Menu Plan - 1/18 through 1/23

Monday night is lasagna night at our house. I use Pioneer Woman's recipe, but change it up a bit to better suit our family's taste. Click here for PW's recipe and here for my version. Serve it up with a green salad and a loaf of crusty French bread and your famly will feel more loved than ever. Promise...

Tuesday night we'll have Chicken Fried Steak Fingers, Mashed Potatoes and Green Giant Valley Steamers veggies (that I picked up for just $0.38/bag at Albertsons this weekend).

Chicken Fried Steak Fingers
2 lbs. or approximately 5 medium size cube steaks
3 eggs, beaten
1 tbs milk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 to 1 1/2 cups cooking oil
salt, pepper, season salt and/or various seasonings of your choice to taste

Heat oil in deep fryer or deep, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. (We just purchased a Fry Daddy for $17 and love it.)
Cut steaks into 1/2" wide strips.
Mix eggs and milk until combined.
Mix flour and seasonings together in a shallow dish.
Dip steak strips into egg mixture, dredge in flour mixture, re-dip into egg mixture and dredge in flour mixture again.
Place steak fingers in skillet or deep fryer, 4-5 at a time and cook for 3-5 minutes (in deep fryer) or 4-6 minutes per side (in skillet).
Drain on paper towels.
Serve with brown or cream gravy, if desired.
Serves 5

Wednesday, we'll be having Crunchy Chicken Bundles, Steamed Broccoli and leftover Mashed Potatoes.

Crunchy Chicken Bundles
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped
1 tbs chopped chives
2 tbs milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 (8 oz.) pkgs crescent rolls
1/4 c butter, melted
1/2 c herb seasoned stuffing crumbs

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix cream cheese, chicken, chives, milk and salt in a medium bowl. (Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty!)
Unroll crescent rolls. Pinch together at the seams so that you have 4 rectangles from each can, instead of 8 triangles.
Place about 1/4 c chicken mixture onto center of each rectangle of dough. Fold dough over filling and pinch edges to seal tightly.
Dip each roll in margarine and roll in stuffing crumbs. Place on baking sheet and bake 20 minutes.
Serves 5

Thursday, we'll be having our favorite Sloppy Joes with some baked french fries and cinnamon apples. Sloppy Joes are nearly a weekly staple in our house and my sauce is SO much better than the stuff that comes out of the can. And, it's so easy. You'll love it...

Sloppy Joes
2.25 lbs. lean ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1 cup ketchup
6 TBS grape jelly
2 TBS yellow mustard
2 TBS apple cider vinegar
2 TBS light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Brown ground beef and drain. Add remaining ingredients and stir over low heat until jelly is melted. Serve on buns or bread of your choice. We like our joes with cheese! Enjoy...

Friday is pizza night and thanks to our Entertainment Book, it will be a very cheap dinner for our family of 5 and my husband will have pizza to take to work with him for lunch on Saturday. The Entertainment Book is specialized to our area and has many buy one get one free pizza coupons and so much more. I've only had my book for a couple weeks and, already, it has more than paid for itself. Click on the ad below if you want to check it out or order one for yourself or for a gift for someone else!



Saturday, we'll be having Southwestern Chicken from one of my favorite cookbooks, Desperation Dinners.

If you're new to cooking or just a busy mom, like me, this is a great starter cookbook. The meals are quick, easy and really very good. Amazon has them in stock for as low as $5.44. Click here to take a look inside and to order.

Southwestern Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 large green pepper, cut into strips
1/2 large red pepper, cut into strips
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp minced garlic (use bottled, minced garlic for a short cut or mince fresh)
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup bottled salsa
2/3 cup chicken broth
1 (15 oz.) can black beans
1 cup instant rice
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar, Monterey Jack or Mexican blend cheese

Heat oil over medium-high heat in nonstick skillet that has a lid. Slice the chicken into 1/2" strips and add to skillet.
Add peppers.
Stir chili powder and cumin into the chicken and peppers and stir and cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes with their juice, salsa, and chicken broth. Cover skillet and bring mixture to a boil.
When liquid boils, add rice and stir well. Cover the skillet, reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, rinse and drain the beans.
When the rice has absorbed the broth, remove the skillet from the heat, stir in the beans and sprinkle evenly with the cheese.
Cover and let sit until cheese is melted.