Belated Menu Plan 3/4 - 3/11

I've gotten a bit behind on my blogging - between schoolwork, work work and other stuff going on in my life I haven't had much time to cook let alone write about it. :) We had a busy-but-fun weekend, and believe it or not I did plan out my meals for the week.

OK. So here goes.

Friday
We had two of our good friends over for dinner. These friends prefer to eat vegetarian/low on the food chain and brought a delicious tortilla espanola as an appetizer, so I made the following:

• This Indian Relish appetizer, mixed with cream cheese and served with rice crackers. OMG was it crazy-addictive-good. It was even better the next day. I am in LOVE.
  
• Cajun stuffed peppers. I split them up half an half - some had chicken andouille sausage and others had portabella mushrooms. All had hot sauce, rice and monterey jack cheese.
• Green salad.
  
• Dessert: Fresh fruit with a Cool Whip-and-yogurt dipping sauce.
  

Saturday
Leftover stuffed peppers for dinner, and leftover fruit dip for dessert.

Sunday
I made ribs, slow cooked in the oven with Dinosaur BBQ sauce (yummy!) and served with baked potato and creamed corn.

Monday
This mini frittata recipe (though I plan to add green pepper as well), served with hash browns and green salad.

Tuesday
Chicken tenders baked with Bisquick, frozen veggies (probably green beans) and a starch TBD. Either a baked potato or some type of rice.

Wednesday
Pulling some chili out of the freezer for dinner, with green salad for dinner. Since I don't have to commute that day, if I feel ambitious I'll make some crusty Italian bread to go along with it.

Thursday
Leftovers night.

Friday
Leftovers or takeout, depending on what we have/are in the mood for.

Monday Menu Plan 11/6 - 11/12

Last week's menu plan went - well, a little off-kilter, but not too badly. The portabella stir fry I made was absolutely delicious (if a bit too much cabbage for our tastes) but it made a lot more than I had originally anticipated. So instead of pasta, we had portabella stir fry leftovers (and I even had some leftovers for office lunches!).

The Halloween plan of Captain-Morgan-spiked butterbeer and shrimp went very well, though I also weakened and made some absolutely yummy pan-fried mozzarella sticks breaded with Gillian's Italian bread crumbs. YUM! We also went through approximately half of our candy that night (yes, mostly to trick-or-treaters, LOL). I got fed up by Tuesday and made my husband bring the rest of the leftover candy into the office. :)

Finally, Friday, I weakened and ordered sushi takeout. (Hey, it's technically still fish). We tried ordering from Mealeo.com for the first time - it was pretty awesome!

I also got a huge box of stuff from Live Gluten Freely that I plan to review and giveaway sometime soon, so stay tuned. :)

Now, it's time to start the planning process all over again. This week is actually a bit of a crazy week - though I suppose I could honestly say that about every week from Halloween through the New Year.

Unfortunately this means my "healthy eating" plan sometimes goes right out the window. This week my goal is "squeeze some veggies in there when I can and log some extra cardio hours."

So, since I didn't get a chance to post this on Saturday (woohoo, authentic Monday blog post!), here goes:

Saturday - We attended a house party with some wonderful friends. I was asked to make "chicken crack" AKA buffalo chicken dip, which I made for our housewarming party to rave reviews. It's so simple, too:

Buffalo "Chicken Crack" Dip
- 2 small/1 large can of white meat chicken
- 1 regular size bottle of Frank's Original Red Hot - Eyeball it, but in my experience you can't go wrong with the whole bottle.
- Ranch Dressing (GF) - Eyeball it. You're not going to go wrong.
- Shredded cheddar cheese to taste - I usually use an 8oz package and maybe some extra.
- 1 8 oz brick of cream cheese. I usually use reduced fat, but I suppose that's a little like ordering a Big Mac and Super Size fries with a diet soda.

Mix all ingredients together, setting some of the cheese aside. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Stir, add the remaining cheese, bake for an additional 10 minutes, and serve with Scoops and/or celery sticks.

YUM!

I also made my gluten free pizza puffs, just cheese, no pepperoni.

Sunday - I made a roast chicken, with skillet roasted red potatoes (I still had a lot left over from last week when Price Chopper had a Buy One, Get One sale), and Italian green beans with extra garlic.

Monday - Class night. As usual, Hubby's eating leftovers or on his own. I could probably buy stock in Chiquita bananas and KIND bars by now.

Tuesday - Chicken leftovers.

Wednesday - Shrimp something. Either stir fry, or, if I'm feeling ambitious, creole.

Thursday - Leftovers.

Friday - TBD, depending what our plans are with friends.

There it is - let's see how well it goes this week. :)

Menu Plan - 10/30 to 11/5

It's that time of week already, time to plan another weekly menu plan before grocery shopping. Last week's went as scheduled up until Friday, when I was sick so my husband took over dinner and made Bell & Evan chicken tenders with buffalo and BBQ dipping sauces, fries and sugar snap peas. However, I'm feeling better now and ready to start a new week of menu planning!

I'm still trying to stick to healthy recipes, but I want to get out of the meal rut we've been in lately. So I finally cracked open this wonderful cookbook my friend Maggie gave us for our Housewarming party, from America's Test Kitchen. So the focus is healthy with one junk day, and leftovers for busy nights when we can't cook.

So, here goes:

Saturday (Tonight) - We're going vegetarian. I'm making a portabella and veggie stir fry from the America's Test Kitchen book. I'll likely pair it with brown rice.

