Weekly Menu 2/18+

Saturday		potato flaked chicken mashed potatoes green beans
Sunday		steak pasta quattro formage asparagus
Monday		carne guisada tortillas avocado/tomato salad
Tuesday		chicken fried rice egg rolls orange slices
Wednesday		Ash Wednesday broccoli soup sourdough bread
Thursday		grilled chicken sandwiches spinach home fries
Friday		spinach mushroom quesadillas black bean salad canned peaches

Saturday

1.        Cook extra chicken tonight for Tuesday’s fried rice.

Potato Flake Chicken Strips

Boneless chicken

Small packet of instant mashed potatoes (dry)

Equal amount of flour

Buttermilk (or 1T vinegar + enough milk to complete 1c)

Egg

Seasoning

Cut chicken into strips, soak in buttermilk for a minimum of 20 minutes; all night is better.  Add egg to buttermilk and stir around.  In shallow dish combine flour, potato flakes and seasonings. Dredge chicken through flakes and then into a skillet of hot oil.  Cook, just until brown on both sides.  Remove to a sheet pan with a cooling rack inside.  Move to a hot 400 degree oven until chicken completes it cooking. 

Mashed Potatoes

Green Beans

Sunday

1.       I was hoping that cheeses would be on sale this week at Sprouts, but they weren’t.  I still decided to go for this recipe, because it is SO good. 

Steak

Pasta Quattro Formaggi  (Pioneer Woman)

1 pound Angel Hair Pasta

1/2 cup Grated Fontina Cheese

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup Grated Romano Cheese

1/2 cup Goat Cheese (chevre)

2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened

1 cup Heavy Cream

1 whole Garlic Clove, Peeled

1/2 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Minced Fresh Parsley

Heat cream in a small saucepan on the stove over low heat.  Rub garlic clove all over the inside of a large serving bowl.  Cook pasta according to package directions in lightly salted water, leaning toward the al dente side. Do not overcook! Drain pasta, then return to the cooking pot. Pour in cream, add butter, and add cheeses and salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine, adding hot pasta water as needed for consistency. Don't overmix; if there are little clumps of cheese here and there, it's fine! Taste and add more salt if needed. Mixing stage should happen very quickly.  Turn pasta into large serving bowl. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately with a nice medium rare steak.

*Can use whatever four cheeses you'd like!

Asparagus

                Steamed with plenty of butter

Monday

Carne Guisada (Spark People)

1-2 lb beef roast, cubed

1 can rotel

1T tomato paste

4 oz water

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2-3 tsp chili powder (or more)

1 tsp cumin (or more)

½ tsp pepper

Salt

2 tsp corn starch

Add all ingredients, except corn starch, to crock pot and cook all day.  Turn crock on high.  Remove about 1 c liquid and mix in corn starch.  When well blended, return corn starch mixture to crock and cook until thickened. 

Tortillas

Avocado/Tomato Salad

Tuesday

Chicken Fried Rice (Menus4Moms)

Calrose rice, cooked (about 2-3 cups)

1 egg

1 onion, chopped

frozen peas and carrots, thawed

corn if you like it

meat (optional, you should have leftover pork)

soy sauce or tamari

Cook calrose rice according to directions or reheat rice if you made extra last week. Heat some oil in wok or deep fry pan (I use about a tablespoon) and scramble one egg in it.  Remove egg and add some more oil (I add about 3T) to the pan, heating.  Add chopped onion, some thawed peas & carrots (and corn if you like), and anything else you like in your rice.  When the onions are tender, add the rice and add soy sauce to taste and stir with a big flat wooden spoon.  Add the cooked egg near the end of cooking time and stir well. When the rice is heated through and a bit crispy, it is ready to serve.

Egg Rolls, frozen

Orange Slices

Ash Wednesday

1.        Not sure if chicken stock counts as a meat, if it does you could use vegetable stock instead. 

Broccoli Cheese Soup

• 1c chopped onion
• 4T butter
• ½ c flour
• 4 c chicken stock OR 4 c water + 6 tsp chicken bouillon
• 3-4 c broccoli, chopped
• ½ tsp pepper
• 2 c milk
• 2 c chicken (optional)
• 4-5 slices American cheese

Saute onion in butter until translucent.  Add flour until just slightly brown.  Add chicken stock all at once and stir until flour mixture is well blended into broth.  Add broccoli and simmer for 15 minutes until broccoli is tender and soup is thickened.  Add chicken if desired until heated and cheese. 

Sourdough bread

Thursday

Grilled Chicken sandwiches on whole wheat rolls

Spinach

                Top sandwiches with fresh spinach instead of lettuce, or serve on the side

Home Fries

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