This menu actually covers three weeks. Our Spring Break falls in this time period, and we will be gone most of Spring Break. We also have choir rehearsal for Good Friday one night during this time as well as some other meetings and activities. Please use this menu as needed during a busy time for you and your family.
Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice with Sausage, rice, salad, cornbread
We really like good red beans and rice and sausage. I have not always been able to prepare them very well, but this recipe from thriftyjinxy.com is really a great one. The beans are flavorful and cook down nice and soft. Of course, the better the sausage you use, the better these will be. We try to always use a good andouille or smoked sausage, which I know is not available to everyone. Serve these over some rice, prepare a nice green salad, and add some cornbread, and you have a wonderful meal.
Frozen chicken noodle soup, salad
As you know, I am a big proponent of freezing things and pulling them back out when you need them. That is exactly what this is. This is a slow cooker chicken noodle soup that I made previously. I froze the leftovers to have another time for a quick meal. I made this a few menus back. It is a recipe from damndelicious.net. I have attached the recipe again. Put a salad or some fruit with this and you have a quick, delicious, nutritious meal.
Oven Baked Chicken Breast, Garlic Butter Zucchini and Mushrooms
This recipe from savorynothings.com uses all basic pantry staples. You can fix this up in a jiffy and have a yummy and satisfying dinner in no time. I’m trying to have a little less carbs with some of our meals, so the zucchini and mushrooms from diethood.com makes a nice side that feels carby without actually being that way!
Smoked meat (country ribs, ribs, turkey, chicken legs, pork loin), potato salad, mac and cheese, beans
I wish I could give you some recipes for this, but this is a hard one. My husband smoked a whole bunch of different meats so that we could have our family over for dinner as well as portion and freeze a bunch to have for future meals. He did two large pans of country ribs, a couple of racks of baby back ribs, a whole turkey, a pan of chicken legs, and several seasoned pork loins. Homemade potato salad, Bob Evans’ Mac and Cheese, and baked beans round out the menu for our family. This may not be something you can replicate, but you can always purchase some BBQ and add your own sides to it.
Chicken and dressing, green beans, strawberry shortcake
I have shared this recipe before on my Christmas menu, but here it is again. At Christmas I don’t put the chicken in it as we have turkey and ham. We have this many times for Easter, and I do put the chicken in since it is the complete meal.
My recipe comes from a church cookbook called Happy TImes with Home Cooking from FIrst Baptist Church of Leesville, Louisiana. The recipe was submitted by Geraldine Mann, and I have been using it for years. It is a little vague but can be perfected with practice.
Diced celery, green onions, and onion (for a single batch, I use a whole yellow onion, 1 to 2 stalks of celery, and 2 to 3 green onions)
2 pkg. Gladiola/Martha White yellow cornbread mix
2 pieces bread, toasted brown
5 boiled eggs, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
Chicken broth (lots)
Garlic powder, dried onions, salt, and pepper
2 to 3 cups of cooked, shredded chicken
Get everything prepped and then just mix it all together. My MIL taught me a trick of cooking the veggies in some broth to soften them. It usually takes about a can a broth. Nobody likes crunchy vegetables in their dressing (at least I don’t!). Boil and peel the eggs and chop them up. Toast your bread. Bake the cornbread according to the package directions. Many times I cook the cornbread the day before. Cook your chicken ahead of time or buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it.
Crumble cornbread into a greased 9×13 pan, leaving some in bigger pieces. Crumble toast on top. Pour the veggies and broth on top as well as add the chopped eggs. Sprinkle with the garlic powder, dried onions, and salt (all to your taste). Stir in the cream of chicken soup and mix together. Start adding in broth until you get a slightly soupy mixture. Be sure everything is wet. Add in your chicken. Sprinkle heavily with black pepper.
I usually do everything up to this point a day ahead. I cover it with foil and put it in the fridge. I just think it tastes better if you can do this.
The day we are having the dressing, I try to set it out to start coming up to room temperature about 2 hours before I am ready to cook it. When you are ready, bake at 375 degrees without a covering for 30 minutes or until it begins to brown. Cover with foil and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until it is hot all the way through.
