Meal Plan Monday Plus Freezer Cooking

It's a holiday for Alex and I and we are in the middle of a giant closet reorganization project. We're going to take Ben to school soon where he will have more fun than here at home in piles of junk! Alex is going to plug away. I'm going to do a weights class at the gym and then I'm heading back to do some freezer cooking. Here's the plan for today:

Beef Burgandy (I'll post the recipe later) (divided into 2)
Lasagne (divided into 3)
Meatballs (divided into 3)
Chicken fajita meat in marinade

It's not much, but it will fortify our freezer. The plan is to avoid the grocery store next week, if possible to save some dough.

Now for our meal plan:

Monday: Hot Wing Soup
Tuesday: Chicken Masala
Wednesday: Baked Ziti
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Chili or soup from the freezer (boys are on their own again...it's my monthly girls' dinner...we're going to the Melting Pot's happy hour!)
Saturday: Breakfast for dinner (eggs, pancakes, bacon, fruit)
Sunday: Roasted chicken with garlic, mashed potatoes, veggies

Baked Ziti with Sausage

Baked Ziti with Sausage from Allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour
Servings: 8

Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) package dry ziti pasta
1 pound mild Italian sausage
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 large yellow onion, minced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce,
divided
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Italian cheese
blend
1 teaspoon dried basil (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the ziti, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.
3. While pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, and cook and stir until brown, about 10 minutes. Drain sausage and set aside.
4. Stir together the ricotta, egg, onion, garlic, and oregano in a large bowl until well combined. Stir in the drained pasta, the drained sausage, salt, pepper, and 1/2 jar of the spaghetti sauce; mix well.
5. In the prepared baking dish, cover the bottom with 1/3 jar of spaghetti sauce. Layer 1/2 of the pasta mixture, 1/3 jar of spaghetti sauce, and 1/2 of the shredded cheese. Then layer the remaining 1/2 of the pasta, 1/3 of the sauce, and 1/2 of the cheese. Sprinkle with basil. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil.
6. Bake in the preheated oven until heated through, about 20 minutes. Uncover; return to the oven and bake until cheese is melted, 5 to 10 more minutes.

Meal Plan Saturday

Here's the plan for next week!

Monday: Chicken Masala (I have yet to try this one, but I'm sure I'll love it...it's my favorite Indian dish!)

Tuesday: Baked Ziti with Sausage (thaw from freezer)

Wednesday: Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup (an old favorite...so easy, I can't believe I had to look it up)

Thursday: Mahi Mahi (broiled with some simple seasoning and lemon juice) and wild rice

Friday: Leftovers or chicken nuggets (Mommy has a happy hour so boys are on their own!)

Saturday: Beef Hot Pot (This is a new one...hope it's good!)

Sunday: Buffalo Wing Soup (This is another new one from Make It Fast, Cook It Slow...Alex is asking for real buffalo wings instead and I've denied him. Wha ha ha ha ha!!! It's good to be queen. :)

Beef Hot Pot

Beef and Bok Choy Hot Pot from Cooking Light

You'll need a fork and a spoon to enjoy this meal. You can use most any greens in place of the bok choy, including spinach or Napa cabbage.

2 1/4 cups water

3/4 cup low-salt beef broth

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pound beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 1/4 cups chopped green onions

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger

2 cups thinly sliced bok choy

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrot

2 cups hot cooked wide rice noodles or fettuccine

Combine first 6 ingredients, stirring with a whisk; set aside.

Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add beef, browning on all sides. Add broth mixture, green onions, garlic, and ginger; bring to a boil.
Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until beef is tender. Stir in bok choy and carrot, and cook 5 minutes or until tender. Serve beef mixture over noodles.

Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Combine 2 can undrained diced tomatoes and 3 cups chicken broth. Boil, add 1 1/2 lb diced, cooked chicken (seasoned with 2 tsp. chili powder). Reduce heat, cook 7 minutes.

Add in prepared Mahatma brand red beans and rice; heat through. Spoon into bowls and top with tortilla strips and cheese.

*We used to make this a lot. It's so simple and tasty. You can also saute up some veggies, like onion and peppers, to add to it.

Chicken Masala

From Make It Fast, Cook it Slow

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup diced onion

1 15-oz can diced tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 cup plain yogurt

Directions:

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Put the chicken and onion in the stoneware. In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes with the garlic and all the spices, reserving 1/2 tsp of garam masala for use later. Pour the tomato mixture over the top of the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Shred the chicken with two forks, and stir in yogurt. Add the remaining 1/2 tsp garam masala, or more to taste. Add salt to taste. Serve with basmati or jasmine rice!

Buffalo Wing Soup

From http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/:

--2 cups cooked and cubed chicken

--1/2 yellow onion, chopped

--3 stalks celery, chopped

--1/4 cup unsalted butter

--1/4 cup flour (I used rice flour)

--2 cups fat free milk (no higher content than 2%, or it will curdle)

--3/4 cup chicken broth

--4 oz Velveeta

--1/2 cup hot wing sauce

--1/2 tsp celery salt

--1/2 tsp garlic salt

The Directions.

