Menu Plan for the next 2 weeks

As one might notice, I've changed the title on each entry to Menu plan for the next 2 weeks instead of just a week. After all, I do plan 2 weeks out now a days. It's just simpler to do that. Especially now that Edward is gone and it's just me and munchkin in the house.

Also I'm going to go with larger portion sizes as this allows me to bring in the leftovers to work for lunch.
So here we go.......

MONDAY 29 SEPTEMBER
Skillet white beans, spinach & tomatoes over Linguine
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user TWINMOM143
Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano (do not drain)
1 can any white beans (I use Great Northern or Navy usually)
1 package fresh spinach
6 cups cooked linguine
6 Tablespoons Romano or Parmesan cheese (grated)

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet.
2. In a separate pan start boiling water for linguine and get linguine cooked while you continue.
3. Add garlic, saute for a minute or so.
4. Add tomatoes and beans and bring to a boil.
5. Cover with spinach, top with lid, reduce heat to low and simmer about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
6. Spoon tomato/beans/spinach mixture over linguine and sprinkle with cheese.This makes 6 servings of 1 cup of pasta, 1 cup of sauce and 1 tablespoon of cheese.

Number of Servings: 6
Nutritional Info
Fat: 5.0g
Carbohydrates: 55.4g
Calories:318.7
Protein: 13.4g

Serve with bread and a salad on the side.


TUESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER
Use up Quiche in freezer.
Serve with whole wheat rolls and salad on side.

Remember to take this out on Monday night out of the chest freezer!!!


WEDNESDAY 01 OCTOBER (Woohoo! It's October already!)
Mango Avocado Black Bean Salad
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user VIOLETNESS.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 mango, peeled and chopped
1 ripe avocado, peeled and chopped
1/2 red onion diced Tabasco, to taste
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 cup shredded Romaine lettuce
In a bowl, whisk together lime juice, oil, and salt to taste. Stir in remaining ingredients, except lettuce, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Let salad stand, stirring once or twice, 15 minutes for flavors to develop. Serve salad on top of lettuce.Can make 2-4 servings.

Nutritional Info is for 3 servings.
Number of Servings: 3
Nutritional Info
Fat: 14.3g
Carbohydrates: 47.8g
Calories:348.3
Protein: 12.3g

Serve with pita bread and hummus

THURSDAY 02 OCTOBER
Beef and Penne Casserole
By Fiona Haynes, About.com
This is comfort food at its best (and a family favorite), combining extra lean ground beef, tomatoes, penne pasta and a sprinkling of reduced fat cheese. Sometimes I wilt half a 10-ounce pack of fresh baby spinach (squeezed dry) and stir it into the beef and tomato mixture.
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 pound penne pasta
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce, no salt added
1 tsp oregano
1 pound lean or extra-lean ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded reduced fat mozzarella and cheddar cheese blend
Preparation:Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Boil pasta according to instructions on package. Do not overcook. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, in a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray, saute onions and ground beef on a medium to high heat until the beef is browned. Add crushed tomatoes, sauce and oregano, and stir well. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Empty pasta into a 2 quart baking dish; add beef and tomato mixture and toss well to coat. Sprinkle with cheese blend and bake for 25 minutes.
Serves 4-6
Nutritional Info:
Per Serving:
Calories 299,
Calories from Fat 60,
Total Fat 6.6g (sat 3.2g),
Cholesterol 54mg,
Sodium 216mg,
Carbohydrate 35.3g,
Fiber 3.1g,
Protein 24.5

Make ahead the beef mixture and the pasta mixture. That way you can just mix them all together and throw them in the oven allowing for a quick and easy meal in case you're running low on time!!

FRIDAY 03 OCTOBER
HAWAIIAN - SOUTH PACIFIC PIZZA
Printed from COOKS.COM
Basic Pizza Dough
1 1/2 c. (about 6 oz.) shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 c. (about 6 oz.) grated Gruyere cheese
Cornmeal, if using a pizza peel
About 1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 lb. Canadian bacon or baked ham, cut into sm. pieces
3 c. chopped fresh pineapple or 3 cans (8 oz. each) chunk pineapple packed in juice, well drained
6 green onions, chopped (or chives)
SaltFreshly ground black pepper
Prepare the dough and preheat the oven. Mix the cheeses in a bowl and set aside.
Shape the pizza dough and brush all over with vegetable oil, then top with the cheeses, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges. Top the cheeses with the Canadian bacon or ham, pineapple chunks, onions and salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle evenly with vegetable oil.
Transfer the pie to the preheated baking surface and bake as directed in the basic recipe. Remove from the oven to a cutting tray or board and lightly brush the crust with vegetable oil. Slice and serve immediately.

Serve with salad on the side.

I will not be making our own dough for this one as I have pizza crust that needs using up. Also add some green and red bell peppers for color. Remember to take out crust the morning of and to chop up the veggies the night before to save time later.

SATURDAY 04 OCTOBER
Cheeseburgers, french fries
Glazed Carrots
By Jolinda Hackett, About.com
Glazed Carrots
Ingredients:
2 cups carrots, sliced
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp margarine, melted
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Preparation:Steam the carrots in a small amount of water until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
In a medium saucepan, combine the carrots, onion, brown sugar, margarine and cinnamon. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes.