Sunday - Happy Halloween! I'm considering this junk day. We'll be munching on cheese and crackers as an appetizer, then to avoid a complete junk food hangover I'll make sauteed lime shrimp with a chili dipping sauce and a salad for dinner, followed by Butterbeer for dessert. And I'm sure we'll be dipping into the Halloween candy bowl as well!

Monday - Class night. Hubby will have leftovers or make Trader Joe's boxed GF mac and cheese. I'll eat on the run, probably a KIND bar and a couple pieces of fruit.

Tuesday - GF pasta night. Penne with vodka and a salad sounds good.

Wednesday - Trying another America's Test Kitchen recipe for skillet roasted chicken and red potatoes. Served with Italian-style green beans (sauteed in garlic and olive oil).

Thursday - Chicken leftovers.

Friday - Fish, take two. :) I have to see what looks good, but definitely served with red potatoes and broccoli.

As for baking:

• Sandwich bread for hubby during the week
• I keep meaning to try this cinnamon roll recipe with GF Bisquick - maybe tomorrow morning.
  

Menu Plan Monday

OK, here goes, trying another Menu Plan Monday.

The biggest constraint that I have in planning my menu is speed. I (sometimes) have time to cook on the weekends, but during the week, not so much. Between work, commuting, part-time classes and the homework/studying they entail, and various social commitments, it can be hard getting a quick and easy dinner on the table by 7 PM. I just don't have time for long meals, and while I admittedly keep Starfish Cod and Bell & Evans chicken in the freezer for emergencies, I really don't want to live on convenience food. My goal is (relatively) healthy meals that are easy to prepare and don't exceed our (admittedly generous) grocery budget.

I usually allow one day a week for a "junky" dinner like pizza, nachos, or something like that. It's usually on Sundays (football day) but last week occurred during one of the Yankees-Rangers games. So we're trying to be healthy this week. :)

I'll start with Saturday (yesterday) since that's when I did my meal planning and grocery shopping:

Saturday - Salmon sauteed in olive oil, white wine and Old Bay. Served with baked potato, sauteed portabella mushroom (in white wine and garlic salt), and kernel corn.

Sunday - Crock pot chicken. Take a whole roaster chicken, cook in the crock pot for approx. 6 hours. Coat with BBQ sauce. Serve with potato, green beans.

Monday - Own own. Hubby usually does leftovers, I usually scarf down a KIND bar and a piece of fruit on my way from work to class.

Tuesday - Leftover chicken, rice, and mixed veggies (grean beans, corn, carrots).

Wednesday - Pasta. I'm planning a meatless take on Uno's Rattlesnake pasta - gluten free penne with alfredo sauce and broccoli. Mix together the ingredients, add a couple of jalapenos and a sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese to melt on top of it. I make it a little better for me by steaming extra broccoli on the side and watching my pasta portions.

Thursday - Has to be another quick night because of hubby's bowling league. Pasta leftovers.

Friday - Fish night. Whatever looks good at Offshore Pier in East Greenbush or Two Cousins in Newton Plaza on the way home from work. When in doubt, baked tilapia.

For lunch this week, I am bringing in green salad with avocado (if it ripens in time, else chickpeas or crumbled cheese), fresh veggies, and my recently discovered favorite, raspberry viniagrette. :)

Menu Plan Monday

I love the Menu Plan Monday theme that goes on - it's a great way to get ideas on what to make during the week. I've never really done it before because, well, I do my grocery shopping on Saturdays and tend to plan meals Saturday to Friday. (Weak excuse, I know.) However, I am trying to plan out a healthy "cleanse" week to look good in a cocktail dress over the weekend... either cutting out or limiting as much as possible all junk (desserts, chips, other processed foods), diet soda, vino, etc. Still allowing my non-negotiable cup of coffee every morning or I'd be unbearable to live/work with. :)

So without further ado, here's my "two-day-early" menu plan:

Saturday - We'll be doing sushi takeout this evening. I'll be ordering the following maki: tuna, salmon, shrimp, avocado and cucumber. Maybe with edamame or a salad (unfortunately most ginger dressing is not gluten free - when we go out to eat Japanese food we bring a little bottle of ranch!)

Sunday - Leftover night. I have some rice and beans in the freezer - brown rice, kidney beans, green pepper, red onion, kernel corn, and a jar of medium salsa. It's always better leftover because the flavors tend to mix well, and also freezes pretty well. My hubby mixes in mild taco sauce, I like to add a drop or to of habanero sauce to mine. Sprinkle with monterey jack cheese and you're golden. You can eat it with a spoon, wrap it up on corn tortillas, or even use Tostitos Scoops to eat it.

Monday - Grilling! Chicken marinated in Italian dressing, grilled veggies (white mushrooms, red peppers, sweet onions, maybe some other stuff if it looks good). A boiled yellow squash with salt and pepper for me, Lundberg Farms risotto for my hubby.

Tuesday - Fresh fish (TBD, I like to pick it up from the market that day and see what looks good). Served with broccolini and baby red potatoes.

Wednesday - Grilled shrimp skewers, and grilled veggies again (white mushrooms, red peppers, sweet onions, maybe some other stuff if it looks good). Another boiled yellow squash for me, and leftover risotto for my hubby.

Thursday - Grilled chicken again (what, there are 5 portions in those "Perfect Portions" bags!) Still marinated in Italian dressing. This time with corn on the cob and leftover baby red potatoes.

Friday - Thinking of picking up snow crab legs with baked potato and steamed broccoli. As long as it looks good and isn't exorbitant - plan B is sauteed shrimp with the same sides.