Food For a Month

I have been a planner my entire life.  I can remember in middle school how excited I was to get the “agenda” they passed out at the beginning of every year.  It was the OCD planner’s dream… where I wrote everything I did everyday, took notes of funny things I wanted to remember, and kept track of all the homework scheduled and done.  There is just something glorious about checking off a list.  Isn’t there?

Anyway… I have been thinking about trying to plan a menu for an entire month since we got married back in 2005.  For some reason it always seemed like an impossible task to me.  Nate and I would usually spend every Friday in Wal-Mart buying some kind of food.

It was just as great as I thought it would be to have everything planned out and to not step foot in Wal-Mart for a while.  Don’t get me wrong, I love “WM” and have started putting that in my check book register instead of spelling it out, just because we go there so much.  It is, in fact, the one stop shop for everything.  It was just great to not be running there every day.

We did our massive shopping trip on January 12 and didn’t go back for food until around February 24.  It was great!  The crock pot became my really good friend and Nate enjoyed all the home cooked meals.

Here are some of our favorite recipes we enjoyed:

Cheesy Chicken-N-Rice

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 8 oz. box Zataran’s Yellow Rice Mix, cooked according to directions
• 1-2 cups cheddar cheese
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can whole kernal corn, drained

Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker.  Scatter chopped onions over top.  Spoon cream of chicken soup over top of that.  Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours, or on high 3-4 hours.  A few minutes before serving, add in cooked rice, corn, and cheese.  Stir to combine.  Serve hot.

 

Chicken Salad

• 1 lb cooked chicken breasts, cut into cubes or shredded
• 1 cup mayo
• 1 cup halved purple grapes
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 tsp finely chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup whipped cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Ranch Pork Chops

• 6 pork chops
• 1 pkt. dry ranch mix
• 1 can cream of chicken soup

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.  Serve over rice.

 

Applesauce Pork Chops

• 6-8 pork chops
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 16 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup vinegar

Salt and pepper chops and place in bottom of crock pot.  Pour the rest of the ingredients on top.  Cook on high for 6-8 hours.  Serve over rice or on hamburger bun with bar-b-q sauce.

 

Pork Chops and Corn Stuffing

• 1 tbsp. oil
• 6 boneless pork chops
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried pork seasoning
• 4 cups cornbread stuffing mix
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 can whole kernal corn with red and green peppers, drained
• 1 egg beaten

1.  Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat, brown pork chops on both sides.  Drain.  Sprinkle with pork seasoning.

2.  Combine all remaining ingredients, mix well.

3.  Spray insided of crock pot with nonstick cooking spray.  Spoon stuffing mixture in the bottom.  Arrange pork chops in 2 layers over stuffing.

4.  Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours or until pork is no longer pink in the center.

(a mix of 1/4 tsp each of seasoned salt, garlic powder, thyme leaves and black pepper can be used if pork seasoning is not available)