Meal Plan: Easy Does It

This week's menu posed a bit of a challenge for me. Since I had to work this weekend, I didn't have an opportunity to do any prep cooking for the week ahead — that means everything has to be prepared the night we plan to eat it. We're both looking down the barrel of a very full week — so meals have to be quick and simple to make. And last but not least, the fridge is full of unused items — time to get creative and utilize them!

Dinners:

• Sunday: Pizza, salad
• Monday: Portobello ravioli with tomato-shiitake sauce*
• Wednesday: Quick pork ragu^ with pasta*, zucchini
• Thursday: Bulgogi (Korean BBQ beef), brown rice, sweet & spicy cabbage
• Friday: Choose your own adventure pork tostadas

Lunches:

• Green salad
• Mango, bacon, spinach, and cheese sandwiches

Snacks:

• Apples
• FF American cheese
• RF Wheat thins

Sources: * Cooking Light The Essential Dinner Tonight Cookbook: Over 350 delicious, easy, and healthy meals

Notes: ^ I will be making both pork tenderloins in the slow cooker and then shredding them. Half will be used in the quick pork ragu and half will be used for the tostadas.

Make Ahead:

• Portion lunches
• Make provolone cheese toasts

Grocery List:
coming soon

BLT Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

I frankly have no idea why it took me so long to make this recipe. I have had it bookmarked and back-of-mind ever since it appeared on Steamy Kitchen. Maybe I kept thinking it was "too simple" or "not exciting enough."

But, as it turns out, what I am enjoying most about this recipe is how simple it is. It was simple to make, blends some of my fave flavors, and works great as a lunch. Let's just say, this BLT Salad is much more than the sum of its parts.

I started off by roasting center cut bacon in the oven. I chose center cut bacon because it is lower in calories and fat than regular bacon, so you can get a little more bacon bang for your points buck. Then, I omitted the oil called for in the recipe and simply tossed the bread bread cubes in the small amount of rendered bacon fat on the baking sheet. Just using this small amount infused the bread with a ton of delicious flavor. Then everything gets tossed together with a chopped tomato and the dressing.

About the dressing... I did make extensive changes to that. I don't use mayo, so I substituted ff sour cream and made the dressing as instructed. It tasted awful. I ended up throwing in a bunch of salt and pepper, parsley flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, and a last scrape of grainy mustard in a jar at the back of the fridge. It tasted better. My guess is that the dressing was supposed to taste like mayo on a BLT sandwich, but it definitely wasn't my cup of tea. When I make this again in the future — and I will be making this again in the future — I will continnue to refine the dressing recipe a bit more.

I haven't calc'ed out the points yet, but I'm thinking it's probably somewhere around 5 for a single serving: 2 oz french bread = 2, 3 slices center cut bacon = 2, dressing = 1, tomato and lettuce = 0. 

Recipe also appears in Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast: 250 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Any Time of Day.

Asian Pork, Noodle, and Vegetable Salad

This recipe for chicken (we used pork), noodle, and vegetable salad appealed to me because it included some new (to us) ingredients, utilized leftovers, and was basically a complete meal in a single bowl. Gotta love that!

We chose to eat the salad warm, rather than cold, so we made a few modifications. First, we soaked the carrot matchsticks with the rice noodles for about 5 minutes to warm and soften them a bit. We used zucchini instead of water chestnuts because we like them better. We warmed the leftover shredded pork and zucchini together to save a little time. For the dressing, we reduced the oil to just 1 T. Once everything was done, we tossed it together and served!

It was a delicious meal. I loved how easy it was to put together. It made about 6 servings, so we had several servings leftover for lunches, and the salad has held up quite well. We're definitely looking forward to making this again soon!

Makes 6 servings. Points (old) per serving: 1 oz rice sticks - 1; 3 oz pork = 3, veggies = 0, dressing = about 1.

Meal Plan: Excitement All the Way!

This week's meal plan features (almost) all new recipes! The trick to featuring new recipes in a busy week is to make sure that the recipes use familiar techniques, so you're not stuck learning on the fly while everyone's waiting for dinner to get to the table!

