Dear Friends, Leanne had given us some more recipes for our Control Journal: The
goal is to have about 5 weeks of different menus and recipes for those
menus along with their grocery list. She has some great ideas about
this. Set up your own outline for your week and stick to it. Keep it
simple. - FlyLady
Menu making makes all the difference in being able to pull off
successful, stress-less dinners. Can I hear an Amen?
The keys to success are having ingredients on hand via a well-stocked
pantry and fridge, an on-going shopping list so that as you get low on
something, it's picked up right away and of course, menus and cooking.
Most of us are extraordinarily busy women--we have families, careers,
part-time work, volunteer work and church--to name a few. And we are
all learning to FLY. FLYing's reward is that it makes more time for
us, but as we are learning to FLY, it's also something new to learn.
How can we do all of this successfully? How do we keep all those balls
in the air without dropping any? In my book (Healthy Foods) sometimes
I use a system called, "If it's Monday, it must be spaghetti". In
other words, I have NO time to think about it, now is NOT the time to
get creative in the kitchen and I just need to make sure it's done.
I think a lot of us are in that place right now due to the stress
we're all feeling worldwide from the heinous acts on September 11th.
So here's the gig: A No-Brainer, "if it's Monday, it's spaghetti" Menu
Plan.
- Monday: Spaghetti and salad (your recipe)
- Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner (kids love it--pancakes, eggs, whatever
you want)
- Wednesday: Crockpot Dinner (see recipe below or make something you
like)
- Thursday: Salad and Sandwich supper
- Friday: Rubber Chicken--day one
- Saturday: Rubber Chicken--day two
- Sunday: Rubber Chicken--day three (your favorite soup recipe)
With every meal, serve either lots of salad or plenty of veggies--we
need the nutrition!
Here's the shopping list:
- Spaghetti noodles, Canned or jarred sauce--your choice
- Ground beef (for the spaghetti)
- Chicken
- Round steak
- Parmesan or Romano (I like freshly grated Romano--stronger flavor and
use less)
- Lots of Salad fixin's
- Lots of Veggies (fresh or frozen)
- Green Peppers
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Garlic
- Eggs
- Pancake Mix
- Sausage or bacon
- Syrup
- Butter
- Can of Black beans (or equivalent of dried beans, cooked)
- Salsa
- Cheese
- Tortillas
- Cumin
- Ginger
- 1 can beef broth
- soy sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- Sour cream
- Cilantro (optional--we love it!)
- Brown rice (optional--we like it on day 2 of the Rubber Chicken
adventure)
- Bread
- Sandwich meats or tuna
- Condiments: mayo, mustard, etc.
Here's the recipes you'll need.
Crock Pot Beef n' Peppers - Serves 8
- 2 pounds round steak -- lean
- 2 green peppers -- sliced thin
- 1 small onion -- chopped fine
- 1 cup beef broth
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 garlic cloves -- minced
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Cut the steak into serving size pieces. If desired you can brown the
meat in a little hot oil before adding to crockpot. Place the thinly
sliced pepper rings in bottom of crockpot, reserving a few to place on
top of meat if desired. (Veggies will cook better when placed on
bottom of pot.) Arrange the meat on peppers evenly, careful to not
stack one piece directly on top of another. Mix all other ingredients
and pour over meat and peppers.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours on low or on high for about 4
hours. Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies.
Per serving: 239 Calories (kcal); 14g Total Fat; (52% calories from
fat); 24g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 67mg Cholesterol; 373mg Sodium
Rubber Chicken - Serves 4 for 3 days
- 1 chicken -- washed and patted dry (get a nice sized one)
- 1/2 celery rib -- cut in pieces
- 1 onion -- quartered
- 1 carrot -- cut in 2" pieces
- salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
Day One: The adventure begins--Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In the
cavity of the chicken, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and
place cut up vegetables inside. Sprinkle the outside with salt and
pepper and a little garlic powder, too, if you like. Cook for about
an hour or longer (depending on the size of the bird) till the juices
run clear. Let sit a minute and then remove the vegetables. In the
meantime, if you were smart, you boiled the neck with some celery,
onion and carrot and have that broth, too. To further
cut down on the grease from the chicken, you could take the cooking
juices and put them in a cup and refrigerate while you make the rest
of the meal. This will get rid of a significant amount of chicken fat
which will all rise to the top. Make a nice gravy by deglazing the
pan with a little water and thicken it up with a flour/water mixture
(about a tablespoon should do) Serve your wonderful chicken with Just
Like Mama's Mashed Potatoes and lots and lots of veggies. Remember,
you want leftover chicken.
Day Two: Let the adventure continue! Take your time and pull every
last itty bitty bit of chicken of them bones. You want that chicken
skeleton to look like a science project. Toss the chicken in pot with
a can of black beans and season with a little cumin, some garlic
powder and serve it up with lots of salsa, tortillas, some
cheese--whatever turns your key! A great big salad will give you a
perfect dinner.
Day Three: The adventure ends--with the skeletal remains finally
hitting the stock pot. Throw in the same veggies: onion, carrots and
celery, season it with salt, pepper and garlic powder and throw about
3 quarts of water over the top. Cook the daylights out of it and
strain. Now make soup or store appropriately. Bet you didn't know
one puny chicken had so many meals in it, did you?
Remember this is Rubber Chicken, not Miracle Chicken, if you have a
big family, you will need to cook more than one chicken to insure
leftovers. LOL
Back
