Meal Planning Monday April 22, 2013

Hi all!

Wow it has been one heck of a week for us!  We experienced some major rainstorms and flooding in my area this week and it created a lot of stress.  We were lucky enough to not experience any damage to our home but many of our neighbors were not so lucky.  If you all could send out some positive thoughts for the flood victims in the Chicago region it would be greatly appreciated :)

Now on to this week's meal plan!

Monday: Crock Pot Catalina Chicken (5P+)

Tuesday: Baked Taquitos (5P+)

Wednesday: Italian Turkey Meatloaf (4P+)

Thursday: Leftovers   

Friday: Pizza Night!

Saturday: Leftovers or eat out

Sunday: Weight Watchers Burgers (6P+)

Breakfast: Egg Whites with kale, mushrooms and sweet peppers

Lunch: Salad in a Jar (varies based on toppings)

Dessert: Gluten Free Strawberry Zucchini Muffins (2P+)

Kid Friendly Korner: Gluten Free Tacos

Happy Eating! :)

Meal Planning Monday April 15, 2013

Hello!!  We had a beautiful weekend here and I got distracted from meal planning, so here it is a little bit late:)

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Bruschetta Burgers-use turkey burgers (6P+)

Wednesday: Chocolate Chip Oat Pancakes (5P+) and turkey sausage

Thursday: Crock Pot Round Steak (8P+)

Friday: Pizza Night!!

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Slow Cooker Parmesan Honey Pork Roast (6P+) and Gluten Free Oat Drop Biscuits (1P+)

Breakfast: Slow Cooker Oatmeal with Dried Cherries (4P+-I leave out the honey to lower the points and add some fresh fruit)

Lunch: Veggie and Humus Wraps- fresh veggies and roasted red pepper humus wrapped in corm tortillas (P+ vary based on tortillas ~6P+)

Dessert: Sunshine Cake (2P+)

Kid Friendly Korner: Zucchini Pizzas


Have a great week and Happy Eating! :)

Grain Free Brownies...with a hidden mom approved ingredient :)

Last weekend Little A requested brownies.  Since we are trying very hard to reduce the amount of gluten in his diet, I began searching the web for a gluten free brownie.  Combine this search with the need to use 2 beautiful zucchinis that came in our produce box this week and this delicious recipe was born!  Knowing there was so much nutrition hidden in these babies helped me feel a lot less mom guilt when Little A ate 3 :)

I left the skin on my zucchini, but it is really up to you.  The zucchini blends in beautifully in this recipe, it practically melts into the chocolate.  I also used crunchy peanut butter but creamy is great as well.  I preferred the crunchy for texture as these are very fudgy brownies, but I will caution that the nut pieces are really noticeable so if you don't like nuts in your brownies use creamy.
 
This recipe was inspired by this beautiful recipe from Elana's Pantry and this scrumptious recipe from For the Love of Nutritiousness and then tweaked to fit personal preferences (and of course Little A's!)

Grain Free Brownies with Zucchini

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini shredded fine 
1c natural peanut butter (make sure there is no added sugar)
1/3c cocoa powder
1tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1egg
1/4c honey
pinch salt
1/2c chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper.
3. Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a bowl (I used my mixer but you can get by with a spoon I'm sure)
4. Pour into prepared baking dish.
5. Bake for ~30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes on clean.
6. Let brownies coll before serving.  They are very fudgy and hard to remove from the pan if they don't cool at least some before serving.  I put mine in the fridge so I could eat them faster :)

Store these in the refrigerator to extend their shelf life.  The moisture from the zucchini will make them counter top stable for only 3-4 days, but in the fridge mine lasted 1 week (would have lasted longer ut we ate them all!)

Hope you love these as much as we do!  I can't wait to make them again!

