Meal Plan

I am posting in arrears this week. This past week, I've tried to think of as many easy meals as possible. We've been busy with lots of summer activities and I needed to be able to throw dinner together when we get home late. It's not anything gourmet, but we were fed, nonetheless.

Chicken fajitas and guacamole with chips
BBQ pork tenderloin, mac n cheese and Trader Joe's frozen vegetables
Leftovers
Teriyaki chicken stir fry with rice
Friday night hamburgers, frozen french fries (baked in the oven) and salad

None of these really require a recipe. For the fajitas, I used frozen fajita chicken. I put the pork tenderloin in the crockpot with 1/3 cup of water and let it cook while we went swimming. The mac and cheese and frozen vegetables took less than ten minutes to make. So, I would consider it a 30-minute meal. I cut up the chicken for the teriyaki chicken and let it marinate for several hours. Then when I got home, I just cooked the chicken, threw in some frozen stir-fry vegetable and more teriyaki sauce and heated through.

Fish Tacos

Fish tacos are usually made with fried fish. Since we don't eat a lot of fried food, I make a broiled version. Also, I skipped making my own marinade and marinated the fish in a mojo sauce I found at Aldi. It contains no MSG and had pretty low sodium for a pre-prepared sauce, so it actually wasn't a bad substitution. Oh, and Ford likes these which makes them even better.

Fish Tacos
1 to 2 white fish filets (I used talapia)
Mojo marinade (purchased from Aldi)
Corn tortillias
1/4 white cabbage, shredded
Thinly sliced red onion
Thinly sliced green onion
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Cheese, shredded
Salsa
Sour Cream

1. Place fish in ziplock bag and cover with marinade. Marinate for at least 30 minutes and longer if time allows. Discard marinade.
2. Heat oven to broil. Spray boiler pan with cooking spray. Broil fish for 5 to 10 minutes or until done.
3. When fish is done, flake fish into bite size pieces. Coat with additional mojo sauce if desired. Heat tortillias according to directions on package. Place fish in tortillias and top with toppings of your choice.

Meatloaf

I'm not a huge fan of meatloaf. But, I got this recipe from my aunt Jan and it's actually very good. This recipe makes three loaves, so make one for dinner and cook and freeze the other two!

Meatloaf
2 pounds of ground beef
1 cup chopped onion*
2 cups shredded cheddar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups milk
1 cup oats

Sauce
3/4 cup ketsup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp mustard

1. Mix ground beef and next 6 ingredients. *I saute the onions before adding them because I'm not a big fan of crunchy onions. You could also save time by using minced onion flakes. Shape into three loaves and place on a baking sheet with sides.
2. Mix ketsup, brown sugar and mustard. Spread over loaves. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Linguine with Shrimp Scampi

This recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks. It looks fancy, but it's very easy to make. Because it's made with lemon juice and olive oil, it's not as heavy as some of the really buttery shrimp scampi recipes. But, it still has a lot of flavor. The recipe calls for linguine, but I substitute angel hair pasta because we like it better. I served this when Scott's mom came to visit and served it with garlic bread and Caesar salad.

Linguine with Shrimp Scampi

Serves 6

Vegetable oil
Salt
1-1/2 pounds linguine (I use angel hair)
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
5 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp minced garlic (9 cloves)
2 pounds large shrimp (about 32 shrimp), peeled and deveined
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Grated zest of 1 lemon (I left this part out without any loss of flavor)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds
1/4 tsp hot red pepper flakes, optional

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil. In the meantime, mince garlic, chop parsley and squeeze and slice lemons.
2. Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 Tbsp of salt and the pasta, and cook as directed on package.
3. In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Be careful, the garlic burns easily! Add the shrimp, 1 Tbsp of salt and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.
4. When the pasta is done, drain the cooked pasta and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well and serve.

Chicken Fried Rice

This recipe can be made with either cooked shrimp or chicken. I'm not sure how it would affect the recipe, but I think next time I'll add the eggs before I add the rice and chicken.

