Menu Plan Monday

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I've made a week's worth of menus. All the company followed by the flu, kind of threw off my groove. I really missed having a plan, too! Not to mention that we'd eaten practically everything in the house during those couple of weeks. So this weekend I sat down and wrote out a fresh week of menus and went grocery shopping. It was a good day!

Before I get to this week's menu plans though, I've got to share a yummy recipe with you that I made us for dinner Saturday night. If any of you have ever been to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO, you may have had this. They whip it up in those larger-than-life iron skillets. It's pretty amazing! One day a while back I got to craving it and tried to find the recipe online. I didn't find the actual recipe, but I did find the cookbook that has it--so I ordered it, of course. It's called Taste of the Midwest (by Midwest Living). It's a really fun cookbook! The editor of the magazine travels through 12 midwest states and makes you absolutely drool reading about his culinary adventures. There are some great recipes and also awesome travel ideas for those states. So here's that recipe that I was talking about.....

Ozark Mountain Succotash

12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup yellow cornmeal

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 Tbls. milk

2 cups whole okra, cut into 1/2" pieces

1/3 cup cooking oil, divided

3/4 cup bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small yellow squash or zucchini, julined

1 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed

******

Cut chicken into bite-size strips; set aside. In a plastic bag, combine the flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper ( I also threw in a little Cajun seasoning and seasoned salt). In a mixing bowl, combine egg and milk. Toss okra in egg mixture. Add okra to plastic bag and shake to coat well. Remove coated okra; set aside. In a large skillet , heat 1 Tbls. oil over med/hi heat. Add bell pepper, onion and garlic. Cook and stir over over medium heat in hot oil for 3-4 minutes or until onion is tender but not brown. Add squash and corn to skillet. Cook and stir for 2-3 more or until corn is tender. Remove from skillet. Drain vegetables on paper towels; set aside.

Carefully add another 1 Tbls. oil to skillet. Add chicken. Cook and stir over med/hi heat for 2-3 minutes or until tender and no longer pink. Set aside with vegetables.

In the same skillet, heat the remaining oil. Fry okra over med/hi heat for 3-4 minutes or until golden, turning once (or twice). Using a slotted spoon, remove okra from skillet, reserving 2 Tbls. oil in skillet. Return okra, chicken and vegetables to skillet. Stir gently until heated through. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

good down-home cookin'

Now for this week's menu plan:

Monday: top-your-own pizzas (high school girls' small group at our house)

Tuesday: roasted chicken legs (with a breast for my hubby--he won't eat chicken on the bone), hashbrown casserole, squash

Wednesday: (meal at church)

Thursday: chicken spaghetti (young couples' small group at our house)

Friday/Saturday: in Nashville on a college ministry trip

To see more great menus and recipes, head over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie.