Menu #18

This is a busy two weeks for us. I have my monthly DKG meeting. We also have our small-group dinner group for eight. We plan to go to opening weekend for Silver Dollar City. In addition to that we are going to go see the U of A’s gymnastics team compete, and we have choir practice for Good Friday services. Whew!! I said all that to say that the menu uses a lot of things that I already have in my freezer. I hope there are some things here that you can use or that you can adjust to meet your needs. I also planned for leftovers from a couple of things to fill in the gaps.

Frozen catfish, hushpuppies, fries, coleslaw

My husband found some frozen catfish strips at our local grocery store. These are about as close as we can get without going out to a restaurant. They are pretty good. You can fry them or cook them in the air fryer. I use a package from Martha White to make the hushpuppies. I like to add a little jalapeno to mine to give them a little kick. Any kind of fries are good with fish. I like to just use frozen ones and cook them in the air fryer or oven. They crisp up nicely without being greasy or making a huge mess. For the coleslaw I just buy a package of coleslaw mix and dressing and mix that up.

Grilled chicken legs, smashed potatoes, zucchini

We like to buy the family pack of chicken legs and portion them out and freeze the packets to pull out later as needed. That is the plan for this recipe. The seasoning is actually from a different recipe from littespicejar.com (which is linked), but I am using chicken legs instead of the suggested thighs or breasts. You just have to adjust the cooking time. 

Smashed potatoes have been on my menus a couple of times and are basically my own creation based on something that I had at a restaurant in Louisiana. Once again, these are Cajun flavored, so you do you. Here are the instructions I have shared before: I wash and cut up some red potatoes, skins on,  and boil them in water that has been seasoned with crab boil. Not too much – it will be spicy!! Once the potatoes are tender, I drain them and add a little butter and milk and just mash them down until they form chunky mashed potatoes. I don’t really have measurements for this. I choose my amount of potatoes based on how many I am feeding. Usually four or five smaller ones are plenty for my husband and myself. I usually use a couple of tablespoons of butter and I start adding small amounts of milk until I get the consistency I want. Start small. You can always add more but you can’t remove what you have added.

Cut up the zucchini into smaller pieces and saute in some olive oil until soft but not mushy. I like to season mine with Mrs. Dash and a little salt.

Chicken and noodles, pudding

DKG time again!! I am thinking that if you have been following this for awhile you are either not interested in doing these again or you don’t need the “recipe”, but here it is again for anyone who wants to read it.

Boil some bone-in chicken (or a whole chicken) in the oven until it is cooked through. Then move the pot to the stove. When the chicken is cool enough, remove the meat from the bones. Add the chicken back to the pot with the liquid that was still in there from cooking the chicken. Bring it to a boil and add chicken Ramen noodles. The amount depends on how many you are feeding. Only use half of the seasoning packets. Let that cook until the noodles are done.

Frozen soup (Pasta E Fagioli), salad, bread

This is some soup I have in my freezer that I cooked a few weeks ago. It made a large pot, so I was able to freeze a couple of containers of it for a quick meal later. This is a great copycat of the Olive Garden soup from topteenrecipes.com.

Meatloaf, buttered potatoes with lemon-pepper seasoning, green beans

This one hasn’t been on the menu in quite awhile. It is one of my family’s favorites, and my daughter cooks it for her family now. This is a recipe that I have used for probably 20+ years. It is on an old recipe card from Great American Recipes. The linked one is the exact recipe. It is from justapinch.com.  I have a few tips for it and I have made a few adjustments to it over the years. I like to mix up everything the night before. I think having that time for the flavors to meld makes it so much better. It also makes it easier to get it cooked since I have done all the prep work already. I mix up the meat portion in one container and the topping in another and store them in the fridge. I also like to make a double batch of the topping. We like ours extra saucy. I have also found that I like to make little individual meatloaves instead of one large one. They cook up faster, and each person gets their own little meatloaf. I have some little oval dishes that I portion the meat into and I place all of them on a cookie sheet to cook. 

For the potatoes, I peel and cut up some russet potatoes and boil them while the meatloaf is cooking. Once the potatoes are tender, I drain them and then add butter or margarine and mix it around. Then I sprinkle them generously with lemon pepper seasoning. 

The green beans are canned green beans that I season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. You can also use fresh or frozen green beans or whatever vegetable you like. 

Eggroll in a Bowl, egg drop soup

If you like egg rolls, you are definitely going to like this recipe. It tastes just like the inside of an egg roll. The recipe is from stylishcravings.com, and it is super easy. You only need a few simple ingredients. I will say that I use more soy sauce than what the recipe calls for and I just use regular soy sauce, not the low sodium. I do have a recipe for egg drop soup, but most of the time I just stop at one of my local Chinese restaurants and pick up a to-go order. I don’t know how they do it, but I can pick it up on my way home from work and it is still hot when it is time for dinner!

Slow Cooker Pork Roast, mashed potatoes, peas

This is an easy and tasty recipe from theseoldcookbooks.com. It is great for a Sunday lunch or to feed a large group of people. It only has four ingredients and it cooks pretty much all on its own since you put it in the crockpot and let it do its thing. I recommend cooking it on the low setting if you have the time. I think it comes out more tender. You can make homemade mashed potatoes, which I do most of the time, or you can “cheat”. You can make instant potatoes, but if you aren’t going to make them from scratch, I recommend that you either get some Bob Evans mashed potatoes or some Member’s Mark Yukon Gold mashed potatoes from Sam’s. And as you know, it’s ALWAYS Le Sueur peas at my house! Just heat them with some butter and you have a great side.

Glazed Salmon with Brussels Sprouts, Herbed Garlic Potatoes

My husband and I really enjoy salmon. I like to buy the individually frozen filets from Sam’s. They are just the perfect portion size and they cook up nice and evenly. This recipe from tasteofhome.com is a nice one to use because you almost cook your whole meal in one pan. Brussels sprouts can be a little overwhelming depending on how you cook them. This recipe adds some sweetness to them to combat the bitter taste they generally have. 

The potato recipe is off an old recipe card that I have from Great Meals in Under 30 Minutes. I could not find a link to it (it’s that old!!), so the recipe is below. There are some similar ones online. This recipe also helps me to use the rest of the red potatoes that come in a bag of potatoes. 

1 ¾ lbs. Red potatoes, scrubbed

⅓ cup butter, melted

2 Tbsp. minced garlic

2 tsp. Dried parsley

1 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut each potato into quarters (or smaller). Place in a microwave-safe bowl or dish. Combine butter, garlic, parsley, seasoned salt, and paprika in a small bowl and mix well. Pour evenly over potatoes. Microwave on HIGH, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Bake until golden, about 6 minutes.

Air Fryer Pork Chops, Rice-a-Roni, Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I love using my air fryer. It is such an easy and hassle-free way to prepare a meal, and it is for so much more than fries. This pork chop recipe from wholelottayum.com is so easy, and the chops come out flavorful and  juicy every time. It calls for boneless pork chops, but I have used bone-in ones before, and they work just fine. Just make sure they aren’t too thick. A box of Rice-a-Roni makes a nice carb side for these. As you can see, I had to plan two meals with Brussels sprouts since it is just me and my husband, and an entire package of them is too much for one meal. This recipe from wholesomeyum.com uses just a few pantry ingredients to make crispy and flavorful sprouts. I half this recipe for just the two of us.

Soup/Sandwich

This is literally what it sounds like – cans of soup and plain sandwiches. It is what it is!