Meal Plan and Grocery List 3/14- 3/20

Hello everyone!  I'm back this week with the meal plan AND grocery list. Hooray! For the next couple of weeks, it's smooth sailing...nothing crazy in our schedule...well, nothing crazier than usual. I'm looking forward to the menu this week...and the menu next week too! But I'm getting ahead of myself, I will post that next Sunday.

There are a couple of sites that I want to share before I post the meal plan. First, a handy little savings site I just found called Grocery Server. First off, it's free. BONUS! I refuse to pay for coupon sites...what's the point? Here's what it does: you just type in your grocery list and the site shows you what is on sale in YOUR TOWN on the list, where you can find the sale, AND provides coupons if they are available. I tried it out and my conclusion: It's pretty handy! Check it out at www.groceryserver.com

The next site I want to share is an online community forum, "Mom's the Word on Dinner". This one I haven't tried out yet, but it sounds pretty cool. I seem to be in an ongoing conversation with other moms, both in my circle of friends and when I'm out teaching, about getting our children to eat healthier. This forum sounds like a good source for dealing with this dilemma.

Here's an excerpt from the email I received from Mom Select regarding the forum:

Ragú® is launching "Mom's the Word on Dinner," an online community for moms to laugh, learn and share their take on what really happens at dinnertime.

Ragú® is teaming up with some familiar faces, including some of the fabulous ladies of Momversation™, to bring moms together to share stories and tips, celebrate the small wins and laugh about situations that only other moms can relate to. Each month, this online community will be tackling topics from how to deal with picky eaters, to getting them to eat their veggies to what's being discussed at the dinner table, with some tips from parenting expert and author, Dr. Michele Borba, and Registered Dietician, Dr. Felicia Stoler.

It's definitely worth a look. I figure that the folks at Ragu must know a little about nutrition since they've figured out how to pack 2 full servings of veggies into just 1/2 cup of their delicious Old World Style Traditional pasta sauce!  Check it out HERE on Facebook.

Finally, a few links to recipes here on Krista's Kitchen to those of you observing Meatless Fridays during the season of Lent. Check out the Meatless Meals and Seafood labels in my sidebar for dinner ideas.

Okay that's enough housekeeping, now for the meal plan! Oh wait, one more note: For a printable copy of the meal plan and grocery list, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the provided link.

Monday March 14th

White Bean Fennel Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday March 15th

Taco Salad

Wednesday March 16th

Leftovers

Thursday March 17th

Crock Pot Irish Stew
White Soda Bread

Friday March 18th

Veggie Skillet Lasagna

Saturday March 19th

Bacon Cheddar Meatloaves with Oven Baked Onion Rings

Sunday March 20th

Leftovers again!

Grocery List

Produce

3 onions
1 large sweet onion
1 fennel bulb, also called anise
baby spinach (6-7 cups)
1 head of lettuce
4-5 tomatoes
green onions
carrots
potatoes
garlic
basil
zucchini

Dairy

Shredded cheddar
sour cream (I use reduced fat)
buttermilk
ricotta
eggs
fresh mozzarella
Parmesan

Meat

2 lbs. lean ground beef
1-1/2 to 2 lbs lamb shoulder roast
bacon

Canned Goods

5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1- 15 oz. can white beans
1-14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
oil, olive or canola
sliced black olives
light red kidney beans
salsa
4 cups beef broth

Dry Goods

thyme
bay leaf
Doritos or other nacho cheese flavored tortilla chips, baked or regular
1 package taco seasoning
celery seed
marjoram
flour
baking soda
no-bake lasagna noodles
butter crackers
bread crumbs

Freezer

Peas - if you like them- for the stew.
 For a printable version of this meal plan and grocery list click HERE.
 
Happy Cooking, everyone!

Broccoli Pesto Pizza

Sometime ago I saw a recipe for broccoli pesto. Though I'd never tried it, I was so taken with the idea that I even mentioned it to a group of moms when presenting ways to integrate healthy foods into the diets of young children at a recent speaking engagement. Sure, some kids will shy away from "all things green", but I find that when green stuff (like pesto) tastes really good, my kiddos will gobble it up with little protest. I filed the idea for pesto made with broccoli away in the back of my mind.

Fast forward to last week when I found some lovely heads of reasonably-priced broccoli at my local market. I was thinking of making the broccoli into a stir fry or a nice side dish. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately since this was so yummy), tonight I was running low on supplies. Grocery day is tomorrow. I'm "scraping the bottom of the barrel" here. After a careful inventory of my fridge and pantry I realized that I DID have 1) a refrigerated pizza crust 2) olive oil 3) garlic 4) a block of Parmesan cheese 5) pine nuts and 6) shredded mozzarella. Ah-ha (the light bulb went on). Time to make broccoli pesto and put it on a pizza! I wasn't sure how the pesto would turn out, but I knew that my family would eat pizza.

