WFD? Week of 6/5/2011 {Weekly Meal Planning}

Ok, ok... I know I've been a HORRIBLE blogger these past two weeks. But the same excuse I use every time I take a little break really is true! I've been super busy with work, the kids, the house and sticking with my weight loss. So far I'm doing pretty well. I'm down just under 14 pounds and finished my first 5K two weeks ago! How awesome is that? 

And another thing that's been keeping me busy is that I've been working three days a week vs. my normal two. But that's all about to change soon. Without going into too much detail I have had to quit my job to stay home with my kids. My 6 month old has always refused a bottle but now it's getting way too hard to keep her distracted during the day while I'm at work. So I'll have a bit more time to stick with my menu and keep the recipes coming!

Monday -
Chili w/ cornbread 

Tuesday - 7 WW+ Points
Pizza Balls & Salad (made these for lunch on Saturday and they were awesome!)

Wednesday -
Garlic Chicken with maybe a tad less olive oil

Thursday -
Chicken Enchiladas (w/ leftovers from garlic chicken) 

Friday -
Eating Out

Saturday -
Pot Roast via Alton Brown

Sunday -
Tomato Basil Soup & Grilled Cheese Sammies via Peppercorn Press

WFD? Week of 5/15/2011 {Weekly Meal Planning}

I have got to get better at sticking with meal planning! This past week was a bit all over the place and as a result I didn't do much blogging :( Well that stops now! Not only do I need to focus on sticking with my meal planning for my weight loss, I also need to stick with it for our budget. Money is getting tight around here and I need to do everything I can to keep everything reigned in with regards to spending.

If anyone has any helpful tips and tricks to stick with a grocery budget (or any budget  for that matter) I'd gladly take your advice! I'm already couponing (and love it) but I think I need to step it up a bit.

Week of 5/15/2011

Sunday - 8 WW+ Points
Chicken Teriyaki with Green Beans

Monday - 7 WW+ Points
Chicken Parmesan Bites with spaghetti & marinara

Tuesday -13 WW+ Points
Dinner out - Pat & Oscars BBQ Chicken, Greek Salad w/ fat free dressing & 1 breadstick

Wednesday - ??
Lettuce Wraps

Thursday - ??
Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops lightened up

Friday -
Dinner out

Saturday - 9 WW+ Points
Pesto Salmon Salad

WFD? Week of 5/8/2011 {Weekly Meal Planning}

This past week was crazy! It not only went by fast but suppers were thrown together with little time to take pictures and even less time to blog. So I apologize for the lack of posts recently. I was hoping to have some recipes up from the baby shower I hosted last weekend but I forgot my camera and haven't received the pictures yet (and don't want to bug my girlfriend for them :)). You guys can wait a bit, right?

So this week I'm going to try a few new recipes. Some from other blogs and others I'll just make up as I go along. Luckily I have a few dishes already prepared and ready to throw in the oven from previous nights (the mac & cheese and the chili). With both Joseph and I working on Thursdays and Fridays it's made dinner something very hard to accomplish in a small amount of time. Preparation is key to staying on track and resisting the urge to pick up take out. But sometimes take out wins...

Week of 5/8/2011

Sunday -
Pick Up Stix - no cooking on Mother's Day!

Monday - 10 WW+ Points
Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese 

Tuesday -
Chicken Tacos 

Wednesday -
Buttermilk Brined BBQ Pork Chops via What's Cookin' Chicago?

Thursday -
Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork

Friday - 5 WW+ Points
Slow Cooker Three Bean Chili

Saturday -
Barbecue Chicken with Mustard Glaze via Cooking Light

WFD? Week of 5/1/2011 {Weekly Meal Planning}

This week I've decided to take a step back and revisit a few of the meals I've made in the past. Some I made while on the old weight watcher plan and others I made off plan. So I'm going to re-work them and give them a new spin. Stay tuned for more updates!

