Menu Planning Monday

I have been planning my meals each week,but haven't been keeping track afterward. I love the weekly meal planning because it is a great resource for me to look back on when I need inspiration for the current week. I browse Pinterest all of the time, and a lot of my new recipes come from there, but it is nice to have a repository of the ones I know we liked. Here are last week's and this week's menus:

Last Week:

Roasted chicken with balsamic green beans- Easy roasted chicken with salt and pepper on the outside and an onion and lemon on the inside, served with green beans that were cooked then cooled and tossed with some balsamic vinegarand a littl ebit of oil.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie- We love this recipe. Lentils replace the meat andit is a hearty, flavorful meal.

Greek chicken with salad (lettuce, tomato, feta cheese, green pepper, greek dressing), hummus and whole wheat pita.- For the chicken I just marinated the breasts in olive oil, lemon, garlic, rosemary, and oregano then broiled it. I can't wait to get back to grilling weather! The hummus was pretty good, but the raw garlic was really strong and almost oddly spicy. I think it would have tasted delicious with roasted garlic and I will use that next time.

Pesto pasta with sauteed portabello mushrooms and roasted cauliflower on the side. - This was juat a quick dinner because we got back too late to make what I planned. It was yum just the same!

Shrimp tacos with multigrain tortillas and chipotle lime slaw- I pieced together a couple recipes for this meal. The shrimp marinade I got here and the slaw recipe came from here. It was a great combo and the first time for both recipes.Definitely keepers!

Roasted root veggies and salad- We roasted beets, carrots, parsnips, red potatoes, onions, and brussel sprouts and served them along side a salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, and balsamic vinegrette. It's nice to have a couple meatless meals during the week. Not only does it cut some meat out of our diet, but saves money at the market by not purchasing meat, which can be pricey.


This week:

Homemade chicken tenders with steamed green beans and cucumber salad- This is the hubby's contribution this week. He dips the chicken breast pieces in egg and then dredges themin seasoned panko breadcrumbs and then pan fries them. The cucumber salad is just sliced cucumbers marinated in red wine vinegar, oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar.

Southwestern quinoa and black bean wraps- This is the first time I will make this recipe...I'll update it after we see if we like it!

Broiled halibut with asparagus and roasted new potatoes

Asian meatballs, with steamed edamame and brown rice- First time making this too, so I'll update later!

We have dinner at both in-laws this week too, so that's two fewer meals to make and I don't usually plan for Saturday since we often eat out once a week.

Menu Planning Sunday

It's Sunday again and that means figuring out what the heck we are eating for the week! Last week's meal plan only had one dud of a recipe. The ginger salmon and scallion brown rice pilaf wasn't that great. I already don't like fish that much and we have one go-to recipe for salmon that is good so I should just stick with it. Oh well, not everything can be delicious! The creamy chicken and biscuit sliders rocked. They were a fam favorite! The second favorite was the BBQ pork quesadillas and the vegetarian shepherd's pie is always  a win in our house. We didn't get to the make your own pizza on Friday. I was too beat to cook and the hubbs took the boy to swim so no one was home until 5:30, so we just ordered pizza. I will save it for another day because it sounds awesome! Onto this week's menu!

Sunday: Paella from a local favorite restaurant Los Andes. I ran 13.1 miles today (more on that tomorrow), meal planned, went grocery shopping and made a freaking apple pie, so I figured that excused me from cooking dinner.
Monday: Tomato tortellini soup (for the fam, I have a girl's night Mexican fiesta to attend!)
Tuesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans
Wednesday: Pesto pasta with chicken sausage and roasted Brussels sprouts
Thursday: Turkey burgers, oven baked fries and salad
Friday: Chicken enchiladas with black beans and rice

Menu Planning Sunday

Meal planning has been so crucial in getting my health and fitness back on track. It saves us from getting carryout and allows me to budget my calories by knowing what days I can and can't splurge on a treat. ;) The thing that I find most invaluable is, when I am so bored with meal planning that nothing sounds good, I can search back through my old meal planning posts and get ideas...and remember what we didn't like!

Sunday: Creamy chicken and biscuit sliders (made these tonight and they were awesome!) and broccoli
Monday: Chicken parm with fresh motz and whole wheat rotini
Tuesday: BBQ Pork quesadillas in whole wheat tortillas with corn on the cob
Wednesday: Ginger Salmon with scallion brown rice pilaf
Thursday: Vegetarian Shepard's pie
Friday: Homemade pizza on wheat crust. Olive and cheese for the kiddos and White bean and caramelized onion for us.

