Meal Plan Monday: January 4th - January 10th

Happy New Year!  I'm so excited for this year.  It is going to be good things, I can feel it.  There are things that I wanted to accomplish last year that I have already tackled, such a creating a 5 minute workout for anyone looking to add exercise to their day.  Please comment if you would like a copy.  I started the Hammer and Chisel workout program this morning.  This program, once again, uses the containers that we were first introduced to with the 21 Day Fix.  It's nice to continue to try new Beachbody workouts but have a little comfort in knowing the meal plan.

Here is what we are having this week:

Monday:  Slow Cooker Kielbasa and White Bean Cassoulet
Recipe from Real Simple

Tuesday: Cheeseburgers

Wednesday: Cashew Chicken
Recipe from Wegmans

Thursday:  Pesto Pasta

Friday: Dinner Out

Saturday:  Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
Recipe from Lisahov Health & Fitness.com

Sunday:  Chicken Lombardy
Recipe from My Recipes.com

Meal Plan Monday: December 14th - December 21st

The countdown is officially on to Christmas!  I hope you are all surviving and not letting the preparation stress you out too much.  This week we have our daughter's first school chorus concert and a fun party to go to.  And, of course, we still have dance to navigate through.  This weekend we are going to bake our cookies.  What is your favorite Christmas cookie?

Monday: Spaghetti Genovese - This is an Italian dish with pesto, potatoes and green beans.  Eating Well added spinach to give it a boost.
Recipe from Eating Well

Tuesday: Quesadillas on the Go
This is concert night.  I make four at time in the oven.

Wednesday: Red Beans and Rice
Recipe from Cooking Light

Thursday:  Christmas Cookie Beer Pairing Party
Beat that Ugly Christmas Sweater Party!

Friday: Dinner Date

Saturday: Tostado Nachos and Movie Night
Recipe here

Sunday:  Pot Roast
We ended up not having this last week because my parents took us out to dinner after the girls Christmas Pageant.

Meal Plan Monday: September 21st - September 27th

Oh momma is it a crazy week.  Lots of out of the norm meetings and events but I think we are ready.  I took page out of Hello Fresh's book and prepped and labeled this week's dinners per meal.  Hopefully this helps bring dinner together even faster. Has anyone tried a meal delivery service like Hello Fresh?

Monday: Chicken Cobb Salads
This is a tradition version mixed with the Healthified version in the Fixate cookbook.  Here is how I make this for the kids.  For some reason they love entree salads but fight me on eating a side salad with dinner.  Everything is prepped and ready to go for at work/before meetings.

Tuesday: Dinner at the County Fair
We usually go for the pulled pork.  What is you favorite thing to eat that the fair?

Wednesday: Crock Pot Chicken Burrito Bowls
Recipe from Two Healthy Kitchens
It's good to have a hubby that gets to telework. He can help with dinner! ;)

Thursday:  Chicken Piccata with Asparagus 
Recipe from The Beachbody Blog
Thursday have become interesting since my oldest eats at the dance studio.  My youngest wants what her sister is having so my husband and I have a night where we can cook some the foods they don't like. We have not had this in a long time because my youngest does not like anything lemon or lime.  It's one of my top favorites.  I am leaving out the artichokes for my husband.

Friday:  Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Nothing special here.  Spaghetti with a "clean" jar of sauce with cooked ground meat added.  You can use a low fat ground beef or ground turkey.

Saturday: Dinner Out!
This momma has asked for a night out of the kitchen.  No cooking or cleaning dishes.  (We switch off.  If one cooks the other cleans.)
I am making Minestrone soup out of the Fixate cookbook for lunch.

Sunday: Chili with Cauliflower Breadsticks
I'm not sure which chili I want to make.  My normal chili or the Fixate chili.  Or a chili from the new Cooking Light magazine.  All I know is that it is time.  I hope it doesn't turn out to be 90 degrees that day.
Breadsticks recipe from Autumn Calabrese
People rave about these breadsticks so I think it is about time I give them a try.

