Weekly Dinner Menu - November 24, 2013

Monday -   Beef with BBQ (leftover from the freezer), corn and mashed potatoes.  I was picturing a Shepherd's Pie type of meal but I am not sure I will have time to layer it and bake it since it's a Monday night.  But, you never know when inspiration may strike!

Tuesday -  Easy Pasta: Tortellini in Chicken Broth with celery and veggies.

 

Wednesday -    Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and a veggie.  I hope to post a My Husband Cooks post after this meal.

 

Thursday -  HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING
 

Friday -  Turkey leftovers, yum yum!

 

 

Saturday -    Tilapia with some kind of baked potato sides (maybe those Pioneer Woman smashed potatoes) and carrots.

 

Sunday -    6 Can Chicken tortilla Soup (2 cans chicken broth, 1 can corn, 1 can of Rotelle, 1 can of black beans and 1 can of chicken).  Serve with tortilla chips.

 

If you haven't had a chance to check out the About Section of the Weekly Menu, please check out now for info on sides & veggies.

 

 

Weekly Dinner Menu - November 17, 2013

Weekly Menu November 18, 2013

Monday -   Crock-pot:  Pineapple Glazed Ham from Six Sisters with beans and a veggie.

Tuesday -   Crockpot: Chicken Broccoli Alfredo from Six Sisters over egg noodles or linguini.
 

Wednesday -    leftovers

 

Thursday -  An Easy Frozen Pasta like Shells, Tortellini or Manicotti.  Serve with some bread and a side salad.
 

Friday -  Tilapia with green beans & garlic and scalloped potatoes.

 

 

Saturday -    French Stuffed Potatoes from my Monthly Challenge (To Cook From My Cookbooks).  Serve with carrots or broccoli.  (OK - I STILL haven't managed to make this).

 

Sunday -    From this PIN, Oven Roasted Kielbasa, Potatoes And Veggies

 

If you haven't had a chance to check out the About Section of the Weekly Menu, please check out now for info on sides & veggies.

 

 

Crock-Pot Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Crock-pot Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

From my freezer, I removed a freezer bag full of deliciousness, or Chicken Broccoli Alfredo.  I let it defrost for 24 hours and then I cooked it in the Crock-pot on low for 4 hours.  (I find that my Crock-pot runs hot and I feel that my meals cook really fast, even when on low).

In our weekly menu, I planned to serve this.  The nice thing about having frozen meals is that they are sitting there waiting for you.  If you have time to defrost them then dinner at home can be saved on those crazy evenings!  This recipe came from the Sis Sister's Crock-pot Freezer cooking that I did a while back.  Next time I do it, I will definitely take pictures and blog about it.
I served this over Linguini (It's Barilla, but I bought it before the drama went down.).

All you need is:
1.25lbs of cubed chicken breasts
2 jars of Alfredo Sauce (I like Classico, it can be seen here on Amazon)
1 16oz bag of frozen Broccoli Florets
1 diced green pepper
diced mushrooms to suit your family (I have an allergy/sensitivity so we omit these)
pasta of your choosing

I also baked some Texas Toast to go with our dinner.  If you buy some, they also have a version with cheese on top that is so yummy!



Chicken, Green Beans and Potato Bake

Chicken, green bean, potato bake before cooking

In this week's menu I mention that I am going to make a dinner based on a pin from Pinterest.  I have made this chicken, green bean, potato bake once before, but, I didn't have any official Italian Seasoning so I just used a compilation of spices from my spice cabinet.  This time, since this dinner was planned, I have the little jar of Italian seasonings.

Here is what the webpage after you follow the pin has to say:
Green beans, chicken breast, potatoes, butter, italian seasoning. Bake 350 degrees for an hour. Easy Peasy

It really is that easy but, here are some instructions based on tonight's meal preparation.  Since I just finished eating, I can give you all the scoop:

1.25lbs of chicken breast diced into 1.5 x 1.5 cubes
4 potatoes, cleaned and diced
1 or 2 cans of green beans (I used French style) 
9 thin pats of butter
salt, pepper and Italian Seasoning
dried onion flakes

Bake at 350 degrees F for no more than 50 minutes.  I did 50 minutes and that way about 5 minutes too long.  However, my oven tends to run a bit hot, I think.

You can decide on the amount green beans based on the volume of your family's veggie consumption.  I decided to use 1 can and I think 2 would be best next time.  I decided to cube the chicken because it will cook faster and it makes serving this much easier.  I did not peel the potatoes.  If you decide not to peel them just be sure to scrub 'em good!

Chicken, green bean, potato bake after 50 mins. in oven

This was delicious and I will definitely make it again this fall!

PS
In a strange turn of events, we only had 2 potatoes tonight!  I usually have to compost 30-50% of every single bag of potatoes that we buy.  But, it is great news that they got used for once.  I used a can of diced potatoes that I had on hand to fill in the potato section of the dinner.

Fish, it's what's for dinner

I should do a product review on this frozen tilapia soon!  It is so tasty and so easy.  I am not vey comfortable with coking fish.  It's a lot easier for me to buy it frozen and then just cook it.  I have gotten a lot more comfortable with fish over the past few years and now I sometimes defrost the frozen fish and jazz it up before I cook it.

Here was our dinner from the other night.  Mediterranean Tilapia, Scalloped Potatoes (please don't be impressed as these are from my friend Betty), dinner roll and Szechuan asparagus.  We probably do not need 2 carbs with dinner but for once I had some spare time so I through some frozen rolls in the oven.

Can anyone share a favorite side to serve with Tilapia?

Recipe - Italian Sausage and Bean Bake - Non-Crockpot

This easy and delicious recipe came from the Dinner Doctor cookbook, page 213.  You take cooked ground sausage, a can of beans, diced tomatoes and cheese - layer them and bake until bubbling.

I added fresh, diced onion because we love onions.  I baked it at 375 degrees for 30 minutes and it was too long.  Next time, 20 minutes will be my time choice.  I really liked this and would make it again.  My husband insists that this casserole needs to be served over pasta.  But, take his opinion with a grain of salt as he would eat only carbs, if allowed!

And, a note for my girlfriends - if you buy the Jimmy Dean Sausage roll at BJs, you can make the sausage thing apps and this casserole from the sausage.