Menu Plan Monday

• Sunday: Pasta w/Cream Cheese Basil Sauce & Chicken
• Monday: Beef & Potato Tacos
• Tuesday: Sub sandwiches
• Wednesday: Creamy Pork Chop Bake
• Thursday: Pancakes & Bacon
• Friday: Grilled Cheese / Hot Dogs / FFY (Fend for yourself)

Foil Packet - Meat & Potatoes

1lb ground beef (or whatever meat you'd like)
2 large baking potatoes, thinly sliced
1 large onion
2 carrots, sliced
Salt & Pepper
4 large pieces heavy duty foil

Preheat oven to 350. Slice onion into 1/2 inch rounds. Make patties out of ground beef. Lay onion on foil, place ground beef patty on top of onion, place potatoes and carrots around the patty, sprinkle with salt/pepper/favorite seasoning. Fold both sides of foil up to the top and crinkle down. Roll the opposite sides up to finish off packet. Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Review: My grandmother use to make these for us all the time. You can subsitute the meat with chicken, pork, stew meat, etc. You can add also add additional veggies. I love making these b/c the clean up is essentially NONE! Cheap and tasty! :)

Foil Packet - Salsa Chicken

4 chicken breasts (or equivalent, I used chicken tenders)
4 tsp Taco Seasoning Mix
3/4 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup Chunky Salsa
1/4 cup Sour Cream
4 sheets of foil


Heat oven to 400°F. Place a chicken breast in the center of each sheet. Sprinkle chicken with seasoning mix. Top with salsa and cheese. Fold foil into packets, leaving room for heat circulation inside (i.e. not too tight!). Place packets in glass 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 min. or until chicken is done. (Chicken tenders will be cooked in about 25 minutes!) Cool 5 min. Cut slits in foil to release steam before opening. Top with sour cream.

Baked French Toast

1 stick of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 cups milk
6 eggs
15 slices of bread

Directions:

melt 1 stick of butter then add in 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 t. cinnamon and stir together.

pour into a 9x13 pan covering the bottom. then layer slices of bread on the sugar mixture with the crusts removed. i used 15 pieces of bread. fill in the holes with smaller pieces. n a mixing bowl whisk together 2 cups of milk and 6 eggs. pour over the bread.

put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. when it looks baked and golden, pull it out and drizzle syrup over the top. put it back in the oven under the broiler until brown and bubbly.

Source: Whatever

Review: Very good and very easy to make. The boys thought it looked strange as it came out of the oven, but they liked it. I didn't make any changes to the original recipe, and not sure that there is anything I would change. Definitely a keeper!

Country Chicken Casserole

3 cups shredded hash brown potatoes
1 (6 ounce) can French-fried onions, divided
6 slices processed American cheese
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite size pieces
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup (I use 2 cans)
3/4 cup milk
1 (15 ounce) can corn (I omit the corn)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stir hash browns and 1/2 of the onions together in a 9x13 inch baking dish, then lay cheese slices on top and layer chicken over cheese. In a small bowl, mix soup and milk together and pour mixture over chicken.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Pour corn onto chicken and stir to combine all ingredients, then bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Sprinkle remaining onions over all and bake for another 5 minutes, or until onions are golden brown. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Serving size: 6

Source: AllRecipes.com

Creamy Pork Chop Bake

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 pork chops
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 (20 ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups French-fried onions, divided

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add pork chops and saute until browned. Remove from skillet and drain on paper toweling. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl mix together soup, milk, sour cream and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in potatoes, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 cup onions. Mix together and spread mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange pork chops over potato mixture.

Cover dish and bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes, or until internal temperature of pork has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Remove cover; top with remaining cheese and onions and bake uncovered for 5 more minutes.

Source: AllRecipes.com

Review: It was good, but rather bland. I topped it with more than 1/2 cup onions and more cheese, but it was still rather bland. I substituted chopped up boneless pork ribs for the pork chops b/c that is what I had on hand. Next time, I'd probably use a can of cream of chicken instead of the cream of celery and perhaps some additional seasoning as the salt and pepper didn't cut it. I had a ton of leftovers and will halve the recipe the next time I make it. One last note, you could easily sub chopped up chicken for the pork.

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

2 cups rotini pasta
1 (12 ounce) can chicken chunks, drained
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups marinara sauce
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F

Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the rotini, and return to a boil. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.

Stir together the rotini, chicken, and mozzarella cheese in a large casserole dish. Pour the marinara sauce over the pasta mixture; sprinkle with bread crumbs. Cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is entirely melted, about 35 minutes.

Source: AllRecipes.com

Review: This recipe was very easy, yummy, and somewhat healthier than actual parmesan chicken.