Dinners:

• Sunday: Salad and leftovers
• Monday: Baked pasta with spinach, ricotta, and prosciutto (almost Meatless Monday)
• Tuesday: Honey-hoisin pork tenderloin (one of our favorites!), mashed potatoes, green beans
• Wednesday: Chili garlic beef with asparagus and cashews, steamed rice
• Thursday: Roasted pork tenderloin sandwiches, baked chips, broccoli
• Friday: Texas chili*, corn bread, salad (held over from last week)

Lunches:

• BLT salad with buttermilk dressing

Snacks:

• Pineapple chunks in strawberry gel
• RF string cheese

Source: * Slow Cooker Revolution

Make Ahead:

• Prep BLT salad
• Portion lunches
• Pre-cook pasta
• Make honey-hoisin marinade
• Roast cashews (we have raw ones on hand)
• Make rice
• Make pork spice rub

Grocery List
coming soon

Portobello, Broccoli, and Red Pepper Melts

It is safe to say that, last week, I was all salad-ed out. I got a little behind on my weekly lunch planning, so I had to grab lunch at my work cafe, and all they had that was (a) available and (b) fit my tastes was salad. So last week was pretty much salad after salad after salad until I just couldn't take anymore!

This week, I wanted to keep lunches healthy, nutritious, and point-friendly, without having to go the salad route. These portobello, broccoli, and red pepper melts fit the bill perfectly!

There are so many things to love about this recipe! For one, it is quick and easy to make. Everything just goes on a baking sheet under the broiler and becomes all kinds of delicious. Another, this vegetable mix is divine! It would make a great side dish on its own! Then it gets placed on  bread, topped with cheese, and then broiled again until all melty. Yum, yum, and more yum.

This dish is also very (old) points-friendly, too, if you omit the garlic/mayo sauce called for like I did. (I really didn't think it needed any sauce at all.) I used just a teeny bit (less than 2 t) of olive oil on the broccoli, so points for that per serving are negligible. The total for this lunch was just 7 points for a nice hearty helping. Veg = 0, 1 oz cheese = 3 (I used regular Swiss because I had some to use up, but the points could be reduced if a low-fat or fat-free cheese was used), 3 oz ciabatta = 4 (also could reduce this by using a different bread).

All in all, highly recommended!

Review: Alexia Sweet Potato Fries

Tonight, we enjoyed FauxBQ pulled pork with roasted green beans and Alexia Sweet Potato Fries. The fries were really delicious! They turned out sweet and crispy in the oven, which is rare for sweet potato fries. And, a big 3-oz. helping (as shown below) was very low in points -- just 3 points! We will definitely be enjoying these again soon.

The rest of our meal was also quite delicious. To make the FauxBQ pulled pork, we simply added 2 pork tenderloins (1 pack) to the slow cooker with 1 C beef broth and 2 t liquid smoke to give it that wonderful smoky flavor. Because we were going to be using the leftovers from tonight's dinner in another meal later in the week, we kept the flavoring light. A little more than 6 hours later, dinner was done!

This is a very (old) Point-friendly meal: 3 oz pork tenderloin = 3, 2 T bbq sauce = 1, green beans = 0, 3 oz sweet potato fries = 3.

I have no material connection to the producers of Alexia Sweet Potato Fries. I just really, really liked their fries and wanted to let the world know.



Meal Plan: When You've Got the Planning Blahs...

This is a meal plan sure to cure those ol' meal planning blues. Familiar favorites, a few new selections, and a little help from the slow cooker add up to one boredom-busting week of home-cooked meals.

Dinners:

• Monday: Skillet spaghetti with spinach*
• Tuesday: FauxBQ pork, sweet potato fries, roasted green beans
• Wednesday: Beef & broccoli, brown rice
• Thursday: Asian noodle and vegetable salad with leftover FauxBQ pork tenderloin** 
• Friday: Texas chili*** and low-cal fixins, cornbread muffins

Lunches:

• Portobello, broccoli, and red pepper melts

Snacks:

• Luna bar
• Pineapple chunks in strawberry gel

Sources: * The Best Skillet Recipes: A Best Recipe Classic, ** Cooking Light The Essential Dinner Tonight Cookbook: Over 350 delicious, easy, and healthy meals, *** Slow Cooker Revolution

(Another) Mini Meal Plan

Hopefully we will return to our regularly scheduled meal planning program next week!

