Menu for the next couple weeks and recipes.

Since I made the menu starting Saturday, I'm going to list it too, even though we already had it heh (Sunday's too).

I wanted to note that everywhere it calls for hamburger or ground beef, I only use ground turkey. We do not eat red meat (though I would love to splurge and have a steak on our anniversary!)

Sat 7/30 Unstuffed peppers I got the recipe for in an email from Campbells Soups. Everyone loved it. I'll add the recipe below as well as the others from emails. (This will help make it easier for me to find them later too lol)

Sun 7/31 Crispy chicken with a thyme and sage cream sauce, rice and peas.  This was also a recipe from Campbells (I'm trying to find new dishes to keep things new and fresh without spending a ton).

Mon 8/1 Taco salad

Tues 8/2 Goulash casserole I found on Marty's blog A Stroll Thru Life , and Green beans

Wed 8/3 Sloppy Joes, mashed potatoes, corn

Thu 8/4 Chili, mac n cheese, corn

Fri 8/5 Hamburger Helper, corn

Sat 8/6 Hamburger Pie -from another email from campbells

Sun 8/7 Cheeseburger pasta - also an email recipe

Mon 8/8 Spaghetti, green beans

Tue 8/9 Zippy Chicken Stirfry (recipe I've used for years, got off a Miracle Whip jar)

Wed 8/10 (First full day of school) chili, corn

Thurs 8/11 Hamburger Helper, corn

Fri 8/12 Spaghetti, green beans


RECIPES:


Unstuffed Peppers:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 pound ground turkey (I used a whole pound)

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed (I used fresh thyme and a little dried Italian seasonings)

2 cups V8® 100% Vegetable Juice (I upped it to 3 cups)

1/2 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice (I used 3 cups of minute rice - we have a lot of people to feed here)

2 medium green peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups) (these were on sale 2 for a dollar yay!)

1. Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the turkey, onion and basil and cook until the turkey is browned, stirring often to separate the meat. Pour off any fat. 2. Stir the juice and rice in the skillet. Heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir the peppers in the skillet. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. (I didn't have to cook nearly as long since it was minute rice.)  Dietary Exchange: 1 Starch, 2 Vegetable, 1 1/2 Medium Fat Meat, 1/2 Fat Makes: 4 servings (1 1/2 cups each). By adding more rice, it stretched to feed all 5 of us plus some had seconds and I packed the rest for Christopher's lunch today. The flavor was good all over, the extra rice didn't make it bland at all. He said he'd rather have the peppers more carmelized like real stuffed peppers are, so I may let them char a bit next time, but I liked how they cooked. A little crunchy still but not raw.

Crispy Chicken with Thyme and Sage Cream Sauce
This is actually a variation on Campbells' recipe using cream of asparagus soup and parmesan cheese.

1 egg or 2 egg whites

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves or 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 pound)

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Asparagus Soup(I used cream of chicken soup)

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup water

4 cups hot cooked rice

Grated Parmesan cheese (Didn't have any) (Then I added fresh thyme from the garden, sage and poultry seasoning)

1. Beat the egg in a shallow dish with a fork or whisk.  Dip the chicken into the egg.  Coat the chicken with the bread crumbs. 2. Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and cook for 15 minutes or until well browned on both sides and cooked through.  Remove the chicken from the skillet and keep warm. 3. Stir the soup, milk and water (and seasoning) in the skillet and heat over medium heat until the mixture is hot and bubbling.  Serve the chicken and sauce with the rice.  Sprinkle with the cheese. Makes: 4 servings. (I did a can full of water and milk and used 2 eggs and more breadcrumbs and did 7 chicken breasts (a whole bag of frozen chicken breasts Dollar General market has for $6 - excellent deal) Hamburger Pie 1 1/2 pounds ground beef 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free) 2 packages (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls 1 cup your favorite shredded cheese (about 4 ounces) 1. Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often to separate meat.  Pour off any fat.  Stir the soup in the skillet. 2. Unroll 1 package crescent roll dough and press on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate.  Press the seams to seal.  Layer half the beef mixture and half the cheese in the pie plate.  Repeat the layers.  Unroll the remaining dough.  Place the dough over the filling and press the edges to seal, if desired. 3. Bake at 350°F. for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Makes: 6 servings.

(Not made it yet, but seems easy enough and the crescent rolls will be different.)

ZIPPY CHICKEN STIR-FRY

1/2 c. Miracle Whip Salad Dressing 1 tbsp. soy sauce 1/2 tbsp. ground ginger 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper (opt.) (I don'y use this, Zoe won't eat it if I do) 2 tbsp. oil 3 chicken breast halves, skinned, boned, cut into thin strips 1 c. each broccoli flowerets, red pepper strips & carrot slices (I use one bag of frozen broccoli and a bag of pepper stirfry veggies.) 1/4 c. green onions slices (I usually forget these, but they do make it really good) 1 garlic clove, minced 4 c. cooked rice Stir together salad dressing, soy sauce, ginger and red peppers; set aside. Heat oil in wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; stir fry 4 minutes. Add vegetables and garlic; stir fry 3 to 4 minutes or until crisp tender. Stir in salad dressing mixture; simmer 30 seconds. Serve over rice. Makes 4 servings. (I will usually use 4-5 chicken breasts, add another bag of veggies and double the sauce, then it'll feed all of us.)

(I found that copy of the recipe at cooks.com)


I wanted to thank DeNiece, Kate, Marla and others who have written to me and commented on my recent posts. You can't know how big I smile when I get comments and especially such great ones like y'all send me!  Thanks ladies!!!


Have an amazing week.  I'm going to try to have one too!