Week 40 |
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Notes for this week |
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Day 1 |
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Baked Southwestern Spaghetti | Cottage Cheese with Pineapple Tidbits | Sugar Snap Peas |
Day 2 |
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Barbecue Chicken Dinner in the Crockpot | ||
Day 3 |
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Beef Stew with Dumplings | Sautéed Summer Squash and Onions | |
Day 4 |
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Maple Dijon Chicken | Steamed Broccoli | Sweet Potato Fries |
Day 5 |
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Crockpot Pizza Pasta | Green Beans | Spinach Salad |
🗓️ Day 1
- Baked Southwestern Spaghetti
- Cottage Cheese with Pineapple Tidbits
- Sugar Snap Peas
Baked Southwestern Spaghetti
Change up your baked spaghetti by giving it a Tex-Mex flavor with green chilies, black olives, and more.
Ingredients
- 16 ounces spaghetti
- 1 ½ lbs. ground beef
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 26 ounces jar spaghetti sauce
- 4 ounces can diced green chilies, chopped
- 2.25 ounces can sliced black olives, drained
- 10 ounces can diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Toppings as desired, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, hot peppers, etc.
- Non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
- While spaghetti is cooking, brown ground beef. When almost done, add onion and cook until onion is tender.
- Drain beef and onion mixture and add remaining ingredients except cheese and toppings. Mix thoroughly and cook over medium heat until heated through.
- When spaghetti is ready, drain and mix with meat mixture.
- Pour into a 9"x13" pan prepared with non-stick cooking spray and sprinkle with shredded cheese.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Serve with toppings of your choice.
Notes
If you have cooked ground beef and cooked onion in the freezer, skip the steps for cooking those and just thaw and heat.
Toppings not included in nutritional data.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 490 calCarbohydrates: 52 gProtein: 34 gFat: 16 gSodium: 893 mgFiber: 5 gSugar: 8 g
Baked Southwestern Spaghetti Permalink
Sautéed Sugar Snap Peas
A quick sauté in butter with a dash of sugar is all it takes to make perfect fresh sugar snap peas
Ingredients
- 8 oz sugar snap peas, raw
- 2 teaspoon butter
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Melt butter in a small fry pan.
- Add sugar snap peas and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently, until peas are covered with butter.
- Sprinkle with sugar and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until peas are tendercrisp and bright green.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 61 calCarbohydrates: 7 gProtein: 2 gFat: 3 gSodium: 27 mgFiber: 2 gSugar: 4 g
🗓️ Day 2
- Barbecue Chicken Dinner in the Crockpot
BBQ Chicken Dinner in the Crockpot
This Barbecue Chicken dinner is not only a great slow cooker recipe, it can easily be used as a freezer meal to help make weekday meal planning easier. You could also make prep easier by using frozen hash browns instead of chopping up your own potatoes.
Ingredients
- 2-½ lbs. frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup barbecue sauce
- 6 gold potatoes, chopped
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 6 frozen mini ears corn on the cob
- Foil
- Non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- Spray the bottom of the crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Place the chicken in the crockpot and brush with some of the barbecue sauce until chicken is completely covered. Pour remaining barbecue sauce evenly over chicken.
- Combine the potatoes, oil, onion, cheese, salt, and pepper together in a bowl and mix well.
- Make a large packet out of foil and wrap the potatoes in it.
- Wrap each ear of corn separately in foil.
- Place the potato packet on top of the chicken and place the wrapped ears of corn on top of the potato packet.
- Cook on low for 7-8 hours or until cooked through.
Notes
I adore my Vidalia Chop Wizard (affiliate link) and use it all the time! I use it for dicing potatoes, onions, peppers, celery, fruit, and more into consistent sized pieces so that my finished dishes look beautiful. The chopper has two inserts, one for medium-sized pieces (which I used here) which I usually use for potatoes, onions, and peppers, and one with a smaller grid, which I use to chop smaller pieces of celery, nuts, or other crunchy additions to salads and other dishes.
Although I have not tried it, I think this dish would be perfect to do for freezer meal prep. You could prepare everything except the chicken and store the foil-wrapped corn and potato mixtures with a package of chicken breasts and the barbecue sauce in a large freezer container. When you want to make it, just prepare the chicken on the bottom then layer the foil wrapped corn and potatoes on top and cook as directed.
