Weekly Meal Plan #6

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Weekly Menu
October 18-24

This weeks meal plan is brought to you by the letter P and the number 6…. I know, just too funny. I promise to stop watching Sesame Street (can you believe they are starting their 40th season?) and to broaden my daily conversations from 3 yr olds to those closer to my age. Promise!

In no particular order…. yes, they all really start with the letter P. I started my list on Saturday and after 4 of the things which I wanted to make started with the same letter, I could not stop… had to get a little creative.

Dinners:

1) Pumpkin Pancakes with bacon- those who have complaints about the pancakes can slap a few pieces of bacon on two slices of bread and call it dinner, too. Make do- or do without.

2) Pineapple Lemon Chicken- this will be grilled and Lenny and I will eat ours over salad with red wine vinegar and EVOO. For the kids they will want salad on the side and I will make a veggie (frozen of course) and crescent rolls (from a can). (The chicken ensemble is in my freezer and is from one of my monthly Homemade Gourmet meal classes. This is where I go once a month and we assemble meals to plan ahead and bring them home and freeze them. I do 7 meals for $100 when I go to the class each month. She provides everything and cleans up the mess. I just assemble and throw them in my cooler and go home. Really helpful.)

3) Pizza Loafs- I have some pizza sauce and fixings left from last week. So to use them up, take a loaf (or 2 in our case) of french bread and cut it in half. Then slice each half open. This will give you 4 individual pizzas. Top with sauce add your toppings and bake at 400 until brown. Just like a pizza, but quicker. The kids love it.

4) Pesto Chicken and Sweet Potatoes– this will be done in the crockpot and layered.

5) Potato Soup and Mexican Cornbread- Potato soup reminds me of my grandma who I miss every day. I make it from a cookbook she gave me. Super simple too!

6) Pasta and Spaghetti Sauce- served with warm bread and EVOO with basil garlic dipping sauce. Yum and so simple!

Dinners will be made in no particular order. We do reserve one night for eating out- usually Saturday. As the week goes, if a recipe is fabulously wonderful, I will post the response of my family and the recipe.

Ok, this now concludes our fun with the letter P. Disappointing, I know.

Breakfast:

Twins- cereal, homemade biscuits with honey and malto meal are the choices for the week.

Garrett and Anthony- they have decided they like Toaster Strudels. I bought one box. When they are gone they are gone. And, they better be brushing their teeth extra good! The rest of the week they can either choose cereal or eggs and toast.

Mommy- Coffee and scraps.

Lunch:

Twins- hot dogs, bologna sandwiches, leftovers or chicken salad (see below) are their choices. I always have chips and fruit on hand (apples, slices cantaloupe, watermelon, bananas) as well as apple sauce.

Garrett and Anthony- Yap, still eating bologna sandwiches with string cheese, BBQ chips and a snack item (apple, goldfish, granola bar, apple sauce, etc).

Lenny and Me- (and anyone else who will eat it, but I know they will all turn their noses up to it.. maybe not Nicky….) I am making a chicken salad recipe I received at the church carnival we went to this weekend. The pastor did a cooking demonstration (he is a chef). We were able to sample it… I loved it! I can make a whole batch and Lenny and I can eat off of it all week long.

Sunshine Chicken Salad:

4 chicken breasts poached or canned chicken (I am using a rotisserie chicken from the deli and will de-bone it)
1 c dried apricots
1 c dried cranberries
1 bunch chopped green onions (Lenny hates onions, but I love them. I will likely cut this in half… besides I need some green onions to top my potato soup.)
4 stalks celery diced
1/2 cup of chopped nuts (we are using walnuts because that is what we have on hand)
1 cup mayo
1 small can thawed orange juice concentrate
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor chop de-boned chicken until it is minced. Remove and clean out machine with paper towel.

Spray the inside of the processor with cooking spray including the blade. This will keep the dried fruits from clumping up. Chop apricots and cranberries in the machine.

In a large bowl combine chicken, celery, green onion and chopped fruits as well as the nuts. Mix well. Add salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl combine mayo and orange juice concentrate. Whisk until blended.

Add the mayo blend to the chicken.

Serve on bread or crackers… yum!

Let me know if you try the chicken salad and what you think. Those who work outside of the home it would be easy to take along as a lunch all week long as well. I bet it would be good mixed in with some pasta as well.

Have a yummy week!