My family always enjoys traditional basil pesto so I assumed that a pesto pizza was a safe bet.  I haven't made pesto since August, though.  Basil is so darn expensive right now! This summer I plan to grow my own.  Wanna see my herb garden?  It's in the picture below....

What, you can't find it? Well maybe that's because my herb-garden-to-be is under a fresh blanket of snow!

Yep. It's March and we had ANOTHER snow storm last night. Lovely.

I snapped this picture of our backyard just before making dinner tonight.

C'mon Spring!!!

And so new my healthier and less expensive answer to basil pesto in early March is to use nutrient and fiber rich broccoli.

I broke the heads into pieces and steamed them until tender (about 5 minutes).

Then, because my food processor went missing during our move, I employed my Pampered Chef chopper to mince the steamed broccoli.

While I was preparing the broccoli, I popped some pine nuts into the oven for toasting. You want to toast em' until fragrant. Not until blackened....

My suggestion is to watch your pine nuts carefully during this step. This is not the first time that I have  burned a batch of pine nuts. For the record, this batch went into the trash and I had to start over. I toast mine on a baking sheet at around 200 degrees. I recommend that you stir occasionally and check frequently until they start to lightly brown and are fragrant...at which point,  get them outta there!

*Toasting can also be accomplished in a skillet on your stovetop.

Once the second batch of pine nuts were toasted and slightly cooled, I added them to the broccoli with the grated Parmesan, minced garlic, salt, and a little dried basil.

Then I attacked the mixture with my immersion blender. You could do all of this in your food processor or blender too. I just blended until the ingredients were all most smooth and combined. You don't want any whole pine nuts floatin' around in there.... 

Finally,  I blended in 1/2 cup of olive oil.

I ended up with a relatively light-colored (probably from all of the cheese that I added), thick (I could've added more oil, but I was out) pesto.

This made enough pesto for a couple of recipes, so I put away half to toss with pasta for dinner next week.

With the pesto made, I went to work on the pizza. I used a refrigerated crust. I really like Pillsbury's Thin Crust Pizza when I don't have the time to make my own, because it can be easily pressed into a baking sheet. I oiled the sheet and sprinkled it with cornmeal before  pre-baking the crust for the recommended 5 minutes before removing from the oven and spreading with 1 cup of the pesto mixture.

Then I topped the pizza with shredded cheese, halved grape tomatoes, and 1 thinly sliced shallot. I decided to keep the toppings simple to allow the flavor of the pesto to shine through.

Bake the pizza for another 6-10 minutes before removing it from the oven and slicing.

Enjoy!

Krista's Broccoli Pesto Pizza

For the pesto:

2 heads fresh broccoli broken up and steamed or 1-3/4 to 2 cups frozen broccoli, cooked
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt or more to taste

For the pizza:

1 refrigerated thin crust pizza dough
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 shallot, thinly sliced or 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

To make pesto:

Break up and steam broccoli. Finely chop. Toast pine nuts on a baking sheet in a 200 degree oven until golden and fragrant. Combine chopped broccoli, cheese, toasted pine nuts, minced garlic, dried basil, and salt until somewhat smooth and blended in food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender. Slowly add in olive oil and blend again until creamy.

To make the pizza:

Prebake crust as directed. Spread with 1 cup of pesto. Top with cheese, tomatoes and shallot (or onion). Bake as directed or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Notes:
*This was delicious! Just a hint of the broccoli taste could be detected, which was fine with us because we like broccoli.

* Refrigerate remaining pesto for use in another recipe.

* This would have been even better with fresh mozzarella slices instead of shredded mozzarella.

* I grated my own Parmesan cheese, but the "stuff" in the green can would work fine too.

* This is a versatile pizza. Top it however you like. Next time I will sprinkle some fresh basil over the top to enhance the taste and appearance.

Spaghetti and Meatballs with Bacon Vodka Sauce

This recipe was born out of my inability to choose between a Penne in Vodka Sauce recipe seen in the most recent issue of Food Network Magazine and Giada's Bucatini All'Amatriciana with Spicy Fontina Meatballs that I found on Kim's blog, Stirring the Pot. Indecision is the mother of invention? Rather than make each recipe separately, I decided to combine the two, keeping the ingredients that most attracted me to each recipe and also utilizing the ingredients that I already had in my kitchen. For example, the Buccatini All'Amatriciana called for pancetta. I used bacon. The vodka sauce didn't call for shallots, but the Buccatini recipe did.... so in went the shallots. I already had meatballs in my freezer, so I didn't make the Spicy Fontina Meatballs. (Although they do look amazing!) There were other changes too but the point is, I just smooshed the two recipes together and the result was delicious! It was a wonderful twist on our usual dinner of spaghetti and meatballs.

