Week 4 Summary |
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Notes for this week |
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Day 1 |
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| Sandy’s Easy Cashew Chicken Dish | Asian Slaw | Sliced Pineapple |
Day 2 |
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| Taco Bar | Southwestern Bean Salad | Spanish Rice |
Day 3 |
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| Sweet and Sour Chicken | White Rice | Egg Drop Soup |
Day 4 |
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| Stuffed Shells | Salad | Italian Bread |
Day 5 |
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| Creamy Chicken Enchiladas | Refried Beans | Salad |
🗓️ Day 1
- Sandy’s Easy Cashew Chicken Dish
- Asian Slaw
- Sliced Pineapple
Sandy's Easy Cashew Chicken Recipe
This quick and easy recipe is a great way to use cooked chicken from the freezer. If you use bulk cooked chicken, prep is minimal and since everything is already cooked, it only takes 20-25 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken, cubed and sautéed
- 1 onion, chopped and sautéed
- 4 oz roasted red peppers, drained and sliced
- 10.5 oz cream of mushroom soup
- ½ cup water
- Soy sauce to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- ½ cup cashew nuts, chopped or whole
- 1 can chow mien noodles, separated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a medium bowl, mix together cooked chicken, sautéed onion, drained red peppers, soup, water, nuts, and ½ of the chow mien noodles.
- Pour mixture into lightly greased casserole dish. Bake 15 minutes.
- Sprinkle remaining ½ of chow mien noodles over the top and continue baking for 5 more minutes. Serve over rice.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 210 calCarbohydrates: 13 gProtein: 12 gFat: 13 gSodium: 940 mgFiber: 1 gSugar: 2 gNet Carbs: 12 g
Sandy's Easy Cashew Chicken Recipe Permalink
Asian Cole Slaw
Bag mixes and a homemade dressing make this easy salad quick to make but fresh and tasty.
Ingredients
- 1 bag broccoli slaw
- 1 bag coleslaw mix
- 3 green onions
- ⅓ C rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Chopped fresh cilantro to taste
- Peanuts, chopped, to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl toss broccoli slaw, green onions, cilantro, and coleslaw mix together.
- In a small bowl combine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and both oils.
- Toss salad with the dressing and garnish with peanuts.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 13 calCarbohydrates: 1 gProtein: 1 gFat: 1 gSodium: 83 mgFiber: 1 gSugar: 1 g
Asian Cole Slaw Permalink
🗓️ Day 2
- Taco Bar
- Southwestern Bean Salad
- Spanish Rice
Taco Bar
Tacos are a quick and easy meal that can be made traditional style with ground beef, or can be updated with chicken, shrimp, or even beans based on your preferences and what you have on hand. Cook and season the meat, then serve with all of the condiments taco bar style so that each person can make their own.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 2 Tbsp. taco seasoning mix
- 12 tortillas or taco shells
- ½ cup Cheddar cheese
- Lettuce, optional
- Tomatoes, optional
- Salsa, optional
- Sour cream, optional
Instructions
- Cook ground beef with taco seasoning mix as directed on package. Serve seasoned beef with remaining ingredients as a make your own taco bar.
Notes
Optional toppings not included in calorie calculation.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 130 calCarbohydrates: 8 gProtein: 10 gFat: 6 gSodium: 328 mgFiber: 1 gSugar: 1 gNet Carbs: 7 g
Taco Bar Permalink
Southwestern Bean Salad
This flavorful salad is easy to mix in the morning and refrigerate until serving with dinner.
Ingredients
Salad
- 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 8.75 oz can corn, drained
- 1 red onion, chopped
Dressing
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup oil
- ¼ cup vinegar
Instructions
- Combine the dressing ingredients and blend well.
- Mix salad ingredients in a medium bowl and toss with dressing.
- Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 274 calCarbohydrates: 39 gProtein: 9 gFat: 10 gSodium: 485 mgFiber: 9 gSugar: 15 gNet Carbs: 30 g
Southwestern Bean Salad Permalink
🗓️ Day 3
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
- White Rice
- Egg Drop Soup
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken
This slow cooker Asian style chicken recipe rewards a little prep time in the morning with big returns at dinner time.
