Weekly Menu 7/31-8/6

Here is our weekly menu. I'm going to make myself get back into menu planning, and posting it here weekly as a way to keep track of plans and recipes. When I try out new recipes I'll blog them after I make them. As I type this out I realize that we have dinner plans with friends next Saturday, so I'll probably just push Saturday's meal to next Sunday.

Sunday- burgers on the grill, cucumber tomato salad, corn on the cob and leftover broccoli au gratin rice

Monday- baked ziti w/ homemade marniara and garlic bread

Tuesday- chicken stir fry, rice

Wednesday- shredded beef tacos with creamy jalapeno ranch, spanish rice, corn

Thursday- soy glazed chicken, rice pilaf, steamed asparagus

Friday- chicken spaghetti, steamed sweet carrots

Saturday- homemade mac and cheese, broccoli

Apricot Dijon Pork Chops

These were fantastic! I found this recipe at Budget Bytes and just happened to have some thin sliced pork chops in the freezer. The original recipe calls for bone in pork chops, but I prefer boneless. I also doubled the sauce from the original recipe. There was extra sauce, but when I packed up the leftovers I was glad to have something to warm the chops up in so they didn't dry out. You can definitely taste the vinegar in the recipe, but it's not overpowering. However, if you don't care for a vinegar taste, you could easily halve the vinegar and leave the rest of the recipe the same. Overall, this was a great recipe and super easy to make.

8 boneless, thin cut pork chops
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together the apricot preserves, dijon mustard, vinegar and garlic powder. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Pat pork chops with paper towel to try and season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until browned, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and set aside, covering with foil to keep warm.

Reduce heat to medium low and add apricot mixture to skillet. Whisk for 2-3 minutes, scraping bottom of the pan to get the pork drippings incorporated into sauce. Add chops back into sauce and simmer on low for 1-2 minutes, until they're covered in sauce.



Adapted from Budget Bytes.

Italian Sausage and Vegetable Pasta

I hate squash. I also hate zucchini. But I LOVE this meal. This is actually probably a favorite of everyone that lives here. It's easy, delicious, relatively healthy-ish and is packed with veggies. Normally I'm a sauce with a side of pasta kind of girl, the more sauce, the better. But when I make this dish we end up eating mostly veggies and sausage, a little sauce and some pasta. I usually grill the sausages, I don't really care for them prepared any other way.

4 Italian sausages, cooked
1 lb cooked pasta of your choice
1 jar pasta sauce (homemade or store bought)
1 medium squash, sliced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
Olive oil (for cooking)

Sautee onion, squash and zucchini in olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper. Layer pasta, sauce, veggies and sliced sausage in bowls and serve.

I've also made this with chunks of sauteed red and green peppers and onion. And I've also subsituted pasta sauce with a large can of diced tomatoes, warmed through and seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano and garlic.