Week Menu 9/26-10/2

Meal One: Spicy Chicken Satay, rice and steamed veggie

Meal Two: Pasta with Kale

Meal Three: Grilled Pork Chops, with steamed broccoli and salad

Meal Four: Spicy Lemon Pasta

Recipe

Spicy Chicken Satay:

marinade

24 chicken tenders

2 T dark sesame oil

2 T vegetable oil

1 T rice vinegar

4 T soy sauce

2 T tabasco

3 T brown sugar

Peanut sacuce

3 T vegetable oil

2 clv garlic

1 T ginger

2 T tabasco

1/2 c peanut butter

1 T rice vinegar

2 T soy sauce

2T sugar

1/4 c water, more if needed

Place all chicken marinade ingredients in bag and marinate at lease two hours, up to overnight.

Place all peanut sauce ing. into blender or food processor, except water. Pulse to combine, then slowly add water until desired consistancy is reached.

Preheat outdoor grill, or broiler. You can either thread the chicken onto skewers, or just place chicken on without. Give the chicken a final brush with the marinade, then discard remaining marinade. Grill or broil about 4 minutes on each side, remove from grill and serve with peanut sauce.

Serve with steamed broccoli and steamed rice.

Pasta with Kale:

I use the recipe off the food network.....

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/pasta-with-escarole-recipe/index.html
I substitute kale for escarole and I also substitute pancetta or bacon for the pancetta, just whatever you have on hand. I like to use whole wheat pasta in this recipe.

Pork Chops

Season boneless pork chops with pepper and seasoning salt. Grill on outdoor grill, or broil, about 3-6 minutes per side, depending on thickness of chops. Serve with steamed broccoli and side salad.

Spicy Lemon Shrimp Pasta:

3/4 lb linguine

1 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)

3T butter

3T olive oil

3T (9cloves) garlic

3/4 c fresh italian parsley

1/4t red pepper flakes

zest of one lemon

1/4 c lemon juice

1/2 lemon thinly sliced

Cook pasta according to package directions with 1 T salt. In large saucepan melt butter and olive oil over med-low heat. Add garlic and saute one minute. Add shrimp and cook about 5 minutes, turning once. Add all lemon items, parsley and pepper flakes to saucepan; remove from heat. Mix with pasta and serve.

Recipes:

chicken tenders

proscuitto

pork chops

shrimp

ginger

garlic

broccoli

salad mix

parsley

lemon

kale/escarole

red jalapeno

pine nuts

sesame oil

rice vinegar

soy sauce

tabasco

peanut butter

brown sugar

linguine

1 lb pasta of choice

parmesan

Menu Week 9/19-23

Meal One: Butternut Squash Soup with homemade croutons and side salad

Meal Two: Green Chile Stew

Meal Three: Chinese Chicken Salads

Meal Four: Mushroom burgers, corn on the cob and side salad

Recipes:

Butternut Squash Soup:

2T unsalted butter, 1 diced onion, 3 lb squash in 1/2 inch cubes, 5 c chicken broth, 2 sprigs of thyme, pinch of nutmeg and 1/2 c heavy cream.

Melt butter in large dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook, 5 minutes. Stir in squash, broth, thyme, and nutmeg, bring to a simmer, cover and cook until squash is tender, about 20-25 minutes.

Remove thyme sprigs, and puree soup either in batches in the blender or with an immersion blender. Return soup to pot and stir in cream. Bring back to a simmer, then remove from heat, season with salt and pepper to taste.

For the croutons I just dice up old bread, toss it with olive oil, pepper and spike then lay it out on a sheet pan. Bake in oven at 450 until crunchy.

Green Chile Stew:

Heat oven to 325. Cut 3lb of chuck roast into 2 inch cubes...heat 1 t vegetable oil until smoking in a dutch oven over med-high heat...sear beef in 2 batches...remove to a side plate. Add a little more oil to pan and cooke 1 onion, diced, and 2 carrots, diced, cook 5 minutes.

Add 3 garlic cloves, minced, and cook another 30 seconds. Add 1 t each of cumin and oregano, cook another 30 seconds. Add 2 cans of beef broth, seared beef , 1 (15oz) can of diced tomatoes and 1 c cleaned and seeded green chile (cut into about 1/2 inch cubes)..fresh fire roasted green chiles are the best, but the canned will work too.

Bring stew to a boil, cook in oven 2hrs. Add 2 diced idaho potatoes, add 1/2 c water if needed, and cook another hour, or until beef is tender. Serve with tortillas

Chinese Chicken Salads

Top a mix of shredded 2 parts shredded romaine and one part shredded cabbage with shredded carrot, scallions, edemame, mandarin orange slices, toasted almonds, chow mien noodles and shredded chicken. Toss all ingredients with your favorite sesame dressing.

Mushroom Turkey burgers:

1 lb ground turkey burger

1/2-3/4c chopped wild mushrooms

1/2 onion chopped

2 palms full bread crumbs

1 egg

2 t italian seasoning

1 T olive oil

1 T butter

2 garlic cloves

In skillet melt butter and oil over med-high heat, add onion, garlic and mushrooms, saute 5-1 minutes. In large bowl combine all ingredients, including slightly cooled mushroom saute, combine with hands.

