Week 6 Menus

WEEK 6 MENUS 

Having had a medical condition with my mother, I did not post menus last week. However.... here's another set. This week I've done some multi-purpose cooking I hope will be helpful and time-saving, as well as money-saving. 

The first 3 recipes are all from 1 pork roast used in 3 ways. Very economical.

Day 1- BBQ Pork Sandwiches- freezable

1 inexpensive bone-in pork roast- crock pot with 4 C water, 1 pkg italian dressing mix, 1 pkg brown gravy mix, 1 pkg ranch dressing mix. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, until falling apart. Remove roast and cool. Remove bone and excess fat. Shred meat, and divide 1/2 into a bowl.  add 1/2 C bbq sauce to 1/2 meat and serve hot on buns.  Put broth in airtight container in refrigerator, or freeze. Store the other 1/2 of the meat in airtight container and refrigerate or freeze.

Day 2- Carnitas -freezable

(Using the other half of the pork roast meat). Add 1T Cumin, 1t garlic powder, 1T onion powder, 1/2 C Salsa 1t salt, 1/2t pepper, 1T chili powder, heat in saucepan (or you can put it in a crockpot on low until hot.)  In a hot skillet, heat 8 flour tortillas. Fill each with meat mixture, sprinkle cheese and roll into a burrito. Top with salsa, sour cream, guacamole

Day 3- Bean Soup  freezable

(Using the broth from the Pork Roast) The night before you make this soup, soak 1lb of dry northern, pinto or navy beans in a crock pot of water. Do not turn it on. The next morning, drain and rinse the beans in a colander. Place beans back in crock pot, add pork broth, skimming the fat off of the top. Add 1 bay leaf, 1t garlic, 2T minced onions, 2t salt, 1t pepper, 2 or 3 chopped carrots, 2C shredded cabbage or 1 bag fresh slaw mix, 1 can crushed tomatoes (or use fresh tomatoes chopped). Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until suppertime. Serve with Cornbread! (bread recipe of the week) yum

These 3 days of meals should also have leftovers, so it is a very economical way to cook. If you want more variety from day to day, freeze the cooked meat and broth for up to 3 months, and bring them out when you need a quick meal. 

Day 4- Sausage gravy with biscuits

Use either canned grand biscuits as directed or you can use Rachel's biscuits from week 1. Brown 1 lb of sausage in large fryer skillet (tall sides) on med high. Add 2T vegetable oil. sprinkle 1/3C flour over the meat, and mix, letting the flour fry for about 30 seconds. Stir in 4C milk, mixing until flour is incorporated well. Add 1t salt, 1/4t pepper. Reduce heat to medium. Continue stirring until gravy thickens. Serve hot over hot biscuits.

Day 5- Boxed rice mix dinner-  When you need a quick-fix

This is an easy, quick meal with very little preparation. It can be done in a variety of ways, and with a variety of meats/veggies. Rice a Roni boxed mixes or Aldi's has a rice dinner mix. They come in a variety of flavors.  In a deep skillet, brown 1 lb of ground beef. (or use a frozen package of pre-browned hamburger)When browned and hot, follow the instructions on a box of "Rice dinner mix" or "Rice a Roni". Brown the rice in butter, add water with sauce mix.  Add a vegetable of choice- broccoli is good with the beef rice, I add either teriyaki or soy sauce to taste for the beef/broccoli for an Asian flair. Corn is a good add-in with Spanish rice or Mexican rice.  If I'm making the Spanish or Mexican rice, I like to add Rotel tomatoes, or even a little salsa to add a Mexican flavor. I've used the chicken flavor and added cooked chicken and veggies, and it is a good hearty meal as well. Again, if your meat is precooked, this meal goes together in just a few minutes...a one pan complete meal with vegetables. Use your creative skills on this one.