Menu Planning Sunday

This is going to be a busy week filled with a birthday, consignment sale and a hectic week at work so I am actually going to make 2-3 of these meals tonight and tomorrow so they are ready to go during the week!

Sunday: Roasted Chicken and veggies with beet salad.
Monday:Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
Tuesday: Turkey Burgers with zucchini fries
Wednesday: Birthday dinner out with the hubbs. Kiddos get to eat frozen fish fillets and edamame
Thursday: Mexican lasagna (I promise I will do the recipe post on it this time!)
Friday: Chicken Marsala

I am also trying to work more vegetarian dishes into our lineup. If you have any good ones, leave me a link!

Notes on last week:

• Creamy tomato and Chicken sausage pasta was excellent! See last week's post for suggestions and what I changed.
• Cod was good. A little secret is that I really don't like fish. I eat it because it is good for me and the kids and hubby like it. This dish, however, was pretty good. I actually ate a whole portion of fish, which I usually don't. I think the turkey kielbasa that was in it helped. I think next time I will add some fresh oregano to add to the flavor.
• Creamy chicken taquitos were a hit, yet again. 
• BBQ pork loin was really good. I am finding such a difference in the quality of our meat since we started shopping at Whole Foods! For lack of time, I ended up making mashed potatoes instead of roasted.
• The shrimp were good, as always. :)
• We ended up having pizza again on Friday. I am starting to hate pizza. Not that this is relevant to my post,but I seriously don't want to eat it again for a long time.

Menu Planning Sunday

Last week were were semi-off the meal planning wagon. Our electrical system was acting up and the power had to be off for the whole day on Monday. This meant that there was no use in filling up a fridge that would not be staying cold. I still made a plan, but it was haphazardly followed. Subsequently we ate like bleh last week. It is nice to be back in the swing!

Sunday: Creamy tomato and chicken sausage pasta.*
Monday: Baked Cod with chorizo and whie beans with steamed green beans. (Using turkey kielbasa to sub for chorizo)
Tuesday: Baked creamy Chicken Taquitos and salad.
Wednesday: Grilled BBQ pork loin with roasted potatoes and parsnips and broccoli.
Thursday: My killer shrimp with asparagus and rice.
Friday: Takeout of some kind since I am sick to death of pizza!!
Saturday: Leftovers

*The recipe called for turkey sausage but I used chicken sausage. I used one spicy and one mild and only 1/2 cup of cream. I started adding it and, to be honest, thought it would have been too much to add any more. I also didn't have Italian diced tomatoes so I used regular and added Italian seasoning to it along with a little salt and pepper. We used the whole grain penne from Barilla and it was delicious! This is going into the rotation for sure.

Menu Planning Monday

Sunday: Leftover Stuffed shells. The recipe made a lot. I actually used almost all of the shells when I made them a couple weeks ago. I froze the remaining stuffed shells, before the baking step, and just threw them in the oven. The hubbs made a quick marinara to go with them.
Monday: Taco Night! This is what it sounds like...tacos. I will be having a taco salad whereas the fam will be eating something similar to Taco Bell's double-decker tacos. I want to eat them, but my waistline says "no way".
Tuesday:Lighter Shrimp Fried Rice.
Wednesday: Baked Chicken fingers, homemade baked sweet potato fries and beet salad.
Thursday: Pot roast with carrots, mushrooms, and potatoes with a side of green beans.
Friday: Pizza Movie Night!
Saturday: Date night!

Notes on last week's meals:

• The sloppy Joe's are a fan favorite around here. Nate and the hubbs like them and Arielle tolerates them. I seriously think the girl doesn't like meat. She ate a few bites, so that's a win.
• The recipe for the chicken tortellini soup was a bit bland. DH ended up doctoring it up a little, so it was good. It is a good base to start with but just needed a little more flavor. I recommend adding a little hot sauce into your individual bowl. Almost everything is better with sriracha in it!
• The shrimp stir fry was good. I am laughing because I just realized that we are having shrimp fried rice this week. Apparently I like Asian inspired shrimp. ;)
• Ribs are always good. I didn't end up doing them in the crock pot. I forgot so DH cooked them in the pressure cooker and then broiled them in the oven. I rarely make them, but I prefer to put a nice dry rub on them and then cook them at 200 degrees for 6-8 hours.
• The Indian butter chicken was pretty good. The recipe called for Cayenne pepper and I used 1/8 tsp and it was still too hot for the kids. Lesson learned. I love spicy but I have little that aren't quite there yet!