Ingredients
- 1 cup carrot, chopped
- 1 cup green pepper, chopped
- 1 cup onion, quartered
- 2 Tbsp tapioca, quick cooking
- 1-½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- 8 oz can pineapple chunks
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1 tsp cilantro, dried
- 3 cups rice, cooked and kept warm
Instructions
- Place vegetables in the bottom of a slow cooker.
- Sprinkle tapioca over the vegetables. Place chicken on top of the vegetables.
- Combine all other ingredients except rice in a small bowl. Pour over chicken.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Serve over rice.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 496 calCarbohydrates: 102 gProtein: 16 gFat: 2 gSodium: 241 mgFiber: 3 gSugar: 20 gNet Carbs: 99 g
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken Permalink
Egg Drop Soup
I learned this quick and easy egg drop soup recipe when I was living in Japan. It's good for a light appetizer or a comfort food when you have a cold.
Ingredients
- 3 C. chicken broth
- 1 green onion with top, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- dash of pepper
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
Instructions
- Bring broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add salt and pepper.
- In a small bowl, beat eggs and add onions to beaten eggs.
- Pour eggs into boiling broth slowly, stirring with fork so that egg forms into ribbons. Soup is ready when egg is cooked.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 55 calCarbohydrates: 2 gProtein: 5 gFat: 3 gSodium: 1683 mgFiber: 1 gSugar: 1 gNet Carbs: 1 g
Egg Drop Soup Permalink
🗓️ Day 4
- Stuffed Shells
- Salad
- Italian Bread
Stuffed Shells
These stuffed shells with ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheese make an easy weeknight meal.
Ingredients
- 16 oz box jumbo pasta shells or manicotti
- 28 oz jar marinara sauce
- 3 cups Ricotta cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 4 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook pasta according to package directions.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, salt, and pepper together until thoroughly blended. Stuff shells or manicotti with cheese mixture.
- Place stuffed shells in a 13" x 9" baking dish lightly coated with non-stick cooking spray. Spoon marinara sauce over each shell; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 633 calCarbohydrates: 36 gProtein: 40 gFat: 36 gSodium: 1798 mgFiber: 3 gSugar: 7 gNet Carbs: 33 g
Stuffed Shells Permalink
🗓️ Day 5
- White Chicken Enchiladas
- Refried Beans
- Salad
Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
This Creamy Chicken Enchilada dish is perfect for sharing with a group. When you take it to your next potluck, though, be prepared for all the recipe requests!
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can chicken broth
- 8 oz. sour cream
- 1 onion, chopped & sautéed
- 1 bell pepper, chopped & sautéed (any color)
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies, drained
- 1 can green chilies, drained
- ½ tsp. cumin
- Adobo or garlic salt
- 6 flour tortillas, 8"
- 2 cups Mexican blend cheese, shredded
- non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- Chop and sauté the onion and bell pepper in the vegetable oil.
- Combine soup, chicken broth, and sour cream. Set aside ½ of this mixture for the sauce if you like to add sauce on top; if not keep all of it together for filling.
- To the remaining mixture add chicken, sautéed onion and pepper, chilies, Rotel, and spices to taste. Add half of the cheese.
- Place ½ cup of chicken mixture onto each tortilla, roll up, and place the tortillas seam side down in a 9x12 pan.
- If you reserved half the sauce, pour it over enchiladas now.
- Sprinkle remaining cheese over enchiladas.
- Cook at 350°F for about 25 minutes or until bubbly.
Notes
You can make these enchiladas two ways: smothered in white creamy sauce reserved from the filling or use all of the filling mixture inside the enchiladas with no sauce on top.
Although this recipe instructs you to sauté the peppers and onions, if you are using the Secrets of a Busy Cook, you will have prepared onions, peppers, and chicken in your freezer to use in this recipe. The principle of preparing frequently used ingredients in bulk saves lots of time in the evening, but doesn't add much time on the front end. When you are cooking onions for a meal, cook up a whole bag instead of just one, then freeze the rest. If you do this often with common ingredients, your time in the kitchen will be much more efficient.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 432 calCarbohydrates: 20 gProtein: 24 gFat: 28 gSodium: 560 mgFiber: 2 gSugar: 4 gNet Carbs: 18 g
Creamy Chicken Enchiladas Permalink
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