SUNDAY 05 OCTOBER
Braised Tongue Recipe
From LoveToKnow Recipes
Ingredients for Braised Tongue
3 lbs. fresh tongue
¼ cup butter
Carrot, Turnip, Onion ¼ cup diced
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Bit of cinnamon
1 clove
Bouquet of sweet herbs
½ lemon
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Wash tongue, cover with boiling water and cook slowly two hours.
Remove from water, blanch in cold water, and remove skin and roots.
Cook vegetables in butter five minutes, remove them to a deep braising pan.
Brown tongue in fat and place on vegetables in pan.
Add clove, cinnamon and sweet herbs, salt and pepper; cover the tongue one-half way with stock in which it was cooked.
Cover the braising pan and bake two hours.
At the last half hour the juice of lemon is added.
When tender remove to hot platter.
For gravy add cornstarch dissolved in cold water to stock in braising pan, which should be reduced to 1 pint.
Boil five minutes and pour around the tongue on hot platter.
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce or tomato catsup may be used in gravy.

Serve with pasta and veggies cooked with tongue.

MONDAY 6 OCTOBER
Mediterranean Vegetable Bulgar Salad
Ingredients
2 cups boiling water
1 1/2 cups uncooked bulgar
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 cup grape tomatoes
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1 can Progresso chick peas, drained
1/2 cup Greek or Italian dressing

1. In large bowl, pour 2 cups boiling water over bulgar. Let stand for 30 minutes

2. In 2 quart saucepan, heat 1 1/2 cups water to boiling, add broccoli. Cook 1 minute; drain and rinse in cold water.

3. Stir broccoli and remaining ingredients into bulgar. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours before serving.

Serve with pita bread and hummus

TUESDAY 07 OCTOBER
Crunchy Asian Chicken Salad
Ingredients
1 package chicken flavor ramon noodle soup mix
3 cups shredded chinese cabbage
1 cup cup up cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup sesame ginger dressing
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup wasabi peas (don't put these on Nick's! TOO SPICY)
1 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

1. In 2 quart saucepan, heat 1 1/2 cups water to boiling over high heat. Break apart noodles before opening soup packages. Stir 1/2 of seasoning packets and all of the noodles into boiling water. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until noodles are tender; do not drain.

2. In large bowl, toss noodles, cabbage, chicken, carrots and onion. In small bowl, stir together dressing, sugar and remaining seasoning. Toss dressing with salad.

3. Cover and refrigerate up to 1 hour. Stir in wasabi peas and sesame seeds just before serving.

WEDNESDAY 08 OCTOBER
Use up either Slow cooked Chicken Cacciatore with rice and green beans.

THURSDAY 09 OCTOBER
Bratwurst with spaetzle and sauerkraut.
Serve with rye bread slices and carrot sticks for Nick.

FRIDAY 10 OCTOBER
Beef fried rice (use up remainder of beef tongue)
Serve with homemade egg drop soup

SATURDAY 11 OCTOBER
Corned beef and carrots.
Serve with Cabbage Pie leftovers in chest freezer.

SUNDAY 12 OCTOBER
Tropical Shish kabobs
This is my own made up recipe that always turns out really yummy. It's great on top of rice. Plus my son loves fruits and veggies (well mostly fruits) so this is something he'll eat!

Normally I use chicken breasts but this time to cut back on portions I'm going to use chicken tenderloins. They're smaller so I won't have as much left over afterwards.
Ingredients
3 chicken tenderloins
half fresh pinapple
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1/2 onion (prefer red for the color that it adds to the meal, after all I'm all about food that looks good AND tastes good!)
Teriyaki sauce for slathering on as shish kabobs are cooking.

Grill until chicken is no longer pink and is starting to get crispy on the outside. I prefer not to salt this too much as Teriyaki sauce already has some salt in this. Once you allow the chicken to get a bit crispy on the outside it's more than salty enough for me.

Edamame Salad with Baby Beets and Greens
ACTIVE TIME: 15 MIN
TOTAL TIME: 25
MIN SERVES: 4
The Good News The half-cup of edamame (soybeans) in each serving of this basil-scented salad has more protein than two large eggs and lots of fiber—more than 20 percent of the FDA's daily recommendation.
ingredients
4 small beets (1 ounce each), trimmed, 1/2 cup greens reserved
2 cups shelled edamame (1/2 pound)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon julienned basil
Directions
In a large saucepan, set a steamer basket over 1/2 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add the beets, cover and cook over moderate heat until tender, about 20 minutes. Check the water level in the pan halfway through steaming and add more as needed. Transfer the beets to a plate. Steam the edamame in the same steamer basket until tender, about 5 minutes. Rinse the edamame in cold water to cool, then pat dry with paper towels. Peel and cut the beets into wedges.
In a medium bowl, stir the rice vinegar with the soy sauce, sesame oil and grated ginger. Add the edamame, beets, scallions and beet greens and toss to coat. Sprinkle the basil on top before serving.
Nutritional information:
One Serving 119 cal,
6 gm total fat,
0.7 gm saturated fat,
10 gm carb,
4 gm fiber.
Recipe by Melissa Clark from Food & Wine magazine