Menu Plan Monday

Another hectic week, though with good news this time... hub got a promotion at work, which means his hours will change, which will allow me to head back to work a few nights a week!! I love when we can work opposite each others schedules and there's no need to pay a babysitter to watch the kids, because at the amount that babysitters and daycares want nowadays, whats the point of even going to work? Recipes are below!!

Monday: Pasta with Meat Sauce (carryover from last week)

Tuesday: Sweet & Sour Chicken with Rice


Wednesday: Homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli


Thursday: Pesto Stuffed Steaks


Friday: Hot Dogs


Saturday: Halloween- Pizza at my grandparents & trick or treat!


Sunday: Chili Mole


Once again, breakfasts are usually cold cereal, oatmeal and sometimes Boug just wants toast and a banana! Lunches usually are leftovers or sandwiches paired with yogurt or fruit generally. My meals are usually a bit heavier in meats and chickens as hub is a butcher and brings so much home for free or next to nothing!! Check out more Menu Plan Monday entries at orgjunkie!!

Recipes:::


Pasta with Meat Sauce:
To be honest I will throw whatever cut of beef that I have in the freezer in the crockpot with a jar of sauce, I let it go about 6-7 hours and by the time I prepare dinner, the beef is all shredded and I just put it on top of some pasta!

Sweet & Sour Chicken (from My Kitchen Cafe)
Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

Butternut Squash Ravioli: (I think I got this from a magazine??)
Filling:
2 c. mashed butternut squash
1 tbsp. milk
1/2 c. parmesean cheese
pinch of nutmeg

Pasta:
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs

Cook your squash and allow it to cool. I usually do mine at 400 degrees (cut in half, face down) for about 20-25 minutes. I let it sit to cool and scoop out the squash with a melon baller. When cooled, mash your squash together with the milk, nutmeg and parmesean cheese.

For the pasta, make a flour mountain and make a well in the center, beat together the salt and the eggs and pour into the well in the flour. Mix together little by little with a fork until all together, then knead with your hands to make a ball. Half the ball and let the pasta dough rest for about a half hour or so. Roll out each half thinly and cut your circles.

Put about a spoonful of filling on each circle, depending on size, and wet the edge of the circle with some water, place another circle on top and crimp the edges with a fork. Boil all ravioli for about 15-20 minutes to desired tenderness!

I serve this with a thyme butter sauce, simply melting about a half a stick of butter with some thyme in a small saucepan and simmering until fragrant.

Pesto Stuffed Steaks:
This one you'll have to do to family size, we use 3 decent sized steaks and just butterfly them and jam the insides with pesto and grill!
Recipe calls for ribeyes, good steaks, but you can definitely use your preference, we like ribeyes, but we'll be using shell's for this.

Chili Mole: (From Betty Crocker)
1 lb. ground beef
1 chopped onion
1 pk. chili seasoning mix
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can spicy chili beans, undrained (I'll use red kidneys)
1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, coarse chopped

Brown beef with onion in a skillet and drain. Mix beef, onion and remaining ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.