Menu Plan Monday!

Can you believe it? I actually have a menu to post today! We have been crazy busy lately and I have really been slacking on my home management duties. No more. I am getting back to my normal cooking/cleaning schedule now so that when the new school year starts I am prepared and not a disorganized mess! Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu planning tips. Happy cooking!

Monday: Grilled Chicken, sautéed corn and zucchini (from my friends garden), garlic bread.

Tuesday: Baked Beans…I am bringing them to a big potluck at church. Our pastor was on Wipeout and his episode airs tomorrow so we are having a BIG viewing party. Be sure to watch! He is “the extreme pastor”!

Wednesday: Crockpot Chicken Enchiladas, green salad

Thursday: Crockpot Chili, brown rice

Friday: Homemade pizza night! Homemade whole wheat crust with homemade pizza sauce…yum!

Saturday: OC Fair…fried everything!

Sunday: Not sure yet…maybs we will have friends over for Sunday dinner.

 

There you have it. Have a great week everyone!

The Menu Plan and a GIVEAWAY!

We have a busy week ahead with the start of swimming lessons, Carter’s  graduation from preschool and, Father’s Day so taking the time to plan our meals in advance is an absolute necessity! I also thought I would do a GIVEAWAY for all my wonderful readers! Something fun to kick off the summer! Here’s the menu for the week followed by the giveaway details! Be sure to check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for more great menu planning ideas!

Monday-Subway…we’re going to Disneyland in an attempt to see the new World of Color show before we are blocked out for the summer…whish us luck!

Tuesday- Roasted Pork Tenderloin with broccoli and brown rice

Wednesday-Crock-pot meatloaf with green beans and mashed potatoes.

Thursday-Chili Beef Tacos with green salad and Spanish rice

Friday-Church meeting…catered :)

Saturday-Homemade pizza night!

Sunday-Crock-pot roast with veggies Happy Father’s Day!

…and now for the GIVEAWAY! Here is a “Shabby Blossom” to get you in the mood for summer!

It’s made with fabric from Robert Kaufman’s “London Calling” line…very Liberty of London inspired! I added a lime green button for even more summery goodness. This little flower does double duty too! There is an alligator clip AND a pin back so it can be worn in your hair or spice up your favorite tshirt or cardigan! To enter, just leave me a comment telling me what you would do with your “Shabby Blossom” and what you are most excited about for this summer. Winner will be chosen at random this Friday. Thanks for entering and GOOD LUCK!

This week’s dinner menu…

Busy week ahead and we then leave for a mini vacation to Pismo Beach on Friday YAY!!!! Can’t wait to get out of town for a few days and enjoy the fam. Feels great to have a menu plan in place and not have to worry about dinner since there is always so much to do before leaving home…packing, cleaning, all that fun stuff. Here’s our menu for the week…

Monday: Grilled steak with orzo salad and garlic bread

Tuesday: Crock Pot chicken tacos (easy peesy…4 chicken breasts, 1 packet of low sodium taco seasoning, jar of salsa…cook on high for 4-5 hours, shred, enjoy!) served with beans and rice

Wednesday: Smokey BBQ Beef Chili, Cornbread, salad

Thursday: Leftover buffet…gotta clean out the fridge so nothing stinks when we get home!

Recipe: Chicken Tamale Casserole

I love to share new recipes :) Here is a delicious one we have tried out several times. I got it from Cooking Light. Here is the link, but I will also post the full recipe with NI below. It's about 6-8 WW Points depending on what ingredients you use.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1854020

Ingredients

• 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
• 1/3 cup fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
• 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• Cooking spray
• 1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

354 (36% from fat)

Fat:

14.1g (sat 7.1g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.2g)

Fiber:

2.5g

Menu Plan Monday!

It's been a month or so since I posted my menu, but I am back on track today! Here is my menu for the week. If you want any of the recipes, just email me and I will tell you how to get them. Don't forget to head on over to Orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas :) Have a blessed day!

Monday: Asian Style Pork Roast (Weight Watchers, crock pot)

Tuesday: Creamy Swiss Chicken (Taste of Home)

Wednesday: Hunan Pork and Peppers (Weight Watchers, made form Mondays leftovers)

Thursday: Chicken & Artichokes (Light & Tasty)

Friday: Greek Spaghetti (Light & Tasty)

My Journey with Weight Watchers.