I began by frying 3 slices of bacon.

After removing the bacon to paper towels, add the onion and shallot to the bacon drippings and cook until softened. Then stir in a couple cloves of minced garlic and some red pepper flakes. Cook a little longer until fragrant.

Add in meatballs (I added 16, allowing 4 for each member of my family) and the crumbled bacon. Cook and stir until the meatballs warm up a bit.

If you'd like to make your own meatballs, THESE Spicy Fontina Meatballs from Stirring the Pot look pretty amazing OR check out THESE super easy meatballs OR try out my go-to meatball recipe found HERE. Of course, if you're pressed for time, just grab a bag from the freezer section at your local supermarket.

Next I added a can of crushed tomatoes and 1/2 cup of vodka (I used a diluted vodka). I was curious about what the vodka actually does for the sauce, so I did a little online research. I found similar answers on a couple of sites that was most clearly stated HERE in the Q&A section of Food and Wine in the New York Times:

"The alcohol in the vodka enhances the flavor of the tomatoes. Some flavors are alcohol-soluble, meaning that they will be released only by the addition of alcohol. Vodka can help bring out these flavors without contributing another flavor, as wine or brandy would.

So a tomato sauce made with a touch of vodka can be slightly more intense than one made without. This is a particular boon if you are using less than perfectly ripe, late-summer tomatoes, which may need that flavor boost."

Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally for 7-10 minutes.

Then stir in 2/3 cup of cream and cook a little longer, until thickened.

While the sauce thickened up, I grated a chunk of parmesan. Both recipes called for 1/2 cup of grated cheese. I may have used just a little more.

Finally, stir in the cheese and a handful of torn basil. Salt and pepper the sauce to suit your taste before tossing with 12-16 oz. of cooked spaghetti.

Sprinkle with more cheese and basil...if that makes you happy.
                                                       : )

Spaghetti and Meatballs in Bacon Vodka Sauce

Ingredients
Kosher salt
12-16 oz pasta
16-24 meatballs, thawed if frozen
3-6 slices bacon
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1-2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup vodka
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn, plus more for topping

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the label directs. Drain the pasta.

Fry bacon until crisp in a large skillet. Remove to paper towels. Add the onion and shallots to the bacon drippings in the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, a minute more or until fragrant. Crumble the bacon into the skillet over the onions and add the meatballs, cooking until the meatballs are warmed. Stir in the vodka, tomatoes and salt to taste. Return the skillet to medium heat and simmer, stirring often, until the alcohol cooks off, 7-10 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in the parmesan and basil.

Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to combine. Season with salt. Serve topped with more parmesan and basil.

Notes:
*I only used 3 slices of bacon to prepare this recipe, but I really enjoyed the bacon in this dish. Next time I would add more. If you choose to add more bacon, you may need to drain off some of the fat before adding in the onions.
**I used half and half instead heavy cream in this recipe- my sad little attempt to lighten it up since I added in bacon and meatballs.

Enjoy!

Crescent Wrapped Lasagna and A Meal Plan

This recipe, inspired by "Crafty Crescent Lasagna" found on the Pillsbury website was even better than I hoped it would be. It came together quickly and it was SO good. My family loved this one!

The first step was to make the meat sauce for the lasagna. I'm still adjusting to the lighting in our new kitchen. I'm fighting with the overhead lighting and the fact that the windows are across the room from my work area. My pictures have been consistently bad and dark since the move. Unfortunately, I didn't get a single decent picture of the meat sauce preparation. To make the sauce, just brown equal parts of hamburger and Italian sausage with some chopped onion, then drain. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, and spices. Simmer the mixture, then set aside while you prepare the cheese mixture and the dough.

To make the cheese mixture, combine an egg, cottage cheese, and grated parmesan.

To create the crust, unroll two tubes of crescent rolls onto a baking sheet. Pinch all of the seams to seal, so that you have one big rectangle.

Spoon half of the meat filling onto the dough in a 6-inch wide strip, leaving 1 inch of space at each short end.

Spread cottage cheese mixture over the first layer of meat.

Top with the remainder of the meat mixture and then shredded mozzarella.

