Meal Plan Monday: Week 6

Day 1: Ribs with mashed potatoes, asparagus, salad, and bread.
Day 2: Frittata: Frittata recipe maker on finecooking.com
Day 3: Left over ribs in a box (see day two, week one)
Day 4: Left over Frittata in a box
Day 5: Spaghetti and salad (see week two recipes for sauce recipe)
Day 6: Taco Salad
Day 7: Left over spaghetti and salad

Recipes:
If there is a link above it is the link to the recipe.

Mashed potatoes:

Ingredients:
2 pounds yukon gold potatoes cut into chunks
2 shallots thinly sliced
olive oil 
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper to taste

Place the shallots in a frying pan over medium-low heat with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Salt lightly and allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until carmel colored. Remove from pan and set aside.
Place the potatoes in a pan of cool salted water so that they are fully covered. Bring to a boil and allow to cook until they are just soft enough to easily poke a fork into them. Drain the water place into a the bowl/pan you want to mash them in (maybe a stand mixer, or handheld mixer, or potato masher is what you use, I use a mixer). Add the butter allowing it to melt. Add in half the shallots and the milk go easy on the milk start with half the milk and add more if you need it later. Mix until you have the texture that you like, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with the remaining shallots sprinkled on top.

A Note About the Ribs Glaze:

I love to double the amounts for this and use 1/3 for glazing the ribs and then simmer the remaining 2/3 to use as a drizzle on the ribs/mashed potatoes and as a dip for things later in the week or as a salad dressing.

A not about the spice in the glaze, if you really don't like spicy things you can try putting in half the amount of peppers but you can also try taking the seeds out of the inside of the pepper. These really are not very spicy at all but just in case you are really adverse to it you may want to try this. Also if you really like spice try the above method for all of the sauce and then use it as a glaze, that intensifies all the flavors some.

Taco Salad:

Ingredients:
Lettuce
ground beef/turkey
taco seasoning
corn
olives
onions
tomatoes
black beans
cheese (shredded)
salsa
corn chips
avocado, pit removed, diced
(I like the BBQ glaze from the ribs recipe as a "salad dressing")

Brown the meat adding the taco seasoning according the directions. I like to make sure to find an MSG free kind so I don't get a migraine. Clean and cut all the veggies, open cans, grate cheese and place all into their own bowls or on a serving platter creating a little salad bar that people can choose their own toppings for.  Some people use ranch dressing but I like to just use salsa.

Quesadilla:

Ingredients:
soft flour tortillas (whole wheat if possible, check for trans fats and beware even "trans fat free" may not really be trans fat free!)

grated mexican blend (or medium cheddar) cheese
the left over meat, beans, corn, onions, olives
any other left overs

Instructions:
place one tortilla in a lightly oiled pan over medium heat. Sprinkle with cheese and add small amounts of the meat, beans, onions, olives, corn, etc over the cheese. Place a second tortilla over the top. Allow to sit with a lid on the pan for about 2 minutes, check to see if the bottom of the tortilla is browned lightly. If it is flip it. Allow to cook until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is browned on the second side.

Serve with avocado, salsa, sour cream/plain yogurt.