Meal Plan: August 9th - August 16th

Well we are heading back into the crazy dance schedule season.  The next two weeks each daughter has company camp with long rehearsal nights.  Time to get my mad organizational skills out for my workout and dinner times.

This is what we are having for dinner this week:

Sunday:  Turkey Tenderloin, Corn on the Cob and Grilled Zucchini and Squash 

1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow

Monday:  Chicken Parm with Broccoli 
Recipe from Fixate
I made extra chicken when we had the Chicken and Waffles for dinner.
1 red, 2 green, 1 yellow, 1/2 orange, 3.5 tsp

Tuesday: Cheeseburgers with Salad

1 red, 1.5 green, 1 blue (with bun 2 yellow)

Wednesday: Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Chicken
Recipe from Fixate
.5 red, .5 green, .5 yellow, 1 blue, .5 tsp

Thursday: Egg Roll in a Bowl
Recipe here

1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow, 1 tsp

Friday: Spaghetti with Chicken and Pesto and Cauliflower
Hubs will be doing a 32 mile bike ride for the Boys and Girls Club on Saturday so we are going to carb him up.

1 red, 1 green, 2 yellow, 1 blue

Saturday: Dinner Out
Race Day and Back to School shopping Day.  I think dinner out will be best.

Meal Plan: June 28th - July4th

I can't believe that July is here already!  Something told me this summer was going to go by fast.  Dance is back this week so we need quick meals but keeping them healthy.

Sunday: American Bison Burgers
Bison burger with cheese, lettuce and tomato

1 red, 1 blue, 1/2 green (with bun 2 yellow)

Monday: Pesto Grilled Cheese Panini
Recipe inspired by Cooking Light
I will make these when I get home from work and pack them so we can eat in between classes.
1 blue (there is not enough pesto to count for a blue), 1/2 green, 2 yellow

Tuesday: Spaghetti with Sausage
Dance starts at 6:00 this evening.  What is quicker than pasta?
Recipe from Cooking Light

1 yellow (2 if you got em), 1 green (I count the tomato sauce as a green since it is not jarred), 1 red

Wednesday: Turkey Cobb Salad Wrap
Recipe inspired by two Cooking Light
Our family favorite salad taken to go.
1 yellow, 1 red, 1 green, 1 blue

Thursday: Travel Day

Friday: MexiKale Salad
Recipe inspired by Wegmans
Pretty much I kept the kale and the dressing and it with more Tex Mex flavors

Saturday: 4th of July!
Look at this fun dessert one of my BFF's made last year.

Meal Plan: June 7th - June 13th

My husband and I are so excited that this week is recital week.  One dress rehearsal and the recital on Friday.  That means we can do whatever we want the rest of week!  There are two very happy parents in this house.

Weekly Meal Plan:

Sunday: Pineapple Chicken Skewers with Wild Rice
Sneak Peak recipe from Autumn Calabrese's new cookbook, Fixate.

Monday: Tacos with Baked Crunch Shells
Make your own taco shells recipe from Eating Well

Tuesday: Healthified Copycat Turkey Bacon Ranch Wrap

Wednesday: Spaghetti with Sausage and Simple Tomato Sauce
Recipe from Cooking Light

Thursday: Flank steak with Asparagus and Sweet Potatoes

Friday: Pulled Pork, Mustard Potato Salad and Cole Slaw

Saturday: Dinner Out

Be Inspired!

With Love, Alli

Meal Plan: March 22nd - March 28th

This weekend was busy with barely anytime to meal plan.  Thanks to the Mealboard app it was done in no time.

Here is what we are having this week:

Sunday: Take and Bake Pizza from Wegmans

Monday: Lightened Baked Spaghetti
Recipe from Bobby Dean on Food Network

Tuesday: Chicken and Black Bean-Stuffed Burritos 
Recipe from Cooking Light

Wednesday: Breakfast Dinner - Pancakes 

Thursday: Chicken Milanese and Spring Greens
Recipe from Cooking Light

Friday: Date Night

Saturday:  Cashew Chicken
Recipe from Wegmans

Meal Plan: January 25 - January 31

It looks like the snow season is upon us.  Our church State Dinner got snowed out this weekend so we are going to try again this Saturday.  Are you a snow fan?

