Weekly Meal Plan #17

January 20 - February 5
 
I've got some exciting news everyone!  First-I figured out how to make a blog roll!  Woohoo!  I know...kind of lame, but when searching the design feature, it said "Blog List", and I was used to the term "Blog Roll", and alas, I missed it.  But...I did it!  So, check out some other blogs I follow!

Second-and this is a little bigger then creating a blog roll...Hubby and I bought a house!!!!!!!!!!   OMG...what a great feeling!  Of course, it's not totally real yet.  We put an offer in on Monday, went back and fourth for two days before they finally accepted our final offer, and now we have a signed contract.  Next is the inspection, appraisal and getting officially approved financing.  It won't feel really real until all that goes through.  But hey-we bought a house!  As of right now, we close on March 21st, which is my Spring Break.  So-I'll pack and do some cleaning at the new place.  We will officially move on Saturday, March 26th.  Then, DH has his spring break and he can organize the new place...and clean the old place!  (He doesn't know that part yet...haha).  And yes-I trust him to organize, he'll do a better job then me!

So, that's our big news for the week.  On to a new meal plan!  I came across a new recipe website called Simply Recipes.  Most of my meals this week come from here.  I've got two favorite dishes as a repeat again, and one attempt at "Clean Eating", from the Clean Eating Magazine website.   Enjoy!

Sunday  - Mom's Chili Beans
Monday - Broccoli Sausage Pasta
Tuesday - Quesadilla Pie
Wednesday - BLAT Wraps
Thursday - Chicken and Apples in a Honey Mustard Sauce
Friday - Hamburger and Macaroni
Saturday - Spinach and Chicken Sausage Pizza

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Grocery List

3 small onions
1 large head of broccoli 
1 avocado
1 tomato
1 jalapeno pepper (cooked or canned)
1 bunch of cilantro
1 bunch parsley 
6 oz spinach leaves
2 apples
Lettuce
Garlic
2 lbs ground beef or turkey
1 lb of smoke sausage
2 all natural, deli chicken sausages
1 pkg bacon
1 lb chicken breats
8 oz penne pasta
16 oz pinto beans (uncooked or canned)
16oz white rice
1 pkg flour tortillas 
1 pkg macaroni pasta 
1 whole wheat thin crust pizza (Boboli)
Breadcrumbs 
2 14.5oz cans of no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1 28oz can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
Ranch dressing
Apple cider
8 oz chicken broth
Cornstarch
Honey
Mustard
Worcestershire sauce
Parmesan cheese
Mild or sharp cheddar
Mozzarella cheese

*Check for spices you will need within each recipe!
*Decide on your own fillings and garnishes for the quesadillas (suggestions on website) and add that to your list!

Weekly Meal Plan #16

January 23 - January 29

What a long week this was!  Which is odd, since we had no school on Monday.   Why does that happen...short weeks feeling longer?  Well, either way, it's now the weekend and it's a beautiful (although cold) snowy morning outside.  I am ready for winter to be over, but the fresh, soft, falling snow is still a wondrous sight. 

Hopefully last weeks meal plan was a little easier.  We really enjoyed the Italian Vegetable Enchiladas.   Next time we might add chicken!  It was similar to the Swiss Enchiladas that's been on previous meal plans. 

This upcoming week is a crazy busy week.  I'm starting a grad class on Tuesday!  I'm not looking forward to 12 weeks of driving 45 minutes beyond where I live to take the class, but it was pretty much free thanks to a waiver a colleague gave to me.  And, it's one more class towards getting my ESL endorsement.  Yay! 

Enjoy your week!

Sunday- Fiery Fish Tacos
Monday - Tuna Noodle Casserole
Tuesday - Vegetable Cheesy Soup
Wednesday - Helen's Zucchini Casserole
Thursday - Tostada Cups
Friday - Bourbon Chicken
Saturday - Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tostada Cups
Original recipe - Refried Bean Tostadas

Ingredients

• 6 flour or corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup fat-free refried beans
• 1/2 lbs ground beef, browned
• 3/4 cup of salsa
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
• 1 tbs finely chopped cilantro
• 2 tbs light sour cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray every other cup of a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.  Press a tortilla into each sprayed cup, flattening edges out.  Bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes. 
2. Season and brown ground beef.  Mix in refried beans and cook until warmed through.
3. Divide ground beef and bean mixture among each tortilla cup.  Top with salsa and sprinkle with cheese.  Return to oven, and bake 7 to 10 minutes, or until warmed through.  
4. Place each tostada cup on a plate and sprinkle with cilantro.  Top with lettuce and sour cream.  Serve with extra salsa, if desired. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Grocery List

