Menu Plan Mondays

One of my New Year's resolutions is to be better at planning out my weekly meals. The cooking isn't the hard part - it's the thinking it up! Since Chris is at school three nights a week (he'll be done with his MBA in March), I haven't been cooking a whole lot at night. As a result, we don't have good leftovers for lunches the next day, which is a bummer. We're getting reaaaaally sick of canned soup and hot pockets for lunch.

So here we go. I'm going to start by planning 3 homecooked meals per week, and we'll see how that works out. Probably Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That way we leave time to eat the leftovers in between. Here's my plan for this week.

Monday:

Shredded Chicken Tacos

I've got some shredded chicken mix in the freezer from the last time I made it in the crockpot. I'll pull this out to thaw and then heat up the night of. I'm going to make some homemade crockpot blackbeans, rice (in the rice cooker), cafe rio tomatillo dressing, and then top it off with some lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa.

Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

3 fresh tomatillos, cut into quarters

1 package Ranch Buttermilk Dressing mix

1 cup Mayo

1/3 to 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup fresh cilantro

2 cloves crushed garlic

1/4 teaspoon crushed cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender and refrigerate one hour.

Crockpot Blackbeans ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

1 lb dry blackbeans

1 1/2 qts chicken stock*

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

1 clove garlic

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 oz red wine vinegar

Put dry blackbeans in a pot and cover with water until one inch above level of beans. Let soak overnight. The next morning, rinse blackbeans and combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low 4-6 hours.

*This amount is approximate. Use enough chicken stock so liquid level is just above beans/ingredients level to avoid burning.

Wednesday:

Easy Instant Baked Potato Soup ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

1 can Carnation Evaporated milk

1 can Butterball chicken broth

1 pouch Hungry Jack instant potato flakes

1 1/4 cup chives

cooked bacon

cheese

sour cream

(I think I might add an onion to this recipe)

Crumble cooked bacon in a pot. Add chives and cook over medium heat until chives are limp. Add one can chicken broth and one can water. Stir in one packet instant potato flakes. Once combined, remove from heat. Stir in condensed milk. Return to heat and heat until warmed through. Top with cheese and sour cream.

Friday:

Crockpot Stuffed Cabbage ♦

1 roll Jimmy Dean spicy hot sausage (I'm going to use regular sausage)

1 cup cooked rice (kept over from Monday)

1 head cabbage

1 can diced tomatoes

Mix sausage and rice into a ball until well-blended. Wash cabbage leaves and dip into boiling water for ~5 minutes until pliable. Place ~2 Tbsp of mixture into each cabbage leaf and roll into an envelope. Line cabbage leaves in crockpot and dump diced tomatoes on top. Cook on low for 8 hours, and serve with a baguette.