Week of 5/1/2011

Sunday - 10 WW+ Points
Italian Turkey Sliders & Pasta Salad

Monday - 10 WW+ Points
Ratatoille & Corn Cakes

Tuesday - 12 WW+ Points (2 slices)
Homemade Pepperoni & Spinach Pizza

Wednesday - 6 WW+ Points (plus spaghetti)
Baked Chicken Parm & Spaghetti via Taste & See

Thursday - ?
BBQ Chicken with Mashed Cauliflower

Friday - ?
Eating Out

Saturday - ?
Pork Chops & Asparagus

Sunday -?
Enchiladas revisited WW style

WFD? Week of 4/24/2011 {Weekly Meal Planning}

This week I'm doing things a bit differently. For one, because of the holiday yesterday I wasn't able to set aside time to meal plan so I'm doing that today. And secondly, my printer ran out of ink while I was printing coupons so I'm going to post my grocery list for the upcoming week's meals below the meal plan. That way I can "go green" and use the blog as my list instead of a paper list. 

Now don't be deceived. The list below only includes ingredients needed for the week's dinners. It does not include breakfast, lunch or snacks. Those will be carefully planned as well with the help of coupons and sale ads. Maybe if I have time I'll post those later as well.

Week of 4/24/2011

Monday –
Turkey Meatloaf

Tuesday –
Salmon Burgers via Beantown Baker

Wednesday –
Crock Pot Lasagna via Two Pink Hippos

Thursday –
Maple Rosemary Pork Chops via What's Cookin, Chicago

Friday –
Baked Chicken Parm & Spaghetti via Taste & See

Saturday –
Roasted Chicken with Asparagus Risotto via Weight Watchers

Sunday –
Ratatouille with Corn Cakes

Fruit/Veggies

2 Onions

2 Bell Peppers

Tomato

Asparagus

Shallots

Eggplant

Zucchini

Dairy

Low fat shredded cheddar

Part skim Mozzarella, shredded

Part skim ricotta

Parmesan

Meat

Ground turkey breast

4oz Smoked Salmon

Pork chops

Dry Goods/Herbs & Spices

Parsley

Sage

Basil

Dry mustard

Masa harina

WFD? Week of 4/18/2011 {Weekly Meal Planning}

This week is going to be a week of revisiting and reusing. Since starting to regularly blog again (and regularly meal plan) I've found that we sometimes have too many leftovers to eat up for lunch the next day. So I'm going to start being more aware of the components of each meal to see if I can re-use a portion for the next few nights. Chicken made for one dish can go a long way through the week and add to other dishes. For example, the pesto I made last night for salmon will be re-used tomorrow for some chicken and pasta. The rest will be frozen and added to meals later on.

I really do hate wasting food and have been getting a whole lot better on realizing when I'm starting to waste more. I have even caught a few veggies that were on the verge of being "too old" and just cooked them up right away and ate them for lunch. A few weeks ago I might have just let them go to waste and thrown them away. Not anymore!

So if you see a recipe on my line up that you think I can re-use in another dish please let me know and I'll rearrange things to put it on the menu! Oh, and I totally didn't realize that the last three dinners were from the same source. I have been dying to try the meatballs & polenta but had to pass it off to this week and I really want to give the crock pot lasagna a second chance since my first pass at it didn't go so well. I'll try to mix things up next week.


Week of 4/18/2011

Sunday - Dinner Out
Burgers & Sweet Potato Fries at Crazee Burger

Monday - ?? WW+ Points
Pesto Chicken and Whole Wheat Pasta

Tuesday - 7 WW+ Points
Chicken Parmesan and Spaghetti via Emily Bites 

Wednesday-  9 WW+ Points
Leftover Teriyaki Salmon I put in the freezer

Thursday -  10 WW+ Points
Meatballs & Polenta via Two Pink Hippos
 
Friday - 9 WW+ Points
Shrimp & Crab Cake Burgers via Two Pink Hippos

Saturday - 9 WW+ Points
Crockpot Lasagna revisited via Two Pink Hippos

WFD? Week of 4/10/2011 {Weekly Meal Planning}

The best thing about weekly meal planning for me is that I have a stocked house. I know that I will have fresh veggies and fruits stocked up and I'll have a good plan should anything happen mid-week and, say, I forget that I planned a crock pot meal and it's 2pm. This happens a lot. So I switch things up and have pizza on Wednesday instead of Saturday. And it's ok because I already shopped and have all of the ingredients on hand. Right? Well...