Sunday - Chicken Kelley, White Rice and Steamed Broccoli
This is a childhood favorite of mine.  There are probably a lot of recipes just like this.  This one is named after a my parents friend are her chicken dish.  It's delicious and my girls LOVED it.

Ingredients:
4 Chicken Breasts
Pepperidge Farm Stuffing Crumbs
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
Fresh Mushroom
1/2 Cup White Wine
Milk, as needed
Butter, melted

Directions:
Heat oven to 350.
Place chicken breasts in a casserole dish.
Mix soup, wine and mushrooms.
Pour over chicken.
Bake for 30 min.
Stir melted butter and stuffing together.
Place stuffing in mounds on chicken breasts.
Continuing baking for 30 min.

When plating spoon sauce over the chicken.  The sauce is good on the rice too!

Monday - Hawaii Loco Moco

Tuesday - Honey Ham and Maple Butternut Squash
Butternut Squash Recipe from Skinny Taste

Wednesday - Aunt Liz's Chicken Spaghetti Casserole - Frozen Meal
Recipe from Cooking Light

Thursday - Tuna Melt

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - State Dinner - Virginia and Connecticut Representative

Meal Plan: January 4 - January 10

New Year; New Recipes

Well Christmas has been packed away.  The house is back to normal and we are heading back regular routine.  I am starting this year with trying new recipes.  I'm so excited I'm almost giddy about cooking dinner this week.

Exported from Mealboard

Sunday: Beef and Vegetable Potpie

This recipe was good but needs so tweaking.  I used cubed potatoes instead of zucchini.  It needed salt and I wouldn't use thyme again.

Recipe from Cooking Light

Monday:  Kielbasa, Pepper, Onion and Potato Hash

Recipe from The Two Bite Club

Tuesday: Toasted Penne with Chicken Sausage

Recipe from Cooking Light

Wednesday: Left-Overs

Thursday: Sriracha Lime Chicken Chopped Salad

Recipe from Lexi's Clean Kitchen

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Making Freezer Meals - Lasagna, King Ranch Chicken, Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Lasagna Recipe Coming Soon

King Ranch Chicken Recipe from Cooking Light

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole from Cooking Light

What's for dinner?: July 20 - July 26

We are back from a week in Virginia Beach where we visited family and my daughter competed in a dance competition.  It was an exciting week and full of good summer food.  We had hot dogs, pulled pork, smoked brisket, pulled pork, tuna subs, crab legs, pulled pork, burgers.  Full on vacation food.  Have you ever gotten to a point where you just wanted the Elaine "Big Salad"?

Here's what we are having for dinner this week:

Sunday: Banana Splits for National Ice Cream Day
Yes, we are the coolest parents ever.  We were tired, it was easy and we had a "holiday" to give us an excuse.  Our splits had bananas, Neapolitan ice cream, whipped cream, peanuts, chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce, pineapple from my pineapple plant and a cherry on top.

Monday:  Chicken Milanese with Spring Greens and Rice Pilaf
I love making this recipe because it is kid friendly without being too kiddy. I do put ranch on the girls salads rather than the lemon dressing.  Pair it with a box of Near East Rice Pilaf (Any flavor will do.  We are having the one with almonds)
Make it even faster by buying a bottle of Lemon Vinaigrette.
Recipe from My Recipes


 

















Tuesday: Tacos with Black Beans
The walking tacos we had the other week added black beans to the ground beef.  I'm going to replicate that with our tacos.  We all really liked it.  Not sure how black beans in the tacos and on the side will go but we have been loving them over regular refried beans lately.  Have you ever bought refried black beans?  Delicious!

Wednesday: Spaghetti and Salad
Have you ever had a spaghetti sandwich?  I totally got the craving while typing this.  I think I will pass on the Texas toast garlic bread.  You just take a slice of sandwich bread, butter the bread, add the spaghetti and fold in half.