3 small red onion
1 small jicama
1 red pepper
1 bunch cilantro
1 lime
1 bunch celery 
6 medium zucchini
1 large tomato
1 small butternut squash
Romaine lettuce
Garlic
2lbs boneless chicken breasts
1/2 lb ground beef
6 tilapia fillets
1 8oz can corn kernals
1 can peas
1 can creamed corn
2 cans of tuna
1 can cream of mushroom soup 
1 can tomato sauce 
1 can fat-free refried beans
1 16oz package frozen mix vegetables 
1 package egg noodles
12oz elbow macaroni
2 packages of corn or flour tortillas
Bread crumbs 
Flour
Brown sugar
Ketchup
Salsa
Cider vinegar
Soy Sauce
24oz cheddar cheese 
8oz monterey jack cheese
16oz mozzarella cheese
16oz sour cream  
Margerine or Smart Balance  
Milk
Apple juice (small bottle)

Weekly Meal Plan #15

January 16-January 22

So, did anyone end up making those Beef Carnitas Empanada meal?  Well, I did.  And I decided to make the beef myself, instead of buying some pre-made fajita mixture or something.  What I failed to do was calculate how long the meal was going to take to make when trying to do it all in one fell swoop.  Do you know how long it took?  2 hours!  Holy Cow.  Never again.  But you know what?  It...was...awesome!  Ok...the beef was the awesome part.  It was so tasty!  The "empanada" part wasn't the greatest.  I didn't buy saffron, thinking I could do without it.  I have a feeling it needed that special flavoring, whatever it is.  But still...despite the time it took, it turned out pretty great.  Next time, though, we are just going to make the beef and turn them into fajitas or something.  Estimated time to make that?  Half the time it took to make the Beef Carnitas Empanada.  Phew!

So this week, I focused on trying to make sure the meals in the plan didn't take as much time, or that you could actually do something else while it was cooking.  I couldn't with the empanadas...I spent an entire 2 hours standing and cooking.  Ugh!  Hope you find this week less involved! 

Sunday- Italian Vegetable Enchiladas 
Monday- Spicy Shrimp and Fettuccine 
Tuesday- Easy Bisquick Chicken Pot Pie 
Wednesday- Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken BBQ 
Thursday- Cream Cheese Potato Soup 
Friday- Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta 
Saturday- Pepsi Pot Roast 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Italian Vegetable Enchiladas

Easy Meals in Minutes, Time Life Books
 
Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic
• 1 small onion
• 1 medium green bell pepper
• 1/2 lb mushrooms
• 1 medium tomato
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1/2 tsp basil
•  1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• 8 flour tortillas
• 3 tbs shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
   
2. In a food processor, coarsely chop garlic, onion and bell pepper.  Remove to a large bowl.  In same bowl, chop mushrooms.  Chop mushrooms and add to bwol.  By hand, coarsely chop tomato and add to bowl.
3. In large skillet, warm oil over medium-high heat.  Ad chopped vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes, until onion is slightly softened.  Cool slightly.
4. In medium bowl, combine tomato sauce, 1/4 tsp basil, 1/4 tsp oregano and 1/4 tsp black pepper.
5. In another bowl, combine cottage heese with remaining basil, oregano and black pepper.
6. Place tortillas on a working surface and spread each evenly with 2 tsp of tomato sauce. 
7. Spread 2 tbs of cottage cheese along the bottom third of each tortilla.
8. Dividing evenly, spread sauteed vegetable mixture over cottage cheese.  Roll the tortillas up.  Place rolled tortillas in a single layer in a baking dish.  Top with remaining tomato sauce and mozzarella.
9. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the tortillas are heated through and cheese is melted.  If desired, place enchiladas under broiler to lightly brown them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pepsi Pot Roast 

Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook

Ingredients

• 3-4 lb pot roast
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 package dry onion soup mix
• 16oz Pepsi, or other cola 
  

 Directions

1. Place meat in slow cooker.
2. Top with mushroom soup and onion soup mix.
3. Pour in Pepsi.
4. Cover.  Cook on high for 6 hours.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Grocery List

