Weekly Menu -- 3/11 through 3/18

We have a few stars on the menu this week. Wednesday's Loosemeat sandwiches are always big. The recipe below is from Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals. And Thursday's Tortilla Soup is my own original recipe, and it's great, if I do say so myself. I'll even take some over to Fr. Tony (and the staff at St. Matthew's) because he loves it, too.

Today's lunch went over much better than I thought it would. I got this recipe for Pea Soup from Lighthearted Everyday Cooking, which I just bought for my mother-in-law. I jotted a few recipes down before I handed it over. This recipe for Pea Soup was cheap, easy, healthy, and my kids ate it (SURPRISE!). They did use Pringles to dip into it, but they would have eaten those anyway. So I've posted the recipe below if you want to test your crew. I did blend it at the end, so it was creamy and they had no idea what veggies were in it (by the way, I made sure to tell them that these are dried peas--like beans--not green peas like veggies, which helped sell it).

I'm trying some new low-fat dessert recipes this week from a cookbook I got from the library. I'll let you know if they're any good.

Monday
Lunch: Pea Soup
Dinner: Spaghetti and Bolognese sauce, bread, salad, Hermit Cookies


Tuesday
Lunch: Ham sandwiches
Dinner: Dirty Rice, vegetable, cornbread, Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Wednesday
Lunch: Pastini Soup
Dinner: Loosemeat Sandwiches, home fries, fruit, Baked Rice Pudding

Thursday
Lunch: BBQ smokies, raw veggies
Dinner; Tortilla soup, bread, fruit, Sugar Drop Cookies

Friday
Lunch: Bird's nests (egg in toast)
Dinner: Bow-Tie Lasagna, bread, vegetable, Cinnamon Sugar Coffee Cake

Saturday
Lunch: Skyline chili (regular on Saturday)
Dinner: I think we might try this Guiness Stew for St. Patrick's Day
And, of course we'll have my favorite-of-all breads: Soda bread (recipe below), Chocolate Chip cookies

Sunday
Lunch: Waffles and bacon
Dinner: Spaghetti and meatballs, bread and salad, Broiled Coconut Cake

If there are any other recipes you want, leave a comment and I'll e-mail them to you.

Pea Soup
2 cups split peas
10 cups water
¼ lb chopped ham
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse peas. In a large soup pot, combine all ingredients; bring to a boil. Skim off any scum. Simmer 3 hours. If soup is too thin, cook uncovered for a while. If too thick, add a little water. Season to taste. Discard bay leaf.

NOTE: Blend for the kiddies


Loosemeat Sandwiches
1 T vegetable oil
1¼ lb ground chuck
1 cup chicken stock (or bouillon cube dissolved in water)
1 t sweet paprika
1 t Worchestershire sauce
salt and pepper
6 hamburger buns
½ yellow onion, chopped finely

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and meat. Brown meat, breaking up with the back of a spoon. Add chicken stock. Season with paprika, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. When the liquid comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. Cook 15 minutes. Pile meat on buns and top with chopped onions.



Tortilla Soup (I usually double this recipe because it's great left over)
¼ cup chopped onion
⅓ cup diced celery
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 T olive oil
lrg (49 oz.) can chicken broth
2 cups water
2 t chicken soup base
2 carrots, sliced
1 cooked chicken breast, diced
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes & green chilies diced
1 cup frozen corn
¼ cup long grain rice
½ cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
½ t chili powder
salt to taste
¼ cup chopped cilantro
fresh lime
baked tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips (use less salt in soup)

Saute onion, celery and garlic in hot olive oil for several minutes, until tender. Add broth, water, soup base and carrots. Cook for 10 minutes. Add chicken, tomatoes with juice and rice. Cook until carrots are tender . Add corn and beans. Season to taste and simmer for 15 minutes until rice is tender. Ladle into bowls. Top with cilantro, tortilla strips and a squeeze of lime juice.


Irish Soda Bread
4 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 t salt
2 t baking powder
2 t caraway seeds
4 T unsalted butter, cold
2 cups raisins
1½ scant cups buttermilk
1 lrg egg
1 t baking soda
1 lrg egg yolk
1 T heavy cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment, or grease.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and caraway seeds until combined.

Using pastry cutter, cut in butter until mixture feels like coarse meal. Stir in raisins until evenly distributed.

In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg and baking soda until well combined. Pour buttermilk into flour/butter mixture and stir until liquid is absorbed. It should resemble rough biscuit dough. Press dough into a round, dome-shaped loaf about 8 inches in diameter. Place loaf on prepared baking sheet.

In a small bowl, mix egg yolk and cream and brush over top and sides of loaf. Cut a cross into the top with a sharp knife. Bake until loaf is deep golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean, about 60 minutes. Cool on a rack.