Thursday: Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Tomato Soup
My favorite sandwich from Doumar's where we visited last week. 

Friday: Utah State Dinner - Pastrami Burger, Funeral Potatoes and Strawberry Jello Pretzel Salad

Saturday:  We will be at birthday party.

Have a great week!

What's for Dinner?: June 22 - June 28th

Here's what we are having for dinner this week:


Sunday: Chislic (a South Dakota bar snack staple), Squash with Walnuts and Goat Cheese, Mushroom Rice
Chislic - State Dinner post coming
Squash - Saute then add the walnuts and goat cheese
Mushroom Rice - Recipe from Tickled Red blog

Monday: Dinner with Friends

Tuesday: Club Sandwiches

Wednesday: Breakfast Dinner
Pancakes and Bacon
Hint: Add a teaspoon of vanilla to your pancake batter.


Thursday: Sausage-Cauliflower Spaghetti 
Great way to use up the sausages from last week
Recipe is from Food Network

Update: Four Italian Sausages equals the 12oz the recipe calls for. 

Friday:  Walking Tacos Dinner and a Movie
Recipe from Dine and Dish

Saturday: Spaghetti Dinner at Church

50 States; 50 Meals: Ohio

What we had for dinner:

Cincinnati Chili
This chili stands out for its use of seasonings such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice or chocolate.  It can ordered in the following way:

• Bowl: chili in a bowl


• Two-way: chili and spaghetti


• Three-way: chili, spaghetti, and cheese


• Four-way: chili, spaghetti, cheese, and onions


• Five-way: chili, spaghetti, cheese, onions, and beans

The four way chili was surprisingly good.  My favorite part of this chili is the amount of cheddar cheese that gets added to the top and it was great over spaghetti.
This recipe, from Food Network, makes the five-way chili.



Buckeyes
These treat is named after the nut from the Buckeye Tree.  Peanut butter balls dipped into chocolate.  Need I say more.



 

 

 

What are we having for dinner?: May 18 - May 23

Or maybe I should say what we had.  It has been a crazy week.  The girls have had dance pictures almost every night since Sunday.  It feels nice to actually sit down, and do something I actually want to do.

Here's what we are having for dinner this week:



Sunday: Awesome Sauce Chicken with Spanish Rice and Refried Black Beans


On Friday we went out to a Mexican restaurant.  My husband's dinner came with this awesome avocado, jalapeno, cilantro sauce.  It was so good I wanted to drink it.  I hunted Pinterest to see if I could find the Copycat recipe.  I didn't find the exact match but this recipe from Tasty Kitchen.  It tasted just like the sauce as the restaurant.  I added more water so I could use it on the chicken as a marinade and kept half for a dipping sauce.  It was so good I was dancin'.



Monday:
The girls:
Perdue Chicken Nuggets
Easy Mac (Wegmans Brand)

The adults:
Wegmans Pasta Bowls

Tuesday: Easy Spaghetti Bolognese from Spoonful.com
I found this recipe for my husband because I was going out to dinner with a friend.  He said it was super easy since everything is made in the same pot and thanked me for finding the recipe.  The leftovers were delicious.

Wednesday: Black Bean Quesadillas with Cilantro Lime Rice
Quesadilla Recipe - My Recipes
Rice Recipe - The Recipe Critic

Thursday: Bacon, Tomato, Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup


Speed things up by buying the precooked bacon.

Friday:  Mrs. Flax Dinner aka Appetizer Dinner
If you remember the movie Mermaids from the 90's you know what I mean by Mrs. Flax Dinner.  "A word about Mrs. Flax and food: the word is "hors d'oeurves." Fun Finger Foods is her main source book and it's all the woman cooks." This stuck with my mom and I so whenever we have a meal of appetizers (aka to our family as pickies or appys)

Saturday: Our Niece is getting married!!

 

When you make a grilled cheese do you butter the bread or add the butter to the skillet?