Week of May 1, 2011

Sun - Beef and Rice
Mon - Fried Rice and dumplings (use leftover rice)
Tue - Oven Fried Chicken and Parmesan potatoes
Wed - Lasagna with French Bread
Thur - Baked french toast w/ omelette's (use leftover bread)
Fri - BBQ pork sandwiches w/ sweet potato fries (frozen bag of fries)


To see recipes for all above, click "read more"

Beef with white rice

for beef:

2 lbs of beef stew meat

2 cups of water

salt, pepper, garlic salt (sprinkle to taste)

1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce OR browning sauce

1 tbsp butter mixed with 3 tbsp of flour (looks like little beads) if needed to thicken sauce when done.

Mix ingredients in a 9x13 pan. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 2 hours (or in crock pot for 6 hours) Follow directions on package for rice (minute rice is fine). Serve meat and gravy over white rice and beside a veggie or salad.

Fried Rice

3 cups left over/cooked white rice

2 eggs, scrambled

1 cup pea and carrot mix (from frozen bag), heated in microwave

green onion

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

Heat oil and soy sauce on medium-high heat, add rice and mix. Stir frequently. Cook until hot and slightly browned. Mix in eggs and peas/carrots to warm them. Garnish with green onion.

Dumplings

      1/2 pound ground meat (chicken, pork, turkey, etc - NOT sausage)

      4 scallions, thinly sliced

      1 carrot, diced very small

      1 celery, diced very small

      3 tbsp soy sauce

      3 tbsp water, plus 3 tablespoons

      1 beaten egg

      1 package won ton wrappers

In a large bowl, place ground meat, veggies, 3 tablespoons water and soy sauce together. Mix ingredients until combined. Cook over medium-high heat on stove top, until meat is done. Crumble the meat mixture until very fine.

Place small spoonfuls of the filling onto the dumpling wrappers. Using your fingers, wet the edges of the wrappers with beaten egg and pinch and press the edges to seal.

Preheat a large nonstick frying pan.

Once skillet is hot carefully place the dumplings into the hot pan; cook undisturbed for 3 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of water and cover pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook until water evaporates, about 5 minutes

·     Oven Fried Chicken (Food Network Recipe)

                         1 1/3 cups rice-corn crispy cereal, (recommended: Crispex)

·                              2 1/4 cups broken bagel chips or melba toast

·                              1 tablespoon canola oil

·                              2 teaspoons kosher salt

·                              1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

·                              1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

·                              1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

·                              1/2 cup light mayonnaise

·                              1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

·                              4 bone-in, skinless chicken pieces (about 6 ounces each) See Cook's Note

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Set a rack on a foil lined baking sheet. Spray the rack generously with cooking spray.

Finely grind the cereal and toasts together in a food processor. Transfer crumbs to a large gallon size plastic bag. Add the oil, salt, cayenne, paprika, and ground pepper and toss to mix thoroughly. Whisk the light mayonnaise and Dijon mustard together in a medium shallow bowl. Add chicken to mayonnaise and turn to coat all the pieces evenly. Drop the chicken into the plastic bag, seal and shake until each piece is evenly coated. Place coated pieces on the prepared rack. Spray the chicken pieces evenly withcooking spray, and bake until the coating crisps and browns and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the pieces registers 160 degrees F, 35 to 40 minutes.

Transfer to a platter and serve hot or at room temperature

Parmesan Potatoes

4 Baking Potatoes, sliced thin

1 cup Kraft Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup flour

2 tbsp each salt and pepper

1 tbsp garlic powder

Put flour, salt, pepper, garlic, and cheese into plastic freezer bag (gallon size) and shake to mix. Put in potatoes and shake until potatoes are coated. Use butter to coat the cookie sheet. Lay potatoes on the sheet in single layer (no over lapping). Bake at 350 in the oven until potatoes are done and light brown - about 30 minutes.  

Lasagna

1 1/2 - 2 boxes (about 16 pieces) of packaged or fresh lasagna noodles, cooked el dente

16 oz ricotta cheese

1 egg, beaten

1 cup of three Italian cheese blend (Romano, parmesan, mozzarella)

2 tsp each salt and pepper

4 cups shredded cheese (mozzarella or cheddar/mozzarella mix, or Italian mix)

2 jars/cans of favorite marinara/spaghetti sauce

1 lb italian sausage, browned and crumbled

Mix ricotta, egg, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of italian blend cheese in a mixing bowl. In a 9x13 pan, spread a lite layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan. Next, put a layer of noodles - about 4 noodles slightly overlapping. Scoop small spoonfuls of ricotta mixture on noodles (no need to spread, it will melt). Top with sauce, sausage, and cheese. Repeat two more times. Last, add another layer of noodles, sauce and shredded cheese.

Bake at 350, covered with foil, in the oven until warm - about 40 minutes. If desired, take foil off for the last 10 minutes to brown cheese.

BBQ Pork (Pampered Chef Recipe)

1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 tablespoons Smoky Barbecue Rub

On Large Grooved Cutting Board, trim fat and silver skin from pork tenderloin using Utility Knife. Brush pork with oil using Chef’s Silicone Basting Brush. Place pork into Deep Covered Baker, tucking smaller end under to create a uniform thickness. Evenly rub pork with barbecue rub.

Cover baker; microwave on HIGH 6-10 minutes, checking temperature at 6 minutes and then at every 2-minute interval or until Pocket Thermometer registers 150˚F. Remove baker from microwave; let stand, covered, 10 minutes (temperature will rise to 160˚F for medium doneness).

See the additional recipes for Miniature Barbecue Pork Sandwiches and Barbecue Pork Salad for ideas on using the Barbecue Pork Tenderloin.

Cook’s Tip: This recipe can be doubled easily. Place two tenderloins in Deep Covered Baker; microwave on HIGH 8-12 minutes as directed above.

French Toast Bake

·                                 1/2 loaf French bread, cubed

·                                 3 large eggs

·                                 1 cups half-and-half

·                                 1/2 cup maple syrup

·                                 1 tbsp granulated sugar

·                                 1 tspn vanilla exrtact

·                                 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

·                                 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

·                                 Dash salt

Slice bread into 1-inch slices. Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9x13 pan, in 2 rows, overlapping the slices if needed. Combine the eggs, half-and-half, syrup, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.