Monday Recipes

Notes for Monday:

1. Make sure you have your chicken thawed for tomorrow and go ahead and rub it down with the spice blend tonight.
   
2. Tonight's meatballs are from the freezer; if you don't have any you can find the recipe here.

 

  Swedish Meatballs over Noodles

• bag of egg noodles
• raw 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. Fry meatballs in oil until done and 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.

  Lima Beans

We like Glory brand canned lima beans, but use your favorite. One of my biggest cooking failures ever was cooking lima beans from scratch and I have never gotten the hang of it, so you won't see any fresh lima bean recipes on Menus 4 Moms. ;-)

  Salad

 

  Sticky Chicken Rub

• 1 large chicken -- (roasting)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 4 teaspoons salt

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a re-sealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

 

Tuesday Recipes

Notes for Tuesday:

1. Please read the safety notes for today's chicken recipe (under NB at the end of the recipe).
   
2. If you prefer, you can use fresh corn for today's creamed corn. Field corn is an excellent choice for this recipe. Clean the corn, then use a razor blade to shave just the tops off of the kernels, then use a dull knife to rub over the kernels to scrape the juicy starch out into a bowl. This is a messy operation and is best performed at the sink or outside. I am guessing about 12 ears would be right but it's been awhile since I've done it this way.
   
3. Save 1 1/2 cups chicken for tomorrow's chicken pot pie.
   

Roast Sticky Chicken

• Chicken with rub from yesterday
• 1 cup onion -- chopped

When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in a shallow baking pan. Roast, uncovered, at 250° F for 5 hours. After the first hour, baste chicken occasionally (every half hour or so) with pan juices. (It may take awhile to have pan juices) The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. If the chicken contains a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.

Pull the remaining chicken from the bones and bag for the freezer. Keep 1 1/2 cups in the refrigerator for tomorrow. Take the bones, onion stuffing, and skin and boil them in 6 cups water to make a broth. Strain into jars; save 2 cups for for tomorrow's pot pie and freeze the rest or keep in the refrigerator in Mason jars.

NB: Food safety guidelines do not recommend baking chicken at a temperature this low. Please understand that it is safer to bake chicken at 350° and you may wish to use this safer temperature for less time. Also, I use a roasting bag to prepare this chicken. It cuts down the mess and tastes moist and wonderful.

This recipe was originally created by Mimi Hiller of Mimi's Cyber Kitchen, http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/ and this version was actually an adaptation written by Lynn Nelson, former guide of Busy Cooks, http://busycooks.about.com

Creamed Corn

• 12 oz. bag frozen white shoe peg corn* or 12 ears fresh corn, scraped according to above instructions
• 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 (if using fresh corn, just combine in the pan). Blend until creamy with bits of corn left in the mix. In a fry pan 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.

Fresh Green Beans* or Green Bean Casserole

• 1 lb. fresh green beans
• 1-2 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 packet Good Seasons Italian dressing or Adobo (optional)

Wash and steam beans (string if necessary). Melt 1-2 tbsp. butter in a large fry pan and saute beans just until covered with butter and hot. For extra flavor you can add a half packet of Good Seasons Italian dressing (unprepared) or Adobo seasoning.

Fresh fruit of your choice

 

Wednesday Recipes

Notes for Wednesday:

1. Tonight we are going to make a chicken pot pie with some of the chicken from last night. If you have pie crusts still in the freezer, use those. If you have a wheat mill, use whole wheat flour for these crusts. I recommend making the pie crusts in the morning and putting the two you are going to use in the refrigerator. Set them on the counter 30 minutes before using.
   
2. If you have some fresh vegetables available for the pot pie, by all means use those. The list will include frozen vegetables.
   

Chicken Pot Pie

• 2 cups chicken broth from last night
• 1 1/2 sups cooked chicken, shredded
• 1/2 bag frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
• 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced (optional)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 T. flour
• 2 T. butter
• 1 tsp. Adobo or season salt
• 2 pie crusts
• 1 beaten egg + 2T. water

Make a white sauce by melting butter and adding flour. Stir for 1-2 minutes but don't let it burn. Add milk and stir while it thickens. Add 1/2 can of broth, seasoning, chicken, vegetables, and hard boiled eggs if you are using them.

