Weekly Menu 2/9+

Saturday		beef enchiladas beans spanish rice
Sunday		grilled chicken broccoli baked potatoes
Monday		baked potato soup
Tuesday		tater tot casserole
Ash Wednesday		spaghetti garlic bread peaches
Thursday		turkey pie salad strawberries w/ chocolate
Friday		1 dish taco bake

Saturday

Beef/Cheese Enchiladas

Corn or flour tortillas (depending on your family’s preference)

1-2 cans red enchilada sauce

2 c ground beef

2-3 c grated cheddar

Chopped onions

In a saucepan mix 1 can enchilada sauce and beef, simmer.   Warm corn tortillas in a cast iron skillet, with just a little butter, per tortilla.  This helps get them soft and where they won't crack as you roll them up.  Stack them on a plate as they get hot.  They’ll stay hot until they are ready to roll.  Heat any flour tortillas that you will do in the same cast iron skillet, stack on top of the corn ones to keep them warm.  Spread a little of your sauce in the bottom of the pan to keep the tortillas from sticking to the pan when you are ready to serve.  Next put a little bit of meat, cheese and onion in each tortilla.  Roll it up, place seam side down in 9x13 pan.  Top with remaining sauce, use another can if you need to.  If you are making a large number of corn enchiladas, use more sauce as it will be absorbed by the tortillas as they bake.  If you making mostly flour ones, the extra sauce will make a gluey mess, so go a little easier.  Top with plenty of cheese, onion if you want and bake in a 350 degree oven until cheese is bubbly.

Refried Beans

            Add 2-3 oz of cream cheese to a can of refried beans

EZ Spanish Rice

            Mix ½ c picante sauce in for part of your liquid as you make rice

Sunday

Grilled Chicken (unless your temps have been in the single digits)

Baked potatoes

Broccoli

Marla Monday’s

Panera’s Potato Soup

4 cups Chicken Broth
4 cups peeled & cubed potatoes
¼ cup minced onion
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp ground red pepper or red pepper flakes
1 4 to 8-oz cream cheese, cut into chunks

Combine broth, potatoes, onion, and spices. Boil on medium heat until potatoes are tender.

Smash a few of the potatoes to release their starch for thickening.

Reduce to low heat.

Add cream cheese. Heat, stirring frequently, until cheese melts.

Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Cook’s Notes:

The original recipe calls for 8 oz. of Cream Cheese, but I find a full 8 oz. is a bit rich. I usually start out with four ounces and add to taste.

Ham and Bacon both go really well in the soup.

Serve with cheddar cheese, green onions & bacon bits as garnishes.

L in SoHo tested this recipe and found that 4oz of cream cheese was the right amount.  Her family liked it, but they prefer her potato leek soup.

Tuesday

Tater Tot Casserole

2c cooked ground beef

¼ c chopped onion

1 can cream mushroom soup

1 can green beans, drained

1 can corn, drained

Tater tots

1 c grated cheese

Mix first five ingredients in 9x13 pan.  Top with tater tots in neat little rows, if you’d like or poured randomly on top if you’re in a hurry.  Bake at 375 degrees until bubbly; about 25 minutes.  Top with cheese and bake another 10 minutes.

Ash Wednesday

            In case your family observes meatless meals today, you can make the sauce marinara. 

Spaghetti

Garlic bread

Canned peaches

Thursday

--Spiffy Sue says: Do not be afraid of cooked avocados!  This quiche is super-awesome fantastic!  It has lots of stuff in it so it is a hearty meal.  As always, quiche is uber-versatile so you can add and remove ingredients to your liking.  The picture shows bacon substituted for turkey. 

--And it’s Gluten-Free for the one reader I have who I know has to cook that way. 

Turkey Pie

8 Eggs

1/2 cup Heavy Cream or Half n Half

1/2 Onion, Chopped and Sautéed

1/2 tsp. Marjoram

1/2 tsp. Tarragon

1/4 tsp. Sea Salt

1/4 tsp. Pepper

2 Avocados

4 oz. Cream Cheese

5 oz. Diced Turkey

3/4 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Chop onion and sauté.  Grease an 8x8 casserole dish.  Place diced turkey (chicken, ham or bacon) evenly in bottom of the baking dish. Cut avocados in half, remove seed, slice lines vertically and horizontally, scoop out of skin with a spoon and layer across turkey.  Cut cream cheese into little cubes and layer on top of avocados.  Scramble eggs and whisk in the cream, sautéed onion and seasonings.  Pour egg mixture into the baking dish.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese if you like.

Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until set in the middle.

Salad

Strawberries w/ Chocolate syrup

Friday

1-Dish Taco Bake (Fleishman’s Yeast)

Taco Meat Mixture

2 c cooked ground beef

Taco seasoning + water

Batter

½ c corn meal

¾ c flour

2 envelopes rapid rise yeast

1T sugar

½ tsp salt

¾ c milk (very warm 120-130 degrees)

3T oil

1 egg

Toppings:

1 c chunky salsa

4 oz shredded cheese

1 c corn chips; partially crushed

Combine ground beef and taco seasoning according to package. Mix batter ingredients together in a pre-sprayed 8x8 baking dish.  Top batter with taco meat mixture.  Pour salsa evenly over meat; sprinkle with cheese and corn chips.  Bake by placing in a COLD oven; set temperature to 350 degrees.  Bake for 30 minutes or until done.