Form 4-5 burger patties, grill on george foreman grill 4-5 minutes, or BBQ outside.

These are good with or without a bun, my husband likes some bacon on top, and I just boil the corn for a few minutes and serve.

Shopping List

chuck roast

ground burger

chicken

butternut squash

lettuce

tomato

carrots

onions

scallions

mushrooms

potatoes

thyme

black beans

cabbage

garlic

corn on the cob

edemame

mandarin oranges

chow mein noodles

almonds

tortillas

chicken broth

beef broth

Menu 9/13-18

Short week for meals, sorry

Meal One: Lamb burgers with yogurt sauce

Meal Two: Spaghetti with meatballs

Meal Three: BBQ chicken Sandwiches with Tater tots or Salad

Recipes:

Lamb burgers with yogurt Sauce:

1 1/2 lb ground lamb (I may combine lamb and turkey, whatever you prefer)

1/2 T capers, chopped

1 t garlic

1 t lemon zest

2 t mustard

1 t salt

1/4 t pepper

Mix all ingredients, then form into four-5 even sized patties. Cook on hot grill, 4 minutes per side. Serve on toasted bun with lettuce, tomato and cucumber sauce.

Cucumber Sauce:

1 seeded cucumber, grated

1/2 T salt

2 c plain yogurt, preferably Greek yogurt

2 sprigs fresh dill, chopped

1 1/2 T fresh mint leaves, chopped

1/2 t cumin

1/8 t pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Place grated cucumber in strainer with salt, let drain about 20 minutes. Then combine all ingredients.

Real Spaghetti and Meatballs, by Ina Garten on footnetwork.com

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/real-meatballs-and-spaghetti-recipe/index.html

Except that I use Turkey sausage (sweet and hot) rather than the beef, veal, pork combo and I don't make my own bread crumbs, I just use one cup of seasoned breadcrumbs. I also add about 1/4c of the red wine to the meatballs

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches:

Place boneless, skinless chicken breasts into a ziploc bag with bbq sauce and montreal steak seasoning. Let set for at least 15 minutes. Then grill about 5 minutes per side on hot grill. Then let cooked chicken breasts set for at least 5 minutes. Serve on toasted whole wheat bun spread with a thin layer of ranch dressing. Slice chicken on a slant and layer on bottom bun, top with lettuce, tomato and red onion. Enjoy with either tater tots or a side salad, most likely I will be having tater tots.

Shopping List:

Ground burger meat, lamb or lamb and turkey mix

turkey sausage

chicken breasts

lettuce

tomatoes

red and yellow onions

lemon

garlic

cucumber

capers

fresh dill and mint

greek yogurt

red wine

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

spaghetti noodles

whole wheat buns

bread crumbs

Week Menu 9/5-11

Meal One: Beef and Cannellini Minestrone with cheesy bread

Meal Two: Chicken Enchiladas

Meal Three: Taco salads

Meal Four: Chicken stew with Biscuits

Recipes

Beef and Cannellini Minestrone

This is from an episode of Giada at home on the food network, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/beef-and-cannellini-bean-minestrone-recipe/index.html

Taco Salad:

Cook 1 lb taco meat in skillet and season with your favorite taco seasoning. Heat one can of refried or black beans, if you are using black beans you can just mix them into the meat. If you have a taco shell maker, bake your flour tortilla in oven at 300 for about 20 minutes. If you don't have a special pan you can use an oven safe bowl or just crunch chips on top of salad. Layer chopped romaine, diced tomatoes, diced red onion, chopped avocado, then meat, cheese and beans. Then top with sour cream and salsa.

Chicken Enchiladas

2 c shredded chicken

1 c drained black beans

1 can green chilies

1 c sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 c sliced olives

1/2 c cheddar cheese the another cup for sprinkling top of enchiladas

choice of corn or flower tortillas

1-2 c enchilada sauce

mix first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Spoon 1/4 c enchilada sauce into bottom of baking dish. Fill tortillas with mixture and layer in baking dish. If doing two layers, top first layer with sauce and half of remaining cheese. Then top second layer with remaining sauce and cheese.

Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.

Chicken Stew with Biscuits:

This recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa show on the food network. I just buy a rotisserie chicken instead of roasting chicken before, it's much easier, especially when you have more than one chicken meal in the week, I use about half the chicken. Also I rarely remember to have chicken boullion on hand so this turns our just as good without it. Also I just use plain old bisquick drop biscuits for the top, I don't make my own, but feel free.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-stew-with-biscuits-recipe/index.html

Shopping List

rotisserie chicken (half for enchiladas, half for chicken stew)

ground meat 1 1/2 lb, separated

onions, 3

carrots

celery

lettuce

tomato

olives

parsley

frozen peas

frozen whole small onions

tomato paste

can diced tomatoes

beef broth 2 cans

chicken broth 5 cups

cannellini beans

black beans 2 cans

cream of chicken soup

green chilis

sour cream

cheddar cheese

cream or half and half

tortillas

enchilada sauce