Menu Plan 5/19/08

Breakfasts:
granola
bananas

Lunches:
Sandwiches
Fruit
Yogurt
Chocolate chip cookies (I still need to make them! They've been on the plan for like 3 weeks but I haven't made them yet.)

Snacks:
Fruit juice
Caramel popcorn

Dinners:
M – Mexican lasagna*
T – Leftovers
W –Barbequed Chicken and Potato Salad*
Th – Leftovers
F – Homemade macaroni & cheese* and peas
S – Leftovers
S – Frozen pizza

*Recipes follow:

Mexican Lasagna
(I found this recipe via one of the Menu Plan post links on Organizing Junkie that took me here.)
Serves 8

1 lb. lean ground beef (90% or higher)
1 large carrot, shredded (about 1 cup)
One 16-ounce jar salsa
One 15 1/2-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
Five 8-inch flour tortillas, cut in half
One 16-ounce container lowfat cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups preshredded reduced fat Cheddar cheese

1. Cook the meat and carrot in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up the large pieces, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Drain excess fat.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
3. Add the salsa, black beans, corn (I guess there is supposed to be corn on the list), chili powder, and cumin to the skillet and stir to combine.
4. To assemble the lasagna, arrange a third (about 2 cups) of the meat mixture in a 9x13-inch baking pan. Layer half the tortillas over the meat, allowing them to overlap. Spoon half of the cottage cheese and 1/2 cup of the Cheddar cheese over the tortillas and spread evenly.
5. Place 2 more cups of meat mixture over the cottage cheese. Layer with the remaining tortillas and cottage cheese. End with the meat mixture.
6. Top with the remaining Cheddar cheese and bake uncovered until the cheese melts and the lasagna is heated through, about 25 minutes.

Potato Salad

5 lbs. potatoes

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 dozen eggs

1 quart miracle whip

Peel (if desired), quarter, and slice potatoes in 1/8 inch slices and cook in water with some salt added, til tender, then drain water and pour out onto a cookies sheet to cool. Sprinkle chopped/diced onion over the warm potatoes, and gently toess. Let the potatoes completely cool.

Cover eggs with cold water, bring to a boil, cover pan, turn off heat. Let them sit for 11-12 minutes. This cooks the eggs without the yokes having a grey edge to them. Peel and chop.

In a large bowl, mix potatoes, onion, and eggs with miracle whip. Add mustard to taste and color, and add some ground black pepper. Chill.

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
(I like to double this in a 9x13 pan.)

2 cups macaroni
1 and 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk, cream, or evaporated milk

Cook macaroni. Drain. Grease 1 and 1/2 quart casserole pan. Put in half the macaroni and top with half the cheese. Put remaining macaroni on top of the first layer of cheese and top with the remaining cheese. Pour 3/4 cup of milk over the macaroni until you can see the milk. Bake until golden brown in a 350 oven about 30 minutes. Yields 4-6 side dish servings.

Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie to view all the menu madness!