Weekly Menu 12/8+

Saturday		sausage wrap carrot sticks chocolate chip cookies
Sunday		baked chicken buttered noodles green beans
Monday		italian roast cream cheese potatoes carrots
Tuesday		shrimp scampi angel hair pasta spinach salad
Wednesday		chicken alfredo broccoli banana pudding
Thursday		cheesy spirals salad garlic bread
Friday		taco crescent bake apple crisp

Saturday

Sausage Wraps

Heat your favorite sausage link and wrap in a tortilla with mustard or ketchup

Carrot Sticks

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c butter, softened

¾ c brown sugar

¾ c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 ½ c flour

1 c chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars together, add vanilla and eggs.  Mix until very creamy almost fluffy if you can get it to that stage.  The softer your butter the easier it is to get there.  Add in soda and salt, then slowly add the flour.  Finally, add chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. 

Save some for later: place a piece of wax paper on a rimmed cookie sheet.  Scoop dough onto paper and place in freezer until frozen; move to a Ziploc bag or other storage container.  Next time someone wants a freshly baked cookie you are ready to go by pulling out a few dough balls and extending the baking time a few minutes. 

Sunday

--Bake extra chicken pieces tonight, remove them from the bone for Tuesday night’s dinner.

--As you prepare dinner tonight you can also get everything ready and into the crock pot for tomorrow’s meal.  Remove the crock from the fridge in the morning, turn it on and you’ll be set for the day. 

Baked Chicken

Place bone-in chicken pieces on rimmed cookie sheet.  Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, plus any other spices you might like.   Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees. 

Buttered Noodles

Green Beans

Monday

Tonight we use the crock-pot.  You can get things started in the morning or have it all assemble the night before and have most of your meal ready as soon as you walk in the door. 

Italian Roast

2-3 lb beef roast

12 oz beer (I like Shiner Bock)

1 onion, coarsely chopped

1 packet Good Seasons Italian dressing mix

Add onions then roast to crock pot, pour beer over the top, sprinkle entire contents of mix over roast.  Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours.  If you’d like to make gravy when you get home, pour juice from roast into a saucepan, reserving about 1 c in a measuring cup.  Add 1-2T cornstarch to this and ensure all lumps are gone.  Bring juice to a boil, add cornstarch mixture and simmer until thickened. 

Cream Cheese Potatoes

1-2 lb red potatoes, cut into cubes if larger than quarter size

4-6 oz Cream cheese with chives

Boil potatoes until tender.  Add cream cheese, blend and serve. 

Carrots

Tuesday

Shrimp Scampi

1 pkg (16 oz) frozen raw shrimp, 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

Wednesday

This cooks up very quickly and is SO good. 

If you used some of the cream for you banana pudding, you’ll use up the rest of the pint tonight, plus that means you won’t need to get a measuring cup dirty tonight; one less dish to wash!

Creamy Chicken Alfredo

¼ c flour

6 boneless chicken

1t salt

2T olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1T minced onion

1 ½ c whipping cream

1/3 c parmesan cheese

½ t pepper

1T chopped parsley

Sprinkle chicken with salt and dredge chicken through flour in shallow dish.  Heat 2T oil in large skillet.  Add chicken and cook, turning once until golden; about 2-4 minutes per side.  Chicken does not need to be fully cooked.  Place chicken in a 9x13 pan.  Heat remaining oil in skillet add garlic and onion; cook until garlic is fragrant and onion is tender about 1-2 minutes.  Increase heat to medium-high; add whipping cream, parmesan and pepper.  Cook until sauce is bubbly and slightly thickened; about 2-3 minutes.  Spoon sauce over chicken in dish.  Bake about 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees or until chicken reaches 180 degrees. 

Broccoli

Banana Pudding

Thursday

This recipe is another one that doubles very well.  Assemble it in a gallon sized Ziploc bag instead of a 9x13 pan so that it will take up less room in your freezer, and you can immerse it in water to help speed the thawing process.  Plus it doesn’t tie up a pan in your freezer.

Cheesy Spirals (Menus4Moms)

16 oz. package pasta spirals

2 cups cooked ground beef

28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce, any flavor

1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup, undiluted

1 tsp. black pepper

1 ½ tsp. Italian seasoning

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook pasta spirals according to package instructions. Drain and rinse; return to pan. Add 2 cups cooked beef, spaghetti sauce, cheddar cheese soup, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Stir over low heat until well mixed and mixture is of uniform consistency. Remove from heat and stir in shredded mozzarella cheese. Spray 1- 9”x12” pan and 1- 8”x8” pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour mixture into pans. Bake the larger pan at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly. Wrap the smaller pan for the freezer and label as "Cheese Spirals: Thaw. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes or until heated through."

Salad

Garlic Bread

Friday

This is a good night to bake dessert, because you’ll have the oven on already.  The crisp will bake a little longer than the taco bake, but will still be warm when you are ready to serve. 

Taco Crescent Bake

1 can Grands biscuits; flaky layers

1 c cooked ground beef

1 c ranch style beans, or pinto beans

1 packet or 6 tsp taco seasoning mix

¾ c water

½ c cottage cheese

½ c picante sauce

1 c grated cheddar cheese

Simmer beef, beans and seasoning mix with water for about 10 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Meanwhile, press biscuits into the bottom and up the sides of a 9x13 (or slightly smaller) baking dish.  Mix cottage cheese and salsa and spread onto biscuit dough.  Top with ground beef mixture.  Top that with cheddar cheese.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. 

Apple Crisp

3-4 apples, cut into small pieces (skin still on)

1 c Bisquick

½ c oatmeal

½ c brown sugar

¼ c melted butter

1 tsp cinnamon

Place apples in a baking dish.  Combine remaining ingredients until crumbly.  Spread over top of apples.  Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.