Dinners

• Tuesday: Steak salad, corn
• Wednesday: Portobello, broccoli, and red pepper melts
• Thursday: Pork chops, sweet potato fries, zucchini
• Friday: Chile-cheese rice burritos, salad

Lunches

• Frozen meals supplemented with frozen veggies
• Leftover veggie melts from Wednesday

Snacks

• RF wheat thins with cheese
• Diced pears

Grilled Veggie Stacks

As part of Project Clean the Fridge, in conjunction with Project Feed Myself Lunch, I decided to make these grilled veggie stacks. However, it turned into a very loose adaptation as I (a) couldn't find any basil at the store, (b) forgot to marinate the vegetables before grilling, and (c) didn't make the couscous. Recipe, shmecipe!

Onto the grill went eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, and portobello mushrooms (I added those in). While the hubster may not like vegetables, he sure is good at grilling them! They all came out tasting magnifico! Next time, however, we won't grill the tomatoes. They came out soft and mushy as one would expect.

I then stacked the veggies up, along with RF mozzarella slices and a little prosciutto. (Recipe, shmecipe!)

As I was putting my lunch together today, however, I worried that maybe the lack of a sauce would be an issue since I had forgotten to make it. So, just in case, I threw in some jarred tomato-and-roasted garlic marinara sauce we had in the fridge. (I was originally going to use some pesto on the stack, but when I checked my jar, it was moldy. Boo to slow pesto use.)

This veggie stack was delish! It was probably a little too heavy on the cheese, but considering the cheese is really the only source of points in these, I figured it was OK to overindulge here to make up for cheese deprivation at another time! Also, it tasted great with the sauce, but I'm sure it would also taste good without it. I may try that tomorrow. Or I may try to make a garlic or basic oil. Aren't options grand?

Obviously, this is incredibly (old) Point-friendly, due to grilling the veggies oil-free and keeping the accoutrement fairly lean. Veggies = 0, 2 oz RF mozzarella cheese = 4, .5 oz prosciutto = 1, .5 C tomato sauce = 1.

Review: Organic Harvest Medley Brown Rice Blend

For a while, we ate brown rice all the time. After all, the nutritional benefits are clear: heartier, more natural, more fiber, etc. Brown rice also has a great nutty taste that pairs well with many things.

However...

... brown rice can also be very boring.

Yes, we were in a brown rice rut. And we needed to break out.

Thankfully, we did, with this delicious Organic Harvest Medley brown rice blend.

It was absolutely delicious! The blend of rices gives this superb flavor. We served it alongside Stir-Fried Broccoli with Orange and Ginger and it really complemented the flavors of the orange and broccoli. It also passed the hubby's taste test: He is usually not a fan of plain rice and because the stir-fry dish was not as saucy as expected, the rice was pretty much eaten plain... and he still enjoyed it!

Best of all, this is very (old) WW Points-friendly: 3/4 C cooked is 150 calories, 1.5 g fat, and 4 g fiber -- just 2 Points!

Mmmm, rice

I have no material connection to the producers of Organic Harvest Medley brown rice blend. I just really, really liked their rice and wanted to let the world know.

Stir-Fried Broccoli with Orange and Ginger

In recognition of Meatless Monday, and to clean out some broccoli that had been lingering in the fridge, we made Stir-Fried Broccoli with Orange and Ginger, topped with some cashews for protein, and served alongisde a delicious brown rice medley.

Unfortunately, I wasn't totally happy with the way the broccoli turned out. Basically, the broccoli is pan-roasted with a smidgen of sugar to encourage browning. Then, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes are added. Finally, the sauce is added. The sauce was primarily composed of 1/4 C broth and 1/4 C orange juice, with a little bit of soy sauce and cornstarch for thickening. The broccoli was supposed to finish cooking briefly in the sauce, however as soon as I added it to the pan, it evaporated completely! I added a bit of water just so it wouldn't burn, but it still wasn't very saucy, and at that point the flavor had become somewhat diluted. Next time, I will double or maybe even triple the sauce so it is a bit more saucy.