Sometimes the dish does change a bit when it gets to the end of the week because I either forgot and used some ingredients in another dish (or for lunch) or I swore I already had something at home and forgot a key ingredient. But I don't panic! I just move on with the next meal I have all of the ingredients for or I improvise.

So sometimes you'll see a recipe from the previous week included in this week's line up. It isn't because I absolutely LOVED it and had to have it again... no, it's more likely that I just didn't prepare it the week before but still want to give it a chance. If I STILL haven't made it that second week than I more than likely just drop it off the menu and save it for another month.

Week of 4/10/2011

Sunday - WW+ Points
Chicken Parmesan and Spaghetti via Emily Bites 

Monday -  7 WW+ Points
Sage Chicken & Red Potatoes via Weight Watchers

Tuesday -  6 WW+ Points
Bacon, Ranch & Chicken Mac and Cheese via Cooking Light March 2010

Wednesday - 9 WW+ Points
Chicken Pad Thai (minus the peanuts) via Weight Watchers

Thursday - 6 WW+ Points
Country Fried Steak & Gravy via LaaLosh

Friday - 9 WW+ Points
Pesto Salmon Salad (to go - I have an event tonight so I'll be eating on the run)

Saturday - WW+ Points
Meatballs & Polenta via Two Pink Hippos

WFD? Week of 4/4/2011 {Weekly Meal Planning}

I didn't have a chance to meal plan yesterday due to some birthday festivities for my husband, Joseph, but I got right on top of it this morning and planned out an awesome week of meals! Take a look at what's ahead: 

Week of 4/4/2011

Sunday - 14 WW+ Points
Hamburgers & Sweet Potato Fries
Monday - ?? WW+ Points
Dinner out at Benihana's for Joseph's birthday (emailed them to see if I could get nutritional information)
Tuesday - 9 WW+ Points
Crock Pot Lasagna via Two Pink Hippos
Wednesday - 10 WW+ Points
Skinny Italian Spinach Meatballs via Gina's Skinny Recipes
Thursday -7 WW+ Points
Sage Chicken & Red Potatoes via Weight Watchers
Friday - 10 WW+ Points
Crock Pot Shrimp Marinara with Spaghetti via Two Pink Hippos
Saturday - 6 WW+ Points
Homemade Pizza

WFD? {Weekly Meal Planning}

Along with joining Weight Watchers again comes menu and meal planning. I haven't been doing it for the past few weeks but now that I'm going into week 9 I feel like I have to be more accountable for what we fix for dinner. Plus, I don't need any excuses to forego a meal at home for fast food or restaurant food that's double what my homemade cooking would cost me in points (as well as money!).

So I'm going to start posting my weekly dinner meal plan for all to see. I may blog all of the dishes, I may blog just one, and I may just be using another meal I already blogged about. But I'll list them all here and will try to review each and every one at the end of the week (if my kids give me the time).

Week of 3/27/2011

Sunday - 9 WW+ Points
Italian Sausage and Pepper Pasta via Weight Watchers
Monday - 10 WW+ Points
Smothered Buttermilk Chicken With Peas via food.com 
Tuesday - 5 WW+ Points (plus pasta points)
Skinny Italian Spinach Meatballs via Gina's Skinny Recipes
Wednesday - 9 WW+ Points
Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken via Crockpot 365
Thursday - 8 WW+ Points
Enchilada Lasagna via this blog
Friday - 9 WW+ Points
Honey Teriyaki Salmon via Joelen's Culinary Adventures  
Saturday -
Disneyland for Joseph's birthday