If you want to skip chopping the potatoes, you might try using frozen diced hash browns instead.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 500 calCarbohydrates: 42 gProtein: 51 gFat: 15 gSodium: 924 mgFiber: 6 gSugar: 12 g
BBQ Chicken Dinner in the Crockpot Permalink
🗓️ Day 3
- Beef Stew with Dumplings
- Sautéed Summer Squash and Onions
Beef Stew with Dumplings
Rich flavors and tender dumplings make this easy beef stew a fall favorite.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. beef stew meat, cut into small pieces
- 2 Tbsp. oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled & cut into chunks
- 15 oz. can stewed tomatoes, undrained
- 15 oz. can beef broth
- Water as needed to cover ingredients
Dumplings:
- 1 ½ C flour
- 3 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ C milk
Instructions
- In a large pot cook onion and mushroom in oil on medium high for about 10 min. until softened.
- Add beef, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, broth, and water (if needed to cover the ingredients) to the pot.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer about an hour and 15 min.
- Prepare dumplings by combining the ingredients together and dropping by the spoonful on top of the stew.
- Cover and let cook without lifting the lid for 10 minutes or until dumplings are raised and fluffy.
Notes
You can avoid peeling potatoes by choosing Yukon gold variety or by using about 1-½ cups frozen hash browns in place of potatoes.
If you would like to make this in the crockpot, you can omit the sautéing and combine everything except the dumpling ingredients in the crockpot. Cook on low for about 6 hours, and follow the instructions for making the dumplings just before serving.
If you make this in the Instant Pot and would like to let me know your method, I’ll add it for others to follow.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 381 calCarbohydrates: 47 gProtein: 26 gFat: 11 gSodium: 698 mgFiber: 5 gSugar: 7 g
Beef Stew with Dumplings Permalink
Pan Sautéed Squash and Onions
Ingredients
- 2 yellow squash or zucchini, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large skillet
- Sauté squash and onion in butter until tendercrisp.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 53 calCarbohydrates: 6 gProtein: 2 gFat: 3 gSodium: 34 mgFiber: 1 gSugar: 4 g
Pan Sautéed Squash and Onions Permalink
🗓️ Day 4
- Maple Dijon Chicken (double and freeze one)
- Steamed Broccoli
- Sweet Potato Fries
Maple Dijon Chicken (Freezer Cooking)
Maple syrup, Dijon mustard, and red wine vinegar make a delicious sauce for this easy freezer chicken dish that can be prepared in advance and cooked in the crockpot.
Ingredients
- 1-½ to 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup Dijon mustard
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
Instructions
- Combine Dijon, maple syrup, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a bowl and mix well.
- Place chicken in slow cooker and pour sauce on top.
- Cook in slow cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
To stock your freezer:
- Place chicken in a freezer container and pour mixture over chicken. Seal, while removing the air, and label with the date and the following: “Maple Dijon Chicken: Thaw in refrigerator overnight and cook in slow cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.”
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 412 calCarbohydrates: 31 gProtein: 51 gFat: 8 gSodium: 1213 mgFiber: 2 gSugar: 25 g
Maple Dijon Chicken (Freezer Cooking) Permalink
🗓️ Day 5
- Crockpot Pizza Pasta
- Green Beans
- Spinach Salad
Crockpot Pizza Pasta
A combination of pizza and lasagna that is easy to prepare and cooks in the crockpot, this tasty meal is ready to serve after about 3 hours.
Ingredients
- Non-stick cooking spray
- 1 lb. box lasagna noodles
- 32 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
- 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 lb browned ground beef, from freezer
- 5 oz. pkg. turkey pepperoni slices
- ½ cup water
- 4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
Instructions
- Spray bottom and sides of a crockpot.
- Spread a few spoonfuls of sauce on the bottom of crockpot to avoid noodles sticking.
- Break uncooked lasagna noodles into pieces; place ⅓ of the broken lasagna noodles in a layer on bottom of the pot.
- Pour about ⅓ of the sauce evenly over the noodles.
- Next, place ½ of the ricotta and ⅓ of the mozzarella over the sauce.
- Place ½ of the browned ground beef on top of the cheese, followed by half of the pepperoni and mushrooms.
- Place a few spoonfuls of sauce lightly over the meat.
- Repeat the layers starting with the broken noodles, sauce, cheeses, meat, and a little more sauce.
- Finally, layer the last ⅓ of the broken noodle pieces over the top.
- Cover noodles completely with remaining sauce.
- Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese over the top.
- Pour water around the edges; cover and cook on low for 3 hours.
Notes
Note about cooking time: Cooking times vary greatly depending on the size of your crockpot as well as its cooking temperature. You may find that it takes longer for the meal to cook in your crockpot, so be sure to allow for variance.
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 566 calCarbohydrates: 51 gProtein: 34 gFat: 25 gSodium: 1170 mgFiber: 4 gSugar: 7 g
Crockpot Pizza Pasta Permalink
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