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• Check NOTES under each meal for ahead-of-time preps.
• By clicking on “older posts” at the bottom of this page, you can look back at previous week’s recipes.
• If you are looking for a particular recipe, use the search box at the right-hand-side then scroll to the top of the page to see search results.
• Add desired sides as necessary to meals this week.
RECIPE 1: Grilled Pork Chops with Tomatillo, Corn & Avocado Salsa
From Cooking Light
NOTES:
• Make salsa ahead of time or at least 1 hour before cooking pork chops so it has time to chill (put in freezer to chill quicker).
INGREDIENTS
SALSA:
• ¾ lb tomatillos (green tomatoes with a thin shell/skin)
• 1 ear shucked corn
• ¼ c. finely chopped red onion
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp minced seeded jalapeño pepper
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ c. diced peeled avocado
PORK:
• 4 (6-ounce) bone-in loin pork chops (about 1 inch thick)
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare grill.
2. To prepare salsa, discard husks and stems from tomatillos. Place tomatillos and corn on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 10 minutes or until browned, turning tomatillos and corn occasionally. Place tomatillos in a food processor; process until smooth. Cut kernels from ear of corn. Combine tomatillo puree, corn, onion, and next 6 ingredients (through garlic) in a medium bowl; gently stir in avocado just before serving.
3. To prepare pork, sprinkle pork with 1 teaspoon black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes on each side or until done. Serve pork with salsa.
RECIPE 2: Pizza on the Grill
NOTES: 
• I hate heating my oven to 500 degrees to make pizza when it’s hot outside so I do it on the grill instead. It makes a soft dough with a nice crunch on the bottom.
• Make your own pizza dough (it’s surprisingly easy, especially if you have a good mixer with a dough hook!). See my entry from April 6 for a recipe.
• Make your own pizza sauce (see my entry from May 7 (Week 17)).
INGREDIENTS
• Homemade pizza dough (see note above) or your favorite frozen or refrigerated kind
• Homemade pizza sauce (see note above) or your favorite store-bought brand
• Small amount of cornmeal
• Toppings & cheese of choice for pizza. Some ideas: sautéed spinach with garlic and feta; sautéed Vidalia onions & sweet sausage; spicy breakfast sausage with roasted bell peppers; caramelized onions (slice and sauté in a tbsp or two of butter over low heat until softened & caramelized, stirring continuously) with gruyere cheese and mushrooms.
DIRECTIONS
1. On a floured surface, divide dough (about 1 lb of dough) into 4 equal pieces; shape each into a ball. Roll out each ball into a 5- to 6-inch-wide round. Brush tops lightly with olive oil.. Place each round, oiled side down, on baking sheets. With your hands, flatten rounds to 1/8 inch thick and 7 to 8 inches wide. Lightly brush top side with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Let stand, covered loosely with a clean kitchen towel about 25 minutes.
2.Turn on grill to medium heat and cover (350-400 degrees). Using a large spatula, slide pizza rounds (cornmeal side stays up) onto grill. Cook until pizza crusts are golden brown on bottom, about 2 minutes.
3. With a wide spatula, transfer crusts to baking sheets, browned sides up. Cover crusts with topping choice and slide from baking sheet back onto grill. Shut grill lid and cook until topping is hot and pizza bottoms are crisp and brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill.
RECIPE 3: Grilled Asian Chicken with Ginger Rice
Chicken recipe from allrecipes.com
NOTES:
• You will use the extra rice for the next day’s meal (fried rice). Grill more chicken than what the recipe calls for if you want to make chicken fried rice (vs. vegetarian). If there are more than 3 “big” eaters in your family, double the rice recipe to be sure you have enough for the following night’s recipe.
• If using wood or bamboo skewers, it’s good to soak them in water for 1 hour before sliding veggies on them. This prevents them from burning on the grill (and charring your veggies to the skewer).
INGREDIENTS
Chicken:
• ¼ c. soy sauce
• 4 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 3 slices fresh ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• Veggie(s) of choice (do a mixture of veggies like mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, onions on kabobs – see Recipe 3 from Week 20 for instructions).
Rice:
• 1 large chunk of fresh ginger (about 3 inches long)
• 2 ¾ c. chicken broth
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 ½ c. rice (try basmati or jasmine rice for this recipe! Long-grain white will also work fine. Brown is ok too although you’ll have to cook it longer).
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt & pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. In a small saucepan, combine the soy sauce, oil, honey, ginger root, and garlic. Heat until hot & just starting to bubble.
2. Place chicken breasts in a shallow baking dish. Pour soy sauce mixture over, and set aside to marinate in fridge for at least 15 minutes or all day if desired.
3. Meanwhile, prepare rice. Cut ginger chunk in half lengthwise and again lengthwise if it’s very thick. Place the ginger slices on a cutting board and place the flat side of a large knife over each ginger piece, giving each slice a rap with your fist or heel of your hand to break down the fibers and release the juice. Combine ginger with all other ingredients (except rice). Bring to a boil then stir in rice and return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer about 20 minutes (or according to the instructions on the rice that you’re making). Let stand off heat for 5 minutes then uncover and fluff with a fork.
4. Preheat a grill for medium-high heat. Drain marinade from chicken into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Set aside for basting.
