What's Cookin' This Week? February 13, 2012

Thanks for checking out this week's menu! I hope you find something to try this week with your family. This is week three of the crock pot adventure and this week's recipe is stuffed peppers.

Monday – Stuffed peppers (crock pot)

This is another recipe I found from the A Year of Slow Cooking blog and is a great meal in itself. We might need some fruit on the side, but this looks pretty filling! I’ve never had stuffed peppers before, so I figured I might as well try them in a crock pot. Here is the link to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• Peppers to fill the bottom of your crock pot (red, orange and yellow look pretty)
• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 can flavored tomatoes (fire roasted or Italian)
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp. ketchup
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/3 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a bowl, mix meat, cooked rice, flavored tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and black pepper.

Cut tops of peppers off and clean peppers out. Save tops.

Stuff peppers with mixture and place in crock pot. Put tops back on.

Pour water in crock pot around bottom of peppers. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Tuesday – Lime-poached halibut ($7 a meal healthy cookbook), couscous and roasted veggies

For Valentine’s day, I’m going to make some yummy halibut for hubs.

INGREDIENTS:

• ¾ lb. halibut fillet
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 2 limes, zested and juiced
• 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, stems removed, leaves chopped
• ¼ cup white wine
• ¼ cup chicken or veggie broth

INSTRUCTIONS:

Season halibut with salt and pepper. In large sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat and add garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients, including halibut. Cover and cook until halibut is flaky, about 8 minutes.

Wednesday – Honey Mustard Chicken with Pretzel Crust (Allrecipes.com)

We love this recipe! This is a great way to add some variety to the mundane chicken cycle.

INGREDIENTS:

• cooking spray
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. prepared yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp. spicy mustard
• 1 tbsp. coarse-grained mustard
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 4 cups salted pretzels

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp. prepared yellow mustard
• 3 tbsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp. salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

In a bowl, mix together the red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard, the spicy mustard, coarse-grained mustard, 1 tablespoon of honey, and the vegetable oil.

Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of heavy plastic (resealable freezer bags work well) on a solid, level surface. Firmly pound the chicken with the smooth side of a meat mallet to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Coat the chicken well with the mustard mixture.

Place the pretzels into a resealable plastic zipper bag and roll the bag under a rolling pin to finely grind the pretzels. Place the coated chicken breasts, one at a time, into the bag, seal, and shake the bag to thoroughly coat each chicken breast with pretzel meal. Place the chicken breasts on the prepared baking sheet and spray each breast with cooking spray.

Bake the chicken in the preheated oven until the coating is golden brown and the meat is no longer pink in the center, about 25 minutes. Flip the chicken after about 12 minutes of cooking to brown both sides.

Mix together the mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of yellow mustard, 3 tablespoons of honey, and salt in a bowl. Drizzle the honey-mustard sauce over the chicken to serve.

Thursday – Stir Fry

Stir fry is a great way to use up leftover vegetables from earlier in the week or from the previous week before they go bad.

INGREDIENTS:

• Strip steak cut into small strips or chicken cut into cubes
• Red pepper
• Green pepper
• Bean sprouts
• Zucchini
• Snow peas
• Stir fry sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cook strip steak or chicken with olive oil. Mix in stir fry sauce and simmer briefly. Set meat aside. Cut vegetables into bite-size pieces and cook in stir fry sauce for a few minutes. Add meat back in and simmer for a few more minutes. Serve over rice.

Enjoy and remember, own what your family eats one meal at a time!

February Menu Planned and Ready!

Woo hoo! I made it to month two and had time to plan out all of February! But this month, I wanted to take on something new. I’ve never really used my crock pot for anything more than keeping things warm at a party. This month, we’re actually going to use it to cook something. My goal is to use it at least once a week and see how it goes.

Why am I creating a whole month's worth of meals? I'm a busy mom, but I want to choose what my family eats. By planning out a month in advance, I won't get behind and take advantage of take out, I can take advantage of sales throughout the month and I can enjoy my time in the kitchen. I'm owning what my family eats one month at a time!

So here is the February menu.

January 30-February 5

Monday – Cola roast and baked potatoes (crock pot), veggies

Tuesday – White chicken chili, corn bread

Wednesday – Enchiladas, chips and guac/salsa

Thursday – Stuffed Shells, salad and garlic bread (using the shells I put in the freezer a few weeks ago)

February 6 – 10

Monday – Chicken Teriyaki (crock pot), veggies

Tuesday – Spaghetti, fruit, garlic bread

Wednesday – Believe it or not pork chops

Thursday – Margherita pizza

February 13 – 17

Monday – Stuffed peppers (crock pot)

Tuesday – Lime-poached halibut

Wednesday – Honey Mustard Chicken with Pretzel Crust

Thursday – Stir Fry

February 20 – 24

Monday – Chicken Tortilla Soup (crock pot)

Tuesday – Eggplant Parmesan

Wednesday – Stuffed tomatoes

Thursday – Marinated chicken and veggies

February 27 – March 2

Monday – Greek wraps with white bean hummus

Tuesday – Corn-stuffed pork chops

Wednesday – breakfast for dinner – omelets

Thursday –Mediterranean chicken (crock pot)

Check back each week for recipes and tips for making these quick, easy and healthy menus for your family.

What's Cookin' This Week? - January 23, 2012

After looking at our schedules for this week, we need some meals that are quick and easy to get to our commitments in time. We also have some things we didn’t get to make last week, so we’ll be adding that to the menu instead of some of the originally planned meals.Flexibility is the key to any sane mother.