Menu Planning Sunday

I'm feeling good about the meal planning lately! The last 2 weeks have been an overall success as far as family satisfaction goes. This is huge. Even my husband has been liking the new meals. Let's hope that this week is equally successful.
Sunday: Sloppy Joes with roasted cauliflower (delicious) and cucumber salad
Monday: Chicken tortellini soup with mushrooms and spinach
Tuesday: Shrimp Stir fry over soba noodles
Wednesday: Baby back ribs with coleslaw and baked beans
Thursday: Crock pot Indian butter chicken (Thanks Amber for the idea!)
Friday: Pizza night
Saturday: Dinner with the in-laws

Notes on last week's dinners:

• The mini corn dogs were delicious. I love corn dogs and hadn't had one in forever and these hit the spot. Nate doesn't like hot dogs (weirdo), so he wasn't a huge fan.
• Turkey burgers and zucchini fries were great. The kids didn't like the zucchini fries (surprise, surprise). I think next time I make them I will add a little more spice to the coating like some cayenne and some more garlic powder.
• The stuffed shells were a hit all around! They have spinach inside and are not covered in cheese so they are a bit better for you than the ones I usually make. I made my own marinara for them instead of the turkey meat sauce in the recipe. My son asked for seconds.
• The chicken taquitos were also awesome. I am not just saying this. I followed the directions, but to make them not spicy for the kids, I put 1/3 of the cream cheese in another bowl and used only a tbs of the green chile sauce and substituted the pepper jack cheese with shredded Mexican cheese for their taquitos. I made ours the normal way. They weren't all that spicy, but were good.
• The broiled chicken was a little boring. It is funny how grilling makes things taste so much better. I didn't end up making the orzo salad because I ran out of lemon and time, so I subbed with a box of pearled cous cous instead and just broiled the asparagus. 

Menu Planning...now on Sunday

I always like to include our Sunday meal in the weekly plan, so I think it makes more sense to post on Sunday. That way I can start the week with a more fun, rather than utilitarian post like what we're eating for dinner!

Sunday lunch: Mini corn dog muffins with grapes and Stonyfield tube yogurts on the side. I just had to include lunch since it was something new and fun...and delicious! I am totally making these  again for a party!
Sunday dinner:Spinach stuffed shells and Caesar salad. I decided to do just a marinara instead of the turkey meat sauce since we'll be having turkey burgers later in the week.
Monday: Turkey burgers and baked zucchini fries.
Tuesday: Chicken taquitos with black beans and rice (my sil's recipe) and my guacamole.
Wednesday:  Beef Stew. Hubby's recipe, he's making it. In the pressure cooker. It is delicious, but I will never get him to write down a recipe for me.
Thursday: Marinated broiled (can't wait until we can get grilling again!) lemon herb chicken breast and asparagus orzo salad.
Friday: Pizza movie night! I think we'll make our pizza this week. It will help me stay on track with my eating. I am going to make a fresh motz margarita pizza on wheat crust (from our local bakery) for the grown ups and some cheese and olive pizza for the kidlets.


Notes on last week's dinners:
The Mexican lasagna was a huge hit all around, so I will post a recipe this week with pictures.
The Hamburger buddy was devoured as well. Delicious, quick and sneaky with its shredded carrots and mushrooms mixed in.
The puffed pastry chicken was a flop. No one liked it...not even me. It's a shame because it looked so good.

Menu Planning Monday

Since I am jumping back on the blogging wagon, a few other things need attention too...like meal planning. I try to do it every week and then go to the market on Sundays. If that doesn't happen we end up with at least 3 nights of takeout. That isn't good for the wallet or the waistline. I am going to try to pick recipes all during the week so I don't have to do it all on Saturday or Sunday morning.  If you want to put a link in the comments of a favorite recipe I would love you forever! I hate getting bored with dinner. I have been trying some recipes I find on Pinterest, so I will link to them if you want to try them out too!
I am adding Sunday even though I'm starting on Monday so I can remember what I made!

Sunday: Whole roasted chicken, *scalloped potatoes, and **beets.
Monday: Hamburger Buddy
Tuesday: Stuffed chicken breast wrapped in puffed pastry, roasted carrots and butternut squash.
Wednesday: Mexican lasagna (I got this recipe from a friend & will post it if we like it.)
Thursday: Farfalle pasta with chicken, asparagus, pine nuts, black olives and caramelized onion. (My own recipe. I will do a step by step of this one. It is delicious!)
Friday: Pizza movie night!
Saturday: Dinner at the in-laws

*The scalloped potatoes were DELICIOUS! OMG, I could eat them all day. I substituted 50% reduced fat cheese since you use a cup and a half of cheese. I also used Yukon gold potatoes and left the skin on.

