Menu June 20 to June 26

Twice this week we went out for dinner.  One was for a special occasion and the other was to because I was having a horrible terrible day.  The biggest problem with eating out is the sodium in the food.  When you cook at home you can control how much salt goes in your food.  Eating out...it's a guess.  I try not to add any extra salt to my food when dining out.

Saturday: Dined out.  Today was Father's Day and we decided to take my husband out for dinner.  I ordered one of my most favorite meals...chicken fried steak! I also had a side salad and some veggie soup.  I absolutely love chicken fried steak.  And I even though I had corn and mashed potatoes, I managed to say no to the dinner roll.

Sunday:  Chicken Wrap and cracker chips.  We had actually gone out of town today and for lunch I stopped at the Orange Leaf.  For those who don't know the wonderfullness of frozen yogurt you need to get yourself to the Orange Leaf!  We made it home in time for dinner but after all that yogurt I decided to just make myself a chicken wrap for dinner.   First I started out with a Flatout flatbread.  Those are 90 calories for the light ones.  And they also come in different flavors: original, Italian, and rosemary.  Today I used the original.  I smeared one wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, spicy hot mustard, a big handful of spinach, about 4 ounces or so of sliced chicken.  Today I decided to go crazy and add two strips of fully cooked bacon.  Then roll it up, and cut it in half.  With a some Special K Sea Salt cracker chips on the side...YUM!

Monday:  Dined out.  I had a very rough day and my husband wanted to give me a little break and take me out to dinner.  Twice in one week, but I couldn't say no.  He collects cans and he told me that he would sell his cans and use that money for dinner.  He ended up getting a little over 30 bucks for his cans.  We went to our favorite Mexican food place and I ordered a Green Chili Cheeseburger.  I love them!  If I am going to have a cheeseburger it's gonna be from a sit down restaurant and not from a fast food place.

Tuesday:  Burrito Bake, black beans, and green beans.  Slice it up like pie!  It's easy and quick...burritos for everyone!

Burrito Bake

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 pkg. Old El Paso 40% less sodium taco seasoning mix (or you can make and use your own which is what I did and I'll include the recipe)

3/4 cup water

6 whole wheat tortillas

1 (16 oz) can fat free refried beans

1 cup. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Brown meat in a large nonstick skillet on medium high heat; drain. Add seasoning mix and water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place 2 tortillas on the bottom of a greased 9 inch pie plate. Cover with half each of the refried beans, meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining 2 tortillas. Bake 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. Cut into wedges to serve.

Taco Seasoning

1 tbsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. paprika

1 1/2 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Mix everything together and then store in an airtight container.  I have a feeling that I am going to be using this spice mix a whole lot!

I also take a day to prep black beans.  I buy a can of No Salt Added whole black beans, not the refried ones.  Rinse them in a colander.  I take a medium size skillet add about 1/4 cup of water.  Heat over medium, and once the water is hot I add the beans.  Then I season them with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, pepper, crushed red pepper, cumin, hot sauce, and 25% less sodium seasoned salt.  Stir it all up and then mash them.  You can add more water if you want them to be bit more runny.  And all the seasonings are to taste.  Just depends on your taste buds.  I cook them for about 5-7 minutes on low.  This is actually one of the foods that I prep on Sundays.  And then after they have cooled down I keep them in the fridge for tostadas, burritos, or just as a side.

The green beans are the frozen mixed ones.  You just steam them right in the bag.  Once they are done I pour them into a mixing bowl, add pepper, Mrs. Dash, crushed red pepper, and 1 tsp. of light canola butter.  

Wednesday:  Hoisin-Orange Pork Chops, Coconut Brown Rice, and stir fry deluxe vegetable mix.  I found this recipe in a Weight Watchers 5 ingredient 15 minute recipe magazine.  And I tried to find it online but I couldn't.  So here is the recipe which I did not change one thing.  What really caught my attention is the cook time.  This was fast and delicious, just my kind of recipe.  At first I was kind of skeptical because you broil the pork chops and that's not a method I'm very familiar with, but they came out beautifully and delicious.

Hoisin-Orange Pork Chops

3 tbsp. hoisin sauce

2 tsp orange peel

1 tsp. less sodium soy sauce

1/4 tsp. Chinese five spice

1 tsp sesame oil, divided

4 pork loin boneless center cut chops

Preheat broiler.  Combine hoisin, orange peel, soy sauce, and five-spice in a small bowl. Stir with a whisk.  Rub pork chops with sesame oil, and baste with hoisin mixture. Place pork on a broiler pan coated with Pam. Cook 4 minutes on each side or until done; basting occasionally with remaining hoisin mixture.