Monday – Salsa, Bean and Cheese Pizza (Better Homes and Gardens Fast and Fresh Family Dinners)

Ingredients:

• 4 6-inch corn tortillas
• 4 tsp. olive oil
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• 1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper seeded and finely chopped (we’ll leave this out since the little one isn’t a big fan of spicy)
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 cup rinsed and drained black beans
• 1 cup chopped, seeded tomatoes
• 4 oz. shredded cheese
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place tortillas on ungreased baking sheet. Lightly brush tortillas with olive oil on both sides. Bake for 3 minutes on each side or until light brown and crisp.

In skillet, cook onion, chile pepper and garlic in remaining oil over medium-high heat until onion is tender. Stir in beans and tomatoes and heat through.

Sprinkle tortillas with half of the cheese. Spoon mixture over cheese. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with cilantro, if desired.

Tuesday – Chicken Nachos

This is one of our repeats for this week. Click here for the recipe.

Wednesday – Tilapia with tomatoes and olives (Biggest Loser), frozen veggies

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 12 small green olives with pimentos cut in quarters
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. minced onion
• 1 tsp. freshly minced garlic
• 1 lb. tilapia fillets

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a bowl, combine tomatoes (and their juice), olives, onion and garlic until mixed

Lightly mist the fillets on both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in single layer in a 11 x 7 glass or ceramic baking dish. Top with tomato mixture and roast until fish flakes and is no longer translucent (about 10-12 minutes).

Thursday – Chicken Stuffing Casserole, canned fruit

Although probably not the healthiest menu choice, this is a great comfort food that keeps the family happy. You can't eat 100% healthy all the time, just healthier. Make some easy changes like low-fat sour cream, light chicken broth and light stuffing.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups diced cooked chicken breasts (the frozen chicken chunks work great)
• 1 cup cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 stick butter
• ¾ cup chicken broth
• 1 box stove top stuffing

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix soup, sour cream, chicken and chicken broth. Melt butter and mix with stuffing. In 9x9 pan, put ½ stuffing mixture. Pour chicken mixture over top and spread rest of stuffing on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

WHAT'S COOKIN' THIS WEEK? - Week of January 9

Onto week two of January’s menu. I’ve tried to create a mix of meats and veggies throughout the week for variety and to continue to expose the little one to different types of foods. I’m very lucky to have a good eater in my house who is willing to try pretty much anything at least once!

Since it’s January, it seems appropriate to include a recipe from The Biggest Loser. I love watching how this show transforms lives! I don’t have quite the same challenge in front of me, but we all need to work to live healthier

Monday

Baked Ziti (Biggest Loser), garlic bread and Caesar salad

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

• Olive oil spray
• 1 (14 oz.) box of fiber-enriched ziti or penne
• 1 (15 oz.) container fat-free ricotta cheese
• 2 egg whites
• 4 cups shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
• ¼ tsp. garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Low fat, low sodium marinara sauce
• 2 tbsp. reduced fat grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Preheat the over to 450 degrees and spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray.

Cook pasta according to directions. In a separate mixing bowl, mix ricotta cheese, egg whites, and 3 of the 4 cups of mozzarella. Add in the garlic powder and salt and pepper. Once the pasta is cooked mix it in with the ricotta mixture.

In the baking dish spread 1 cup of pasta on the bottom. Then spread 1/2 of the pasta/ricotta mixture on top of that. Next spread a layer of 1/2 cup of sauce, then layer the remaining pasta/ricotta mixture over that. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of sauce and sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese on top.

Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and continue baking for 10 more minutes. Pull out of oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

Tuesday

Taco night

Tuesdays are hectic in our house so we need something super easy. For taco night, we just cook up some ground turkey and use whatever toppings we have on hand to make tacos or taco salads – whatever each person likes.

Typical Ingredients:

• Ground turkey
• Black beans
• Taco seasoning
• Taco shells
• Shredded lettuce
• Shredded cheese
• Black olives
• Tomatoes
• Salsa
• Sour cream

Wednesday

Turkey brats, baked beans and fruit cup

You won’t need any recipes for this menu. We get spinach and cheese turkey brats from Sam’s Club and cook up some baked beans with a side of fruit for an easy, quick, healthy dinner for the fam.

Enjoy!

Thursday

Italian white beans and chicken (Betty Crocker Quick Fixes), biscuits

Italian White Beans and Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. fresh or 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 cups cut-up cooked chicken (about 1 lb.)
• ½ cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• ¼ cup sliced ripe olives
• 2 cans (15 oz. cans) greater northern beans, drained and rinsed

Instructions:

In a 10-inch skillet, heat olive over medium heat. Cook basil and garlic in oil 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently until hot.

Shopping List: (don’t forget to check what you already have first to save money!)

• Tomatoes
• Caesar salad kit
• Garlic
• Garlic bread
• Biscuits
• Buns
• Black olives
• Black beans
• Baked beans
• 2 cans northern beans
• Oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• Fruit (canned)
• Marinara sauce
• Wheat ziti or penne
• Taco seasoning
• Taco shells
• Salsa
• Red pepper flakes
• Garlic powder
• Dried basil
• Ground turkey
• Turkey brats
• Cubed chicken
• Sour cream
• Ricotta cheese
• Eggs
• Mozzarella cheese (shredded)
• Parmesan cheese (grated)
• Mexican blend cheese (shredded)