Menu for April 25 to May 1

You are going to notice that there are some things that I make over and over again.  Once you find something that works then you stick with it.  It makes menu planning and the actually cooking of dinner go that much faster.  Also on Monday and Tuesday of this week my mom had back surgery.  Those two days were spent in Odessa, TX.  That is where she had her surgery done.  Those two days we ate at the hospital cafeteria.  But I found links to websites that will give you tips on what to you can eat when eating out.  I'll post them on those days.

Saturday:  Balsamic Chicken and Vegetables with spaghetti squash and side salad.  I love chicken, but my husband would rather have meat.  I found this recipe on pinterest and I thought I even though he doesn't really care for chicken, he really does love asparagus.  So I hoped he would give it a chance. 

http://sweetestdelicacy.com/2014/02/01/balsamic-chicken-veggies/

Balsamic Chicken and Vegetables

1/4 cup fat free Italian dressing

2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp honey

1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces

10 oz asparagus, cut into 2 in pieces

1 cup grated carrots

In a small bowl, stir together salad dressing, balsamic vinegar, honey, and crushed red peppers. Set aside.  In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high. Add chicken; cook 5-6 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Add half of the dressing mixture to skillet; stir to coat. Transfer chicken to a serving platter; cover and keep warm.  Add asparagus and carrot to skillet. Cook and stir for 3-4 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender; transfer to serving platter.  Stir remaining dressing mixture; add to skillet. Cook and stir 1 minute, scraping up browned bits from bottom of skillet. Drizzle the dressing mixture over chicken and vegetables. If desired sprinkle with chopped tomato.

To roast the spaghetti squash, preheat oven to 375.  Cut the squash in half, scrape out the seeds, drizzle 1/2 tsp. olive oil on each half, season with salt and pepper.  Roast 45 minutes.  Let rest 10 minutes and scrape out the strands with a fork.

I always have salad components ready to go.  Side salads are a quick and easy side to put together.

http://harddoesnotequalimpossible.blogspot.com/2015/03/menu-planning-and-meal-prep.html 

And my husband really did like this dinner.  Although he was wary of sauceless spaghetti squash.  He would much rather it have marinara on it.  Now I know.

Sunday:  Pork Moo shu, brown rice, and spring rolls.  This is one of my favorite ways to make stir fry!  I actually found this recipe in my daughter's Disney Princess Cook book.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and delicious it was. And seeing as how it was in her cook book it's also a recipe you can do with your kids.  That way you get them into the kitchen and helping to make dinner. I added a small piece of chicken because my dad made his most fabulous salsa and I needed something extra to put it on.  I am so going to have learn how to make that salsa.

Pork Moo Shu

1 tbsp canola oil

1 tsp ground ginger

5 cups broccoli slaw

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

1/2 tbsp less sodium soy sauce

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 cups baked tenderloin pork, diced

1/2 cup cashew halves & pieces

Heat oil in a large, nonstick frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add ginger powder and stir for 1 minute.  Add the broccoli slaw to the pan, and turn up the heat a little. Stir-fry the vegetables for 4 to 5 minutes. Cook them long enough to darken in color without losing their crunchiness.  Turn the heat down to medium, and stir in the pork, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, red pepper flakes and cashews. Continue cooking moo shu for another 2 minutes to heat through. Serve over rice.

Brown rice is a boil in the bag kind.  Just make it according to package directions.  I like to toss a cube of chicken broth into the water to flavor the rice.  When it's done, I season the rice with Mrs. Dash, a splash of less sodium soy sauce, and 1/2 tsp. Land O'Lakes Light Butter with Canola.

The spring rolls, were mini vegetable spring rolls, that I baked in my toaster oven.  Once again just follow the package directions.

 
Monday: Out of town.  If you have to eat out and you want to try to eat as well as possible, then it's good to know a few places that you can check online for ideas.  Because of the time of my mom's surgery, we ended up eating dinner at the hospital.  I got a Pesto Chicken Wrap and cracker chips.  Which I had to eat in record time because my mom got out of surgery right at 6:15.

http://www.drgourmet.com/health/fastfood/index.shtml#.VTwMPZM0aQl

http://www.vintagenewsjunkie.com/weight-for-it-wednesday-because-all-great-things-take-time-week-five/










