Menu Plan Monday--March 22nd

I am joining the Organizing Junkie today for Menu Plan Monday. Here's what we're eating this week.

Sunday: Mexican grilled chicken

Monday: Burritos

Tuesday: Sausage pasta bake

Wednesday: Crockpot Curry Chicken

Thursday: Steak

Friday: Fish/pizza

Mexican grilled chicken. My husband found this recipe online and we love it. It's just a great-tasting marinade and then we grill it outside. Check it out here. I eat it like a fajita--tortilla plus chicken plus cheese. My husband makes a burrito with beans, avocado, the works.

Burritos. There are a thousand ways to make burritos, here's my easy way of doing it. Brown and season ground beef--I use pepper, red pepper flakes, cayenne, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder. When my husband makes it (which he usually does) I think he uses paprika and cilantro as well. Use your imagination. Once the beef is cooked through and drained, add in a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (I prefer tomatoes with jalapenos but I can never find that product anymore, darn it, tell me if you know a place that sells it), bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Done. Serve with tortillas, beans, cheese, whatever.

I didn't mean to have two burrito-esque meals in a row, but I can't change the other meals around this week. That's okay, we love southwestern fare.

Sausage pasta bake. This is another one that everyone has their way of doing it. Here's mine. I brown some Italian sausage. Ideally I find hot italian sausage in bulk, but if I have to buy mild or in the casing that's fine too. If it's in a casing I just remove it. I pre-cook my penne pasta by boiling it 8 or 9 minutes rather than the full amount of time recommended on the package. I saute frozen pepper strips. I assemble the ingredients in a corningware dish--penne, sausage, peppers, a jar of marinara sauce, then top with mozzarella. Bake in a 350-degree oven covered with foil for 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake 10 minutes more. Then I usually give it a couple minutes under the broiler. Voila.

Crockpot Curry Chicken. Super easy: put vegetables in the crockpot (I use frozen pepper strips, pre-cut mushrooms, baby carrots, frozen broccoli); add chicken (in our case, that's two boneless skinless breasts); cover with sauce; cook on low till for 8 to 10 hours. For my curry crockpot, we like this stuff. It's a solid, but it becomes a sauce when mixed with 2 and 1/2 cups of warm water. And if I can only find medium rather than hot, I'll add some red Thai curry paste (in our opinion, the medium tastes mild and the hot tastes medium). So veggies + chicken + sauce = dinner. Easy. We serve this with white rice. You can use this "recipe" with any kind of sauce. I use marinara sauce and call it cacciatore.



Steak. This one speaks for itself, my husband will grill them outside, we'll eat it with mashed potatoes and one of these.



Fish/pizza. It's a Friday in Lent so we abstain from meat. My husband will make himself something seafood and I'll have a frozen cheese pizza. Yum.



To see what others are cooking this week, head over here. Thanks for stopping by, happy cooking!