Weekly Menu 9/3+

Saturday		one-pan baked chicken & potatoes green beans
Sunday		hot dogs & hamburgers grilled corn cantaloupe cookies
Monday		Labor Day cook-out smoked chicken baked potato salad watermelon
Tuesday		PW meatballs noodles broccoli peaches
Wednesday		pancakes eggs grapes
Thursday		pork cacciatore peas pasta
Friday		deep dish pizza ice cream sandwiches

I got a new issue of Kraft Food & Family in the last week.  I’ll think you’ll figure that out by the time you get done reading the source of several recipes. 

Saturday

One-pan Baked Chicken & Potatoes (Kraft Food & Family)

·         ½ c Italian dressing

·         3T brown sugar

·         1T chopped fresh thyme (1 tsp dry)

·         1-2 sweet potatoes; cut into ¾” wide spears

·         1-2 white potatoes; cut into ¾” wide spears

·         3lb chicken pieces

Mix dressing, sugar and thyme in large bowl.  Add potatoes; toss to coat.  Transfer potatoes to large roasting pan (15x10x1) reserving dressing mixture in bowl.  Add chicken to reserved dressing; toss to coat.  Place in pan with potatoes.  Bake 1 hour or until potatoes are tender and chicken is done (165 degrees). 

Green Beans

Sunday

1.        It’s getting close to the end of summer (even I am beginning to be ready now that we’ve had 75 days >100), so I have two cook out days back to back.  Because if you’ve just moved to Michigan you know that winter is right around the corner even though everyone else there still thinks it summer.  No y’all don’t look strange wearing sweaters all the time.  

2.       m&m cookies are my favorite, but feel free to make your favorite kind.  If you mix up a batch of dough today, just bake enough for your family today.  Then freeze ‘drops’ of dough on a sheet of wax paper in your freezer.  Next time you want fresh baked cookies you can pull out just the right number of dough balls to satisfy that craving. 

Hot dogs

Hamburgers

Grilled corn

No need to shuck corn first.  Just place on the grill and rotate a few times over the course of 20-25 minutes while the burgers cook.  It will stay moist inside the husks while it cooks. 

Cantaloupe

Cookies

Monday

Smoked Chicken

Baked Potato Salad

·         4-5 potatoes; peeled (unless using red potatoes) and cubed

·         ½ c sour cream

·         ½ c mayo

·         ½ c cheddar cheese

·         ¼ c bacon bits

·         ¼ c chopped green onion

·         Salt & pepper to taste

Boil potatoes until cooked, but not too squishy.  You want them to maintain their shape once you start mixing around the salad. While potatoes are cooking, mix remaining ingredients together.  Allow potatoes to cool for 15-20 minutes so it doesn’t melt the cheese when you mix them with the ‘dressing’.  Combine and enjoy. 

Watermelon

Tuesday

1.        I have a batch of these meatballs in my freezer just waiting for the sauce to be poured on and then make their way into the oven.  I’m really going to appreciate my prep work tonight. 

PW Meatballs (Pioneer Woman)

FOR MEATBALLS

·         1-1/2 pound Ground Beef

·         3/4 cups Oats

·         1 cup Milk

·         3 Tablespoons Very Finely Minced Onion

·         1-1/2 teaspoon Salt

·         Plenty Of Ground Black Pepper, to taste

_____

FOR COOKING MEATBALLS

·         1 cup All-Purpose Flour (coating For Frozen Meatballs)

·         Canola Oil

_____

FOR SAUCE

·         1 cup Ketchup

·         2 Tablespoons Sugar

·         3 Tablespoons Vinegar

·         2 Tablespoons Worcestershire

·         4 Tablespoons (to 6 Tablespoons) Onion

·         1 dash Tabasco

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.  After 5 minutes, remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.  Brown meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.  Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or crusty French bread.

Noodles

Broccoli

Peaches

Wednesday

Pancakes

Eggs

Grapes

Thursday

1.        Tonight we dust off our crock pots.  Mine’s been in the cabinet most of the summer. 

2.       You can use the Texas pork ribs that were on sale at HEB for this dish, even though the recipe calls for pork tenderloin.

Pork Cacciatore (Kraft Food & Family)

·         1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

·         6oz tomato paste

·         2 green peppers, chopped

·         8 oz fresh mushrooms

·         1 small onion, chopped

·         1lb pork tenderloin

·         1 tsp dried oregano

·         2 c pasta (penne); cooked

·         1 T cornstarch

·         ¼ water

·         1 c mozzarella cheese, grated

·         2T parmesan cheese

Mix tomatoes and paste in slow cooker until well blended.  Stir in veggies.  Cut meat into 8 pieces, pound to ½” thickness (or just cut up the pork ribs instead).  Sprinkle with oregano and add to slow cooker.  Press into the sauce.  Cover with lid; cook on low 4-5 hours.  Hmmm If I make this during the week I’ll probably just cook it all day and hope for the best.  Mix cornstarch and water until well blended.  Remove meat to a plate.  Add cornstarch mixtures to sauce; stir.  Cook covered on HIGH 6-8 minutes, or until thickened.  Serve over pasta, top with cheese. 

Pasta

Peas

Friday

EZ Deep Dish Pizza (Kraft Food & Family)

·         ½ lb Italian bulk sausage; cooked

·         ½ c chopped onions

·         ½ c chopped green peppers

·         ½ c more favorite veggies (mushrooms, black olives, green olives etc)

·         ½ c pizza sauce (or use spaghetti sauce)

·         1 can refrigerated pizza dough

·         8 oz mozzarella cheese, divided

Heat oven to 350.  Brown sausage and veggies together; drain and then add pizza sauce until warm.  Unroll pizza dough; press onto bottom and up sides of a 9” deep-dish pie plate sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle ½ c chees onto bottom of crust; cover with sausage mixture and remaining cheese. 

Mini-ice cream sandwiches