Sample Menus For My Family

Thank you Melinda for visiting my blog and requesting sample menus that my family uses.

Sometimes, my husband calls me at work about 3:00 P.M. and says, "Do I need to bring anything home from the grocery store?", and that's when the decision of what we are having for supper is made! When I am really organized I have my meals planned ahead based on what's on sale and what we have on hand.

These are some of the meals we had this weekend:

Saturday: Homemade Chili with corn muffins.

The corn muffins are made with Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix which are 3 for $1.00 at Dollar General. All you add is one egg and 1/3 cup of milk. I bake mine in an 8 X 8 pan. Here's how I made my chili yesterday.

Chili

1 lb of hamburger
1 small green pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 or 4 cans of your favorite types of beans.(Navy, pork n beans, kidney beans, etc.)
(Mix or match the beans)
1 can of tomatoes with mild green chiles
1 can of petite diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
About 1 cup of water
2 T chili powder

Brown the meat and chopped veggies together and drain. Throw it and everything else into a crock pot and cook until bubbly hot.

I have bell peppers coming from the garden, but if I didn't have one on hand, I'd just leave that out.

I also made a big pot of spagetti. My son doesn't like chili beans, so he ate spagetti and has 2 bowls in the fridge for later.

Sunday: Chicken Pot Pie, noodles, apple fritters

My sister gave me the chicken pot pie recipe and it is very easy and very delicious. If you boil your chicken ahead, it's quick to put together too. I boiled some noodles in the chicken broth I used for the chicken pot pie. There are plenty of veggies in the chicken pot pie and also bread in the crust.

Here's the recipe:

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

4-5 chicken breast boiled. (Iuse what ever chicken I have or what's on sale. It all works well in the recipe as well as leftover turkey.)
1 can drained mixed vegetables
1 can drained English peas (we call them garden peas here in the South)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth (use the broth the chicken was boiled in or make it using bullion cubes)


1 stick margarine
1 cup of Milk (skim or whatever you have)
1 cup self rising flour
1 T baking powder (must use along with self rising flour)

Using a 9X13 dish, debone chicken, tear into pieces and line bottom of dish with chicken pieces. Mix the next 5 ingredients (veggies, peas, soups and broth) and pour over chicken. Next in a medium bowl melt margarine and mix with flour, baking powder and milk. Beat with a wisk or spoon (It will be thin and a little lumpy). Pour evenly over the top and bake at 350 for about 1 hour or until browned on top. In my oven it was ready at about 40 minutes.

These are some of the main dishes we might have on week nights: tacos, lasagna, vegetable soup, pork chops, Mexican Chicken, Chicken and Broccoli Casserole, banana sandwhiches, Hamburger Stroganoff, fried chicken tenders, bbq chicken, hamburgers, pizza and hotdogs.

Weekend meals might include Crock Pot Roast, White Bean Soup, Stew Beef, clam chowder and other meals that might take too long to cook on a week night.

Side dishes are usually macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, string beans cooked with potatoes, corn, broccoli and cheese, baked potatoes, veg-all casserole, sweet potato casserole, butter beans, or peas.

This week I have hamburger and chicken in the freezer and some leftovers in the fridge, so we have a pretty good start!!!