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. I like to use chicken breasts for this dish (you can use bone-in or boneless) but you may prefer thighs or some other part.
   
   
2. I like to serve my chicken parmesan over a bed of angel hair pasta and then pour a small amount of spaghetti sauce over the chicken and the pasta. You can try it this way, or you can serve the pasta and sauce as a side dish.
   
   
3. We are going to bake extra chicken tonight for use in our Quesadillas on Wednesday and for restocking our freezer. If you already have plenty of cooked, cubed chicken in your freezer you may want to omit baking the extra chicken tonight.
   
   
   
   

Baked Chicken Parmesan

• 3 lb. chicken parts (plus 3-5 lbs. extra chicken for leftovers)
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 clove garlic* or 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
• 3/4 cup melted butter

Place any extra chicken you will be baking tonight in a separate baking dish and season with your favorite spices for Baked Chicken. I like Montreal Chicken Seasoning and Mary Ann likes Adobo. Set aside.

Combine bread crumbs, cheese, oregano, pepper, and salt; set aside. Lightly saute garlic in 2 T. butter then stir in remaining butter. Dip enough chicken for tonight's meal in garlic butter then roll each piece in bread crumb mixture. Place breaded chicken in 9x13 pan and sprinkle with remaining bread crumb mixture. Pour on remaining butter. Bake both pans of chicken at 350°F for 55 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Allow the extra Baked Chicken to cool while you eat your meal. After it has cooled, cube the chicken and place in freezer safe baggies for future use.

 

 

  Angel Hair Pasta with Prepared Spaghetti Sauce

• 1/2 lb. angel hair pasta, prepared according to instructions
• 1/2 jar prepared spaghetti sauce

Heat sauce in a small pan and pour over cooked pasta. Serve with chicken.

 

Mixed Winter Vegetables, steamed and lightly buttered

 

 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°F until bread is crusty and butter mixture is bubbly.

 

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Make a large spinach salad tonight and save half for Wednesday night. Add croutons and any other "crunchies" just before serving each night.
   
   
   
   
   

  Tuna Pasta

• 1 box (16 oz.) tri color pasta
• 1 can (6 oz.) tuna
• 1 package (12 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 cup ranch dressing

Cook pasta according to package directions. About 5 minutes before pasta is finished cooking, pour frozen vegetables into boiling pot of pasta. Bring to a second boil. Drain. Place pasta/vegetable mixture in a bowl. Add can of drained tuna. Pour ranch dressing in and toss to coat.

This can be served warm or cold. If you want it warm, just drain and add tuna, dressing and toss. If you would like to serve it cold, drain pasta/vegetable mixture with cold water until cooled. Then add tuna and dressing and toss.

 

 

Spinach Salad

• Spinach leaves* (baby) or spinach salad mix
• Croutons
• Sunflower seeds
• grated carrot
• salad dressing

Wash greens thoroughly and pat dry. Mix half of spinach and "crunchy" ingredients together just before serving, saving the other half for tomorrow night. Add salad dressing to taste.

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Tonight's dinner is flexible in that you can easily prepare several different kinds of quesadillas to please all of the picky eaters in your family. Optional fillings include chicken, sauteed veggies, beef, shrimp, or any number of other options with cheese. Because the rice is filling you do not have to worry about preparing a large number of quesadillas.
   
   
2. If your family are big eaters, you may wish to double the rice recipe.
   
   
3. Go ahead and make your Jello Salad for tomorrow so it will have time to set up.

Chicken Cheese Quesadillas

• 1-1/2 cups cooked chicken (from freezer)
• 8 whole wheat tortillas
• 2 cups Mexican blend cheese
• 1 can chopped green chiles (optional)
• olive oil spray
• salsa
• sour cream

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray one side of 4 tortillas with olive oil spray. Lay the tortillas oiled side down on a cookie sheet (you may need to use two sheets or do two batches). Spread chicken and cheese evenly over tortillas. For extra flavor and heat, add a can of chopped green chiles for those who like spicy food. Top with the remaining 4 tortillas and spray the tops with olive oil spray.

Bake until tortillas are crisp and cheese is melted. Remove from oven and slice into triangles with a pizza cutter. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

 

 

Spanish Rice

• 1 chopped onion, sauteed (from freezer)
• black pepper
• chili powder
• cumin
• Adobo seasoning
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked white or brown* rice
• olive oil
• 1 can (15 oz.) chicken broth
• 1 cup water

Saute onion in olive oil in a Dutch oven until tender; remove from pan. Add 2 T olive oil to pan and brown the uncooked rice. Do not burn! Add chicken broth and water (this will sizzle loudly when the liquid meets the hot oil), add seasonings to taste, and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 20 minutes; do not open. When cooked, add onions and any other warmed items you may have on hand that would be good in rice (corn, salsa, Rotel, etc.). Stir gently and serve.

 

 

Fruit Of Your Choice

 

Jello Fruit Salad (for tomorrow)

• 1 small package orange gelatin
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• lettuce leaves

Mix gelatin in hot water until dissolved. Add all other ingredients, pour into a mold or 8x8 pan and chill until set. Serve on a lettuce leaf.

 

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. This recipe came from my friend, Stacey VanVoorhis. She brought it to our small group dinner and everyone loved it! If you would like your soup on the spicy side, use spicy smoked sausage in place of the regular. Thanks, Stacey for sharing with us!
   
   
2. If you did not prepare your Jello Salad yesterday, do it early in the day today so it has time to set up.

 

 Sausage Lentil Soup

• 1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced
• 1 lb. (about 2 cups) dried lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup ham, diced (from freezer)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small green pepper, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 Tsp thyme
• 1/4 Tsp pepper
• 1/4 Tsp cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cans (14.5 oz. each) beef broth
• 2 cans (14.5 oz. each) chicken broth
• 2 cups spinach, coarsely chopped

Combine all ingredients except for the spinach in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours or until lentils are tender. Add spinach and cover. Let stand 5-10 minutes or until spinach wilts. Remove and discard bay leaf.

 

 

Crusty Bread

 

Leftover Spinach Salad

 

Jello Fruit Salad (prepared yesterday)

 

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday: None

French Fry Casserole

• 32 oz. bag of frozen French fries
• 26 oz. can spaghetti sauce
• 1 lb. cooked ground beef (from freezer)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Grease a 9x13 casserole pan and layer half of the French fries, then spaghetti sauce, ground beef, and cheese. Top with other half of French fries and bake uncovered for one hour (or until fries on top are brown) at 350°F.

 

 

 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.

 

* 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 December 7-11, 2009 - PDF

Grocery List for December 7-11 , 2009 - TXT (for PDAs or text editing)

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