Day 6- Garlic chicken strips- freezable

Preheat oven to 350*. In a small saucepan, on low heat, melt 1/2 C butter and sauté 4 cloves of minced garlic until tender. In a shallow bowl, mix 3/4C dry bread crumbs, 1/2C grated parmesan cheese, 1 1/2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese, 1/4t dried parsley, 1/4t dried oregano, 1/8t salt 1/4t ground black pepper. Use either 8 chicken breast tenders, or 4 chicken breasts cut lengthwise in half. Dip chicken in butter mix, and press into breadcrumb mix. Arrange chicken into 9x13 baking dish. Drizzle remaining garlic butter and bread crumb mix over the top. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until chicken juices are clear.  

Here's a tip- Since your oven will be hot anyway, stick another 9x13 pan of single layered finely diced red potatoes and some fresh veggies, (carrots, broccoli, green beans, asparagus, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, kale, zucchini, squash, ...) sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle a little olive oil and put it in the oven with the chicken. Cook until tender.

Day 7- Asian fish Bowl  Want to try something a little different?

In rice cooker, or saucepan on the stove, Bring 2 C water and 1t salt to a boil. Pour in 1C Jasmine rice. return to boil. Remove from heat, cover with lid.  Let set covered for 15 minutes. Fluff with fork. Do not remove lid during resting time. Rinse 4 pieces of whitefish, pat dry with a paper towel. sprinkle with Kosher Salt and pepper both sides. On med. high, heat 4T oil in skillet until hot. Add fish portions. Cook on both sides about 2-3 minutes until browned and fish flakes apart with a fork. remove from pan. Add 2T sesame seeds to oil. fry until golden brown. In 4 individual bowls, layer 1. rice 2. Fish 3. 2 T. Sesame sauce (either bottled or recipe link below) 4. 1/2C bagged slaw mix 5. 2T chopped green onion 6. 1T sesame sauce 7. toasted sesame seeds. You can top with tempura, chopped peanuts, fried won ton strips or crunchy chow mien noodles for crunch if desired.

Tempura- use your favorite fish breading mix, add water to make very runny, Heat oil in a saute pan to very hot. drizzle watery fish breading in hot oil and fry to golden. Remove crunchies and place on paper towel to drain.

You can make your own Sesame Sauce: Sesame Chicken Sauce | Allrecipes

Bread of the week- Here's an easy cornbread recipe!

Use 2 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread mix- according to directions. Add 1/2 C Southwestern or jalapeno dip- yep the kind in the tub like sour cream. Add 1 C shredded cheddar cheese, 1 small can chopped green chilis and 2T melted butter. mix. spoon into well-greased muffin tin about 1/2-2/3 full. Bake as directed on Jiffy Mix box until golden brown. 

Dessert of the week- Mousse

Here is another way to use your creativity gene! The mousse is a basic recipe, and you decide what flavor, add-ins, and toppings. I did this with the grandkids over the last couple of weeks, and they pretty much loved the chocolate and Oreos. 

Basic mousse: mix 1/2C of sugar, 1C heavy whipping cream and 1t vanilla extract.  If making a chocolate base, add 1/4C cocoa.  If making strawberry, add 1/4C strawberry syrup. Then whip cream with mixer until stiff peaks form in the cream. In a small bowl, mix 1t unflavored gelatin in 1T cold water and stir until dissolved then add 2T boiling water and stir until clear. Whip gelatin into the whipped cream mix until incorporated thoroughly.  Fold in 6 crushed Oreo cookies if making an Oreo mousse. Or fold in 1/2C chopped strawberries to a strawberry mousse. We made a basic chocolate mousse with raspberry extract for a chocolate raspberry mousse. Experiment by adding peanut butter and peanut butter cups, or caramel with caramel syrup or ice cream topping. Just make the basic mousse, flavor it, then add any add-ins you like. Top with toppings and whipped cream.

Cleaning tip-  Here's a nugget of information that took me years to discover. Bathtub cleaner that actually works:

In a spray bottle, mix 1part white vinegar, 1part clarifying shampoo (or dawn dish soap). Spray on bathtub. Let it set for 15 minutes. With a nylon scrubber in circular motions, scrub the tub. Rinse with clean water. For excessively soiled tubs (sinks or any greasy surfaces) repeat process.