Menus 4 Moms

May 9-13, 2005

This is the first Menus 4 Moms menu. In order to make the best use of Menus 4 Moms, before beginning the Menu please read the Menus 4 Moms plan basics and the Busy Cooks Pyramid as Menus 4 Moms will be based on these items each week.

Menu for May 9-13, 2005

Chicken Tetrazzini
Broccoli with Cheese Sauce
Salad

Chili Mac
Cornbread

Stuffed Shells
Green Beans
Fresh Bread

Hash Brown Soup
Broccoli Slaw
Fresh Bread

Grilled Hamburgers
Grilled Vegetables
Frozen French Fries or Tator Tots

Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Instead of poaching 4 boneless chicken breasts for tonight's dinner, we are going to double that amount. Cut or tear all of it into bite sized pieces and freeze half of it for future casseroles or soups. If you prefer, you may grill your chicken for extra flavor.
   
   

   Chicken Tetrazzini I

Recipe provided by:
Submitted by Tammy Schill

• 8 ounces spaghetti
• 2 (8 ounce) cans mushrooms, drained
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Break spaghettini into 1 inch pieces. Cook according to package directions. Drain. Saute mushrooms in butter or margarine. Cut chicken into large pieces, and mix with mushrooms. Stir in sour cream and condensed soup. Fold in noodles. Turn into a buttered casserole dish, and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 40 minutes.

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   Broccoli

- fresh or frozen, cooked as you prefer

  Cheese Sauce

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1- 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (you may also use Velveeta for this)

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add flour and stir constantly for 1 minute. Add milk slowly, stirring constantly. After milk is blended, cook several minutes until slightly thickened. Add cheese to taste and melt. Serve on top of vegetables.

  Salad

Your choice. Try a different type of greens for a change. Baby spinach is excellent. Leaf lettuces are more nutritious that iceberg lettuce. Adding sunflower seeds and grated carrots is a good way to sneak in nutrients.

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Today we are investing in planned leftovers again while taking advantage of our "servant" the slow cooker. I am giving you my recipe for chili, but if you prefer, use your favorite recipe. We are saving about 3 cups of the chili to use early next week in Mexican Lasagne. You may either freeze or refrigerate this portion.
   
   
2. We will also be putting some investments into our freezer with today's meal. I recommend doing notes 2 and 3 in the morning and not when you are trying to put together the chili in the afternoon. We need to brown ground beef for the chili, but instead of browning 1 lb., we are going to brown 5 lbs. and freeze the rest in 4 dated freezer bags.
   
   
3. When making our chili, we will need to chop and saute an onion. Instead of chopping just one, we are going to buy and chop a whole bag of yellow onions and saute them. We will use one for the chili, save two in the refrigerator, one each for marinara sauce and hash brown soup, and freeze the rest in several dated freezer bags. Next time you need sauteed onions for soup or a casserole, the labor of chopping and sauteing is already done.

  Chili Mac

• 1 lb. browned ground beef (remember to cook extra for the freezer)
• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 onion, chopped and sauteed (remember to cook extra for the 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

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

   Cornbread

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Today we are going to make a large pot of spaghetti sauce. Although I like meat sauce, this time we are going to make marinara because we will be saving some for pizza for one of your lunches. Start your marinara sauce late in the morning in your slow cooker and let it simmer all afternoon. After preparing your sauce,cool it and freeze all but what is needed for the shells plus another 2 cup portion in 2 cup servings in dated freezer bags for later use. Refrigerate the extra 2 cup portion for use as sauce for a pizza lunch at your convenience.

  Marinara Sauce

 

• 1 (28 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 onion, from refrigerator
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. basil

Combine all ingredients and simmer in a slow cooker for 4-5 hours on low.

  Stuffed Shells

• 1/2 box of jumbo shells or manicotti
• Marinara sauce
• 3 c. Ricotta cheese (easy to make from milk if you are interested)
• 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp Parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 16 oz. Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Cook shells according to package directions. Mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg,salt, and pepper. Stuff shells or manicotti with cheese mixture and place in a 13" x 9" baking dish coated with non-stick spray. Spoon marinara sauce over each shell and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350°.

  Green Beans, canned*, fresh, or frozen

Cook fresh, canned, or frozen green beans. When cooking canned or fresh green beans, cook for several hours on low with a generous amount of butter for homestyle country beans. You do not need to use ham to get good flavor with this method.

  Frozen Bread Dough (loaf style)

Use your favorite type of bread, either homemade or from the grocer. If you wish, you may serve it with a small dish of olive oil sprinkled with Italian herbs and Parmesan cheese for dipping.

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday: None

This is one of my family's favorite recipes and it is quick and easy! I substitute 3 cans of chicken broth for the water and bouillon and your Grocery List will reflect that change. I also use regular milk instead of evaporated milk.

Use two bags of pre-cut broccoli slaw from the produce section with a jar of slaw dressing. If you cannot find pre-cut broccoli slaw, use regular cabbage slaw. You may add any of the following if you wish: raisins, bacon, sesame seeds, walnuts, green onions, and apple.

Remember to plan ahead and thaw and rise the rolls well in advance of dinner.

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. Today we will be making hamburger patties. Our investment for the day is to make extra patties and meatballs for the freezer.
   
   

I usually use 1 lb. of ground beef, an egg, and Adobo seasoning (easily found in the spice section of most grocery stores; substitute garlic salt if you can't find it) to make patties. We are going to increase this mixture to 5 lbs. of ground beef, 5 eggs, and *lots* of Adobo seasoning. You may add some bread crumbs if you wish. Shape patties for tonight's dinner, then take the extra meat and divide it equally between hamburger patty shapes and meatball shapes for the freezer. Flash freeze the meatballs, then put into dated freezer bags. Freeze the hamburger patties with wax paper between each layer in a dated freezer bag.

Grill hamburgers and serve on buns with your favorite condiments.

Freezer Investments

You have finished your first weekly menu and while you did some extra work, you also saved some time on other days *and* you have made several deposits into your Freezer Investment account. If you followed the whole week as planned, you should have the following in your freezer:

• 3 cups of chili for Mexican Lasagne
• frozen marinara sauce
• frozen hamburger patties
• frozen meatballs
• 3 lbs. browned ground beef
• several bags of sauteed onions

Each week we will add to these and also draw from them. Keep up the good work and I'll be back next week with some of my favorite recipes!