In 2008 (from January to June), I lost about 30 lbs with WW. Yayee me! The program is great and if you need to shed a few lbs, I highly recommend WW :) I kept a blog last year of my progress with photos and such. If you want to check it out it's www.freewebs.com/spagirl79. Sad to say that once I made Lifetime Membership, I got WAY lazy. In fact, a 6 month bout of lazy resulting in a 15 lb gain. I'll never make that mistake again! However, I've lost 8.4 lbs in January! Only 7.6 until I am back where I like. I am hoping for a lb a week from here on out. This month was just over 2 lbs per week and I am fairly certain I will slow down, but I also didn't think I could bounce back this quickly. I guess my body doesn't like being chubby! I am determined to stay at my happy weight this time. Getting lazy got me no where! I guess I was hoping the weight would just magically stay off, but know I know I will actually have to work just as hard when I get back to goal. In an effort to help me maintain my goal weight, I am re-doing My 21 Meals and my Google Calendar to reflect all the yummy, healthier (point friendly) dinners I've made this month. I will also mention a GREAT new cookbook I got at my WW meeting. I do not typically love WW cookbooks, but this one is a keeper! It's called "Now & Later" and it's GENIUS! You make 2 meals from one by making a bigger batch of something one night and then portion some out to use in a totally different recipe a few days later. Great time and money saver. We have tried 3 (really 6!) recipes already and loved each one! Stay tuned for Weight Watchers tips and yummy recipes!

Menu Plan Monday!

Hi Friends! I am anxiously awaiting my mom's arrival :) She should be here in a few hours. I love when she comes to visit! We have lots of fun Christmas-y things planned this week and I can't wait. Here is my menu plan for the week. Once again, let me praise my Google Calendar and ListPlanIt.com for making menu planning so wonderfully easy! Here is what we are eating this week...

Monday: Roast Chicken (in Crock Pot), Salad, Garlic Bread, and some friends coming for dinner are bringing a lasagna too...YUM.

Tuesday: BBQ Ribs (in Crock-Pot), cornbread muffins, broccoli slaw

Wednesday: Pecan Crusted Salmon, green beans, garlic bread

Thursday: Green Chili Soup (in the Crock Pot), leftover cornbread muffins

Friday: Disneyland! We'll be bringing Subway to avoid buying food there.

Saturday: Southwest Turkey Mac

Sunday: Leftover Buffet

Menu Plan Monday

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was delicious :) We decorated the house this weekend, inside and out. All I have left is my dining room and I am hoping to get to that today. Anyhow, here is my menu for the week. I hope it inspires you to get in your kitchen (even if it's tiny like mine) and make something yummy! Head over to orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas. Have a blessed day!

Monday: Mexican Pot Roast served with tortillas, rice, beans, and taco fixings...I;m feeding a crowd for football!
Tuesday: Chinese Lemon Chicken served with Brown rice and Broccoli
Wednesday: Greek Spaghetti served with Garlic Bread and Salad
Thursday: Oven "Fried" Chicken served with Orzo Salad
Friday: Homemade Pizzas...Pesto Veggie and Caramelized Onion with Gorgonzola
Saturday: I need to make an appetizer or dessert for a holiday potluck...any ideas?
Sunday: Soup Sunday! I am thinking chili sounds good this week.

My 21 Meals...

In lieu of posting my actual menu plan for this week (because it's a little late for that) I am posting this little nugget...

Today, while Google-ing ways to make my menu planning as effortless as possible, I ran across a really cool resource! If you are like me and live and die by your To-Do-List, this is a must have! It's a site called ListPlanIt.com and when you sign up, you gain access to loads of pre-made lists that help make managing your time super fun...that is if your idea of fun is crossing things off a list :) It's only ten dollars for 3 months and all the lists are pdf's so you can save the ones you like to a file on your desktop and print them as you need them. I still swear by the Daily Docket on SimpleMom.net as far as everyday schedules go, but these people over at ListPlanIt.com have made lists for everything under the sun which requires my brain to do less thinking and I like that! Today, I printed the list for "My 21 Meals" and filled in 21 of our favorite dinners, what cookbook they are in and what page they are on, and what side dishes go with them. I whole punched it and put it in my recipe binder so now when I go to meal plan, I can pick dinner recipes from that list knowing they are tried and true favorites instead of thumbing through my cookbooks every week trying to decide what makes it on to the weekly menu. A lot our favorite things are just random recipes I have acquired over the years, but I also use 2 cookbooks very regularly and they are "Fix it and Forget it: 5 Ingredients or Less" and Southern Livings "Easy Weeknight Favorites". I am hoping that my new favorite list will save on my grocery bill as well as my time because I won't be buying obscure ingredients for a recipe I will make once and hate. Lastly, I got another tip from SimpleMom and that is to load your favorite recipes into your Google calendar and put them on a 3-4 week rotation. I am going to try that this week so I will let you know how it goes. Happy cooking friends!