Dinner Magic Menus November Week 1

Here are this week's menus. Remember, substitutions are fine. Create the meals with your family's taste in mind. All the meals serve 4-6 hungry people.

Click here for this week's shopping list.


Pork Paprikash in the Slow Cooker
Mashed Baked Potatoes
Broccoli with Lemon Juice
Crusty White Bread

Serve this up with mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes, a green vegetable, and some bread hot out of the bread machine for a delicious, warm dinner that serves four to six.




Vegetable and Tofu Curry Dinner

This vegetarian fare is a filling dinner in a dish. Add chopped, cooked chicken if you prefer to have meat in the dish.



Baked Chicken Parmigiana
Green Beans
Romaine Salad with Homemade Caesar Dressing

This tasty Italian style dinner will have them asking for seconds!




White Bean Chicken Chili
Warm Corn Bread
Fresh Garden Salad

This simple meal takes only minutes to make and tastes delicious. Leftovers can be frozen in single portion sizes to be reheated for a warm lunch at work.

Roast Chicken in the Crockpot
Baked Butternut Squash
Fresh Whole Wheat Bread
Garden Salad with Craisins and Pecans

With roast chicken this simple, you’ll want to make it again and again. Turning it on HIGH at the end will make the skin crispy and brown.




Taco Soup with Tortilla Chips
Yogurt and Blueberry Dessert

A favorite of my family’s for years, this soup is tasty any time of year.




Carnitas Burritos
Refried Beans
Spanish Rice
Shredded Salad Toppings

The trick to making tender carnitas is to cook is slowly all day.

Shopping List November Week 1

Crock Pot Chili in Sourdough Bread Bowls

This chili cooks all day in the slow cooker to boost the flavor. The secret to this recipe is browning the chili spice before adding it to the recipe. It’s fun to put it in sourdough bowls like they do at the ball park, however, you can always put it in a bowl and serve sourdough rolls on the side. This recipe makes enough chili for four people. It can be easily doubled.

Ingredients:
2 cans of kidney beans, drained
1 lb of ground beef, cooked and drained
1 clove of garlic, chopped, or 1 tsp of crushed garlic from a jar
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
1 can diced and roasted green chili peppers
1 can of Ro-tel tomatoes, hot or mild (If you can’t find Ro-tel, use regular tomatoes, and add one packet of taco seasoning mix)
1 (13 ounce) can of tomato sauce
1 onion, chopped
3 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt (if you use taco seasoning mix, omit the salt)
1/2 cup of leftover black coffee
Sourdough bread rounds.

Preparation:
Pour the chili powder into a hot skillet and heat it until it begins to have a distinct smell. Do not burn the chili, simply let it get a brown tinge to it.
Mix all the ingredients together in the crockpot.
Cook on low for 8 hours.
Cut the sourdough bowls in the center and pull out the top, forming a bowl.
Pour the chili into the sourdough bowls.

Photo: Chili in Sourdough Bowl
Creative Commons License

Baked Stuffed Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes

Tossed Salad with Black Beans

Dinner doesn’t get much easier than baked stuffed potatoes and salad. I’ve listed suggestions for stuffings, but you can use whatever your family enjoys. This also makes a terrific potluck idea. One person provides the potatoes, and everyone else brings a different stuffing.

Ingredients:
One baked potato or baked sweet potato per person
1 can of black beans, drained
½ head of green and red lettuce, chopped
Tomatoes, cut into quarters
Croutons
Italian dressing

Stuffing ideas:
Grated cheeses: mozzarella, asiago, cheddar, American, hot pepper jack
Cooked meats: chopped cooked chicken, ground turkey with seasoning, ground beef, crumbled bacon, cooked Italian sausage
Chili: red chili or white bean chicken chili
Chopped green onions or red onions
Sliced olives
Sour cream
Chopped chili peppers
Beans: red, kidney, navy, black, or pinquito

Preparation:
Cook the potatoes in the oven or the microwave.
While the potatoes cook, chop the lettuce and tomatoes.
Toss with ½ cup of black beans and 2 Tbsp of Italian dressing.
Use the remaining black beans on the potatoes.
Place the stuffing ingredients on the table and let everyone make their own creation.

Photo by Balakov on Flickr

Beef Pot Pie

Tossed Salad with Walnuts and Mandarin Oranges

Pot pies don’t have to be hard to make. Use ingredients that are already prepped to make it quick to prepare.

Ingredients:
1 lb beef stew meat, cut into small pieces
1 jar of beef gravy
1 package of frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup of chopped celery, onion, and carrots, mixed
2 frozen pie crusts
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
Tossed salad ingredients:
½ head of iceberg lettuce, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 can of mandarin oranges, drained
¼ cup of chopped walnuts
Asian style salad dressing

Preparation:
Set the pie crusts on the counter to thaw out.
Wash and dry the beef stew meat and place it in a Ziploc bag.
Add the flour, salt and pepper to the bag.
Toss the meat to coat in flour.
Cook in hot oil until it is well done.
Remove the beef to a separate dish and cook the celery, onion, and carrots in the oil until tender.
Remove the vegetables and drain the oil from the pan.
Mix the beef, celery, onion, carrots, mixed vegetables, and gravy in the pan and warm through.
Pour the mixture into the bottom pie crust.
Remove the top pie crust from the pan and lay over the top of the other crust.
Crimp the edges together with finger and thumb.
Cut slats into the top crust.
Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
While the pot pie bakes, toss the salad ingredients together with ¼ cup of salad dressing.

Photo: Joshua M. Neff