Usually I just make plain brown rice.  The boil in a bag kind but I came across this recipe in the same Weight Watchers cook book and I wanted to give it a try.  And I forgot to take a picture.

Coconut Brown Rice

1 bag of boil in a bag brown rice
1/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper (I used orange because that's what I had at home)

Cook the rice according to the package directions.  While the rice cooks, heat a small nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add coconut to pan; cook 2 minutes or until golden brown, stirring constantly.  Remove coconut, and set aside.  Return pan to medium high heat; coat with Pam.  Add bell pepper to pan; cook 2 minutes or until crisp tender.  Combine rice, coconut, and bell pepper in a medium bowl; toss well.

The stir fry vegetable blend comes from the freezer section.  These were not the steam in the bag kind.  I  poured the frozen veggies in a bowl and added 1/2 cup of water.  I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and followed the directions on the back of the bag.  Then I poured out the extra water and added 1/2 tbsp. of less sodium soy sauce and 1/2 tbsp. of sriracha, and 1 tsp. of light canola butter.  Stirred it all together and serve.

Thursday:  Au Gratin Sausage Skillet, black beans, and asparagus.  This dinner comes together fairly quickly when you're short on time.  You don't have to slave away all day to make dinner.  Most of these recipes can come together in no time.

Au Gratin Sausage Skillet

1 pkg. smoked sausage, halved and sliced

1 (4.7 oz) box Betty Crocker Au Gratin Cheesy Potatoes

2 1/2 cups water

2 (12 oz) bags Birds Eye Steamfresh broccoli, cauliflower & carrots

In a large skillet sprayed with Pam, cook sausage until lightly browned; drain. Add potatoes with contents of sauce mix and water. Cover and cook over medium heat for 18-20 minutes or until the potatoes are almost tender, stirring occasionally.  Add vegetables; cover and cook for 8-10 minutes or until potatoes and vegetables are tender. Remove from heat; cover and let stand for 2 minutes.

I also take a day to prep black beans.  I buy a can of No Salt Added whole black beans, not the refried ones.  Rinse them in a colander.  I take a medium size skillet add about 1/4 cup of water.  Heat over medium, and once the water is hot I add the beans.  Then I season them with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, pepper, crushed red pepper, cumin, hot sauce, and 25% less sodium seasoned salt.  Stir it all up and then mash them.  You can add more water if you want them to be bit more runny.  And all the seasonings are to taste.  Just depends on your taste buds.  I cook them for about 5-7 minutes on low.  This is actually one of the foods that I prep on Sundays.  And then after they have cooled down I keep them in the fridge for tostadas, burritos, or just as a side.

I used fresh asparagus tonight.  I don't like to use frozen asparagus because I think my microwave likes to explode them.  I bought some Ziploc:  Zip'n Steam bags.  You can steam fresh veggies in your microwave.  It's a fabulous product.  And on the back of each bag is instructions on how long to steam different veggies.  Once they were done I poured them into a mixing bowl, added pepper, Mrs. Dash, crushed red pepper, the juice of a couple wedges of lemon, and 1 tsp. of light canola butter.  

Friday: Creamed Beef and Biscuits, mashed potatoes, and green beans/wax beans/baby carrots mixed veggies. This is something my grandma used to make for us when I was a little girl. In fact I'm pretty sure a lot of grandmas made this. 

Creamed Beef

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups 1% milk

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 tsp. Mrs. Dash

Saute the beef in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and cooking until no longer pink, 12-15 minutes. Drain.  Sprinkle meat with flour. Stir and cook the beef and flour over medium heat until the flour has completely coated the beef and cooked slightly.  Stir in the milk and continue to cook until the mixture becomes smooth and thickens, about 8 minutes. Add the Mrs. Dash and pepper.

 
Garlic Ranch Mashed Potatoes

2 lbs white potatoes

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp Mrs Dash

1 tsp ranch dry dips mix

1/2 tsp salt

1 light Laughing Cow 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 milk, butter, cheese, salt, pepper, dry ranch mix and seasoning to the pot. Mash until desired consistency. Serve.  Note: if you want your potatoes to be creamier then add a few more tablespoons of milk until desired creaminess is achieved.

The veggies were not the steam in the bag kind but they are from the freezer section.  I  poured the frozen veggies in a bowl and added 1/2 cup of water.  I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and followed the directions on the back of the bag.  Then I poured out the extra water and added pepper, Mrs. Dash, crushed red pepper, and 1 tsp. of light canola butter.  Stirred to make sure everything is combined and serve.

And last but not least the biscuits are just ones from the can.  And it scares me every single time the can pops!