A week's worth of quick, healthful meals for budget-minded families
SUNDAY: Celebrate a family Easter with your roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. Alongside, green beans with sliced mushrooms are perfect. Serve with dinner rolls. For dessert, Easter Egg Coconut Cupcakes (see recipe) are fun!
Plan ahead: Save enough chicken for Monday; save enough cupcakes for Tuesday.
MONDAY: Curried Chicken Potpie (see recipe) using leftover chicken is easy, delicious and inexpensive. Serve it with a deli broccoli salad. Add strawberries for dessert.
TUESDAY: Even if it's a little warmer outside, Corn and Sausage Chowder will hit the spot. In a large pot, combine 1 (20- to 25-ounce) package refrigerated shredded hash-browned potatoes, 1 (14-ounce) can unsalted chicken broth and 2 cups frozen corn. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender; stir occasionally. Slightly mash the potatoes. Stir in 2 cups 1% milk, 1 (14-ounce) package cooked sausage (halved lengthwise and sliced), and a heaping ¼ cup sliced green onions; heat through. Add coarse salt, black pepper and hot pepper sauce to taste. Serve with a spinach salad with mandarin oranges and add whole-grain rolls. Leftover cupcakes are dessert.
Plan ahead: Bake 3 medium potatoes for Wednesday.
WEDNESDAY: Make it quick tonight with turkey burgers on whole-grain buns topped with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and mustard. Serve with Spicy Potato Wedges: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cut baking potatoes into wedges, coat with cooking spray and sprinkle with chile powder. Bake 15 minutes or until heated through. For dessert, sprinkle sliced peaches with nutmeg.
THURSDAY: Kids will like the mild flavor of Skillet Pasta. In a large Dutch oven, cook 1 pound lean ground beef and 1 pound ground turkey breast for 8 minutes or until no longer pink; drain well. Return meat to skillet and add 3 cups water; bring to a boil. Stir in 8 ounces elbow macaroni. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until pasta is tender; stir often and drain. Mix in 3 cups red pasta sauce; sprinkle with 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese and 1 (3- to 4-ounce) can sliced black olives (drained). Sprinkle with 1 more cup mozzarella and ¼ cup parmesan. Cover and cook 4 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve with halved cherry tomatoes and any dip. Add soft rolls. For dessert, Apricot Sundaes are perfect for the kids: Puree canned apricots and pour over vanilla ice cream.
Plan ahead: Cook rice for Friday and Saturday.
Tip: The adults might like crushed red pepper on their entree. We did.
FRIDAY: You'll think the texture is meatlike, but it's the eggplant in Eggplant Parmesan (see recipe) that surprises you. Serve the easy entree with mixed greens with hard-cooked egg slices. Add Italian bread. For dessert, make or buy banana pudding.
Plan ahead: Marinate Saturday's pork tonight.
SATURDAY: Stay in with Orange Sesame Roast Pork Tenderloin. Place 2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins in a resealable plastic bag. In a small bowl, mix together ¼ cup frozen orange juice concentrate, 4 cloves crushed garlic, ½ cup teriyaki sauce, 3 tablespoons sesame oil and ½ teaspoon ground pepper. Pour half of marinade over pork, turn to coat evenly and refrigerate 8 hours; turn occasionally. Cover and reserve remaining marinade for basting. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Remove tenderloins from bag; discard marinade. Place meat in shallow roasting pan; roast 20 minutes or until internal temperature is 145 degrees, basting occasionally with reserved marinade. Remove pork from oven; cover lightly with foil and let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Moo Goo Rice goes well alongside. Add cooked sliced mushrooms and canned sliced water chestnuts (drained) to hot cooked rice; mix well. Serve with steamed snow peas and sourdough bread. Buy a blueberry pie and top it with light whipped cream for dessert.
THE RECIPES
Easter Egg Coconut Cupcakes
12 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs PLUS 1 egg white
½ cup cream of coconut
½ teaspoon coconut extract
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon regular salt
¼ cup milk
1 (16-ounce) container vanilla frosting
1 ½ cups shredded coconut
Green food coloring
45 egg-shaped malted milk candies
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with 15 cupcake liners.
Beat butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, egg white, cream of coconut and extracts and beat until creamy and blended. Add flour, baking powder and salt, and beat until just combined. Add milk and beat until a thick batter forms. Using a ½-cup scoop, divide batter evenly among prepared cupcake liners; bake 25 minutes or until tops are golden and toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely. Frost and decorate with shredded coconut (tinted with green food coloring) and candies. (Recipe adapted from www.swirlsofflavor.com)
Makes 15 cupcakes.
Nutrition information: Each cupcake contains approximately 431 calories, 4 g protein, 21 g fat, 59 g carbohydrate, 51 mg cholesterol, 287 mg sodium and 1 g fiber.
Carbohydrate choices: 4.
Curried Chicken Potpie
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 medium carrots, sliced
2 cups cooked chopped chicken
1 cup unsalted chicken broth
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons curry powder
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1 medium golden delicious apple, peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch pieces
½ cup frozen green peas
½ cup milk
1 refrigerated pie crust
Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Heat canola oil in a large skillet on medium-high. Add onion and carrots and cook 4 minutes or until softened. Add chicken and cook 1 minute.
Whisk together broth, flour, curry powder and salt. Add to skillet and bring to a boil. Stir in apple. Reduce heat to medium and cook 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in peas and milk. Pour into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Lay the pie crust over the top; crimp or flute edges around the rim to seal tightly. Cut several small slits in crust so steam can escape. Place pie plate on cookie sheet and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until top of crust is golden. Slice and serve.
Makes 6 servings.
Nutrition information: Each serving contains approximately 319 calories, 18 g protein, 13 g fat, 33 g carbohydrate, 45 mg cholesterol, 457 mg sodium and 3 g fiber.
Carbohydrate choices: 2.
Eggplant Parmesan
1 medium eggplant, peeled and sliced ½ inch thick (1 to 1 ½ pounds)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons water
Heaping ½ cup Italian-style bread crumbs
¾ cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
3 cups cooked rice
3 cups no-salt-added red pasta sauce
1 ½ cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Place eggplant and garlic in a 9-by-13-inch microwave-safe baking dish; add water. Cover and microwave on 100% power 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; drain well. Combine bread crumbs with 2 tablespoons parmesan. Sprinkle eggplant with bread crumb mixture.
In large bowl, combine rice, pasta sauce and remaining parmesan; spoon mixture evenly over eggplant. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly browned.
Nutrition information: Each serving contains approximately 340 calories, 16 g protein, 11 g fat, 44 g carbohydrate, 24 mg cholesterol, 787 mg sodium and 4 g fiber.
Carbohydrate choices: 3.
Susan Nicholson is an Atlanta-based cookbook author and registered dietitian. She can be reached by email:
susan@7daymenu.com
Food on 04/08/2020