Week Two Menus

I hope everything went well with week one. Here's another week of great recipes!

Everything is scaled for 4 people:

1. Vegetarian Lasagna

1 box lasagna noodles(the long ones)
1 box frozen spinach
frozen artichoke hearts
sun dried tomatoes
1 container pesto
small ricotta cheese
tomato sauce
Parmesan cheese

Cook and chill noodles. Rub each with ricotta cheese. Sprinkle with a thin layer of each vegetable, pesto, and Parmesan cheese. Roll each individually and place on cookie sheet. Pour tomato sauce over top and more cheese and bake at 350 until cheese is golden brown.

2. Taco Salad

1 head romaine or green leaf lettuce
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
4 tomatoes
1 bunch green onions
salsa
sour cream
cilantro
crushed tortilla chips

Cook the ground beef with salt, pepper and chile powder. Chop vegetables and grate cheese. Mix sour cream and salsa to make a dressing. Toss all ingredients and serve.

3. Leek and Asparagus Frittata

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/241324

4. Texas Chile

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_28277,00.html
I omitted the ancho and jalepeno pepper and the recipe was still very spicy. Remember to only use one chipotle not the whole can! but this is a great recipe, just modify to your spice preference.

5. Buffalo Chicken Pizza

1/2 stick unsalted butter
3 tablespoons hot sauce such as Frank's or Goya
1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 Chicken breasts, grilled and shredded
1 onion, grilled
2 pieces bacon
1/4 cup blue cheese
pizza dough

Cook butter, sauce and vinegar together until well blended. Grill pizza dough and spread with that buffalo sauce and thn chicken, onions, bacon and blue cheese. Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing.

6. Tomato Soup with Broiled Cheese Toast

1 loaf french bread
cheddar cheese
2 large cans cubed tomatoes
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
1/2 onion
3 pieces of bacon, chopped
chicken stock

Cook bacon and set aside. Leave grease in pan. Cook onion, celery and carrot in that fat. Add bacon back in and add flour to dry up fat. Stir for a minute and add small can of stock and cans of tomatoes. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Blend. Cut french bread in half and add cheese on top, broil and serve with soup.

Questions

If anyone has any questions on specific food items, ingredients, health conditions, etc. that you would like me to write about please feel free to comment and ask, I am always looking for new ideas to research!

Week One Menus

My idea is to give six meal ideas every week and leave one day open, because even I can't follow a schedule every day of the week. I'll give the idea, grocery list and recipe or hints on making these meals. If you need any more information feel free to ask.

Day One: Pasta Bolognese (Pasta with meat sauce)

Groceries:

• Any dry or fresh pasta, unless you feel courageous and want to make your own. I like rigatoni best because the meat gets inside the holes. Yum (1 lb serves 4)
  

• Ground sirloin, pork, veal or some combination (1 lb serves 4)
• veggies- carrots, celery, eggplant, onions, squash, etc. (do veggies you like) (3 cups total at least)
• Garlic (2-4 cloves depending on preference)
• Tomato sauce (store bought, ill give a tomato sauce recipe some other day) (i think classico is much better than any other variety i've tried)
• 1 can chunk tomatoes

To make the sauce: Grate all the vegetables and cook on medium heat in saute pan with a little oil until soft. Remove from pan and cook meat. Add garlic at the last minute. Add canned tomatoes and sauce and let simmer for 20-30 minutes, the longer the better. Season with salt and pepper throughout and red pepper flakes add a nice spice. Simple dish, but healthier than your normal meat sauce.

Day Two: Grilled Chicken Tacos

Ingredients: Chicken (2 breasts per 3 people)
uncooked tortillas if possible (Costco has them)
3 limes
cumin & chili powder(try to find a chili powder with some texture to it)
tomatoes (i like vine ripened but sometimes they are super pricey)
cilantro (one of the cheapest herbs, its a hate or love kind of food)
green onions (just a few)
avocado (1 should be fine for 3 people)
lettuce ( i like green leaf or red leaf, its cheap and has flavor)

Marinate chicken in juice of 2 limes with 1/2 T cumin and chile powder for 1/2 hour. Grill and shred. Cut up tomatoes, cilantro, green onion and avocado and mix with lime juice. Cook tortillas and pile with chicken, lettuce and tomato/avocado mix.

Day Three: Chicken Pot Pie

1 chicken breast per person
1 onion, carrot, celery, 1 potato- chopped
rosemary, thyme
butter, flour, chicken broth
biscuit dough
corn (optional)

Saute chicken in butter and set aside to cool. Saute veggies in same pan, starting with potatoes so they cook through. Add flour to vegetables when cooked through, enough so it looks dry, let cook on medium for 1 minute while stirring. Add 1/2 cup broth per person and bring to a simmer to thicken. Add in chicken and corn. Pour in ramekins for personal pot pies or one bigger dish. Cover with Biscuit dough and bake at 350 until biscuit is browned.

Serve with a green salad to lighten up the meal.

Day Four: Lamburgers (unconventional spelling noted)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground lamb for 3 people (if you can't get ground lamb and don't have a grinder try beef)
• orange juice
  
• cumin
• plain yogurt
• 1 garlic head (yup the whole thing)
• pitas
• arugula

mix ground meat with 1/4 cup o.j., salt, pepper and cummin and form into patties. Cut top off garlic head and wrap in tin foil, put in oven for 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Mix 1 cup yogurt, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 cup o.j., salt and pepper. Grill Patties and pitas. Smear yogurt inside pita, add arugula leaves and some of the roasted garlic that should squish out of the cooked garlic head. Add in patty. I promise it's delicious.

Day Five: Grilled Vegetable Calzone

Ingredients:
favorite pizza dough recipe, or store bought dough,
tomatoes, onions, eggplant, squash, peppers, etc
motzerella cheese
bread crumbs
tomato sauce
balsamic vinegar
1 egg

Marinate vegetables in balsamic vinegar for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper and grill. Cut up mozzarella and combine, add a cup of tomato sauce for 2 people. Fill calzones with mixture and seal. Crack an egg and brush the egg onto outside of calzone, then brush with bread crumbs. Bake at 375 until golden brown. Use extra sauce for dipping.

Day Six: Cucumber Salad and Fried Ham and Cheese

A really unhealthy sandwich (we'll just make it smaller) mixed with a yummy healthy salad.

Ingredients:
1 english cucumber per 2 people
2 tomatoes
1 shallot
rice wine vinegar
olive oil
lemon (zest and juice)

Mix lemon, 1/4 cup vinegar, chopped shallot, salt and pepper. Add olive oil and vegetables.

Sandwich Substitute ham for turkey.

Welcome!

I have been thinking about this project for quite some time. I keep getting questions from friends and family about meal ideas and every once and a while someone says "I wish I just had a menu I could follow every week". So here it is. I plan to include new menu plans every week, hints for different illnesses or health problems and also little indulgences meant for the weekend. After all I am a baker at heart and believe that at the heart of any lasting meal plan is a little chocolate! Keep checking back and I hope you will all enjoy. I am in the process of making the blog look a little nicer to so keep your eyes open for that. And if you like what comes please add me to your blog!

Hint #1: Salt. The only thing i every really learned from the infamous Doc of Maglebys is that salt is the only thing that can make food inedible. Other things may make it less desirable but salt can ruin it. So before you add salt to anything, taste it! See if it needs it. That includes once it has gotten to the table. It kills me when people add salt to food at the table before they taste it, how can the possibly know how much it needs. If you monitor this better you'll find your food tasting better and you consumption of salt will drop. Something that would be good for anyone.