Weekly Menu

I was out of commission (well, my computer was) last week, so I have a longer than usual menu list. These are some of the meals we have eaten in the last two weeks. I bought 2 rotisserie chickens last time I went to the grocery store, they were on sale 4.99 each. I came home and immediately chopped up the chicken. We used it for 3 dinners- barbeque chicken sandwiches, King Ranch Chicken and chicken salad sandwiches. I love it when the rotisserie chickens are on sale- it makes my evenings alot easier!!!

Barbeque chicken sandwiches, potato salad
(chopped rostisserie chicken with barbeque sauce, piled on a toasted bun)

Chicken fried steak sandwiches, fried potatoes and onions

Taco Salad

Breakfast for dinner
(pancaked, scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit salad)

Meatloaf, mac n cheese, spinach

King Ranch Chicken

Chicken Salad sandwiches on croissants, corn on the cob

Sauteed tilapia, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted squash and zucchini

Stuffed chicken breast, mashed potatoes, broccoli with lemon butter

Weekly Menu

Tuesday:
Chicken piccata with creamy lemon sauce
(the pics for this one got lost... I guess I'll have to make it again so I can post it- Darn!! :)

Wednesday:
Spaghetti and meatball bake
cheesey bread sticks (you really don't want to try these...they are TOO good)Thursday:
grilled chicken (hubby was off and grilled outside!)
baked potatoes
roasted carrots

Friday:
fried pork chops
roasted potatoes, zucchini and squash

Weekly Menu

Monday
Orange chicken, sauteed zucchini, chow mein noodles

Tuesday
mini meatloaf sandwiches, carrots, mac n cheese
I made the mini meatloaves, cut them in half and put them in a roll. It was something different! We have meatloaf a lot, so I have 3 different varieties, and am always looking for ways to mix it up a little bit. The sandwiches were great!

Wednesday
Brisket sandwiches, Red, Hot and Blue potato salad
This potato salad rocks!! No mustard, no mushy potatoes- just YUM!

Thursday
chicken Caesar salad with quick homemade Caesar dressing

Friday
Hubby taking me out!!

Our Menu this Week

Monday:
Roasted chicken tenders and white rice
(this was just for the kids. The hubby and I had an unexpected date night!!!)

Tuesday:
grilled salmon, chow mein noodles, broccoli

Wednesday:
Chicken fried rice (with leftover roasted chicken and rice from Mon.)
pot stickers

Thursday:
Taco Salad

Friday:
Cheeseburgers on Hawaiian bread buns
french fries

These rolls are SO good. Each package is 4 rolls, that are stuck together, and that is your bun.
Put the patty and cheese on, then you can slice it into 4 little mini burgers.

Weekly Menu

Monday:
Roasted chicken and veggies

Tuesday:
beef burritos and quesadillas

Wednesday:
chicken salad sandwiches and deviled eggs
My fav chicken salad:
chopped cooked chicken (a rotisserie chicken is my favorite)
red grapes, cut in half
celery, chopped fine
mayo (or miracle whip)
salt and pepper

I was thrilled rotisserie chickens were on sale for 4.99 this week at the store.

I bought one and tore it apart!! We used it for 2 different dinner this week.
Thursday:
fried pork chopes
potatoes and onions
chopped spinach
(post coming soon)

Friday:
chicken spaghetti (used the rest of the rotisserie chicken for this recipe)

Weekly Menu

Monday
mini bacon cheeseburger meatloaves
mac n cheese
green beans

Mini Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf
1 lb. ground beef
5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 c bread crumbs
1/4 c mayo
1 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1/3 c ketchup
2 Tbsp. mustard
French fried onions

Mix beef, cheese, bacon, mayo, eggs, bread crumbs, worcestershire. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix ketchup and mustard. Stir 1/4 c of it into meat mixture, save the rest.
*Here's a tip- For the mini meatloaves, I put a cube of bread in the bottom of each tin. This keeps the meatloaf from sticking, but most importantly the bread soaks up the grease from the meatloaf. You can also put slices of bread underneath your whole loaves of meatloaf before baking.
Spoon some ketchup mixture on each mini loaf. If the ketchup mixture doesn't sound good to you, you can use barbeque sauce, or plain ketchup, or tomato sauce (from the little cans).
I toasted some french fried onions, so they got nice and crispy.
Top the mini loaves with the onions. Serve

