Weekly Menu 1/5+ (100 weeks!)

Saturday		smothered pork chops mashed potatoes broccoli
Sunday		lasagna garlic bread
Monday		easy chicken tacos salad
Tuesday		salmon patties green beans coleslaw
Wednesday		ham & cheddar loaf spinach
Thursday		baked chicken pesto pasta squash
Friday		jambalaya rice

Saturday

Cook extra mashed potatoes tonight if you are also going to make the salmon patties. 

Smothered Pork Chops (TX Co-op Magazine)

SEASONED Flour:

2c flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

1 tsp cayenne (ha! Like I’ll put this much in mine)

2 tsp garlic powder

EGG wash:

1 c milk

2 eggs beaten well

4 bone-in pork chops

4T oil

GRAVY:

1 ½ qrt beef broth

1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cube beef bullion

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

½c oil

½ c flour

1 ¼ c minced onion

1 ½ tsp minced garlic

In a large saucepan, heat broth, Worcestershire sauce, bullion, garlic powder and black pepper.  Cover and simmer on over low heat. 

Dip pork chops in egg wash, then dredge in seasoned flour, lightly coating chops.  Fry in heated oil until golden brown, using a cast iron skillet if possible.  Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil. 

In same skillet combine oil and flour over medium heat and stir until the roux is browned.  Stir in the onion and garlic and cook 2-3 minutes.  Whisk broth, that was simmering, into roux.  Continue cooking until thickened.  Place chops in single layer in skillet with gravy being sure to cover chops with gravy.  Bake 25 min at 350. 

Mashed Potatoes

Broccoli

Sunday

Lasagna (from Better Homes & Gardens)

2lb ground meat (beef/pork/italian sausage)

1 c chopped onion

2 cloves garlic

2-16oz whole tomatoes crushed or 28oz can crushed + 14 oz can diced

2-8oz tomato sauce

2-6oz tomato paste

4t basil

1t salt

no boil lasagna noodles

4 eggs

5c cottage cheese (24oz + 16 oz container)

1 ½ c parmesan cheese

4T parsley

2lb sliced provolone

Cook meat, onion and garlic till meat is browned (or use frozen meat); drain.  Stir in the tomatoes, basil and salt.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, beat eggs; add cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and parsley.  In a 9x13 pan put ~1/2 c sauce down on bottom of pan since we are using no boil noodles.  They need a little moisture to get them started.  Then layer, noodles, cottage cheese mixture, provolone slices, red sauce.  Repeat.  End with red sauce on top; add a little extra parmesan on top if you’d like.  Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.  Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

If you double the recipe, for your freezer pan use glass or corningware if you have it.  The acid in the tomato sauce will slowly eat through the pan and you can be left with a metallic taste also, be sure to top with plastic wrap first and then foil for the same reason. 

You can assemble the night before and bake the next day, just increase baking time to 55 minutes.  If you have teenage boys in your house, you might want to put a note on there that it is not baked; trust me I speak from experience.  J

Garlic Bread

Spread softened butter and sprinkle with garlic powder.  Top with any leftover provolone cheese, or a sprinkle of parmesan and finally a little parsley on top.  Put in oven as you take out the lasagna and bake for 5-10 minutes.  Time will depend on the thickness of your bread so just keep an eye on it. 

Monday

Easy Chicken Tacos (America’s Test Kitchen)

3T butter

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce

¾ c chopped cilantro

½ c orange juice (I know you non-fruited meat people are cringing)

1T Worcestershire sauce

1 ½ lb boneless chicken

1 tsp yellow mustard

Salt & pepper

12 tortillas

Melt butter in a 12” skillet over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and chipotles and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in ½ c of the cilantro, juice and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil.  Add the chciekn and simmer, covered, over medium-low heat until chicken registers 160 degrees (about 10-15 minutes).  Flip chicken about half way through.  Remove from pan and cover.  Increase heat to medium-high and cook until liquid is reduced to ¼ c, about 5 minutes.  Off the heat, whisk in mustard.  Shred the chicken into bite sized pieces and return to skillet.  Add remaining cilantro and toss until well combined.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Salad & other Taco Toppings

Tuesday

Salmon Patties (Woman’s Day 2/97)

15 oz can pink salmon

1 c cold mashed potatoes

1 egg

½ c minced onion

½ c dry bread crumbs

¾ tsp salt

Drain and flake salmon, combine with remaining ingredients.  Shape into four patties and fry in 2T oil for 10 minutes, turning once. 

For tartar sauce, mix ½ c mayo, 3T sweet-pickle relish and 2 tsp mustard. 

Coleslaw

Green Beans

Wednesday

Ham&Cheddar Loaf (Kraft Food&Family)

1lb frozen bread or pizza dough, thawed

1 ½ c chopped ham

1 c cheddar cheese

¼ c mayo

1 egg beaten

1T Parmesan

Place dough on lightly floured surface; flatten and then roll into a 12x8 rectangle.  Top dough evenly with ham, leaving a ½” border around all sides.  Mix mayo and cheddar cheese; spread over ham.  Moisten edges of dough with water.  Starting at one of the long sides of the dough, fold one third of the dough over filling, then repeat with other long side of dough.  Firmly pinch ends of dough to seal.  Place, seam-side down on lightly greased baking sheet.  Cut three diagonal slits on top of dough with knife.  Brush evenly with egg; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Bake 35-40 min at 350 degrees.  Cool 10 min before cutting into six slices to serve. 

Spinach

Thursday

If you are familiar with the piece “O la, o che bon eccho,” then you’ll appreciate that at the end of the song they sing back and forth..Pasta. pasta pasta.  Well at least that’s what it sounds like to J & me.  So when anyone asks what’s for supper tonight, feel free to sing out loud and proud… pasta, pasta, pasta.  Poor Lassus is probably rolling in his grave about now. 

Baked Chicken

Pesto Pasta

Squash

Friday

In case your mother only had leftover gumbo to serve you while you visited and you wanted Jambalaya instead, you can now make your own. 

Jambalaya

1T olive oil

12-14 oz kielbasa, sliced ¼”

1 thinly sliced onion

1 green pepper, thinly sliced

2-3 stalks celery (to complete the trinity of Cajun veggies)

2 cloves garlic

¼ tsp pepper

14 oz can Rotel

In a large skillet brown the sausage in olive oil; transfer to a plate.  Add veggies and reduce heat to medium cooking down veggies.  When onions and celery are translucent add garlic and cook 1-2 more minutes.  Add tomatoes until heated through. 

Rice

Okra