Weekly Menu 3/5+

Saturday		Hamburgers Tater tots Carrot Sticks Smores
Sunday		Honey Mustard Chicken Baked Potatoes Broccoli Peanut Butter Cookies
Monday		Pork Roast Rice Green Beans
Tuesday		Chili Beans Cornbread
Wednesday		Shrimp Scampi Angel Hair Pasta Spinach Salad
Thursday		Pork Lo Mein Egg Rolls (frozen) Oranges
Friday		Spinach Mushroom Quesadillas Black Bean Salad Sliced Peaches

Saturday

1. Since the temperatures have been getting warm again (yea for spring and summer!!) it's time to dust off the grill. After you cook your burgers, cook a marshmallow or two on the leftover coals (or warm gas grill).

BBQ Mushroom-Turkey Burgers (Taste of Home)

• ¾ c chopped onion
• 2 tsp butter
• 1 c sliced mushrooms
• 1 medium carrot grated
• ¼ dry red wine or chicken broth
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 pound ground turkey
• ¼ c bbq sauce

In large non-stick skillet, saute onion in butter for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and carrots and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add the wine/broth, salt and pepper; simmer for 2-3 minutes or until liquid is evaporated. Transfer to a large bowl; cool slightly. Crumble turkey over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour (or not if you don’t have that sort of time). Coat grill rack with non-stick spray before starting the grill. Grill until done, top with an additional ¼ c bbq sauce.

Tater Tots

Carrot Sticks

Smores

• Graham Crackers
• Chocolate (think beyond the bar... use chocolate chips slightly melted on the cracker or nutella)
• Roasted Marshmallow

Sunday

1. It came to me in a dream that I had to put Honey Mustard Chicken on the menu this week, so I am.
2. When I made this last night the chicken didn't have enough room in the pan to reduce the sauce so it ended up being more like boiled in butter, honey and mustard. Not that anything cooked/swimming in butter isn't good, it was just, well not very honey-mustard-y.
3. After C was born I made these cookies every day for a month. I still have the recipe memorized. It's a wonder I'm not shaped like a cookie after all those I ate.

Honey Mustard Chicken (365 Ways to Cook Chicken)

• 3-4 lbs chicken pieces
• ½ c (1 stick) butter, melted
• ½ c honey
• ¼ c dijion mustard
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken pieces in 9x13 pan, use more than one pan if the pieces start to touch. I think this is where things went wrong for me. Combine remaining ingredients. Spread over chicken. Bake 1 hour, basting with pan juices every 15 minutes, until chicken is tender and golden brown.

I knew when my chicken was submerged the whole time and I didnt need to baste that I was in trouble. Hopefully this comes out better for y’all. Such a resounding endorsement, huh?

Baked Potatoes

Broccoli

Peanut Butter Cookies

• ½ c butter
• ½ c peanut butter
• ½ c sugar
• ½ c brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ - ¾ tsp salt (I like them saltier than just the ½ tsp)
• 2 c flour

Mix ingredients in order, taking care to mix well after each addition. Drop by teaspoonful onto un-greased baking sheets. Press down with your fingers, then make a cris-cross with the tines of a fork. If you want to get fancy sprinkle a little white sugar on top before baking. Bake 350 for 10 min.

Monday

1. Cook extra pork roast tonight so you'll have leftovers for Thursday night's lo-mein.
2. If you don’t LOVE onions, then feel free to cut down the number to something that seems more reasonable to your family's taste buds.

Pork Roast with Onions (Tasty Kitchen)

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 4 pounds Pork Roast
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoons Pepper
• 6 whole Onions

Place a roasting pan or skillet over medium to medium high heat, sprinkling oil over the pan. Rinse roast with cold water and salt and pepper both sides. Place the roast in the pan to sear. (My crock pot is the kind that can be put on the stove and then set on the crock pot’s heating element. It’s wonderful since it saves a dirty pan. If you don’t have this kind of crock, just use a skillet.) Sear both sides of the roast evenly and well.

Meanwhile, slice your onions thinly as if making onion rings (teeny tiny onion rings though), certainly not restaurant-size. As you get them sliced, add them to the pan while the roast is cooking. If you or your family are not that fond of onions, decrease the amount. What is wonderful about this recipe is the onions become soft and pick up the flavor of the pork. When I started making this recipe when my children were younger, I used 2 to 4 onions.

