Friday, January 25, 2019

Another menu (with grocery lists!!)

Week 1 
JAN 28
JAN 29
Chicken sandwiches and chips
JAN 30
JAN 31
Breakfast for dinner
Week 2 
FEB 4
FEB 5
Spaghetti and meatballs
FEB 6
Green enchiladas, using the leftover chicken taco meat instead of beef
FEB 7 Grilled chicken Caesar salads
Week 3 
FEB 11
FEB 12
Breakfast tacos

FEB 13
Crock pot cube steaks, twice baked potato casserole

FEB 14
Make your own pizzas
Week 4 
FEB 18
FEB 19
Fiesta chicken over jasmine rice
FEB 20
FEB 21
Week 5 
FEB 25
FEB 26
Chicken tortilla soup from a mix
FEB 27
Baked Ziti leftovers
FEB 28
Frito pie

Grocery lists:

Week 1 :
Ground beef – 1 lb
Chicken breasts
Breakfast sausage patties
Chicken patties
Onion
Celery
Garlic
Yellow pepper
Red pepper
Green pepper
Carrots
Red potatoes (5)
Egg noodles
Sour cream (24 oz)
Cheddar (8 oz)
Mozzarella (8 oz)
Eggs
Ritz crackers
Syrup
Bisquick
Buns
Chips
Whole tomatoes (14.5 oz. can)
Beef broth (4c)
Cream/chicken soup (2)


Week 2:
Flour tortillas
Corn tortillas
Chicken breasts (2 packages)
Salsa verde
Hominy
Corn
Pimentos
Green onion dip mix
Canned milk (sm)
Velveta
Spaghetti
Spaghetti sauce
Meatballs
Garlic bread
Romaine lettuce
Shaved parmesan
Caesar dressing
Week 3:
Ground beef (1 lb)
Ground turkey (1 lb)
Sausage Cube steaks
Bacon
Onion (2)
Carrots
Celery
Green onions
Potatoes
Fresh mushrooms
Diced tomatoes (2 28 oz)
Kidney beans
Cannellini beans
Tabasco sauce
Beef broth (30 oz)
Cream/celery
Cream/chicken
Onion dip mix
Spaghetti sauce (2-20 oz)
Pizza crusts
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Sour cream
Cheddar jack cheese (2)
Flour tortillas
Egg

Week 4:
Roast
Chicken breasts (2 pks)
Ham slices
Ranch dressing mix
Italian dressing mix
Brown gravy mix
Carrots
Potatoes
Green onions
Alfredo sauce
Parmesan cheese (1/2 c)
Fettuccini
Frozen spinach (10 oz)
Rotel
Black beans
Corn
Cream cheese
Chips
Butter
Swiss or provolone slices
Hawaiian rolls
Week 5:
Garlic
Onion
Italian sausage (1 lb)
Ground beef (3 lb)
Chicken breasts
Tomato sauce (16 oz)
Whole tomatoes (28 oz)
Rotel tomatoes
Marinara (28 oz)
Ziti (16 oz)
Ricotta (15 oz)
Mozzarella (1.5 lb)
Cheddar cheese
Parmesan (1/2 c)
Egg
Chili mix
Fritos

Five tips for accommodating vegetarians

For a while both of my children were vegetarians, and many times I like to avoid meat for a season just to give my body a break from it. Here are some tips that can be used to adapt many meals to be vegetarian.

1. Instead of beef or chicken broth, use veggie broth. You can even buy veggie broth cubes, and use them like bouillon cubes. We swapped it out many times, and did not notice.

2. The fake ground meat is really wonderful now. There is "meat" made from chopped up mushrooms, and some from soybeans. You can hide it in things like chili and enchiladas, or just eat it straight up like tacos. You will probably not even realize the difference.

3. Anything that uses bacon can  usually be made with the bacon left out, or served on the side for those who want to add it. Same is true for chicken or sausage links.

4. If your recipe needs the meat, leave it in giant chunks. This will offend a strict vegetarian, but many will happily pick out the big chunks and eat the rest of the soup or stew.

5. Breakfast for dinner is a great way to accommodate a vegetarian - with eggs, pancakes, hash browns, muffins, scones, and breakfast burritos.

fiesta chicken over rice

4 chicken breasts
1 packet of Fiesta Ranch mix
1 can black beans
1 can of Rotel
1 can of corn
1 block of cream cheese

Mix all in the crock pot and cook for 6 hours on low (longer if your chicken breasts are frozen, which mine will be). Make some jasmine rice and serve this over the rice.

Twice baked potato casserole

The Pioneer Woman has a great recipe for this, but after following it a few times, and ending up with enough potatoes to feed a small army, we have adapted it.

6 potatoes, scrubbed and baked
12 oz. Sour cream
1 1/2 sticks of butter
16 oz. cheddar jack cheese
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked until crispy (can be left out)

Mix the insides of all the potatoes, plus a little bit of potato skin, in a bowl with all of the rest of the ingredients, except for the cheese. Mix half of the cheese in with the mix, but leave the other half out. Put the mixture into a corning ware bowl, and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

This works best if you make this right after you have cooked the potatoes, so they are still warm.

Creamy crock pot cube steaks

6 cube steaks
1 medium onion sliced in rings
1 can cream/chicken soup
1 can cream/celery soup
1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1/2 can of water 

Salt and pepper each cube steak. Place a layer of steaks in the bottom of the crock pot. Top with onions. Continue to layer. Pour the soup mix over it all and cook on high all day.