Monday, February 14, 2011

Menu Planning Monday 2/13/11


*Menu Plan for 2/13/2011-2/20/2011*




Monday Dinner
Meatloaf cupcakes
For the muffin:
2 eggs white
1 pound of lean ground beef
1 red pepper
1 stalk of celery
1 onion 3 cloves of garlic
½ cup of panko bread crumbs
1 table spoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp of salt and pepper

This is the topping:
1/2 c. catsup
3 tbsp. light brown sugar
2 tsp. prepared mustard


For the Frosting:
3 potatoes
½ cup of skim milk
2 tablespoons of Country Crock Light
¼ cup of fat free cheese

First you want to dice (I put them in the food processor) all of your veg and then soften in a sauté pan.  Then mix the remaining ingredients for the muffin together.  You want to mix the topping ingredients together and then take and make 12 mini meatloaves (you will want to spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray or even better use an actual cupcake paper) and spread the topping on each.  Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes. 
While baking you want to wash and peel your potatoes.  I dice mine evenly and then boil.  Then add reminding ingredients, these should be a little runnier than mashed potatoes.  When the cupcakes are done~ frost with potatoes!  You could even use some bacon bits on top to look like sprinkles!
1 serving equal one cupcake!
Per Serving: Cals 228 Carbs 27 Fat 9 Protein 11 Fiber  2

Sweet peas


Tuesday Dinner
Hungry Girl’s Sesame Chicken couple of tweaks though, I really prefer panko crumbs, so we are dredging ours in almond milk and then rolling in the panko crumbs, but the sauce was a hit! This really doesn’t affect the cal count so that’s a plus
Fried Rice Makeover
These are repeats from another week click here to find the original recipe!

Wednesday Dinner
Left Over Night

Thursday Dinner
Trying something new this week some of that cook once and eat twice!
 Cooking 2 pork tenderloins that I will marinate for 24 hours in fajita seasoning. ( heat oven to 450 and cook for 20-23 minutes)
Pork Tenderloin #1~ Pork Tenderloin Fajitas
Slice one tenderloin and serve with flour tortillas and sautéed peppers and onions!

Friday Dinner
Rachael Rays Turkey Sloppy Joes recipe
Sweet potato French fries
corn
Saturday Dinner

Pork Tenderloin #2~MooShu Pork
Cut pork into cubes
Prepackaged shredded cabbage and carrots
½ onion sliced
¼ cup of hoisin
4 cups of cooked brown rice
2 tsp of oil
Heat skillet and add oil add carrot onion and cabbage, stir fry until softened. Stir in pork and hoisin sauce. Serve over ice.
 Serves 4
Cal 420 Fat 8g carbs 57 Protein 50

Sunday Dinner
Finish up leftovers

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Menu Planning Monday...okay I know it's Tuesday!


Menu Plan for 2/7/2011-2/13/2011




Monday Dinner
         Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Pepper Makeover!

Usually Italian Peppers and Sausage are served on a roll, this is served with potatoes!
Honeysuckle White - Lean Turkey Italian Sausage Sweet Cooked, 3 links
Peppers - Sweet, green, raw, 1 medium
Peppers - Sweet, red, raw, 1 medium
Peppers - Sweet, yellow, raw, 0.75 pepper, large
Onions - Raw, 1 medium (2-1/2" dia)
Potatoes - Russet, flesh and skin, baked, 5 potato large)
1 cup of fat free stock ( you can use vegetable, chicken, or beef)
1 cup of water
1 tbl spoon of Italian Seasoning


Per Serving:
Cals 355
Carbs 60
Fat 4
Protein 15
Fiber 7
Iron 21
1st you want to take the sausage out of its casing and break it up and brown in a pan.  I spray my crock pot with cooking spray. The I add the peppers  and onion( in thin slices).  Then I add the potatoes, I like mine cubed but you can slice them wedge them or leave them whole.  Then I add the sausage and 1 cup of fat free stock and seasoning I also add the water at this time.  This cooks for 4 hours on low.