Tuesday
tamales with chili (leftovers from Sunday lunch at my mom's)
Mexican Rice

Wednesday
spaghetti with simple tomato sauce
garlic bread

Thursday
flank steak w/sauteed mushrooms and onions
baked potatoes
broccoli
My husband grilled the flank steak outside on the grill, and I sauteed the onions and mushrooms inside to go with it. I used 2 onions, and half a package of mushrooms. I sliced the onions first, and added them to the pan with butter and salt. I sauteed them for a good 5 minutes before adding the mushrooms.

Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper again.
I added worcestershire sauce as well.
Perfect. Mmmmm, these were so yummy with the steak

Friday
crockpot roast
mashed potatoes
roasted carrots

I browned the roast on the stove first. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the oil to medium-high.
You want a nice brown crust.
Put the roast in the crockpot and deglaze the pan (yummy roast bits) with stock. All I had was vegetable stock, or you can use beef. Pour this liquid in the crockpot with the roast.
I had onions, carrots and garlic. I didn't have any celery or I would have added that, too. Add these veggies to the crockpot with the roast. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Sorry, no after pictures. We had company and I just forgot. It was good, though.
Yeah, that really helps, I know.

*Did you know?*
Lifting the lid on your crockpot adds 20 minutes of cooking time to your meal.
I know it's hard- don't peek!!!

Weekly Menu

Monday
Shredded beef tacos (posted about it here)

Tuesday
Chili in Cheddar Biscuit Bowls

I used this recipe for my cheddar biscuits. It's an easy no-fail recipe for great biscuits. I cut the dough into 4 equal parts and formed it around the outside of the muffin tin.

They baked at 350 for 15-18 minutes.

Wednesday
chicken enchiladas

Thursday
pizza

Friday
Creamy Chicken Stew
*This wasn't very good, that is the reason there is no recipe for you.

Saturday
beef fried rice
*I used my chicken fried rice recipe, but I cooked and sliced some thinly sliced top round steak to make it beef fried rice.

Weekly Menu

Monday:
my son got sick- no cooking this night

Tuesday:
I can't remember!!
Isn't that awful?? I didn't take any pictures of whatever it was anyway...

Wednesday:
broiled salmon with Teriyaki glaze
roasted carrots
new potatoes*Even if you are not a huge carrots fan, give these a try. Slice carrots, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and roast in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. They get sweet and yummy.

Thursday:
Game Night Food
(posted about it here)

Friday:
taco salad
This is a new favorite. I have always seen those taco salad shells at the grocery store, but never tried them until recently. YUM! This is easy and fun, something different for us, which is always good.
Follow the directions on the taco salad shell box. (No, it's not just a regular four tortilla. It feels different.) They give you little paper shells to cover the tortilla with to give it its shape.
Brown taco meat. I sauteed onions for a few minutes first and then added taco meat to it. I also added a can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed). I usually use pinto beans, but I had kidney beans already in my pantry, so I used those. I will be back to using pinto beans next time. Drain meat and beans. This time, I added a can of tomato sauce and a little chicken broth. I read this would get thick and be like a sauce for the meat. I did not care for the flavor of this- I will go back to what I did the last time- add a can of chili. When taco shells are done, I layer lettuce, meat and beans, cheese and top with sour cream.

Saturday:
chicken cordon bleu pasta
*From the Cooking with Paula Deen magazine- November/December issue

Chicken:
I used chicken tenders, but you can use breasts- just pound them down to make them thinner. Brush both sides of chicken with Dijon mustard and dredge in a mixture of breadcrumbs (1 cup), fresh thyme (1/4 tsp.), salt and pepper. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet and cook chicken. Brown both sides, then place chicken on a plate.
For creamy cheesy pasta (to go with chicken):
Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 cloves of garlic (minced) and 3/4 cup ham, chopped. Cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp. flour, season with salt and pepper, stir constantly for 2 minutes.
Gradually stir in 1 cup half and half. Cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Add 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese, stirring until melted. Add cooked pasta to pan, toss gently to coat with sauce.

