One Week of Entrees MADE EASY

Normally I do a post about one recipe, but this one is different.  This is seven days of entrees (and a few easy side dishes) for a family of four.  Of course, because I hardly ever follow "recipes", these are more of guidelines.  If you replace ingredients in these recipes with other favorites, they will still taste great.

Busy Mama Recipes



First, start with your grocery list.  Some of this stuff, of course, you will already have in your fridge and pantry, so don't panic when you see how long it is.  For the entire week, you will need:

Two whole chickens
6 or 7 carrots
celery hearts
4 white onions
4 potatoes
2 lemons and 2 limes
2 large cans of whole, peeled tomatoes (Night 3)
cherry tomatoes
1 bunch of basil
1 bunch cilantro
1 red pepper
1 jalapeno
3 bunch green onions
rice (Night 5)
2 cans vegetable stock (Optional for Night 5, see alternative)
dry spices, salt, pepper
garnishes like sour cream, lemon wedges, salsa, parmesan cheese, and bread

Night #1: Roasted Chicken and veggies

In a large roasting pan, place both chickens, chopped carrots, celery, potatoes and onion (I have also added brussel sprouts and asparagus).  Rub the chicken with a mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon zest.  Roast on 350, half an hour per pound, breast up.  The vegetables will serve as a side dish.

NOTE: Only eat one chicken, and save one.  One 6 pound chicken with a side should serve a family of four (two adults, two kids) for two nights.

Night #3

DO ONE DAY AHEAD: Pull the chicken off of the second chicken and chop.  You will have a great mix of white and dark meat.  Save this meat in the fridge for later.  Place the bones in a large stock pot and simmer to make chicken broth.  You can follow the directions from a previous blog post and simplify it by not adding all of the veggies if you don't have them on hand.

In a separate heavy bottom stock pot, follow the directions here to make tomato soup.  For the purpose of being quick and cheap, only use carrots, celery, onion, garlic, tomato, stock, cream, basil, lemon juice and spices, along with other ingredients you may have on hand.

This should make about 3 quarts of soup.  If you serve it with bread and salad, you will have enough for two days.

NIGHT #5

This is a recipe that I "borrowed succesfully" from my aunt.  Thanks Angie! :-) It is delicious.  I modified mine a little.  I used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, although if I would have had time I would have done home made like she did, I was just out.  I also used a mix of white onion and green onion instead of sweet like she said, because that's what I had in my kitchen, and that's what I was using with the other meals I made this week.  I also added small diced carrots because I had a lot that I needed to get rid of.

With this series of recipes, you will use the chicken meat from the extra chicken you roasted earlier in the week.  You can use the two cans of veggie stock, like I did, or if you are feeling crafty, you can use the bones from the chicken to make chicken stock.  Follow her recipe here, but skip the part where you roast a chicken, since that part will already be done.

http://www.fitforintimacy.com/chicken-rice-soup-with-lime-cilantro/

This recipe should give enough for two nights as well.


NIGHT #6 or #7

Pasta Primavera!

The next recipe is vegetarian (because we always have a meatless day in our house;-))

Saute veggies in some olive or grapeseed oil.  I use carrots, celery, onion, red pepper, and anything you have left from the week.  Add some garlic and lemon zest and juice.  Sometimes I add butter to make it creamier, but it's not a necessity.

Boil noodles according to the package directions, and serve with the veggies and parmesan cheese.

Stewart helped me make "his" pasta.  It can be made into pasta salad, so if you have any of these ingredients, use them!  They would be delicious!

Good luck! :-)