Because the sauce was a bit light, I ended up adding about a tablespoon of duck sauce to the broccoli, for a little extra sweet and sour flavor.

This was a very Points-friendly meal. The above is one serving: 3/4 C brown rice medley (2), broccoli (0), 1/2 t oil (1), 7 cashews (2), 1 T duck sauce (1).

Mini Meal Plan

Most of these items are holdovers from previous weeks or quick and simple items we can make from things we already have in the pantry and fridge.

Dinners:

• Monday: Stir-fried broccoli with orange and ginger, brown rice medley
• Tuesday: Pork tenderloin with pomegranate molasses-wine sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans
• Wednesday: Steak, sourdough bread, green salad
• Thursday: Gingery pork*, steamed rice, baby bok choy
• Friday: Tortellini with spinach and prosciutto

Lunches:

• Grilled veggie stacks

Source: *Slow Cooker Revolution

Where's the Beef?

And the bread? And the vegetables? And the lunches?

We have not been cooking at home for roundabouts 2 weeks now. First, we were both in finals mode, then entertaining family, then I was sick, then the hubby was sick! So, dinners and lunches were provided courtesy of leftovers and/or restaurants.

Now that I'm feeling better and hubs is on the mend, we are planning to get back to the healthy eating and dinners made at home. This week, we are still cleaning out leftovers and using pantry and freezer stuff for dinners. We will be returning to our regularly scheduled meals and meal planning soon!

Bistro Lunch

I need to amend my recent statement on soups: I generally dislike soups, but I make an exception for potato and French onion. Case in point: my "bistro lunches" this week.

For lunch this week, I am having salad, cheese toasts, and French onion soup, for just 7 points!

The French onion soup recipe came from the fabulous Slow Cooker Revolution. That book is so full of delicious recipes! I'm just getting started with it, but so far everything's been a winner, including this soup. It is one of the most flavorful soups I have ever had. Basically, you carmelize the onions in a mixture of butter, thyme, sherry, soy sauce (!), and apple butter (!!) until they are tender and golden, then add in some beef broth, and voila—French onion soup. I halved the recipe for my little slow cooker and it yielded 4 generous servings for just 3 points each.

The cheese toasts are 45g of French baguette (roughly 4 little slices) topped with 1 oz part-skim mozzarella, then broiled. Each serving is 4 points, 2 for each component.

The salad is, well, a handful of salad which I spritzed with 0-calorie vinaigrette.

Speedy Week, Slow Cooked!

For a busy week, think slow! Slow cooker, that is.

Tostadas!

Before tonight, I had never made flank steak in the slow cooker. I was afraid it would come out tough and stringy, but it was the complete opposite — vey tender! Best of all, flank steak is a much leaner cut of meat than the usual slow-cooker standard, chuck. I'm a convert!

After cooking the meat in the slow cooker, I shredded it and simmered it with a little tomato sauce, cooking liquid, garlic, onion powder, chili powder, cayenne, cumin, coriander, brown sugar, and cider vinegar (per this this recipe) to make it a bit saucy and really add some pizzazz.

The theme of tonight's meal was "Choose Your Own Adventure" — a variety of bases and toppings available (cough::cleaning out the fridge and pantry::cough), everyone makes whatever they want.

I made tostadas, and they were quite filling. Pictured is one serving/two tostadas. Points (old WW): 2 tostada shells = 2, 3 oz flank steak = 3, .5 oz RF cheese = 1, 2 teaspoons RF sour cream = 0, salad = 0, tomato = 0. Quite a bargain for just 6 Points! (The Points do jump a bit if you increase the servings.)

Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup

While I am normally not the biggest fan of soup, I do make an exception for potato soups! This was a particularly easy one, thanks to the slow cooker. I adapted it from the ATK Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook.

Basically, you cut up several pounds of potatoes (I used 2, which was about 2/3 of what the recipe called for) and throw 'em in the slow cooker. Then, make a roux with flour using either fat from the bacon rendered for the topping, or butter, if you are lazy and use bacon bits like moi. Once you have a golden roux, add some vegetable broth to make a nice smooth mixture, then dump it in the slow cooker as well. Lastly, two more cups of broth, then slow-cook until the potatoes are tender, a few hours.

