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. We are going to restock our freezer with chicken tonight so buy as much as you can afford at the store and bake it all. The grocery list will have 5 lbs. chicken included so you can stock your freezer. Leave out about 2-3 cups for Wednesday's Chicken Orecchiette and freeze the rest.
   
   
2. I like using Ranch Dressing mix as a seasoning in a lot of things so I buy it in bulk and keep it in the pantry for when I need it. It is much cheaper than buying packs. You can generally find it in bulk at farmer's market type places or stores that carry bulk items. (I buy it at Sharp Shopper.)
   
   
3. Today's creamed corn is not the sweet yellow kind that you get in a can, it is a southern-style white creamed corn that is delicious.
   
   
4. Make a large salad tonight and save half for Wednesday night. Add croutons, bacon bits, sunflower seeds, any other "crunchies" and salad dressing just before serving each night.
   
   
   
   

Baked Ranch Chicken

• 2 lbs. chicken pieces, your choice
• 2 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

Empty Ranch dressing envelopes into a bowl and mix well. You may add bread crumbs to the dressing if you would like more of a coating to your chicken. After rinsing and drying chicken, dredge chicken pieces in the dressing mix. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray and place coated chicken in it. Bake 45 minutes at 325°F or until done.

 

 

 

 

Creamed Corn* (or canned creamed corn)

• 12 oz. bag frozen white shoepeg corn
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper

Thaw corn. Melt butter and in a blender, combine corn, butter, water, and sugar. Blend until creamy with bits of corn left in the mix. In a frypan over medium heat, mix milk, cornstarch, salt, and pepper, stirring constantly with a whisk to get rid of any lumps. Add corn mixture and heat, stirring occasionally, until thick and bubbly.

Spinach Salad

• Bag baby spinach greens
• sliced mushrooms
• sunflower seeds
• raisins
• croutons
• salad dressing

Wash spinach and place in salad bowl. Top with remaining items and serve with salad dressing of your choice.

 

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday: 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.

 

 

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Tonight's recipe calls for orecchiette pasta but if you cannot find this type, use medium shells.
   
   
2. If you have never tried dipping your bread in a shallow dish of olive oil with seasonings, do try it. Tonight we are flavoring the olive oil with Parmesan cheese, but you can change it to balsamic vinegar or fresh pesto and it is delicious.
   
   
3. Use leftover chicken from Monday night for tonight's dish. If you didn't cook extra chicken on Monday, either boil or grill several pounds of chicken for the freezer and tonight's meal.
   
   
   

Chicken Orecchiette

• 1 (16 oz) package Pasta LaBella Orecchiette
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup yellow pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup scallions
• 3 cups cooked and cubed chicken meat (from Monday)
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped (I usually use 2-3 tsp. dried*)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 oz. feta cheese (the kind that is flavored with basil works great)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and place hot pasta in mixing bowl. Pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar over pasta. Add tomatoes, bell peppers, scallions, and chicken. Toss well. Add basil, salt, pepper, feta, and Parmesan cheese. Toss well and serve immediately.

Leftover Spinach Salad

 

 

 

Crusty Bread with Olive Oil and Parmesan Cheese for Dipping

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. Tonight we are using the meatballs that we froze two weeks ago. If you didn't freeze the meatballs, make some using this recipe. Be sure to add ground beef to your grocery list if you need to make the meatballs. Feel free to make extras to freeze.
   
   
2. The banana pudding is a good way to use overripe bananas, but ripe ones are delicious too. You can make the dish early and refrigerate until ready to serve. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to make.
   
   

 Swedish Meatballs

• 1 (12 oz.) bag of egg noodles
• meatballs (from freezer)
• vegetable oil for frying
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 c. beef broth
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Dash cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 c. (1/2 pt.) dairy sour cream, room temperature

Start noodles cooking according to package directions. If using cooked meatballs, reheat in oil for a few minutes or fry uncooked meatballs until done. Drain on paper towels. Combine remaining ingredients for sour cream sauce. Fold meatballs into sour cream sauce. Drain noodles when cooked and serve meatballs on cooked noodles.

 

 

Green Beans

• 32 oz. can green beans
• 1/2 stick butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine beans with juices and butter in a pan or small slow cooker and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Before serving, salt to taste. If liquid cooks down, add water during cooking process.

 

 

Easy Banana Pudding

• 4 bananas
• Vanilla wafers
• 1 oz. box instant banana pudding
• 2 cups milk
• 2 egg whites (carefully separate to make sure no yolk gets in them)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Prepare banana pudding with 2 cups of milk according to instructions. Refrigerate. Spray a pie plate or 8"x 8" casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Line the bottom and sides with vanilla wafers. Slice bananas over the vanilla wafers. Remove pudding from refrigerator and spoon over bananas.

Beat egg whites, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed until stiff peaks form. Spoon on top of pudding, swirling to make peaks. Brown pie at 300°F until meringue is light brown. Cool and refrigerate.

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. I have added a new Tomato Soup recipe for tonight's mea. If you would rather use canned tomato soup for ease, feel free to add cans to your grocery list and delete the items in our soup recipe tonight.
   
   
2. If your family prefers all meals to include meat, add some sliced deli ham to your grilled cheese for ham and cheese sandwiches.
   
   
3. If you make your own whole grain bread, this is a good meal to have the night you bake your bread. If you have a breadmaker, use it to make a loaf for tonight (add ingredients to your grocery list).
   
   
   

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

• 2 (28 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp fresh or tube basil (or 1 tsp dried)
• 3 tsp. sugar
• 1 cup half and half or milk
• ¼ cup butter, cut into sections

Heat tomatoes and broth to a simmer. Stir in basil and sugar and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in half and half and butter sections. Cook, stirring regularly, until butter is melted. Serve with shredded Parmesan cheese on top.

 

 

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

• bread
• American cheese slices
• butter

Put 1-2 slices of cheese between two bread slices and butter the outside on both sides. Grill on a flat griddle until both sides are golden brown and crispy.

 

 

 

Carrots and Dip

 

* 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 February 1-5, 2010 - PDF

Grocery List for February 1-5 , 2010 - 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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