Meal Plan for the Week

Sorry for the lack of posts last week.   We went on a little mini vacation!   We had to eat all of our meals out and I'm glad to say I was happy to get home and cook again.

Sunday (today):  salmon, steamed broccoflower (something new for us), and Anne's Mac n Cheese (I know, but I have been wanting mac n cheese so bad!)

Monday:  grilled chicken, smashed red potatoes, green beans

Tuesday:  grilled shrimp, grilled pineapple, and pineapple fried rice

Wednesday:  pan grilled pork chops with grilled pineapple salsa

Thursday:  whole wheat pasta w/ chicken Italian sausage

Friday:  Parmesan-crusted tilapia, steamed broccolflower, and whole-wheat pasta w/ alfredo sauce

Saturday:  Pizza Night!   pizza, salad

Recipes:

Marinade for the chicken/shrimp this week:
Paula Deen's Marinade
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 T. Dijon mustard
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
6 T. olive oil
juice of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 lemon
dash of cayenne or ground black pepper
Mix all together in a plastic ziploc bag, add protein, and stick in the fridge overnight.  I do reserve some for brushing on the meats during grilling, so be sure to take that out before you add the meat.

Pineapple Fried Rice
Ingredients:
1 c. basmati rice
1 can (20 oz) pineapple tidbits
3 green onions, chopped
1 lg. red chili, finely chopped
3 sprigs cilantro, coarsely chopped
3 T. oil, divided
2 c. fresh shrimp, cleaned and deveined
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. fish sauce
2 T. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar

Prepare rice according to package directions.  Set aside.   In a bowl, combine pineapple, onions, chili, and cilantro.  Mix and set aside.  Heat 1 T. oil in skillet, saute shrimp until done.  Remove shrimp from skillet.   In same skillet, over medium heat, add remaining oil.  Satue garlic until golden brown.  Add cooked rice and stir.   Add fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar.  Stir and heat thoroughly.   Fold in pineapple mixture and shrimp.  Heat through.  Garnish with cilantro.  Serves 6.
From recipe guide for Mahatma Basmati Rice

Pan-Grilled Pork Chops w/ Grilled Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients:
4 (4oz) boneless center-cut loin pork chops
1 T. plus 2 tsp. fresh lime juice, divided
4 slices (1/2 inch thick) pineapple
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 T. minced jalapeno pepper

Combine pork and 1 T. juice; let stand 10 minutes.  Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.  Coat pan w/ cooking spray.  Add pineapple and onion; cook 4 minutes on each side or until onion is tender.  Coarsely chop pineapple and onion; combine in a medium bowl w/ remaining 2 tsp. lime juice, jalapeno, and 1/8 tsp salt.  Sprinkle pork with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Heat grill pan over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add pork; cook 4 minues on each side or until done.
Yield:  4 servings, 1 chop and 1/2 c. salsa
215 calories, 7 g. fat, and 1.4 g. fiber
From Cooking Light, March 2010

Throw it Together Night

Tonight I made an easy dinner that used up some of the things we had on-hand.    We had burgers on Tuesday night, so I had some leftover cooked ground beef and turkey so I crumbled that up in half a jar of pasta sauce to make a meat sauce.  I added that to a few servings of cooked low-carb pasta, a 1/2 cup of ricotta, a 1/4 cup of cottage cheese and put it in a baking dish.  I sprinkled with a bit of shredded mozzarella and baked it.   Easy baked ziti!  I paired it with a salad and slice of garlic bread and had a wonderful dinner with lots of leftovers for another day.  :)

I really like to try to use up opened packages before they go bad, so tonight I was able to use the last of the ricotta and most of the cottage cheese.   We usually package the ground meat in a way that allows for 1-2 meals when thawed.   We are going to be making the switch to ground turkey completely very soon, so I'm trying to combine turkey and beef to use up what beef we do have on hand.  

fish tacos

This recipe is from Everyday Food, Jan/Feb '05.   It was one of their "light" issues, so there are several recipes in there I'd like to try out.  I thought the tacos were good, but we had a few issues.   We only needed two servings, so we decided to half the recipe.  I made a mistake and forgot to use only 1 T. of lime juice, so our sauce was very strong with lime flavor.   We also found out that our cast-iron grill pan is not seasoned well enough to handle a fish as delicate as tilapia.   It was still good, but next time we make it we'll fix those few problems for a better result!