After the meat is seared, place in the crock pot with the onions. Set on high and cook six to eight hours. This recipe requires no liquids; I guarantee it will make its own. If you want to make a gravy, you can add a can of chicken stock and then when it’s done, remove to thicken and make your gravy.

Rice

Green Beans

Tuesday

1. If you like sweet cornbread, then I recommend the Jiffy corn muffin mix, with ½ tsp sugar added. If you don’t, then I was told by the very wise Karen that Pioneer is the best option and it's less expensive than the HEB brand.

Chili

• 2 c cooked ground beef (check out my blog for info on picking the best price option)
• 16 oz diced tomatoes
• 1 package Wick Fowler's Chili mix
• chili powder
• cumin
• garlic powder
• salt
• cayenne pepper
• masa (that's the ingredient my home made stuff has been lacking to make it not so soup-y)

Pinto Beans

Cornbread

Wednesday

1. Since it's Ash Wednesday today, I picked a non-meat meal. I'll try to keep up the no meat Fridays for all of my Catholic friends and readers.
2. This is a super easy recipe and you can thaw the shrimp in a bowl of cold water in less than 15 minutes. So put the shrimp in to thaw before you go change your clothes from work.

Shrimp Scampi

• 1 pkg (16 oz) frozen raw shrimp (31-35 per lb), thawed, peeled, and patted dry
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Melt butter and mix with pressed garlic; set aside. Heat oil in a large fry pan (cast iron is best). Toss shrimp with flour and salt until coated, then add to heated oil. Cook shrimp on first side until pink color creeps about 1/3 of the way up the side, then turn over. Cook until thoroughly cooked through. Add butter and garlic mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes, stirring gently. Serve immediately over pasta.

Angel Hair Pasta

Spinach Salad

• 2-3 c washed spinach leaves
• 2 boiled eggs, sliced
• fresh sliced mushrooms
• 2-3T bacon bits (ha, skip this ingredient if you are Catholic)

Thursday

1. Use left over pork from Monday night to speed this recipe along.

Pork Lo Mein (Menus4Moms)

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb. cooked pork roast, cubed
• 2-3 (3 oz.) pkg. pork flavored Ramen Noodles
• 1 1/2 cups water (may need more water if you use 3 pkg. of noodles)
• 1 red* or yellow pepper, cut into strips
• 2 cups broccoli florets* or cauliflower, thawed
• 3 med. green onions, chopped
• 2 tsp parsley
• 1 1/4 tbsp soy sauce

Frozen Egg Rolls (well cook them of course)

Orange Slices

Friday

Spinach Mushroom Quesadillas (Pioneer Woman)

• 3 Tablespoons Butter
• 16 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Sliced
• ⅓ cups Sherry Or Wine
• 3 Tablespoons (additional) Sherry Or Wine
• Kosher Salt And Pepper To Taste
• 1 bag Baby Spinach
• 12 whole Flour Tortillas (Soft Taco Size)
• 8 ounces, weight Fontina (or Monterey Jack) Cheese, Grated
• 3 ounces, weight Goat Cheese (chevre)
• Extra Butter, For Tortillas
• Salsa, For Serving

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet and add sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then saute over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, then pour in sherry. Add salt and pepper. Continue cooking for 6 to 8 minutes, or until all liquid is evaporated. Remove mushrooms from skillet and set aside.

Return skillet to stovetop and reduce heat to medium-low. Melt additional 1 tablespoons of butter and add a couple of tablespoons of sherry. Add spinach to skillet and stir gently as it wilts. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then cook for 2 minutes, max. Remove from skillet.

To assemble the quesadillas, arrange grated Fontina, spinach, and mushrooms on top of one flour tortilla. Dot with goat cheese. Top with a little more Fontina, then top with second tortilla. Smear softened butter lightly on both sides of the quesadilla, then grill until golden brown and until cheese is totally melted. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

Slice quesadillas into four wedges and serve immediately.

Black Bean Salad

• ¾ c cooked black beans, drained and rinsed if from a can
• 1 diced tomato
• ¾ frozen corn, thawed
• ½ tsp basil
• dash pepper
• 2T balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp olive oil
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1/3 c grated mozzarella (optional, if you didnt get enough cheese in the quesadillas)

Mix all ingredients, except cheese in a medium sized bowl. Top with cheese and chill.

Sliced Canned Peaches