Easy Recipes: Weekly Dinner Plan – Week 7

I’m back to my weekly meal plans! Had to take a few weeks off with company and just being way too busy. Thanks for all your cooking ideas for low cholesterol. You will see a few recipes this week with ground turkey:-)

Here is what’s for dinner this week…

Turkey Burgers

Cream Cheese-and-Pesto-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Salina-Style Spaghettini with Cherry Tomatoes

BBQ Chicken & Cornbread Casserole (Crockpot dinner)

Spicy Dirty Rice & Turkey

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Don’t forget to print the grocery list by clicking here!

It’s organized by meal, so you can pick and choose what recipes you want to make.

MONDAY

Turkey Burgers

This recipe was inspired by Rachel Ray, find her original recipe here. I made some edits based on what my family likes best.

• 1 package ground turkey
• 2 rounded tablespoons horseradish
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 green onions finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon grill seasonings
• olive oil
• Buns, Lettuce & Tomato

1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together meat, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, cheese, onions, and grill seasoning. Form 4 patties and drizzle them with olive oil. Cook the burgers for 5 to 6 minutes each side.
3. Add burgers to buns!

Sides: Oven Baked Fries and corn on the cob

Amy’ Kid Alternative:

Make mini turkey burgers with no onions. Cut the buns with a round cookie cutter to make small buns.

TUESDAY

For some reason, I got busy and never made these from a few weeks ago. I’m looking forward to trying them!

Cream Cheese-and-Pesto-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

• 4 chicken breast halves
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

Filling

• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon pesto
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Combine cream cheese, pesto and pepper in a small bowl with a fork.
3. Cut a horizontal slit along the thin, long edge of a chicken breast half, nearly through to the opposite side. Open up each breast and place one-fourth of the filling in the center. Close the breast over the filling, pressing the edges firmly together to seal. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts and filling.
4. Lightly beat egg white with a fork in a medium bowl. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow glass dish. Hold each chicken breast half together and dip in the egg white, then dredge in the breadcrumbs.
5. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts; cook until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Place the chicken, browned-side up, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake about 20 minutes.

Serve with rice and broccoli.

Recipe by Eating Well

WEDNESDAY

Salina-Style Spaghettini with Cherry Tomatoes

• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 6 dozen (8-10 ounces) small ripe cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 lb dried spaghetti
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
• 1 1/4 freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese. (Parmesan would work too)

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil
2. Put olive oil and tomatoes in a large pan, sprinkle with cayenne. Warm over medium heat until the tomatoes begin to give off some of their juice, shaking the pan every so often.
3. Generously salt the boiling water and add the spaghetti. Cook, stirring often until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Transfer pasta to the pan, add the garlic and toss with the tomatoes.
4. Add 1/3 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss over medium heat until water and oil emulsify. Add more water as necessary, until you have a nice creamy consistency and all the strands of spaghetti are well coated with sauce.
5. Rip mint leaves into small pieces and toss with spaghetti. Add to plates and top with cheese.

Serve with Salad

Recipe from On Top of Spaghetti by Johanne Killeen & George Germon (one of my FAVORITE cook books!)

THURSDAY

BBQ Chicken & Cornbread Casserole (Crockpot dinner)

I always like to do one crockpot meal a week. I found this yummy recipe on Erin’s $5 Dinners site.

• Package of chicken tenderloins
• 1 bag of frozen corn
• 1 small sweet potato
• 2 cups of BBQ sauce
• Water
• 2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix
• 2 eggs
• milk

(All of this costs less than $5)

Directions

1. Spray bottom of crockpot with cooking spray. Dice chicken tenderloins into bite size pieces and place them in the bottom of the crockpot.
2. Peel and dice sweet potato into 1/2 inch cubes. Add to crockpot and mix in with the chicken and corn.
3. Pour bottle of BBQ sauce over the mixture in the crockpot. Add about 1/4 cup of water and stir through.
4. Prepare Jiffy cornbread mix as directed on box and pour over the top of the BBQ chicken mixture.
5. Set to low and cook for 6 hours.
6. Serve BBQ Chicken Cornbread Casserole.

FYI: Erin based her recipe on this one from A Year of Crockpotting. OMG! I love this site! Can’t believe I’d never seen it before.

FRIDAY

Spicy Dirty Rice & Turkey

This is my go to recipe when I have company. It’s a good dish when guys come over to watch sports.

• 1 box Zatarain’s Dirty Brown Rice Mix
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 package ground turkey
• Half of an onion chopped (optional)
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• Tortilla chips
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1. Cook turkey and onions in a large deep skillet or dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add water
2. Add the package of dirty rice, water and tomatoes to the skillet with the turkey. Bring to boil.
3. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender.
4. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.
5. Add to bowl and sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips and cheese.

Weekend is leftovers!

Have a great week & visit my meal plan page for more great dinner ideas! -Amy

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