
   
   

 Gobble Good Turkey Casserole

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1 package onion soup mix
• 1 cup rice
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2-3 cups leftover turkey

Combine all ingredients in a large casserole dish. Bake covered 30-45 minutes at 350°For until bubbly.

 

 

Bacon Ranch Green Beans

• 1 package (16 oz) frozen green beans
• 2 tbsp butter or margarine
• 1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
• 4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled or bacon bits* (I like Hormel Real Bacon Bits)

In a skillet, saute the green beans in butter. Add the salad dressing mix and toss to coat. Just before serving, sprinkle in the bacon and mix.

 

 

Cooked Apples

• 6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 2 T. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 T. water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until apples are tender. Serve hot or cold.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Use your leftover salad from Monday night, adding your crunchy items and your dressing just before serving.
   
   
2. You can use this chili recipe, or if you prefer, use your favorite recipe. You may freeze any remaining portions for a quick meal when you need it.
   
   
3. Tonight we are going to restock the freezer with ground beef and sauteed onions. If you already have an abundance of these items in your freezer, adjust your shopping list by omitting the extra ground beef and bag of onions. The shopping list has 5 lbs. ground beef and a whole bag of onions. Brown all the ground beef, keep out 1 pound out for tonight and freeze the rest in 1 pound portions. Chop and saute all the onions, keeping out about 1 cup tonight and freeze the rest in 1 cup portions.
   

 

Chili Mac

• 1 lb. browned ground beef
• 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 onion, chopped and sauteed
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped and sauteed
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 can red kidney beans, drained (you may use cooked dry beans to save money)
• 1 packet chili seasoning

Combine all ingredients in a stock pot and simmer for 2-3 hours. Serve over cooked elbow macaroni.

 

Cornbread

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 can corn, drained

Preheat oven to 425°F. Put half of the olive oil in a 9x9x2 cast iron skillet and preheat in oven without burning oil. Mix all remaining ingredients in a bowl. Pour batter into preheated cast iron skillet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.

 

Leftover Salad

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. Start marinating your salmon several hours before you plan to cook dinner.

 

 Grilled Salmon

• 4-6 fresh salmon steaks or fillets
• 1 cup light olive oil
• juice of 2 lemons (or 6 Tbsp. lemon juice)
• 1 tsp. dill weed

Mix oil, lemon juice and dill in a marinating container and add fillets or steaks. Refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours, turning every hour. Grill or broil at medium heat, turning. Cook until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with melted butter.

 

Creamed Peas

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• 2 cups frozen peas (use a 10 oz box, or measure 2-cups from a bag of loose frozen peas)

  Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add flour and stir with a whisk for 1 minute. Do not brown the flour and butter mixture. Continue stirring constantly and add the milk gradually. Add salt, pepper, and sugar. Heat to a simmer and continue cooking, stirring constantly, for one minute. Add peas and heat to a simmer. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until peas are tender-crisp. Do not overcook.

 

Baked Sweet Potato

Bake 4-6 sweet potatoes just like you would regular potatoes or wash, pierce with a fork and cook in the microwave for about 5 minutes. Check regularly for doneness and add additional time as needed. Serve with butter and brown sugar.

 

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. We are making 2 pans of enchiladas so you can put one in the freezer.
   
   
2. If you already have black beans in the freezer you can use them and skip several steps in the refried beans recipe and go straight to the last paragraph of instructions.
   
   
3. We are separating the recipe into 2 smaller pans for planned leftovers. If you have a larger family you may want to cook all the enchiladas in one 9x13 pan and not have any leftover to freeze.
   
   
   

Chicken Enchiladas

• 3 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken (from freezer* or buy a hen and boil it)
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 16 oz. sour cream
• 2 onions, sauteed (from Wednesday or from freezer)
• 2 bell peppers, chopped & sauteed
• cilantro
• cumin
• Adobo or garlic salt
• 12 whole wheat flour tortillas (if you can't find them, get regular ones)
• 4 cups Mexican blend cheese
• Foil 9x9 pan

Combine soup, 1 1/2 cans chicken broth, and sour cream. Set aside 2 cups of this mixture. To the remaining mixture, add chicken, onion, pepper, and spices to taste. Add 2 cups of the cheese.

Place 2-3 T. of mixture onto each tortilla, roll up, and place 6 tortillas in each of 2- 9x9 pans (use 1 foil pan for the ones you will be freezing). Add the remaining chicken broth to the reserved soup mixture and pour over enchiladas in each pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese over enchiladas. Cover foil pan tightly with foil or plastic wrap and freeze. Cook other pan of enchiladas at 350°F until bubbly.

 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 large 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.

 Fried Ice Cream

• 1 sheet of pie pastry from the refrigerator section
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 qt. ice cream (preferably vanilla)
• oil for deep frying
• 2/3 cup honey

In a large, ungreased baking dish, place the unrolled pie pastry flat on the bottom. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the pastry. Prick whole surface with fork and bake at 400°F for 10 - 12 minutes or until pastry is lightly browned. cool on a wire rack for 5 - 10 minutes.

In a large, resealable plastic bag, place the cooked pastry and coarsely crush. Transfer "crumbs" to a shallow bowl. Using a small ice cream scoop, form about 8 scoops of ice cream and roll each scoop in the pastry "crumbs". cover and freeze for 2 hours or until firm.

In an electric skillet or deep-fryer, heat oil to 375°F. Fry frozen ice cream balls for 8-10 seconds on until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Place immediately into chilled bowls and drizzle with honey. Serve immediately.

 

 

* 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 November 30 - December 4, 2009 - PDF

Grocery List for November 30 - December 4 , 2009 - TXT (for PDAs or text editing)

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

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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