Our Menu: Week of March 10 to 16

Taco Salad

As easy as it sounds.  Cook some ground chicken (or beef if you eat it!) with taco seasoning and then make a big salad.  I like to add sliced olives, pickled jalapeno peppers (in a can in the Mexican section of the grocery store), diced peppers of any colour, some black beans if I have a can, cucumber, shredded cheese, tomatoes, salsa and sour cream.  We also crumble corn tortilla chips on top.  I’ve been making my own chips but you can just buy a bag instead to make it easier.

Mushroom Casserole

A hearty, delicious vegetarian entrée.  I would also consider making this to take to a large family dinner as a side.  Will definitely make again!  Click HERE for the recipe. 

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon-Garlic Green Beans and Potatoes 

See THIS post. As I mentioned in the aforementioned post, I did go lighter on the lemon this time by omitting the lemon slices in the baking pan.  It was still a bit lemony, so will reduce the amount of juice again next time.  Love this dish, though!  

Cajun Stewed Red Beans and Ham

You may not know that my hubs’ Mom is from Louisiana and most of his family still lives in that area.  I hope that my version of this would be OK by them!  I took this recipe from a cookbook I borrowed from the library called $3 Meals.  Now I don’t know where this author shops because there’s no way this meal (or any in the book) could possibly cost $3.00, but it was good and I’ll make it again.  I used canned kidney beans instead of dried, which cut the prep time down by a lot.  I also used maybe 2 cups of water, not 8 like the recipe says. We had it over rice with a salad.

Here’s my modified recipe:

1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 medium onions finely chopped

2 celery ribs finely chopped

1 red pepper finely chopped (original says green pepper)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon paprika

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 cups of water

1 pound cooked ham, diced into ½ inch pieces

Salt and pepper to taste

Hot red pepper sauce to taste

Heat oil in a 3-quart sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Add onions, celery, red pepper, and garlic and cook, stirring frequently until onions are translucent.  Add paprika, bay leaves and thyme and cook over low heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add the beans and water and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.  Add the ham and simmer an additional 15 minutes.  Remove and discard bay leaves and season to taste with salt, pepper and hot red pepper sauce.  Serve over rice. 

Brown Rice Spaghetti with Homemade Meat Sauce and Salad

As I mentioned in this post, I made a big batch of pasta sauce and froze it.  I think it’s better the second time around.