Tuesday Dinner

Buffalo Chicken Bake
3, 4oz chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
½ cup of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
½ cup of fat free ranch dip (see recipe below)
1 package (8 oz) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened
1 cup of fat-free Kraft cheddar cheese
3 medium carrots
3 medium stalks
1 large onion
12 ounces of whole wheat pasta (your choice what kind!, I like bow tie!)(Cooked)

I place the veggies in the food processors then add them to a sauce pan to soften them. Mix chicken and cream cheese with veg.  I spray the baking dish with nonstick cooking spray (super important for cleanup (or even better line with tine foil).  Add cooked pasta. Spread chicken mixture over pasta, sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 for 30 minutes!

Fat Free Ranch Dip (this is any easy one and my go to for carrots and celery!)
1 container of fat free sour cream (Breakstone’s is my preference, if not I go with the light)
3 tablespoons of Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning and Salad Mix

This makes for a 35 calorie dip for 2 tablespoons!  And it is yum!

This recipe serves 6 (the calorie count includes the ranch dip with light sour cream, because that is what I have on hand!)
Per Serving: Cals 428 Carbs 53 Fat13 Protein 30 Fiber 8


Wednesday Dinner
Left Over Night

Thursday Dinner
Oven Fried Chicken
Chicken breasts
Panko bread crumbs
Almond milk
Salt and pepper

We did the chicken breasts (that we make into bite size pieces) in almond milk then coat in seasoned panko crumbs.  I put these on a cooling rack on cookie sheet; it helps to crisp the entire chicken. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes

Mac N Cheese Recipe
Broccoli

Friday Dinner
TVP/ Lean Beef Tacos
Black Beans and Corn
Saturday Dinner

Spilt Pea Soup recipe (have to be honest this is going to be a test on my taste buds haven’t liked it in the past!)
Sunday Dinner
Finish up leftovers

Dessert for the week
So the mock ice cream sandwhiches( from last weeks menu) made of grahm crackers were a hit, and were tweaked. I add a tablespoon of greek yogurt with splenda, and a tablsppon of lite whipped topping the sanwhich makes it for more of a ice cream taste!
And also on this weeks menu ( since we love our sweets!)
Blueberry-Apple Crisp
5 cups
sliced peeled apples (about 7 medium)
1 cup
Fresh or frozen blue berries

3 tablespoons of Splenda
Topping:

4 1/2
low-fat graham crackers
1/4 cup
light brown sugar
1/2 tsp.
ground cinnamon
2 Tbs.
reduced-fat margarine cut into pieces
1. To make the filling, place the apples, and blueberries, and sugar substitute (you could use AGAVE syrup) in a large bowl, and toss to mix well. Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, and spread the mixture evenly in the pan. Set aside.
2. To make the topping, break up the graham crackers, place them in a blender, and process into crumbs. Measure the crumbs. There should be 3/4 cup. (Adjust the amount if necessary).
3. Place the crumbs, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl, and stir to mix well. Then you can use a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut in the margarine or butter until the mixture is moist and crumbly and sprinkle the topping over the filling.
4. Bake uncovered at 375 degree F for 35 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Cover loosely with aluminum foil during the last few minutes of baking if the topping starts to brown too quickly. Serve warm or at room temperature. This recipe makes 8 servings.
Per serving: Calories 164; Cholesterol 0 mg; Fat 4.8 g; Sodium 86 mg. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 Starch, 1 Fruit, 1 Fat.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The menu planning is going...(an update on our family's journey to healthy and organized!)

Pretty well.  It is nice to be able to answer the question "What's for dinner?"  And although I have not seen a huge difference in our grocery bill it self, I do make less trips to our small town grocery store during the week.  Occasionally we will run out of a staple like this week it was peanut butter and canola oil.  And since we were "snowed in" Wednesday I took the time to meal plan for the next 2 weeks.  When I make my grocery trip this time tomorrow it will be for 2 weeks, scary and exciting.  Scary are the what ifs, what if i forget something what is I make something and we hate it ( hence there will be another meal to prepare, this has happened before).  Exciting the chance to have a Friday afternoon where I do not have to make a trip 25 minutes  away during my son's jaunt to pre-k!  I also am 100% sure the meal planning has helped tremendously with the snacking, I plan only for the good stuff and when I want something that is all that is there becuase I don't buy antyhing that is not on my list.