**The beets...I thought they were delicious. My hubby thought they were ok. Then again, he likes them with just vinegar on them. He does this to his broccoli too, so I think I won't count his vote. Both kids ate them all up! Yes, my 2 and 4.5 year olds chowed down some beets. I call that a big win. The recipe called for something called Golden syrup. I couldn't find it at Whole Food or my regular market so I substituted equal parts honey and pure maple syrup.

Menu Planning Monday

Last week was a disaster! Both kids and I were sick. I didn't make it to the market the previous Sunday and I was left scrambling for dinners all week. This meant unhealthy takeout and not really balanced meals, which is what you really need when you are sick. Ugh! Now that we are on the upswing of the sickness, both kids are well into their antibiotics and finally sleeping through the night again (THANK GOD) I made sure I planned for this week. Here's what's on the table this week:

Sunday: Individual Shepherd's Pie (Also called Shepherd's Pie Pie by Natey)
Monday: Broiled Spiced Salmon, broccoli & cous cous
Tuesday: Chicken Pesto Pasta
Wednesday: Shrimp Fried rice
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Slow cooker beef stew
Saturday: Dinner at in-laws

The Shepherd's pie was a new recipe and it got a thumbs up from all at the table. I will be adding it to the recipe binder, which is in need of some serious updating! I'm doing a little experimenting with  the shrimp fried rice and also the chicken pesto pasta so it doesn't involve cream (to much fat). If they come out well, I will post the recipes. If you have any awesome (and quick, ~45 min or less) recipes, post a link in my comments. I am getting tired of trolling through recipe blogs, not knowing if the food is any good!

Menu Planning Monday...on Tuesday

I planned Sunday and went shopping, but I was exhausted from my awesome weekend so I didn't get the post up. Better Late than never I always say....but I'm a procrastinator.

Sunday: Walnut crusted chicken cutlets with white bean mash & asparagus (This was a big hit! The only thing I will change for next time is I will either add a bit more chicken broth to the mash or I will puree half a can of the beans with some broth and mix it in.)

Monday: Turkey Burgers and sweet potato fries (I broke my own rule and bought ground turkey breast instead of just lean ground turkey. The burgers weren't as tasty and they were a bit drier than I like them. Next time I will follow my own advice!)

Tuesday: Roasted Salmon with Maple Glaze and broccoli (recipe to follow after I make it and, you  know, take pictures!)

Wednesday: Braised Paprika Chicken with brown rice

Thursday: Shrimp, Spinach and Mushroom barley

Friday: Turkey meatball soup (from Deceptively Delicious. We'll see how delicious it really is.)

Menu Planning Monday

It worked well for me last week to do my meal planning so here I am again to try it again! For more ideas visit the home of menu planning Monday!

Monday: Shrimp with rice and asparagus (I will post this recipe after we make it. It is easy and delicious!)
Tuesday: Spaghetti and meatballs
Wednesday: Fried chicken with corn on the cob and salad
Thursday: Pesto & cracker crusted Cod and stuffies with green beans
Friday: Chicken curry with rice (This is the first time I am trying this recipe. I will probably make changes to it and let you know how it comes out.)
Saturday: The kids will be eating leftovers and I will be having a grown up meal out with friends to celebrate my upcoming birthday! Woot!

Happy Monday!

Menu Planning Monday

I actually do my menu planning on Sunday, but I didn't have time to post. I really need to be more strict with the follow through of the planning. If the trip to the market doesn't happen on Sunday, we are playing catch up all week and that usually means take-out more than once. I may have to start doing Pea Pod grocery delivery. I am tired of going to the market! Anyway, without further blah blah blah, here is our menu for the week!

Sunday: Chicken Stir fry with rice
Monday: Roasted Chicken with glazed carrots
Tuesday: Beef Stew
Wednesday: Salmon, broccoli & couscous
Thursday: Turkey Burgers with roasted cauliflower
Friday: Uber-American Tacos (Seriously. Ground beef & taco seasoning pack: hubbs pick)

I may have to post a couple more of these recipes. Well, not the tacos. Bleh. At least the boys seem to like them. The roasted cauliflower is awesome and Nate even loves it. It must have something to do with the butter and garlic. Mmmmmm. butter. What are some of your week night staples?? I am in need of inspiration!