A 4 to 6 quart crockpot will work well for this soup.Make a roux with the flour and butter. I usually use the stove top, but tried the microwave yesterday---it worked great. In a bowl, melt the butter on high for 45 seconds, then whisk in the flour. Set aside.Chop up the onion and celery, and dump it into your crockpot. Add the cooked and cubed chicken. Pour in the chicken broth and milk. Add Velveeta. Add the salt (note: this is saltier than I am used to. If you are on a lower sodium diet, omit the salt all together. The cheese and the broth are pretty salty on their own. You can always season to taste after cooking.)Stir in the flour and butter mixture. Add hot sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4. The soup is done when the celery and onion reach desired tenderness and the flavors have melded.

Roasted Chicken, baby!

I finally made that chicken I've had on my menu plan for weeks...a day late. It wasn't totally thawed yesterday and we had leftover lasagna from Alex's mom to eat up yesterday and today so I made it tonight after Ben went to bed. It looks fabulous. The skin got nice and golden brown and it set the smoke detector off. Ben stayed asleep, but Lola freaked and is still sitting under the desk. Silly dog.

Cookbook Review

I've been a follower of the Crockpot 365 blog for a while. This is a lady who used a crockpot every day for the entire year in 2008. Yeah, it's nuts and nerdy...and fabulous! I haven't had the chance to try a lot of her recipes yet, but I have perused them and some of them look tasty. She just came out with a cookbook and I picked it up at the library the other day. This might be one I need to buy. There are so many good recipes in there and let's face it, if you use your slow cooker for 365 days in a row, you might pick up a little something about its proper use. If I try any of them and like them, I'll be sure to post on here.

Black-eyed Pea Update

So the Hoppin' John recipe I posted earlier in the week is simmering on the stove. I thought I'd provide an update about how it's turned out even though we haven't eaten it yet. We've had spoonfulls though and it's yummy. I did add some mustard greens and I'm about to cool it down and put it in the fridge for tonight. Hopefully it brings up prosperity and good luck this year!

Barbeque Beef Brisket

Ingredients:
Makes 6 to 8 servings
For the marinade:
1 10 oz. bottle soy sauce
1 10 1/2 ounce can beef consomme
3 Tb lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 tsp garlic salt
3 lb beef brisket
1 Tb paprika
For the sauce:
1 cup ketchup
4 Tb brown sugar
4 Tb Worchestershire sauce
4 Tb apple cider vinegar

For the marinade: In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, consomme, lemon juice and garlic salt. Place the beef in a large plastic bag, add the marinade and seal. Marinate in the fridge overnight or at least 10 hours.

Remove the meat from the bag and discard marinade. Place the meat in a large piece of aluminum foil and sprinkle paprika (I like smoked paprika from Penzey's) over the meat. Completely wrap the meat in foil. Place it in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and bake at 325 degrees for 4 hours. Refrigerate meat to cool completely, at least 5 hours or overnight. (This sounded crazy to me, but it's important.)

For the sauce, combine ketchup, brown sugar, Worchestershire sauce and vinegar in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. (Or use a jarred sauce...)

Remove cooled brisket from refrigerator. Remove aluminum foil, slice brisket and place meat in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Pour sauce over meat, cover with foil, and heat at 300 degrees for 45 minutes.

*I got this recipe from the paper. The clipping has been on my refrigerator for a couple years now. It turned out really well both times we made it. I actually cooked the brisket in our toaster/convection oven and I think I will do that again. It's kind of a 2-day process, but it's so worth it in the end.

Meal Plan Monday (er...Friday) and a New Year's Resolution

Yes, I'm a little early this week. I need to make a menu and plan for next week. Alex and I are sitting down and coming up with a budget in a few hours. One of the things we're planning on doing is coming up with a set amount for food/diapers/household stuff and using cash only for it. Yes, we're Dave Ramsey-ing ourselves for the new year and it's a good thing. It's too easy to use the credit card and not realize how much you're spending. Cash forces you to think about what you need and how much you're spending. It will be especially tough this month since it's a long one, although I did go to Costco the other day and stocked up on diapers, meat, fish, toilet paper, etc...! The other thing I'm doing is getting back on the couponing track. I have a lot of coupons to cut and throw out. I was getting in a good habit of matching coupons with sales and stocking up (we haven't bought peanut butter or Cheerios in a long time), but I fell off the wagon. It's time to get back on.

Monday: Broiled steak (from the freezer), baked potatoes, veggies
Tuesday: Baked Mahi Mahi, rice, veggies
Wednesday: Chimichangas (from the freezer), refried beans
Thursday: Leftovers or soup
Friday: Chicken stir-fry, brown rice (put the brisket in the fridge to marinate overnight)
Saturday: Omelettes (cook the brisket and put in the fridge overnight)
Sunday: Barbeque beef brisket, mashed potatoes, veggies