Menu Monday

Hey All!

I'm pretty busy throughout the week with work, soccer practices, baseball practices, PTA (gack, I'm one of THOSE Moms!) etc., but eating healthy and sitting down to dinner as a family as often as possible is important to me.  From early on (even before my kids were born), I've always been a menu planner...I think it came from going to dinner at my elementary school BFF's house and seeing her mom's menu plan on the counter each week.  In my family, we ate together...but I don't really remember my mom being a planner...I think she (or my grandma, who stayed with us during the school year so that my mom could work), was more of a "let's see what we have in the pantry and whip something up...or order pizza!" kind of cook.  The control freak, ahem..planner in me, needs a bit more structure...otherwise, we'd be eating cereal and grilled cheese sandwiches (yum!) every night of our lives.  There are MANY sites (that can be found on Pinterest..my other BFF) that offer FREE! printables for organizing meal plans and grocery lists.  Eventually (when I get a color printer), I will download one of these.  In the meantime, I carry a small, spiral bound notebook in my purse and put it all in there.  Its actually quite nice to have it all in one place and always in my purse....if plans change and I need to tweak the menu (because extra people are coming over or whatever), I end up having all my lists with me and handy!  

Ok.  Here we go.  Here is my menu plan for this week. Keep in mind that The Teacher and I are trying to drop a bit of padding so all of these dishes are between 300-400 calories per serving!  I will post each day's recipe throughout the week.

BTW..One of my New Year's Resolutions is to use my crock pot at least 1-2 times per week...so, this week anyway, my menu plan includes 2 tried and true slow cooker recipes!!

Monday:  Slowcooker Chicken Enchilada Soup (this is awesome because I can cook extra chicken and pull it out to be used on Thursday!)

Tuesday:  Slowcooker Split Pea Soup

Wednesday:  Mixed greens salad with dried cranberries, goat cheese and grilled shrimp

Thursday:  Mexi-Chicken Lasagna (using the extra chicken I poached on Monday!)

Friday:  Left overs or Eat out night!

Shopping List:

What I already have on hand:                                    vs.  What I need to buy:

3 large onions                                                                    3 any color bell peppers

celery                                                                                 2 cans red fat/sodium cream of

canola oil                                                                           chicken soup

minced garlic (in a bottle)                                                  1 10 oz can diced tomatoes with

4 chicken breasts (in my freezer)                                      green chilis

chili powder                                                                       1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

shredded cheese (I buy big at Costco and freeze)           1 10 oz can enchilada sauce

15 oz can black beans                                                       pepper jack cheese

10 oz bag frozen corn                                                        mixed salad greens

goat cheese (I also keep this in my freezer)                      bag of dried split peas

dried cranberries                                                                raw shrimp (big enough to grill)

ham (left over and frozen from the holidays)                     1 can red fat/sodium cream of

1 med carrot                                                                       celery soup

salt/pepper                                                                         whole wheat tortillas

parsley

1 quart chicken stock (freezer)

Italian seasonings

I really, really try to create menus that use (mostly) what I already have on hand.  I'm a big fan of buying big and then freezing for multiple uses and I'm lucky enough to have the freezer space to accommodate.  I also really, really try to make things that will create enough left overs to use for work lunches later in the week.

Here is today's recipe:

Slowcooker Chicken Enchilada Soup:

In your slowcooker, combine:  1 can of (drained) black beans, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 10 oz bag of frozen corn, 1/2 chopped onion and 1 chopped green (or any color) bell pepper.  Place 4 chicken breasts on top of this.  Next, combine 1 can enchilada sauce with 1 can cream of chicken soup and about 1-1 1/2 Cups of milk and pour over the chicken.  Cook on high for 4-6 hours.  Remove chicken and set aside 2 of the breasts for use later in the week (you can shred it now, since its easier to shred when hot and it will save you a step on Thursday).  Shred the remaining 2 breasts and return to the slowcooker.  Give a few zuhzhes with an immersion blender if you like a creamier consistency..or don't if you like it more broth-ie.  Ladle into bowls and top with pepper jack cheese.  

One of the things I love best about slowcooker..ah.. cooking?? (that sounds weird) is the fact that you can put it all together the night before and put in your fridge until morning.  Take it out, plop it in the cooker and turn on.  Voila!  Dinner is ready when you get home.  That makes for one happy mama!

Sooo...what are you having for dinner this week????

~Bean