Roll out 1 pie crust and place in a 9" pie pan. Put chicken mixture in pan. Roll out second pie crust and place on top of pie. Pierce with a fork and brush with beaten egg. Bake at 350° until crust is brown and filling is bubbly.

Bulk Pie Crust

• 6 cups flour
• 1 lb. butter, softened (4 sticks)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water

Mix flour and salt. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in butter until mixture is uniformly crumbly. Add water a little at a time and mix until mixture forms a ball. Add water as necessary to get correct texture.

Divide dough in half, then divide each half into 3 equal parts. Form balls and flatten to freeze. Set aside two crusts for tonight's dinner and put the rest in individual quart-sized freezer bags. Freeze 4 crusts.

  Salad

 Cooked Apple Slices or Applesauce

• 5 Granny Smith apples
• 1/4 cup water
• 1-2 tsp. vanilla
• 1-2 tsp. sugar

Wash, peel, core, and slice apples. Place all ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer, stirring occasionally until apples are tender. You may need to add more water if it cooks down. You may either serve these hot as slices or mash them up and serve them as hot or cold applesauce.

 

Thursday Recipes

Notes for Thursday:

1. If you have a cast iron skillet, it works well for fajitas (on the stove). We usually cook ours on the grill but they can also be cooked in a large fry pan on the stovetop.
   
2. Marinate your fajita meat and vegetables all day or overnight. Beef is easier to slice if it is slightly frozen, or you can ask your butcher to slice it when you purchase it. Cut it across the grain.
   
3. If you have beans in your freezer, use those for tonight's beans. If not, follow the instructions to make more. Start them in the morning.
   
4. If you have a wheat mill, the tortilla recipe makes wonderful whole wheat tortillas. Add water or flour as needed.

 Fajitas (for more information on fajitas visit TexasCooking.com)

• 1 lb. of chicken breast (raw, sliced), beef skirt steak or flank steak* (raw, sliced), shrimp, or a combination of the three
• 1 jar Teriyaki sauce
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• Guacamole (opt.)
• Sour Cream (opt.)
• Salsa
• Flour Tortillas, from the store or homemade*

Mix onion, pepper, and meat in a shallow dish and cover with teriyaki sauce. Marinate for several hours. Grill or pan fry. Serve with tortillas, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa. Each person assembles their own fajitas by putting meat/vegetable mixture and topping with their choice of condiments, rolling up the tortilla and eating by hand. Be careful not to overload the tortilla.

 Homemade Tortillas

• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups water

Mix all ingredients. Form into golf ball size balls. Roll out flat into a circle. Cook on each side in a dry non-stick pan until starting to brown. DO NOT OVERCOOK. The tortillas cook quickly and it is easy to burn them if you turn away. You can freeze or refrigerate any extras. They make great quesadillas for lunch.

 Corn on the Cob

 Refried Beans

• 1 bag black turtle beans (pinto or red beans also work)
• cumin
• Adobo or garlic salt
• olive oil
• 1 can red enchilada sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

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. 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 cover with water, making sure the water is twice as deep as the beans. Cook on Hi for 5 hours or Low for 8-10 hours.

Drain beans, reserving liquid (place colander on a lg. pan or bowl then pour beans in). Separate beans into 2 cup servings in freezer bags, reserving 4 cups of beans for tonight's meal. Cover beans in each bag with some of reserved liquid.

Mash 4 cups of beans, adding enough liquid to make beans mushy and soft. Heat 2 T. olive oil in a fry pan and add mashed beans and spices to taste. Stir until hot and bubbly. Heat enchilada sauce in a sauce pan and serve beans topped with enchilada sauce and shredded cheddar cheese.

 

Friday Recipes

Notes for Friday:

1. The quiche recipe is a bulk freezer recipe that can be adapted based on the number of servings you choose. I am including ingredients for 3 servings, which is somewhat misleading as it makes 3 pies, not 3 servings. Freeze the other 2 in gallon freezer bags.
   
2. The Quiche recipe gives options for any combination of meat and vegetables; I am using ham and broccoli for the grocery list. Change these if you prefer some other flavor.

  Ham, Broccoli, and Cheese Quiche in a bag

Recipe is here.

  Salad

* Indicates that of the options listed, this item is the one on the grocery list.