Menu and Food Plans for Aug 29-Sept 4

Back to Pinterest this week!


I've made several chicken and dumplings over the years and they just aren't like the ones our mothers made.  My dh LOVES the way his mom made them and my mom made them similar to hers.
It's time to try THIS version!

**UPDATE** My chicken and dumplings came out terrible.  Edible, barely. I do not know what I did wrong.  I just have a hard time with dumplings! I might try these again far in the future. :/

• Beef Casserole

***UPDATE*** This casserole was pretty good actually but it was a lot of work (to me) I'm not sure I'll make it again when I have other recipes that are just as tasty, or better and less steps.

• Chicken Parmesan I plan on subbing Panko bread crumbs for the corn flakes because I already have some.

***UPDATE*** I really liked this one!  But I don't think my hubby did as much.  He did not want leftovers of it.  Usually a sign. :/

• Philly Style Sloppy Joes

***UPDATE*** I thought this was yummy! I made mine with colored peppers because the green ones make me sick.  But I don't think the hubby or son liked it that much. Again no seconds or left overs wanted.  What is it with them?  I thought it was very tasty!

Other meals are:

• Buffalo Quesadillas - using some of the buffalo chicken I made last week.

• Turkey Smoked Sausage and Beans

• Pizza from the Deli at Walmart. On Wednesdays I need a no-brainer meal and this is an alternative to take-out.

I'll be doing some food prep to get ahead by:

• cooking the ground beef ahead of time and separating it and freezing it.  
• cooking the chicken in the crock pot with the veggies for the chicken and dumplings then freezing
• making a "freezer pack" with the sausage, beans and other ingredients right in the bag
• chopping the veggies ahead of time and packaging them up to be ready to go

Menu Plans this Week August 22nd-28th

I follow a wonderful blog called Organize Yourself Skinny (OYS for short) and she inspired me to post my plan here.  I often make a menu and an eating/exercising plan but I don't post it here.

This week I really need to use the groceries I have on hand already.  I have a few packages of chicken in the freezer, and frozen fruits for smoothies and several veggies frozen and canned. Along with pasta and tomato products.  I also have several bags of dried beans.  I really need to get those crock pots going!  The problem is you have to be home to cook and I have somewhere to be all weekend.  I'm going to have to get creative if I'm going to continue to eat healthy and still live life!

Okay so here's my menu plan for the week -

Breakfast:
Egg/Sausage/Cheese sandwich (I already have these ingredients)
~or~
Smoothies
I simply use mixed frozen fruit, greek yogurt, spinach and a little flax to make my smoothies.  I add water to get the consistency I want.

Snack:
boiled egg or cheese stick

Lunch: Salad in a Jar or left-over chicken and crackers

Snack:
apples and PB2
or
Veggies and hummus or cottage cheese dip (I'll decide at the grocery store)

Suppers:
Back to Pinterest:
I never made this complete chicken dinner so I'm adding it to the list again~

I want to make this Stroganoff with non-spicy beef! So I'm adding it to the list again too.

Trying OYS Cheeseburger Stuffed Peppers

Also trying OYS Buffalo Chicken to use in wraps with cheese and veggies~

We will have a chopped chef's salad.  

I don't think I can go a week without TexMex sooo....

Added: Just found this recipe for grilled squash and I will be making it with this casserole.

I hope I can use up things in my freezer/pantry this week and stay on plan!

Recpies From Pinterest I'm trying this week

I've pinned these to my pinterest boards and am trying them this week.  I'll edit and update how they turned out.

Saturday: Cheddar Meatloaf - I had already made a double batch of this and it was in the freezer.  It was just as yummy the second time!

Sunday: Ultimate Beef Stroganoff - Update* I made this on Sunday and it is the best crock-pot stroganoff yet.  I used some steaks that were given to me and they were preseasoned.  I did not know they were HOT and SPICY so that was a little surprise.  I will make this again with plain beef. :)

Monday: There was no name for this. It was one of those "ghost" pinterest pins but I made it just from the description and I used my kitchenaid to "shred" it.  It was easy and good!  We have enough for freezing.  That's always a bonus. :)

Tuesday: Sloppy Joes (no recipe)

Wednesday: Complete Chicken BBQ Dinner in the crock-pot. (Never made this!  I was going to make it but the bag of potatoes was bad!!! Yuck! So I will try again another time.)

Thursday: Crock-pot Pizza Casserole (I didn't make this one either.  My daughter cooked one night and made something else instead.  I will be adding this one back in later to try.)

Side note: So far I have not been disappointed in any of the stockpilingmoms.com recipes.

8 crock pot freezer meals - DONE!

I found this link on pinterest and decided to try it.

Yesterday I did the shopping, made the soup for dinner, we're having the roast today.  It's in the crockpot as I type!  The only thing is I went to three stores and could not find beef consomme. So I used brown gravy mix. :/

I'm killing two, maybe three, birds with one stone by eating healthier, saving money and time.

It really took about an hour to get these ready.  My kids helped so of course it took longer.  Just kidding. :)  They actually helped organize it while my hands were all covered in chicken juice. Eww!

I don't know that we'll eat all of these in one week, but I love having options on days that are busy and MANY of our days are busy!

I picked up this cookbook at the grocery store check out counter.

I'm trying out a few recipes and thought I would review them here as I go along.

