Meal Plan Monday: November 9th - November 15th

So of course as soon as I vented about the dance everything fell into place and there was nothing to stress about.  Like calling the IT guy and then figuring out your problem.  By Friday I had so much excited energy it took everything I had to not jump in and dance; but, I had strict orders not to bust a move. It was a success if I say so myself.  I did have to give up my quiet night too myself but it was well worth it!

This Wednesday is my oldest daughters 10th birthday.  She has been waiting for this birthday since she turned 9.  She can not wait to be a preteen!  I have so many mixed emotions about this birthday.  I'm excited to see her grow and mature but she is growing faster than I can keep up.

Monday - Panera Bread Fund Raiser for the School

Not a bad choice as Panera always lands on the clean eating restaurant lists.  I hear the menu changed so I will definitely check it out and decide before we go.  

Tuesday - Black Bean Enchiladas

Meatless Monday on Tuesday!

Recipe from Wegmans / Gluten-Free version 

Wednesday - Cheeseburgers

My daughters favorite meal!

Thursday - Short Ribs and Polenta

We have a few friends at Disney this week and they have inspired me to make one of my favorite meals I had when we were there a couple weeks ago.  

Recipe from Cooking Light

From Chef Mickey's

Friday - Egg Roll in a Bowl

Take out at home!  We love this recipe.  It turned out so well last time.  I hope I can duplicate its tastiness.  

Saturday - Dinner Out

More birthday celebrating!

Sunday - Chicken Spiedies and Roasted Vegetables

Spiedies Pronounced "speedies"
Spiedies were originally from Italy. They are marinated cubes of meat, traditionally lamb, cooked on a skewer like a kebab. Pork, chicken, veal, venison, and beef are also used. The meat is marinated and then grilled. The marinade recipe varies, usually involving olive oil, vinegar, and a variety of Italian spices and fresh mint. The meat is then served on Italian bread. The bread is used to take the meat off of the skewer. I was able to find bottle Spiedie marinade at my grocery store.

Food Inspired: Tomato Pesto Grilled Cheese Panini

Inspired by Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast Cookbook

I made these sandwiches and then headed to dance with my youngest daughter.  An hour later I received a text message from Hubs that simply said, "Dude, that sandwich."  Followed by an explanation that it was DA BOMB.  And he didn't even have the tomato on it.  We are big pesto fans in this family.  It was a nice change from a regular grilled cheese.  It reminded me of a pizza your find at a gourmet pizza restaurant.  Because I used a remade pesto this came together very quickly.  I had four sandwiches made in 15 minutes.  

Serving Size: 1 Panini

Ingredients:

2 slices whole grain sandwich bread
1 slice beefsteak tomato
1 thin slice provolone
1 Tbsp shredded mozzarella
1 Tbsp pesto
Spray Coconut Oil

Directions:

1. Top slice of sandwich bread with provolone cheese, pesto, tomato, mozzarella.  Top with other slice of bread.
2. Heat a grill pan on medium pan.
3. Spray grill pan with coconut oil.
4. Place sandwich on grill. Press down on the sandwich.  Spray the top of the sandwich with coconut oil.
5. Flip when the bread is browned (about 1.5 min.) and cook on the other side.
6. Remove sandwich from grill when second side is browned (another 1.5 min.) and cheese is melted.
7. Let the sandwich cool a bit before cutting so cheese does not ooze out.  

I packed two of the sandwiches and some prepped cucumbers for my daughter and I to eat during her break at dance.  It was still da bomb.  Make you dance good.  I can't wait to have one straight from the grill. 

Dance Mom dinner

Be Inspired!

With Love, 

Alli

Meal Plan: November 16 - November 22

About a month ago I started doing the 21 Day Fix.  1. Because I had a wedding coming up.  I have always said one of the best motivators for losing weight is a wedding.  2. With the help of this blog I saw how much cheese was in our diet and I wanted to "fix" our diet.  It is always nerve wracking to start a diet when you also have a family to feed.  I have to say I have not had any complaints about the new healthy meal plan .  Well, except for the brown rice but I get that.  The texture is very different.  Here is what we are eating this week:

Sunday - Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes (Crock-pot Meal)
Recipe from My Recipes
Update:  This took longer than the 3.5 hours that the recipe said it would.  It was more like 5.  So we had spaghetti and will have this for leftovers on Wednesday.  Other than that, the little taste of potato and carrot I had was delicious.

Going into the Crock-pot

Monday - Maple Cinnamon Glazed Ham with Maple Roasted Butternut Squash
Ham Recipe from Best Clean Eating Recipes
Butternut Squash Recipe from Skinny Taste
Ham steaks are great quick night dinner meal.  We used to make these all the time.  It's nice to bring back a family fav.  We would pair these with pre-made sweet potatoes but I'm going to make this butternut squash instead.  My kids have been asking for butternut squash after loving it at a friends house.  I may tweak this Skinny Taste recipe and mash the squash. This would make a good Thanksgiving side.

Picture from Skinny Taste

Tuesday - Hawaiian Chicken Skewers
I forgot to note where I got this recipe.  The original recipe was for a sandwich but I'm nixing the bread and making a kabab instead.

Ingredients 

4 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken cutlets
4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices fresh pineapple
1/4 cup salt free teriyaki marinade

Directions

1. Preheat Grill
2. Brush chicken and pineapple with teriyaki marinade. Place on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill chicken and pineapple 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until chicken is done and pineapple is caramelized. 

Wednesday - Tacos
"Bring them a meal" idea from Peanutblossom.com.  I will be making some for us and some for a friend.

Thursday - Kielbasa and Pierogies (One Dish Meal)
I will admit when my husband asked for pierogies the 21 Day Fix in me panicked a little.  So this will have to be a good lesson in moderation. ;)  I plan on using Turkey Kielbasa.
Recipe from Foodie with Family

Picture from Foodie with Family

Friday - Pizza and a Slumber Party
Some of my daughter's dance friends are coming over to spend the night.

Saturday - Test Recipe from America's Test Kitchen
I got another test recipe from America's Test Kitchen.  Looking over the ingredients this one is definitely a go!