It sounds like a lot of work, but it’s really not, especially if you like homemade cornbread dressing. We serve it with cranberry sauce. You can make some or just use the canned variety.
Strawberry salad with blueberries and chicken
This is a recipe that I modify slightly to make it a little more like Chick-fil-A’s Market Salad. I like to add fresh blueberries and some grilled or rotisserie chicken to make it a complete meal-in-one. The original recipe is from wonkywonderful.com. I’m also not a fan of the pecans, so I don’t use them. I use toasted almonds instead. Start with this basic recipe and make it your own.
Rotisserie chicken, Garlic Butter Noodles, Roasted Cabbage Steaks
This starts off just like it sounds. I thaw some of the frozen rotisserie chicken pieces that I have in the freezer. They thaw and reheat so well. The Garlic Butter Noodles from saltandlavender.com are a nice, quick side that uses mostly what you have on hand. I do recommend grating your own parmesan cheese instead of buying a bag of grated cheese. The bagged kind is treated with some cornstarch to keep it from sticking together and it causes your recipes to get overly sticky. For something different I planned for cabbage steaks instead of just cooked cabbage. The recipe from purewow.com calls for green and red or purple cabbage. I just use the green. These are a nice way to have cabbage without it just being coleslaw or sauteed cabbage.
Air Fryer Chicken Thighs, Roasted Parmesan Green Beans, leftover noodles
Can I just say again how much I love using my air fryer? And I got a new one for Christmas that is twice as big as the one I had before. It is wonderful!! Anyway, this recipe from wellplated.com is another one that uses simple ingredients that you already have to make a tasty meal. And the air frying is so much cleaner and healthier than pan or deep frying.
I have been looking for new recipes for vegetables, and this is a nice one for green beans. I like fresh green beans, but sometimes they can be a little flavorless and boring. This one from madetobeamomma.com adds a nice crunch with some panko.
The plan is to have leftover noodles from the previous meal. However, if there are not any leftovers, maybe some rice or a different noodle dish will need to be added.
Blackened Salmon, Sauteed Vegetables
This is my husband’s absolute favorite way that I cook salmon. It is from wellplated.com. It has a nice little kick to it just using simple pantry spices. The individual frozen filets that I buy from Sam’s are the perfect amount. I usually half the recipe since it’s just the two of us. Also, make sure that your kitchen is well ventilated and that you have your oven vent on or you may set off the smoke alarm. (Don’t ask why I know this!!)
The vegetables are a nice side. Since the recipe uses mushrooms and some other hearty veggies in there, you feel like you are getting some carbs as a side even though it is just vegetables. It is from wholesomeyum.com.
Chicken Quesadillas, Mexican Rice
I don’t really have a recipe per se that I use for these. I do have a seasoning recipe that I use for the chicken most of the time though. It is from The George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine Cookbook. It is actually a seasoning for chicken fajitas. I cook the chicken in a pan on the stove using the seasoning. I save back a little of the seasoning to cook some onions as well. Then I cut up the chicken when it has cooled down. I have also done this with shredded rotisserie chicken that I had in the freezer. That saves some time and energy. I take a tortilla and spread it with some refried beans. I top it with some of the chicken and the cooked onions. Then I spread it with shredded cheese and top with another tortilla. I cook the quesadilla in a pan on the stove. You can do them on a griddle as well. I use cooking spray on the tortillas to help them crisp up. Cook on one side until it is browned. Flip and do on the other side. Cut up into portions and serve with the toppings you like. We like lettuce, tomato, sour cream, black olives, and jalapenos. We like Rice-a-Roni Mexican Rice.
Seasoning for the chicken:
1 Tbsp chili powder ½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp dried parsley 1 Tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp black pepper ¼ tsp cumin
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Mix up all the seasonings thoroughly on a large plate. Press each piece of chicken into the spices on both sides. Cook until cooked through.
Leftovers
I think this is self-explanatory – as long as you have any leftovers!
Managing the Mundane 