Garlic
2 small onion
1 medium green pepper
1/2 lb mushrooms
1 medium tomato
5 plum tomatos 
4 large potatoes (red or baking) 
1 package frozen vegetables
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined 
2lbs chicken breasts
3-4lb pot roast
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste 
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 package dry onion soup mix
Bisquick baking mix
1 package flour tortillas
8 oz fettuccine 
1lb penne pasta12 oz BBQ
Italian dressing
Worcestershire sauce
40oz chicken broth
8oz container low-fat cottage cheese
8oz container sour cream 
1 package shredded mozzarella cheese 
8oz cream cheese 
Parmesan cheese 
Brown Sugar 
Milk
Eggs
Flour 
Butter (or margarine) (or SmartBalance?)
16oz Pepsi (or other cola)

Weekly Meal Plan #14

Wow-what a great first week of 2011! I hope you all had a great week, too!  It was actually nice to be back at school, in a routine, and working with my students.  I had a student teacher for 8 weeks before winter break.  I really enjoyed that experience.  Still, it's really nice to be back in the saddle with my kids. 

Despite the busy week, I found a couple new favs in terms of meals to have in the back pocket.  I don't know about anyone else, but the Tomato Florentine Soup from last week was so warm and cozy.  It had a great robust flavor, and although it had just a little protein in it, it was very tasty and filling!  I hope you enjoyed it, too. 

Here we go again!  So old, some new...all for you!  I was excited to find the P.F. Chang's recipe, as the hubs and I LOVE P.F. Chang's.  I am crossing my fingers that it turns out just as yummy! 

Side note-it's my little puppy's (not so little anymore) 3rd birthday on Monday.  Happy Birthday, Zeusy!

The night we adopted him.

Our big boy.

January 9-January 15

Sunday - To Die for Crock Pot Roast
Monday - BBQ Chicken
Tuesday - Beef Carnitas Empanada
Wednesday - Ragu Stuffed Peppers
Thursday - Mostaccioli with Vodka Sauce
Friday - Brown Rice, Tomatoes and Basil
Saturday - P.F. Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BBQ Chicken

This is a crazy simple meal.  At our local fresh produce store, they have already cut and seasoned BBQ Chicken.  It’s an entire half of a chicken.

To cook it, we cut up red potatoes, onions and red peppers, layer them at the bottom of a dutch oven, drizzle them with olive oil, place the half chicken on top, and pop it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 60 minutes, or until internal thermometer reads 180 degrees.   That’s all folks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mostaccioli with Vodka Sauce

Betty Crocker Easy Italian 

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped prosciutto or fully cooked ham
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup vodka (or chicken broth)
• 1/2 cup whipping (heavy) cream
• 1/2 cup sliced large pitted ripe olives
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
• 1 package (16 oz) mostaccioli or penne pasta
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In 10-inch skillet, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat.  Cook garlic and onion in butter about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender.
2. Stir in prosciutto and chicken.  Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is brown.  Stir in vodka.  Cook uncovered until liquid has evaporated.
3. Stir in whipping cream, olives, parsley and pepper.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer uncovered about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened. 
4. Meanwhile, cook and drain pasta as directed on package.  Add pasta to sauce; toss gently until pasta is evenly coated.  Sprinkle with cheese. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Grocery List

1 beef roast, any kind
1 half pre-seasoned BBQ chicken
12 oz beef carnitas (check local fresh market for pre-made version or check recipe)
2oz proscuitto or fully cooked ham
1lb chicken breasts
8oz water chesnuts
8oz mushrooms
4-5 leaves iceburg lettuce
2 red potatoes
3 medium red onion
5 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 1/2 lbs tomatoes
1 bunch fresh parsely
Garlic
2oz saffron threads
8oz brown rice
16oz mostaccioli or penne pasta
1 small can tomato paste
1 small can sliced olives
1 package brown gravy mix, dry
1 package dried Italian salad dressing mix
1 package ranch dressing mix, dry
1 jar Ragu pasta sauce (3 cups)
Couscous
8oz package raisins
Cider vinegar
Red wine vinegar
Rice wine vinegar
Soy sauce
Ketcup
Lemon juice
Sesame Oil
Hot mustard
Garlic and red chile pasts
Vodka (or 8oz chicken broth)
Flour
Baking powder
Sugar
Brown sugar
Butter
8oz heavy whipping cream 
8oz grated asiago or fontina cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan

*Remember that you might have several of the oils and other ingredients from previous meal plans!  Check that pantry!

Weekly Meal Plan #13: Happy New Year!

January 2-January  8
 
I can't believe it's already 2011!  Time really flies by...especially as you get older.  Weird, huh?  As a kid, time sometimes seems to come to a complete stand still, like when waiting for something exciting to happen.  Ah, memories.  As adults we just have to embrace that time feels as though it goes by more quickly and make every moment count!  Here's to making the first meal plan for 2011 count!