Happy Eating! :)

Linked Up On:
MopItUpMonday 
VegetarianMama 
MakeBakeCreate

Meal Planning Monday April 8, 2013

Hello all!!  It is finally starting to feel like Spring and I am so happy!  I can't wait to plant my garden and herbs and start making delicious fresh foods.  I am trying to pay a lot more attention to where my food comes from and growing it myself seems the safest.  Now to solve the dilemma of finding safe meat and poultry without going broke!  That being said, I am really excited about this week's Kid Friendly Korner recipe: gluten free chicken tenders from Perdue!  Will let you all know what Little A thinks of them :)

Here is this week's meal plan:

Monday: Bruschetta Garlic Shrimp Pasta (5P+) This one was inspired by a recipe I saw on Mommy Hates Cooking.  You should really check out her site, she is amazing!

Tuesday: Ginger Soy Salmon (5P+) with broccoli and brown rice

Wednesday: Apple Cinnamon Pork Chops (5-6 P+ depending on chop size)

Thursday: Burgers on the grill with corn tortilla "buns" (6 P+)

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Crock Pot Balsamic Chicken with Pears and Portabella Mushrooms (4P+)

Breakfast: Garden Veggie Egg White Omelet (2P+)

Lunch: Spinach and Kale Salad with raspberries, blackberries, oranges, almonds and tuna (5 p+)

Dessert: Fudgy Zucchini Brownies Grain Free (I am using crunchy nut butter for texture)

Kid Friendly Korner: Perdue Simply Smart Gluten Free Chicken Tenders

Happy Eating! :)

Meal Planning Monday April 1, 2013

Happy April Fools Day all!!  Let's hope the sunshiny weather is not a joke for April 1 and we get to keep it for a few days!

Hope you enjoy this week's meal plan, and that's no joke :)

Monday: Birthday Dinner for my sister

Tuesday: Lemon Dill Salmon (5P+) and Roasted Potatoes (3P+)

Wednesday: Crock Pot Catalina Chicken (5P+)

Thursday: Crock Pot Pulled Pork Tenderloin (4P+) going to serve on tortillas for a pseudo taco night

Friday: Pizza at my parents

Saturday: Out to dinner

Sunday: Crock Pot Balsamic Chicken with Pears and Portabella Mushrooms (4P+)

Breakfast: egg whites and veggies (2P+)

Lunch: Weight Watchers Vegetable Soup (1P+)

Dessert: Strawberries and Fat Free Whip Cream (0P+) I got the most beautiful strawberries at Target 2/$4!!

Kid Friendly Korner: Mac and Cheese Cupcakes with gluten free pasta

Happy Eating! :)

Vacation Post!

Hi all!

My son and I are currently enjoying a wonderful trip to visit friends and family in Virginia so I don't have a meal plan post for this week.  Instead here are a few favorites we are enjoying this week.  Disclaimer: these are definitely not all healthy :)

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Oven Roasted Garlic Parmesan Potatoes

Berry Cobbler (Weight Watchers Friendly)

Mac and Cheese

Hope you are all having as great a week as we are!

Happy Eating! :)

Meal Planning Monday March 18, 2013

So I have been a bit absent lately, sorry to all who missed my post last week.  Things have been really hectic and while I still planned my meals, I just couldn't get the post written.  We are heading to Virginia next week for Spring Break so there won't be a formal meal plan for that week, but I will post a Take 5 Plan so I don't skip another post :)

Monday: Weight Watchers Shrimp Scampi (8P+) - I used whole grain pasta to lower the points

Tuesday: Cod with Glaze (3P+) and oven roasted green beans

Wednesday: Chicken and Potatoes in the Slow Cooker (6 P+)

Thursday: Mexican Style Chicken and Cornbread (8P+)

Friday: Order Out

Saturday: On a plane to Virginia!!!

Sunday: Vacation

Breakfasts: Cranberry Maple Slow Cooker Oats (6P+)- I leave out the the maple syrup because I prefer my oatmeal less sweet and it lowers the points :)

Lunches: Zero Point Soup - you can sub whatever 0 point veggies you like

Dessert: Chocolate Chip Clouds (1P+)

Kid Friendly Korner: Tortilla Pizzas with turkey pepperoni and veggies