Once the potatoes are tender, take out about 2 C worth and mash 'em up, then stir the mashed 'taters back in the soup with some cheese (I used about 1.5 C of RF cheddar) until smooth, then thin with FF milk (recipe called for cream, which I omitted), and voila!

I made this on Sunday, and we ate it for dinner tonight. It got a bit congealed (mmm, slice me some soup!) but thinned out once heated. We probably also could have thinned it further with more milk, but we liked it thick. We served it with traditional baked potato toppings and a green salad on the side. Yummy!

Serves 6. Points (old WW) per serving: soup = 5, 1 T RF sour cream = 0, .5 oz RF cheddar = 1, 1 T bacon bits = 1, scallions = 0.

Spinach and Shitake Risotto

Risotto is a great dish for using up all those leftover little bits and bites. Today, I had a single cup of arborio rice, a leftover handful of spinach, and some dried shitakes. Together, they became...

Spinach and shitake risotto! I very loosely adapted this recipe from Food and Wine, omitting cognac, parmesan, onion, and olive oil, using non-alcoholic wine instead of regular, shitake instead of porcini, and reducing the butter to a single tablespoon. All in all, it was pretty delicious, easy to put together, and I got to use up a bunch of stuff in the pantry and fridge. Makes 2 main dish servings, points per serving (old WW): .5 C arborio rice (dry) = 5, .5 T butter = 2, .25 C non-alcoholic wine = 1, mushrooms, broth, spinach = 0.

Boring Meals Begone!

What kinds of influences do you like in your weekly meals? Asian? Got it! French? Got it! Mexican? Got that too! Irish? Check! Homestyle American? Well, that's covered too.

Tex-Mex Nachos

Decided to convert Tex-Mex Tacos into Tex-Mex Nachos tonight. We substituted diced sirloin steak for ground beef, and used canned corn instead of frozen, since we had it on hand. This dish provided a significant amount of flavor without a lot of time or ingredients. We used two chipotles and it was just the right amount of heat. Would definitely make this again!

Points (old WW): 1 oz RF tortilla chips = 3, .75 oz RF cheese = 2, 2 oz sirloin steak = 3, 1/6 can of black beans = 1, 1/6 can of corn = 0, 1 oz tomato sauce = 0, 1 T RF sour cream = 0.

Short Week, Long on Flavor

Even a short week deserves some fabulous flavor. Here are some selections that make the most of mealtimes.

Light & Healthy Easter Brunch

Celebrate Easter with a light and healthy brunch! Watch this video for menu ideas, then get the recipes below!

The Spice of Life

Variety is the spice of life, as this weekly menu proves. If you're looking for fun international flavors that won't leave you bored or in the kitchen for hours, check out this inspired mix.

Black Swan-Themed Dinner Party

Why not host friends for an evening of great food and great entertainment? Entertainment: "Black Swan", the 2010 award-winning film. Decor and dinner: Watch this video for quick, simple ideas, and get the recipes below!

Ridiculously Easy Menu

Some weeks call for easy meals that won't keep you in the kitchen for hours. If this describes your week, read on!

Darn Delicious!

The only requirements for meals on this menu: deliciousness!

Early St. Patrick's Day

Get in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day with a weekly menu filled with delicious greens! From cool, refreshing salads, to Asian-inspired cabbage, greens take center stage here.

Something New, Something Old

Boring begone! Mix up the week's menu with a few bold new recipes, as well as some old classics.

Meatless Without the Melancholy

Meatless Mondays are good, but why stop at just one day a week? Here's a selection that's light on the meat, but heavy on the flavor.

A Bit of International Flavor

Check out this selection if you're craving the comfort of old standbys, but want to mix it up a bit mid-week with some international flavors.

Never a Dull Moment

Keep your excitement up all week long! Here's a selection of meals that place the focus squarely on tantalizing your tastebuds!

Come Home to Classics

What could be more satisfying than a variety of quick and easy classic dishes? With a little help from the ready-made section of the supermarket, meals are ready in a flash.

Quick and Delicious

Perk up the work week with freshly cooked meals prepped fast, made fast, enjoyed slow.