This weeks I've got a couple new recipes for us to try from two new cookbooks I received over the holidays.  Thank you, Kate, for the Betty Crocker Easy Italian cookbook, and thank you, Char, for the CyberFeasts & Foodstocks cookbook!  Here we go!

Sunday - Chicken and Garlic Ravioli with Peppers and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Monday -Veggie BBQ Pizza
Tuesday - Poblano Chicken
Wednesday - Tomato Florentine Soup
Thursday - Creamy Burrito Casserole
Friday - Salsa-Fied Turkey and Rice
Saturday - Beefy Tomato Stew over Noodles

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chicken and Garlic Ravioli with Peppers and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Betty Crocker Easy Italian

Ingredients

• 2 packages refrigerated chicken and roasted garlic-filled ravioli
• 1/2 cup julienne sun-dried tomatoes in oil and herbs, drained.  Reserve 2 tbs oil.      
• 1 bag frozen bell pepper and onion stir-fry, thaw, drained. (I'm considering making my own bell pepper and onion mixture.  I'm figuring 1-2 peppers and 1 large onion should do the trick.) 
• 2 cups shredded provolone cheese

Directions

1. Cook and drain ravioli as directed on package.
2. Heat reserved oil over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet.  Cook bell pepper mixture in oil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in tomatoes and ravioli.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until hot.
3. Sprinkle with cheese; remove from heat.  Cover; let stand 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Serve immediately.  Makes 6 servings

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veggie BBQ Pizza

Ingrediants:

• 1 Boboli Thin Crust Pizza
• 1 C Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (or any kind you like)
• 1 C chopped red onion
• 1 C chopped sweet red pepper
• 1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper
• 1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to suggested temperature on the Boboli package.  
2. Spread BBQ sauce over pizza crust.  Top with red onion and sweet red pepper.  Sprinkle with crushed red pepper.  Cover entire pizza with mozzarella cheese.  Sprinkle cheddar cheese over mozzarella.  
3. Bake for 10 minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Poblano Chicken
Cyberfeasts and Foodstocks 

Ingredients

• 3 large poblano chili peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 3 tbs butter 
• 3 chicken breats, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups grated Monterey jack cheese

Directions

1. Melt 2 tbs butter in skillet.  Saute peppers and onion until limp.  Remove from pan and puree peppers and onions with milk and sour cream in blender.  Salt and pepper to taste.
2. Melt remaining butter in skillet.  Saute chicken 5-8 minutes.  Chicken doesn't need to be done, but the pink should be mostly gone.  Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Place chicken in a casserole dish and pour the pepper-onion mixture over top.  Liberally sprinkle the top with cheese.  
4. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, or until cheese is lightly browned.  Serve over rice.  Makes 4 servings

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tomato Florentine Soup
Cyberfeasts and Foodstocks

Ingredients

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh spinach
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 tbs diced basil
• 1 1/2 tsp fined chopped oregano
• 2 oz diced country ham
• grated mozzarella cheese 

Directions

1. Heat oil in heavy saucepan.  Add onion and garlic, cook until soft. 
2. Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, broth, spinach, wine and herbs.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 35 minutes. 
3. Add diced country ham and simmer for 10 more minutes.  Serve warm, garnished with Romano cheese.  Makes 2 servings.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beefy Tomato Stew over Noodles
Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs cubed stewing beef
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups stewed tomatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2-1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• water
• 12 oz bag noodles (I might use rotini for this one!)   

Directions

1. Combine meat and flour until cubed are coated.  Place in slow cooker.
2. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, and onion.  Add water to cover. 
3. Cover.  Simmer on low heat for 6-8 hours.
4. Serve over cooked noodles.  Makes 8 servings.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Grocery List

3 large red onions
2 medium red peppers
3 large poblano chilies
Garlic
4 medium tomatoes
1 bunch spinach
Frozen chicken breasts
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground turkey
1.5 lbs cubed stew meat
1 package diced country ham
2 packages of chicken and garlic ravioli
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can refried beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 jar salsa
1 jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil
1 package of taco seasoning
1 Boboli pizza crust
1 package flour tortillas
1 box of noodles
1 bottle BBQ sauce
32 oz sour cream
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
16 oz of shredded cheddar cheese
16 oz of shredded provolone cheese 
Milk  
*Red wine (red cooking wine should work)

Enjoy!

~Chef Val  
*edit