Weekly Menu 5/7+

Saturday		Hamburgers Knock You Neked Brownies
Sunday		Grilled Fish Rice Pilaf Broccoli Fruit Salad
Monday		Shake and Bake Pork Chops Sweet Potato Fries Green Beans
Tuesday		Tacos Mexicorn Fruit
Wednesday		Chicken with Peppers Eggrolls Oranges
Thursday		Spicy Cajun Gumbo Rice
Friday		Hot Dogs Pork n Beans Carrot Sticks

Coming in a few weeks for the summer... Thursday night salad suppers. Just because Thursday is a fun day of the week and we should all have a little break in heavy eating every now and then. If you have a real trusted favorite to share, please send it to me and I'll try it out ahead of time.

The idea is that the salad will be the main course and in my family it is a requirement that there is meat. I'm sure there are plenty of delicious salads without meat, but my family won't count them as supper, so I can't include them in my menu, but I will consider yours!

Saturday

1. I wasn’t going to include this recipe, but after looking at these a second time, well I just had to. If you're in a Get Fit Challenge at work like I am, you should probably avoid these. I'm not saying that I will be avoiding them, you just probably should.

Hamburgers

Knock you Neked Brownies (Pioneer Woman)

• 1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
• ⅓ cups Evaporated Milk
• ½ cups Evaporated Milk (additional)
• ½ cups Butter, Melted
• 60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped
• ⅓ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• ¼ cups Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.

Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk. When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.

*Adapted from the standard/classic “Knock You N@ked Brownies” recipe. These brownies don’t really knock you naked…but almost.

Sunday

1. Since today is Mother's Day, every should have a healthy dinner that would make their mom's proud that means to be sure and eat all of your veggies.
2. You might as well eat some leftover brownies too, because most moms love chocolate.

Grilled Fish

Rice Pilaf

• 2 T butter
• 2 T finely chopped onion
• ½ tsp minced garlic; jar
• ¼ c chopped carrots
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 c rice
• 2 c chicken broth or bullion

Saute onion and garlic in butter until tender. Add in carrots for 1 minute. Then add rice and allow to brown slightly. Add broth or water and parsley. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until rice is cooked.

Broccoli

Fruit Salad

Monday

Shake and Bake Pork Chops

Sweet Potato Fries

Green Beans

Tuesday

Tacos

Mexicorn

Fruit

Wednesday

1. This recipe was originally made with beef, and it was good. However I'm on a five day streak of eating beef and I need a break. Plus I had this recipe on the menu just over a month ago. HOWEVER, I forgot to buy the rice noodles to put in the version my family ate and well I feel like I was cheated. So, because it's my prerogative to do so I'm swapping chicken for the beef and going to remember the noodles this time.

Chicken with Peppers (Pioneer Woman)

• 1-½ pound Flank Steak, Sliced Very Thin Against The Grain (I'm using Chicken this time)
• ½ cups Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• 3 Tablespoons Sherry
• 2 Tablespoons Packed Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Ginger
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 teaspoon Red Chile Paste (or A Few Dashes Red Chile Oil)
• 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• 1 whole Medium Yellow Onion Sliced
• 2 whole Red Bell Peppers, Cored And Sliced Into Rings
• 1 Tablespoon Diced Fresh Jalapeno (or 1 Teaspoon Dice Hot Pepper)
• Red Pepper Flakes, For Sprinkling
• Cilantro Leaves
• Rice Noodles (this wasn't on the original list and why I missed adding them the first time)

Mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, garlic, and chili paste (or chili oil.) Place sliced beef in the mixture and toss to coat. Set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high to high heat. When it is very hot, throw in the onions and cook for less than a minute. Remove to a separate plate. Return skillet to flame, allow to reheat, and add bell peppers (and hot pepper/jalapeno if using.) Cook for a minute, tossing, until peppers have brown/black bits but are still firm. Remove to a plate.

Return skillet to heat and allow to get hot. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Add 1/3 of the meat mixture, evenly distributing over the surface of the skillet. Allow to sit for 20 to 30 seconds, then turn with tongs. Cook for another 30 seconds, then remove to a separate plate. Repeat with remaining meat until all brown.

Reduce heat to low. Add all meat, onions, and peppers to the skillet and toss to combine. Pour in remaining sauce (the sauce the meat marinated in*) and stir. Allow to simmer on low for a few minutes. Sauce will slowly thicken. Turn off heat.

*Update/Note: you can also whip up an extra batch of liquid if you do not want to use the same liquid you use for the meat.

Turn off boiling water, then throw in noodles. Stir, then allow noodles to sit in hot water for 8 minutes or so (check package directions to be sure.) Drain, then add 1/2 the noodles to stir fry. Toss together, then add more noodles to taste. Add very hot water if needed to thin.

Top with cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.

Eggrolls

Oranges

Thursday

Spicy Cajun Gumbo (Crock Pot Recipes)

• 1lb.boneless, skinless chicken cut into strips
• 3 c.chicken stock
• 2 c diced canned tomatoes
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning blend (recipe follows)
• 1 med onion, chopped
• 3 med carrots, thinly sliced
• 1/2 each red & green bell peppers, chopped
• 1c corn
• 2 tsp minced or pressed garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb Louisiana Hot Sausage (I'll probably use Kielbasa)
• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 8 oz.raw shrimp, peeled and cleaned (optional)
• salt & pepper to taste
• hot cooked rice (3c rice + 6 c water)
• 2 c frozen okra or filé to taste

Cajun Seasoning Blend:

• ¼ c salt
• 1T cayenne pepper (that's probably WAY too hot to suit me)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1T parsley

Place chicken, 2 cups stock, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, and Cajun Seasoning Blend in a Crock Pot on high heat. In a medium skillet, sauté onion, carrots, bell peppers, corn and garlic in olive oil for about 10 minutes or until softened. Add to Crock Pot. In same skillet, brown sausage on all sides over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, cover and cook through (about 10 minutes). Slice sausage into 1 inch pieces and add to crock pot. Pour out all but about 2 tablespoons of the sausage fat. Add flour to fat and stir constantly over medium-high heat to create a dark roux. Slowly add remaining 1 cup of broth to roux and stir until smooth. Mix roux into Crock Pot, lower heat, cover and cook for 6-8 hours. About 15 minutes before serving, stir in the shrimp. Season to taste with salt, pepper and filé.

Friday

Hot Dogs

Pork n Beans

Carrot Sticks