Weekly Menu 5/19+

Saturday		cheesy bacon mini-meatloaf squash green beans
Sunday		baked chicken baked potato broccoli
Monday		italian sausage & peppers pasta tomatoes
Tuesday		chicken fried rice egg rolls sliced oranges
Wednesday		steak corn on the cob spinach salad
Thursday		mexicali skillet dinner ez spanish rice watermelon
Friday		cornmeal pancakes sausage patties blueberries & strawberries

Saturday

Make Ahead Cheesy Bacon Mini Meatloaves (Kraft)

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup barbecue sauce

3 green onions, sliced

3/4 cup Mexican style finely shredded four cheese blend (generous 3/4 cup)

1 package (6 oz) Stove Top stuffing mix for chicken

1-1/2 pound lean ground beef

6 slices bacon

Whisk eggs and milk in a large bowl until blended.  Add all remaining ingredients (in order listed for ease of mixing) except bacon.  Mix lightly.  Shape into 6 (1 inch thick) patties.  Wrap bacon slice around edge of each patty.

Wrap individually in plastic wrap.  Place in freezer weight re-sealable plastic bag.  Seal bag.  Freeze up to 3 months.

To use ... Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Unwrap frozen patty (or patties).  Place on rimmed baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray (or use non-stick foil for easy cleanup).  Bake 40-45 minutes or until done, 160 degrees. 

If you prefer, frozen patties can be thawed overnight in the refrigerator before baking.  When ready to serve, bake in 375 degree oven for 35 minutes or until done.

Squash

Green Beans

Sunday

--bake extra chicken tonight for Tuesday’s fried rice.

Baked Ranch Chicken

Sprinkle dry ranch dressing mix onto chicken

Bake in 375 oven for ~45 min (bone-in chicken)

Baked Potatoes

Broccoli

Monday

Italian Sausage and Peppers

Slice the sausage on the diagonal (think round parallelograms) so that you have a lot of surface area to get brown and crispy

Pasta w/ diced tomatoes and basil

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 chicken)

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

Wednesday

Steak

Corn on the Cob

For those of you with a microwave or at least those not afraid to use it, you can nuke your corn, husk and all, for 3 min per ear up to about 6 min.  When finished all the silks will come right off as you husk it.

Spinach Salad

Spinach washed in warm water lets go of the sand easier

Sliced boiled eggs

Bacon bits

Thursday

Mexicali Skillet Dinner (Frances Martinez)

• 1 lb steak or roast cut into 1” pieces (salt and pepper)
• 3 medium zucchini
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1 can corn, drained
• ½ c chopped onions
• ½ c chopped tomatoes
• ½ tsp salt, garlic powder, cumin

Quarter squash and then slice into ½” pieces, set aside.  In medium skillet brown steak and onions in oil and ~1T butter (for flavor).  Remove meat and set aside.  In same skillet, combine squash, corn, tomatoes + sauce, seasonings; simmer.  Add meat and onions and simmer for an additional 15 minutes. 

Easy Spanish Rice

          Combine ½ c picante sauce plus 1 ½ c water to 1 c rice and simmer for 15 minutes.

Watermelon

Friday

Cornmeal Pancakes (Pioneer Woman)

PANCAKES

1-1/2 cup (scant) All-purpose Flour

1-1/2 cup Heaping Yellow Cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon Salt

3 Tablespoons Baking Powder

4 Tablespoons Sugar

2-1/4 cups Whole Milk (more If Needed)

2 whole Large Eggs

3 teaspoons Vanilla

4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted

SYRUP

1 pint Blackberries

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Water

2 Tablespoons Cornstarch

Extra Butter For Serving

Maple Or Pancake Syrup For Serving (optional)

Mix together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl. Set aside.  In a separate bowl, mix milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the dry ingredients, stirring gently.  Stir in melted butter. Set batter aside. If batter is overly thick, splash in a small amount of milk.  In a saucepan, combine blackberries, sugar, and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 5 minutes on low. Stir in cornstarch, then continue cooking, using a whisk or spoon to mash the larger pieces of blackberries. Remove from heat when it's nice and thick.  Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. When heated, drop 1/4 cup batter per pancake and cook until golden brown on both sides. Remove from skillet and set aside.  Stack three pancakes, placing a pat of butter between each pancake. Drizzle with warm maple syrup, then spoon blackberry syrup over the top. Dig in!