Fried Rice
1-1/2 cups uncooked white rice OR 3 cups leftover cooked rice
3 cups of water (for cooking rice)
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup chopped onion
1-1/2 cups cooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined without tail OR cooked chicken, cubed
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp seasame oil

1. Cook rice according to directions and set aside to cool (I used leftover rice and skipped this step).
2. Saute shrimp or chicken until done (I sprinkled the chicken with salt and garlic powder before cooking). Set aside.
3. Heat a large skillet or wok for 2 minutes. When the skillet is hot, pour in vegetable oil, bean sprouts and onion. Mix well and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Mix in cooled rice and shrimp or chicken and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Mix in green onion, green peas, eggs, salt, pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil. Cook for another 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until eggs are cooked and everything is blended evenly.

Pasta with Shrimp

This is my friend Abby's favorite pasta with shrimp recipe. I made this last night because I haven't been to the store this week. I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand minus the bell pepper. I substituted green onion for the pepper. I served this with a Caesar salad.

Pasta with Shrimp
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2-1/4 tsp chopped fresh thyme or 3/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 Tbsp olive oil
1-1/2 cups chopped onion
1-1/2 cups chopped red or green pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup medium dry sherry
1 can (14.5 oz) whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
2 tsp sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar
Either angel hair pasta, cooked and pine nuts or
white rice, cooked and slivered almonds

1. Combine flour, thyme, 1/4 tsp salt and black pepper in large ziplock bag. Add shrimp and shake well to coat shrimp.
2. Begin boiling water for pasta or put rice on to cook.
3. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add shrimp and saute for 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from pan. Add onions, bell pepper and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add sherry and cook for 1 minute. Add 1/4 tsp salt and tomatoes. Cook four minutes. Stir in shrimp and vinegar.
4. Serve over angel hair pasta and sprinkle with pine nuts or over white rice and sprinkle with slivered almonds.

Chicken Tonight

Tonight, our meal consisted of the Bisquick chicken fingers, roasted potatoes (the freezer kind) and stir-fry snap peas (the recipe called for snow peas, but I didn't have any). Here is the recipe for the snap peas. This meal was prepared and ready in 30 minutes. AND, the chicken fingers and potatoes baked at the same temperature (this is handy since I don't have a double oven).

Stir-fry Snap Peas
1.5 tsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt to taste
1 box frozen snap peas, thawed
1 Tbsp oil
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. In a small bowl, combine the butter, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and salt; set aside.
2. In a small skillet, stir-fry peas in oil for 1-2 minutes or until crisp tender. Add walnuts; cook and stir for one minute.
3. Drizzle with butter mixture; toss to coat. Cover and cook for two minutes or until heated through.

Chicken Fingers

My brother gave me this recipe. These are easy to make and Ford loved them. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Chicken Fingers
2/3cup Original Bisquick mix
1/2cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2teaspoon salt or Garlic salt
1/2teaspoon paprika
3boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cutcrosswise into 1/2-inch strips
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Heat oven to 450ºF. Line cookie sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray.
2. Mix Bisquick mix, cheese, salt and paprika in 1-gallon resealable plastic food-storage bag. Diphalf the chicken strips into egg; place in bag of Bisquick mixture. Seal bag; shake to coat.Place chicken on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken. Drizzle butter over chicken.
3. Bake 12 to 14 minutes, turning after 6 minutes with pancake turner, until no longer pink in center.

Beef Ravioli in Basil-Cream Sauce

This can be on the table in less than 30 minutes. I served with a Caesar salad and garlic bread.

Beef Ravioli in Basil-Cream Sauce
4 servings, Prep. 10 minutes, Cook time 15 minutes
1 (24 oz) package of frozen beef ravioli
2 Tbsp butter
1 (8 oz) package of sliced fresh mushrooms
3 green onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried Italian seasonings
1 (10-oz) can diced mild tomatoes and green chiles, drained
2 Tbsp fresh basil
1 cup whipping cream (I have used half and half, both regular and fat free)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ tsp salt

Start a pot of boiling water for ravioli (add ravioli once it starts to boil and cook as directed on package). Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, green onions, garlic and Italian seasonings. Saute for six minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Stir in diced tomatoes, basil and cream; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, five minutes. Stir in parmesan cheese; add salt. Stir in cooked ravioli, tossing to coat.