Sunday:
Stuffed pork tenderloin
roasted acorn squash
new potatoes with roasted garlic

Acorn Squash:
Microwave squash one at a time to soften. Cut in half. Spoon out seeds and pulp in the middle. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil. Cream one stick of butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar- spread on squash. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, basting with extra butter mixture every 15 minutes. (Mine needed to cooked for 10 minutes longer)
Stuffed Pork Tenderloin:
The great thing about this is, use what you've got. This is what I had, so this is what I stuffed the pork with. First, saute one small onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 ribs celery, and 1/2 package of mushrooms in butter. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the pork down the middle, but not all the way through. Stuff with stuffing mixture. I added fontina cheese, bread crumbs and thyme (again, just what I happened to have on hand) to the onion and mushroom mixture. I used toothpicks to hold the tenderloins together.Heat your pan on medium heat and brown the tenderloins on all sides, for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a baking dish, and cook at 450 for 10-15 minutes, until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 135. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Weekly Menu

Monday:
Beef Tacos with Homemade Taco Shells
Hominy
Refried Beans

Beef Tacos:
Saute onions (1 small) for several minutes until soft. Add spices- cumin, chili powder, and pinch cayenne pepper. Stir together and add ground beef to pan. Cook until no longer pink, and drain if needed. At this point I added a can of chili. I do this to make the meat thicker and hold together better, instead of dry, crumbly ground beef. I read in a cookbook that you can add tomato sauce and chicken broth and let that thicken it up. I will try that next time, but I already had the chili.
Homemade Taco Shells
I used flour tortillas, because I had more of them than corn (and I wanted to see how it would work with flour). Heat vegetable oil in skillet. Hold one side of tortilla in the oil, and hold up the other side, out of the oil.Flip tortilla and brown other side of tortilla.Stand upside down to dry and cool.

Tuesday:
Mini chicken pot pies
fried squash
The pot pies were not great, I need to tweak the recipe I used. The fried squash was good, though. I dredged it in milk (seasoned with salt and pepper) and then flour, also seasoned with salt and pepper. Fried in vegetable oil- Yum!
Wednesday:
Spaghetti with Simple Tomato Sauce

Thursday:
Orange Chicken
Rice

Orange Chicken
Full Bellies, Happy Kids

3 lbs. Chicken, cut into bite size pieces
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of cornstarch
4 beaten eggs with a little milk
oil

Sauce:
1 1/4 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of ketchup
1/2 cup of water
2 tablespoons of soy sauce

Beat 4 eggs together and add a little milk. Mix cornstarch, flour and garlic powder together. Dip chicken pieces in the flour then egg. Fry in hot oil until golden brown.

Place chicken in casserole dish.

Sauce:
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved and ingredients are blended.

Pour sauce over chicken

Bake for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked thoroughly.


*Ok, this was GOOD. I love Asian food, but we don't have it all that often, so I love when I find a good recipe I can make at home. This is sweet, but tasty. Maybe more soy sauce next time, and less sugar or ketchup. But, I really liked it and will be making this again.

Friday:
Pan seared steaks with worchestershire-butter pan sauce
Three Cheese Pasta Bake
(Sorry, no pictures. Didn't have my camera last night)

Three Cheese Pasta Bake
*from Southern Living
1 8-oz. penne pasta (I used 12 oz. accidentally, it was fine)
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c half and half
4 oz. shredded white cheddar
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz. shredded gruyere cheese
1 tsp. salt (needs more)
1/4 tsp. pepper
pinch of nutmeg

Cook pasta according to directions. Lightly grease 11x7 baking dish.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour; cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk and half and half (do this slowly or sauce will not thicken at ALL), 3-5 minutes. Stir in cheeses, saving 1/2 Gruyere, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir together pasta and sauce and pour into lightly greased 11x7 dish. Top with remaining Gruyere.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden and bubbly (mine needed 20).
*This was really good. I knew my hubby would love it and he did. It went well with the steaks.