With all of the fillings in place, I took a rubber spatula and pushed up all of the sides of the filling, making a relatively neat rectangle in the center of the dough. It almost looks like a "real" lasagna (sans noodles) after this step, don'tcha think?

Now it's time to wrap up that lasagna! First, fold in the ends.

Then fold the long sides over the filling, overlapping by 1/4". Pinch the seam to seal.

Brush with egg and sprinkle with additional parmesan.

Then bake at 375 degrees for 23 to 27 minutes until golden brown.

Now, slice it up and eat!

Crescent Wrapped Lasagna adapted from Pillsbury. Original recipe found HERE.

Meat Filling

1/2 lb. bulk Italian sausage
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onions
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 - 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Dash pepper
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

Cheese Filling

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup small-curd cottage cheese
1 egg

1 cup shredded mozzarella

Crust

2 cans (8 oz each)refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 egg, beaten
additional parmesan

DIRECTIONS:
In a skillet, cook sausage and beef with onion until thoroughly cooked and no longer pink, stirring frequently; drain. Stir in remaining meat filling ingredients; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated.

Meanwhile, heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix egg, cottage cheese, and 1/3 cup parmesan.

To assemble:

Unroll both cans of dough. Place dough rectangles side by side, on ungreased cookie sheet. Firmly press edges and perforations to seal. Press to form 15x13-inch rectangle.

Spoon half of meat filling in 6-inch wide strip lengthwise down center of dough to within 1 inch of short sides. Spoon cheese filling over meat filling; spoon remaining meat filling evenly over cheese filling. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese slices over filling. Using a spatula, press the sides of the fillings up to form a neat rectangle.

Fold short sides of dough 1 inch over filling. Fold long sides of dough tightly over filling, overlapping edges in center 1/4 inch; firmly pinch center seam and ends to seal. Brush with egg; sprinkle with parmesan.
Bake 23 to 27 minutes or until deep golden brown.

____________________________

And now the meal plan for the remainder of this week:

Tomorrow

Spinach Bacon and Salsa Wraps
Wednesday

Spaghetti and Meatballs in Vodka Sauce

Thursday

Leftovers

Friday

Broccoli Pesto Pizza

Saturday

Mexican Chicken with Jalapeno Popper Sauce

Sunday

Leftovers again or Crock Pot Taco Soup

Okay, so I'm a day late with the meal plan and there's no grocery list (I'm still working on a couple of the recipes), but at least I kept my promise that I'd be back with the meal plan this week. I'm getting back on track! I have a big test on Saturday and then I promise (uh-oh another promise....)that next week the PRINTABLE meal plan and grocery list will be back!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta

Here's a speedy post for a speedy dinner at the end of a busy week.

Ready. Set. GO!

Bacon.

Cheese.(Okay, okay. Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product. Whatever...)

"Burger" (with onion).

Pasta.(I used up the pasta from a couple of near-empty boxes taking up room in my pantry, hence the combination of bowtie and rigatoni seen below.)

Fry up a pound of hamburger with a medium chopped onion. Remove from the skillet and drain. Fry 6 slices of bacon in the same skillet. Remove from the skillet and drain, then crumble. Return the hamburger and bacon to the skillet. Add in the cheese and a can of condensed tomato soup. Stir over medium heat until the cheese melts and all is combined. Thin with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of pasta water (see below).

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving about a cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the "bacon cheeseburger" mixture. Toss to coat.

Top with barbecue sauce, if you like, and a sprinkle of shredded cheddar. I didn't have any, but I also think that this would have been excellent topped with some of those french fried onions that are often found on top of green bean casserole.

Really, this dish is nothing more than glorified Hamburger Helper. I'm aware that it's not the least bit healthy. But it was a speedy dish in the midst of a busy week that used ingredients that I had on hand and everyone liked it. So there.

TGIF!

Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta based on a recipe that I found in Taste of Home: Busy Family Cookbook: 370 Recipes for Weeknight Dinners

Prep time: 20 minutes Serves: 4-6

8 ounces uncooked pasta such as penne, bowtie, or rigatoni
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
6 bacon strips, diced
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
4-8 oz. processed cheese (such as Velveeta)cut into cubes
Barbecue sauce, shredded cheddar, and french fried onions (for topping)

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain, reserving 1 cup cooking water. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and set aside. In the same skillet, cook bacon until crisp; remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels. Discard drippings. Stir in the soup, cheese, beef and bacon; heat through. Add pasta water as needed to thin the mixture into a sauce. Add pasta to the skillet and toss to coat with sauce. Serve with barbecue sauce, shredded cheese, and french fried onions. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!