Basic Weekly Menu Plan

You are here:  Home / Weekly Menu / Archive / December 21-25, 2009

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

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Pinto beans over cornbread are a southern staple. If you have ham in the freezer, you can use what you have. Be sure to omit the ham from your shopping list if you already have some.
   
   
2. You can either soak the beans overnight (plan ahead) or use the quick soak method described below. The beans need to start cooking in the morning.
   
   
3. I don't recommend using a freezer onion for this recipe.
   
   
   

Pinto Beans over Cornbread

• 1 bag dry pinto beans
• water as needed
• 1 large onion, chopped (reserve 2 Tbsp. for garnish)
• reserved ham juices
• 1 1/2 cups diced ham
• Adobo seasoning
• Liquid smoke (opt.)
• shredded cheddar cheese (for garnish)

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. Overnight soak: Leave beans in water overnight. Quick soak: 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 add ham juices if you don't have ham juices, you can use a can of chicken broth). Add water until the liquid is twice as deep as the beans. Add diced ham, a couple of drops of liquid smoke, and onions. Cook on Hi for 6 hours or Low for 8-10 hours. Season with Adobo seasoning to taste. Serve over cornbread in a bowl with bean juices. Top with fresh chopped onion and shredded cheddar cheese.

  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

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.

 

Salad

 

   Fried Okra

• 1 bag frozen breaded okra (or two if your family likes it as much as ours)
• oil for pan frying

Heat oil in a deep (2-3") fry pan. Fry okra (do not crowd in pan) until golden brown. Drain on paper towels, salt and serve.

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Use leftover chicken from the freezer for this recipe. If you do not still have chicken in your freezer, be sure to add more chicken to your grocery list.
   
   
   
   

 Quick Lemon Pasta With Chicken

• 8 oz. linguini, cooked according to package directions
• 3 tbsp. unmelted butter
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
• 1 lb. cooked, cubed chicken (from freezer)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a separate saucepan, combine next 5 ingredients and simmer until butter is melted. Add cooked chicken and stir until coated and chicken has been reheated. Add drained pasta and toss to coat. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

 

 

Garlic Bread

• 2 fresh hoagie rolls, sliced loafwise
• 1/2 stick butter
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• salt

Melt butter in saucepan. Add garlic and salt to taste. Dip one side of bread slices into garlic butter and place on cookie sheet in loaf form. Warm at 350°F until hot.

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday: none

 

 

  Stir Fry over Rice

• 14 oz. bag stir-fry frozen vegetables
• 1 lb. raw boneless chicken*, shrimp, or beef
• 1 bottle Kikkoman Stir-fry sauce
• olive oil
• Calrose rice, cooked

Slice or chop meat if using chicken or beef. If using shrimp, peel it and take the tail off. You can use frozen tail-off shrimp if you want to make it easier.

In a wok or large fry pan, sauté meat or shrimp in oil until done. If using shrimp, remove shrimp from pan to prevent overcooking. Add frozen vegetables and cook until hot and water from frozen veggies cooks out. Add shrimp back to veggies. Pour 1/2 - 3/4 bottle of the stir fry sauce over everything and simmer until bubbly. Serve over rice (for children it may be better to serve rice with soy sauce and stir-fry separately).

 

 Egg Drop Soup

• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 green onion with top
• 1 tsp. salt
• dash of pepper
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten

Heat chicken broth, salt and pepper to boiling in saucepan. Stir green onions into eggs. Pour egg mixture slowly into boiling broth, stirring constantly with fork to form shreds of egg.

 

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday

1. Tonight's meal can be served cold or hot. I love to toast our sandwiches before adding fresh veggies and serving.

Subs/Hoagies

• 2 lbs. of your favorite deli meats (chicken, turkey, ham, roast beef*, pastrami, pepperoni, or any combination of them)
• bacon or turkey bacon slices
• 1/2 lb. provolone* or cheddar cheese
• relish or sandwich peppers
• condiments of your choice (we like horsey sauce)
• lettuce leaves
• tomato slices
• red onion slices
• 4-6 hoagie rolls

Arrange all ingredients on a platter and let everyone make their own sub, or you can assemble hoagies and toast them in the broiler (watch carefully!). When I do this, I toast both side of the sandwich with the cheese on top of one side and the bacon on top of the other side. Add lettuce, tomato, and onions when they come out of the oven.

 

Potato Chips

 

 

Leftover Salad

Fresh Oranges or Clementines

 

 

 

 

Friday Recipes

Christmas Dinner

• Glazed Ham
• Green Beans with Tomatoes
• Broccoli Parmesan
• Wild Rice Casserole**
• Party Potatoes**
• Dinner Rolls

Christmas Dessert

• Pumpkin Pie**
• Vanilla Pudding Angel Food Cake**

Visit the Christmas Dinner Menu page to download the complimentary Busy Mom Christmas Dinner Menu

 

* 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 21-25, 2009 - PDF

Grocery List for December 21-25 , 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)

Printer-friendly version

Back to Kitchen Helps

About Us | Media | Site Map | Advertise | Affiliate Program | Privacy Policy and Terms of Use | Contact Us | RSS | ©2000-2010 Menus4Moms.com