Tuesday: Out of town.  Here are another couple of links that will help you at those pesky fast food places.  And they just happen to be two of my favorite websites.  Also today I had lunch and dinner at the cafeteria.  I didn't feel like going all the way across town to Firehouse Subs for a Salsa Verde Turkey Sub.  Maybe it would have been worth it.  But I decide to have another Pesto Chicken Wrap.


http://www.skinnymom.com/?s=fast+food+under+500

http://www.skinnymom.com/ is a FANTASTIC website.  Not only can you find fast food suggestions all for under 500 calories, but they have oodles and oodles of information. 

http://www.hungry-girl.com/biteout/show/ultimate-2014-hungry-girl-survival-guide/pinit

http://www.hungry-girl.com/ is also fabulous.  Good recipes and tips to help you along on your weight loss journey. 

Wednesday:  Chicken Burrito Night, but I opted for Chicken Tostadas and Sea Salt Cracker Chips.  Once again this is another recipe from one of my previous posts.

 http://harddoesnotequalimpossible.blogspot.com/2015/04/recipes-for-prepped-chicken.html

If you take one day to prep chicken, and really it only takes about 15 minutes to get the chicken ready and to cook the chicken, then you will have a quick and easy way to pull a healthy and delicious dinner together in no time. These are corn tortillas I toasted in my toaster oven, Laughing Cow Cheese, black beans, chopped chicken, salsa, and sour cream.  So simple and yet so delicious.  And that salsa is my dad's recipe.  Which honestly if I had the recipe I probably wouldn't share it.  It's that special to our family.  Sorry.

Thursday: Baked herb encrusted cod, vegetables, and coleslaw.  I always try to include fish once a week.  And cod is my favorite.  I thought this time I would try something different and used Mrs. Dash to season the fish.  And once again my dad's salsa is sprinkled on each thing.  It's so spicy that a little goes a long way.

Baked Cod

Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb
1 lb. cod

Pam

Preheat oven to 450.  Spray a baking sheet with Pam.  Then spray cod with Pam and sprinkle with Mrs. Dash evenly over the fish.  And bake 10-12 minutes.  You can also place the fish close to the broiler for a minute or two to crisp up the top a bit more.

To make the coleslaw I mixed 1 1/2 cups of tricolor coleslaw mix, with 1 tbsp. Kraft Creamy Poppy Seed dressing and the juice of one lemon wedge. Stir to combine.  That makes one serving.

The vegetables were a mix of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.  I buy the ones that you steam in the bag.  When they are done I put them in a mixing bowl, add 1 tsp. of light butter with canola, Mrs. Dash, pepper, the juice of 2 wedges of lemon or lime, and crushed red pepper to taste.  The stir to combine.

Friday:  Salisbury Steak, Garlic Ranch mashed potatoes, brown gravy, sauteed onions, and lemony green beans.  Maybe some day I'll be able to convince my husband to let me try mashed cauliflower in place of mashed potatoes.  Until that day I'll keep using low sodium chicken broth in the place of milk.  He doesn't even know the difference.

Salisbury Steak

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
salt
pepper

Spray a frying pan with Pam and heat to medium.  Combine all ingredients and form into 4 patties.  Cook 5-7 minutes and then flip and cook 5-7 minutes until done.


Garlic Ranch Mashed Potatoes

2 lbs white potatoes, peeled

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

2 tbsps Land O'Lakes light butter with canola

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp Mrs. Dash

1/2 tsp ranch dry dips mix

1/2 tsp salt

1 Laughing Cow Light Swiss cheese wedge

Cut peeled potatoes into large chunks. Add potatoes and garlic to a large pot filled with water. Boil 18-20 minutes or until tender. Drain. Place the potatoes and garlic back into the empty pot. Add chicken broth, butter, cheese, salt, pepper, dry ranch mix and seasoning to the pot. Mash until desired consistency. Serve.

The gravy is made from a package.  Just follow the directions.  For the onions, cut half an onion into thin slices.  Spray a pan with Pam and heat to medium-low.  Add the onions and cook until soft and tender.  The green beans are the frozen ones.  You just steam them right in the bag.  Once they are done I pour them into a mixing bowl, add the juice of 2 lemon wedges, pepper, Mrs. Dash, crushed red pepper, and 1 tsp. of light canola butter.

And an update on my mom, her surgery went great.  And she is recovering very well.  My daughter and I will probably make a couple more trips to Odessa to see her next week.  So another Pesto Chicken Wrap from the hospital cafeteria is in my near future.