5. Lightly oil the grill grate. Cook chicken on the prepared grill 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until juices run clear. Baste frequently with remaining marinade. Chicken will turn a beautiful golden brown.
6. Serve with rice and veggie(s).
RECIPE 4: Fried Rice with Scallions, Peas, and Fresh Corn
NOTES:
• Use leftover rice from Recipe (3).
INGREDIENTS
• Leftover ginger rice from Recipe (3)
• Leftover chicken from Recipe (3) (if there was any leftover), chopped into bite-size pieces
• 1 ear of fresh corn, boiled 10 minutes, cooled, and cut from cob
• 1 c. green peas, cooked
• 1 small bunch green onions/scallions, chopped
• 3-4 eggs, lightly beaten
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat. Add leftover ginger rice and cook, stirring once in awhile until rice is heated and golden. Push rice to the side of the pan and add a little oil (or use cooking spray) to the middle. Pour in beaten eggs. Let sit 30 seconds to a minute then stir with a rubber spatula (keeping rice still on the sides). Stir again and mix into rice when eggs are soft-set.
2. Add cooked corn and peas and mix into rice/eggs. Season with salt and pepper and stir in chopped scallions.
RECIPE 5: Spinach, Leek, Bacon and Potato Quiche
INGREDIENTS
• 1 frozen pie crust or make your own
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (save a little oil for frying potatoes)
• 4-5 small red potatoes, diced and cooked in boiling water about 8-10 minutes or until tender, drain and pat dry with a paper towel.
• 1 large leek, thinly sliced
• 2-3 c. spinach, chopped
• 1 ½ c. swiss or provolone cheese, shredded
• 3 eggs
• 1 c. evaporated milk
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat about 1 tbsp oil (use leftover bacon grease if desired) in a saucepan and add cooked, diced potatoes. Let cook about 5 minutes or until beginning to brown on bottom then stir and cook 3 minutes more. Remove from heat.
2. In the same sauce pan, sauté leeks in a little oil until softened. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add potatoes to leeks and spinach and set aside.
3. For a homemade crust: preheat oven to 425 and place a double-layer of foil over crust (before filling). Bake at 425 for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 4-5 minutes or until crust is dry. Reduce oven to 350 degrees and remove pie crust. If using a frozen crust, follow directions for the pre-baked pie crust on package. This helps to maintain a crispy and not soggy crust on the quiche.
4. While pie crust is pre-baking, Beat eggs, evaporated milk, salt and pepper together in a large bowl.
5. In the hot pie crust place ingredients in this order: crumbled bacon, 1 c. shredded cheese, leek/potato/spinach mixture, egg mixture, then top with remaining cheese.
6. Bake (place over a cookie sheet if you’re worried it might overflow) at 350 for about 30 minutes or until browned on top and set in the middle (test with a toothpick).
SHOPPING LIST:
NOTES:
• I have organized the shopping list by category and then within each category by meal. After each item you’ll see a number in parenthesis which corresponds to the meal number. That way you can easily pick which recipes you want to try and then find those items (or cross items out) on the list.
• Under Veggies/Fruit I have italicized anything that is a veggie or fruit but NOT found in the fresh fruits and veggie area of the supermarket.
• For sides: Add as necessary this week
Meat/Fish
• 4 bone-in pork chops (about 1-inch thick) (1)
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (3)
• 4 slices bacon (5)
Veggies/Fruit
• Garlic – 1 cloves (1), 4 cloves (3)
• Corn on the cob – 1 ear (1), 1 ear (4)
• Onion – 1 red onion (1),
• Cilantro – 3 tbsp chopped (1), ½ c. chopped (4.5)
• Tomatillos – ¾ lb (green tomatoes with a thin shell/skin) (1)
• Lime – 1 (1)
• Jalapeno – 1 (1)
• Avocado – 1 (1)
• Toppings of choice for pizza (see Recipe (2) for ideas or go with your old favorites) (2)
• Ingredients for homemade pizza sauce – canned tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic (see May 7, Week 17) or your favorite store-bought brand (2)
• Fresh ginger (one 4-inch long chunk) (3)
• Veggies for kabobs (optional) (see Recipe (3) ingredients for ideas) (3)
• 1 c. frozen peas (4)
• Green onions/scallions – 1 small bunch (4)
• Fresh spinach – 2-3 c. chopped (5)
• 1 large leek (5)
• Potatoes – 4-5 small red (5)
Breads & starches
• Homemade pizza dough (see April 6 entry) or your favorite refrigerated or frozen kind
• 1 ½ c. rice (try basmati or jasmine although white or brown will also work) (3), (4)
• 1 frozen pie crust or make your own (5)
Spices/Sauces/Vinegars/Oils/Condiments
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Honey – 2 tbsp (3)
• Sesame oil – 4 tsp (3)
• Soy sauce – 2 tbsp (3)
Dairy
• Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, for pizza (1)
• 1 ½ c. swiss or provolone cheese, shredded or thinly sliced (5)
Other
• Olive oil
• Small amount of cornmeal (1)
• Store-bought pizza sauce (if not making your own) (2)
• Chicken broth – 2 ¾ c. (3)
• Eggs – 3-4 (4), 3 (5)
• Evaporated milk (in a can) – 1 c. (5)
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