The first one I made was the Southwestern Casserole. It made 2 casseroles.  There was plenty! I cooked one and froze the other.  The ingredients are familiar but I made a few substitutions.  I always seem to make substitutions.  I only had one can of tomatoes, and we don't like kidney beans so I added Ranch Style Beans. If you can't get these where you live I'm sorry :(.  But I guess "chili beans" would do.  I didn't rinse them as they recipe stated for the kidney beans.  Since I didn't have that extra can of tomatoes, I figured it needed the moisture.  I ended up adding just a little water.  Overall it was a great taste!  We liked it.  I'm thinking you could even add corn if you like it.  I like corn but my hubby's not keen on it, so I probably will never add it.

We also made this spaghetti casserole.  Oh my!  It was soooo yummy!  I will definitely be making this one again! 4 stars!  Even the hubby had seconds and he's not a spaghetti guy.

I liked the enchilada lasagna. Again I made some substitutions.  I used chicken, next time I will use beef.  I think the chicken just didn't give it enough oompf.

That's all we've tried so far.  I hope to try several more recipes.  There are some really good ones in there!

Menus

I'm working on some new healthier menus. I'm trying to get an 8 week set. I'll post them here when I am done. Along with as many of the recipes as I can. I don't remember where I got them all, so I will do the best I can!

Check back later.

Menu for March 18-24

Menu for Jan 15-21

* Updated image 1-18-10

Menu for Jan 8-14

Menu for Dec 24-30

Our Christmas Eve Menu

Appetizers:

Deviled eggs

Jalapeño Poppers*

Veggie tray (broccoli, celery, cauliflower, grape tomatoes, petite carrots)*

Pizza Dip*

Chips

Main Course:

Honey Baked Ham (yum!)

Broccoli-cheese-rice casserole*

Crescent rolls

Mashed Potatoes*

Baked Beans (my oldest dd is bringing this)

Corn Casserole (my mom is bringing this)

Desserts:

Pumpkin spice cheesecake*

Chess pie

Red Velvet Cake (my mom is bringing this)

Hello Dollies (dd is bringing this)

* Healthier versions. I specifically added these foods or re-vamped the recipes to reduce the empty calories.

Menu for Dec 17-23

The numbers after indicate weight watchers points per serving.

Menu for Dec 10-16

New Menu

This Week's Menu

Note: These are all "healthier" versions, except for maybe the Potato cheese soup!

Kraft Foods 5 Dinners - 1 Bag

I've been taking advantage of this feature on the Kraft Foods site.

Saves a lot of planning during this busy summer!

5 Dinners - 1 Bag

Menus June 4th-10th

Here's what I'm cooking this week. All from Kraftfoods.com

1. Foil Pack Chicken Fajita Dinner -gonna try it in the crockpot
2. Easy BBQ Ribs (If I can afford them at the store) I also want to try these potatoes or these (they could be cooked in the crockpot too maybe. In fact, I may do the pre-cooking of the ribs in the crockpot then grill/griddle then at the end.)
3. Chicken Enchilada Skillet (these sound like mexican chicken-n-dumplings)
4. Grilled Mozz Chicken Sandwiches
5. Chicken Italiano Skillet (one pan!)
6. Easy Parmesan Meatballs - I think I'll get some Alfredo Sauce and noodles for this or maybe will get sub buns and make meatball sandwiches. I will have to double the recipe. It says 6 servings but the serving is *2* meatballs!
7. Weeknight Lasagna Toss (another one pan!) with Green Beans Italian

I plan to serve a lettuce salad or veggie salad each night (there are plenty of recipes for salads too).

I might have beans or cooked veggies on the side too.

I've been using this website for the past few weeks for quick and simple recipes. Thanks Tab!

Menus This Week

*Picante Chicken

*Chicken Curry

*Sausage Rigatoni Bake

*Healthy Joes

*Spicy Meatballs

Sausage/Noodle/veg dish - I bought some whole foods sausage the other day on my excursion.  This one was garlic flavored.  I chopped it up and browned it in a nonstick skillet with a little olive oil.  Boiled the noodles. Steamed some mixed veggies.  Sprinkled on a little garlic powder. Then mixed it all together.   It was delicious!

Mexican Fixin's - we love to just have some meat; chicken or beef, lettuce, tomato, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, beans and tortillias - crunchy or soft, flour or corn.  Then everyone just makes a taco salad, tacos, burritos whatever.  It's my fav.

*These recipes are from The Biggest Loser Cookbook

Menus this week

Sunday- Chicken Spaghetti
Monday- Sausage and Potatoes Au Gratin (adapted to the crockpot)
Tuesday- Chili/Cheese Enchiladas
Wednesday- Chicken Pot Pie in the Crockpot
Thursday- Finger Foods - Taquitos, Pizza Rolls etc.
Friday- Sausage Hot Dogs w/Chili
Saturday- Beans (in the crockpot) and Cornbread

Hmm this wasn't the healthiest week, but it was easy! That's what counts for me right now LOL!

Menus this week

I'm loving my crock pot again thanks to this blog.

Here are my plans for this week:

Monday - Corn and Ham Crockpot (we got a Honey Baked Ham gift certificate and I need to use up the leftover ham!)
Tuesday - Chili in the crockpot
Wednesday- "Breakfast" -OR- Pizza Soup (DH LOVED this recipe and wants to take it to work to share)
Thursday - Spaghetti in the crockpot (nothing to brag about, just canned sauce w/ground beef, letting it simmer all afternoon on low-easy!)
Friday - Hamburgers
Saturday - Meatloaf in the CP

We are now out of the house most of the day Tuesday and Thursdays so I really need the crockpot on those days. It makes it so much easier.