You are here:  Home / Weekly Menu / Archive / Jan. 12-16, 2009

Monday

• Beef with Broccoli
• Rice
• Mandarin Pineapple Salad

Tuesday

• Lasagna
• Spinach Salad
• Frozen Dinner Rolls

Wednesday

• Chili Mac
• Cornbread
• Leftover Spinach Salad

Thursday

• Baked Potato Bar
• Jello Parfait

Friday

• Cook-Ahead Pork Loin Chops
• Couscous
• Seasoned Green Beans

 

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday: None

Beef With Broccoli

• 3 tbsp cornstarch, divided
• 1/2 cup water plus 2 tbsp water, divided
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 lb boneless round steak, cut into 2 inch strips
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• hot cooked rice

Combine 2 tbsp cornstarch, 2 tbsp water and garlic powder in a bowl and mix until smooth. Add beef and toss until well coated. Stir-fry beef in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat in 1 tbsp oil until meat is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Remove meat from skillet and keep warm. Stir-fry broccoli in the remaining oil for about 5 minutes, then return beef to pan. Mix together soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and remaining 1 tbsp of cornstarch and 1/2 cup water until smooth; add soy mixture to skillet. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve over rice.

Mandarin Pineapple Salad

• 1 can pineapple tidbits, drained
• 1 can mandarin oranges, drained

Mix fruit together and serve.

 

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Tonight we are using some of the Bolognese sauce that we froze last week to make our lasagna. You can make your own ricotta if you want to, or buy it.
   
   
2. Spinach may be unappealing cooked, but even people who hate spinach find it tasty in a salad raw. It is full of good stuff for you, so try it!
   
   
3. Don't forget to let your dinner rolls rise before baking.
   
   
4. If you prefer, you can make a thinner lasagna and break it into 2 8x8 pans and freeze one.
   
   
5. Make a large spinach salad tonight and save half for tomorrow night. Add croutons and any other "crunchies" just before serving each night.
   
   

 Lasagna

• 3-4 cups Bolognese sauce from freezer (see recipe here if you don't have this)
• 10 oz. lasagna noodles
• 1 beaten egg
• 3 cups ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 2 T. parsley
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 16 oz. mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

Mix egg, ricotta, Parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper. In a 9x12 pan, place 3 T. Bolognese sauce and 3 T. water. Top with a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles, half of ricotta mixture, 1/3 of mozzarella cheese, and half of Bolognese sauce. Repeat layers and top with the last 1/3 of mozzarella cheese. Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

 

 Spinach Salad

 

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

Wash greens and pat dry. Mix all ingredients and enjoy.

 

 

Frozen Dinner Rolls

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Today we are investing in planned leftovers. You can use this chili recipe, or if you prefer, use your favorite recipe. We are saving about 2 cups of the chili in the refrigerator to use tomorrow on our potato bar. You may freeze any remaining portions for a quick meal when you need it.
   
   
2. If you did not restock your plain cooked ground beef last week, be sure to add more ground beef to your grocery list.
   
   
3. If you don't have any sauteed onion in the freezer, make sure to add extra onions to your grocery list.
   
   
4. You may wish to go ahead and prepare the Jell-O Parfait for tomorrow so it will be set in time.
   
   

 Chili Mac

• 1 lb. browned ground beef (from freezer)
• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 onion, chopped and sauteed (from freezer)
• 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
• cooked elbow macaroni

Combine all ingredients in a stock pot and simmer for 2-3 hours. Serve over cooked elbow macaroni. Remember to reserve 2 cups of chili (without macaroni) for tomorrow's Potato Bar.

 

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 Spinach Salad

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. We will be using the chili that we saved from last night as a topping for our potato bar.
   
   
2. Prepare the Jello Parfait in the morning if you did not prepare it already.
   
   

   Baked Potato Bar

• 6 baking potatoes
• 2 cups chili (from last night)
• shredded cheddar cheese
• steamed broccoli (heat in microwave for about 2-5 minutes)
• sour cream
• bacon bits
• butter
• any additional toppings your family may like

Spray potatoes with olive oil spray. Coat with coarsely ground salt and pepper. Poke several times with a fork and cook in microwave until centers are hot and tender (start with 6 minutes and go from there). Cut open and mash insides (leave insides in potato). Top with preferred toppings from above or serve plain and let each person top their own from your "toppings bar".

Jello Parfait              

• 1 small package Jell-O (strawberry-banana)
• 1 cup sour cream 
• 1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip
• 1 Tsp vanilla
• 2 cups fresh strawberries* or any berries
• 2 bananas, sliced

Mix the Jell-O packet with the sour cream. Add vanilla and mix well. Fold in Cool Whip. Layer fruit and Jell-O mixture in parfait glasses. Chill. Serve cold.

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. I recently found this recipe for cooking pork chops ahead and freezing them for quick dinners. We are going to cook enough pork chops for tonight and for one meal next week. Make sure you label the extra chops in your freezer "Cooked Pork Chops".
   
   
   
   

 Cook Ahead Chops

• 8 pork loin chops
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place pork chops in an ungreased 9x13 baking dish, and cover the chops with the chicken broth. Cover with foil and bake for 40-50 minutes or until meat juices are clear.

Take four chops out and lightly brown in a skillet for tonight's meal. Pour one can undrained pineapple chunks and about 1/8 tsp ground ginger over the chops and simmer about 5-10 minutes and serve.

Let the other four chops cool and then place the cooled chops in heavy foil or in a freezer bag. Label "Cooked Pork Chops" and freeze until next week.

 

 Couscous

 

 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.

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