Menu Planning Monday

Okay, I am REALLY starting to enjoy this! It is giving me so much peace of mind to know I have good meals I can make each night and I don’t have to wonder if I have everything to make them. A lot less trips to the store and it is easier to stay in my budget – I hope!

I found out that my husband does not like meatballs, so I nixed the meatball sandwiches for dinner on Thursday and improvised. I had the sandwiches for lunch, they were so good! He was really missing out.

Also, had a few questions from you on how I did the Crockpot Spaghetti & Meatballs, I sent you to a link that had the recipe, but not for a crockpot. First, I used pre-cooked meatballs I got on sale at Kroger last week . If their not precooked, you need to cook first, all the grease will make the sauce too greasy to eat if you put raw ones in. About 3 hours before we were going to eat dinner (around 2:30p or so) I put the sauce ingredients in with about 1/2 cup of water. I set to the lowest setting. About 1 hour before we ate I put the meatballs in. If you put them in too early they would fall apart, and if you started sauce too early it would be too dry. Cook spaghetti separately, and pour sauce/meatballs over noodles. Top w/ grated fresh parmesean. Enjoy!

So, here are some changes I made from last week…

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Wednesday: Ordered Pizza (my hubby was really craving Jet’s!)

Thursday: Artichoke Pesto Cheese Ravioli (cheese ravioli, pesto I made from this summer here, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes), homemade wheat bread

Friday: Crockpot Jambalaya (recipe below), homemade bread

Saturday: Homemade Pizza

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Sunday: Super Bowl Sunday!
(Lunch) Chicken Tortilla Soup (chicken broth, rotel, grilled chicken from freezer, can black beans), Quesadillas (TGI Friday ones I got for $.25/ea!)

(Dinner) Appetizer for Super Bowl Party: Cheesy Rotel Dip (I got the velveeta ($.80) and rotel (FREE) last week! and have chips from Aldi $1/ea)

Monday: Barbecue Roasted Salmon, steamed broccoli, hashbrown potato casserole (from freezer)

Tuesday: Lentil Soup (I make this recipe without sausage and leeks, I sub extra carrots and celery), Homemade Bread

Wednesday: Spinach, Brown Rice, and Cheese Casserole, fruit, homemade wheat bread

Thursday: Blackbean Enchiladas, salad w/ grape tomatoes

Friday: Freezer meal (Sweet Potato Soup or Chili, we’ll see what he’s in the mood for!), corn bread muffins (my free ones!)

Saturday: Homemade Deep Dish Supreme Pizza (recipe below)

Crockpot Jambalaya

1 medium onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 Tbs. garlic, minced
1 bay leaf (remove before eating)
3 1/2 Tbs. Paul Prodhomme’s Poultry Seasoning OR 1 tsp each of oregano & thyme, & 2 T Creole or Cajun Seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
1 cup uncooked rice
1 lb. shrimp, thawed uncooked
1 smoked sausage (turkey or beef)

Put all ingredients into crockpot except for shrimp. Cook on low for 4-5 hours, add shrimp 20 minutes before serving. This will be a very thick rice mixture, if you want more liquid add 1 small can of tomato sauce and 1 cup water.

Deep Dish Supreme Pizza
from “Cuisine at Home” magazine October 2005

Deep Dish Pizza Dough (or use breadmake recipe here)

¾ cup warm water

1 T. sugar

1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 ¼ tsp.)

2 T. olive oil

Mix

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup yellow cornmeal

2 tsp. kosher salt

Combine water, sugar and yeast. Proof until foamy, about 5 minutes, then add oil.

Mix flour, cornmeal, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook; add yeast mixture. Knead on low speed for 10 minutes, or until smooth. (If kneading by hand, knead for the same amount of time.)

Form dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about one hour. Punch dough down and re-shape into a ball. Return to oiled bowl, cover, and let rise again, about one hour.

Preheat oven to 450 with the rack on the bottom; coat a 9” cast iron skillet with 1-2 tsp. oil.

Divide dough in half; wrap one half in plastic and freeze for later use. Roll out remaining ball, line the prepared skillet, and blind bake for about 5-10 minutes.

Deep Dish Supreme Filling

Brown in 2 T. olive oil; Remove:

2 Cups button mushrooms, quartered

Salt to taste

Saute in 1 T. olive oil:

8 oz. ground Italian sausage

2 cups onions, sliced

2 cups red bell pepper, sliced

2 T. garlic, minced

½ tsp. red pepper flakes

Combine with:

2 cups mozzarella, shredded, divided

½ cup canned crushed tomatoes

½ cup sliced fresh basil

2 oz. sliced pepperoni

Line crust with:

4-5 oz. sliced ham

Brown mushrooms in oil over high heat for 3-4 minutes; season with salt and transfer to a bowl. Return pan to medium-high heat.

Saute sausage in oil 2 minutes; then add onions, bell peppers, garlic, and pepper flakes. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes

Combine sausage mixture and mushrooms with 1 cup mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and pepperoni.

Line a prebaked crust with ham, then add the sausage mixture and top with the remaining cup of mozzarella. Bake pizza on the bottom rack of the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until brown.

Check out more menu planning ideas here.

What meals are you planning this week? Any tips on how to easily meal plan? Whether or not you posted your meal plan for the week, please take a moment to leave your ideas in a comment. Let’s help each other out in sticking to our budgets!

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