Fish Tacos
Ingredients:
1/4 c. reduced-fat sour cream
2 T. lime juice
salt and pepper
1/4 small red cabbage, thinly shredded  (~2.5 c.)
4 scallions, thinly chopped (~1/2 c.)
1 jalapeno chile, halved lengthwise, one half minced
2 T. olive oil
1 lb. tilapia fillets (or other firm white fish), cut into 16 equal strips
8 tortillas (6 inch)
1/2 c. fresh cilantro

Preparation:
In a large bowl, combine sour cream and lime juice; season with salt and pepper.  Transfer half the mixture to another container; set aside for serving.   Toss cabbage, scallions, and minced jalapeno with remaining sour cream mixture.  Season again with salt and pepper.   In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil and remaining jalapeno half over medium-high heat; swirl to coat bottom of pan.  Season fish on both side with salt and pepper.  In two batches, cook fish until golden brown on all sides, 5 to 6 minutes.  Discard jalapeno.  Meanwhile, warm tortillas according to package instructions.  To make tacos, fill tortillas with slaw, fish, and fresh cilantro leaves.  Drizzle with reserved sour cream mixture.  Serve immediately.

Serves 4:  399 calories, 11.5 g. fat, 3.7 g. fiber

Only a .4lb loss for me last week, but at least it wasn't a gain, right?   Jason lost another 2.   He's been awesome about getting his exercise in and I'm so proud of him!

Here's our menu plan for the week:

Monday:  Jerk-rubbed catfish with spicy cilantro slaw (recipe to follow)
Tuesday:  Hamburgers (made with free-range beef),  fries?
Wednesday:  fish tacos, black beans (I'll post that recipe on Wed)
Thursday:  low-carb pasta w/ meat sauce, salad, maybe garlic bread
Friday:  leftovers
Saturday:  pizza night

Jerk-Rubbed Catfish w/ Spicy Cilantro Slaw

Ingredients:
3 c. cabbage and carrot coleslaw mix
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
3 T. canola mayonnaise
2 T. fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. finely chopped habanero or serrano pepper
4 (6 oz) catfish fillets
4 tsp. jerk seasoning

Preparation:
Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl; toss well to coat.  Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.   Sprinkle fish evenly with jerk seasoning.  Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.  Remove from heat; serve fish with slaw.
Yield:  4 servings (1 fillet, 1/2 c. slaw)

256 calories, 12.6 g. fat, 1.5 g. fiber

Today's Foods

Breakfast:
Quaker Oatmeal w/ dried cranberries  3
whole wheat toast 1
coffee w/ 1 T. FF half-and-half  .5

Snack:
1 c. organic FF milk

Lunch:
Egg sandwich on whole wheat bread  3.5
14 grams Goldfish crackers 1.5
1 c. grapes  1

Snack:
hot chocolate 2
whole wheat toast w/ 1 T jelly 2

Snack:
1 oz. cheese 2

Dinner:
2.5 ounces wild salmon  3
steamed mixed veggies in butter sauce 1
sweet potato casserole*
sweet tea 1

Snack:
100-calorie popcorn 1

Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole
**I cut down on the butter, sugar, and pecans and omitted the vanilla and marshmallows.** To prepare this a day ahead, cook the sweet potatoes; combine with brown sugar, butter, and vanilla. Before baking, stir in half the pecans, place in a baking dish, and top with the remaining pecans and marshmallows.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, divided
Cooking spray
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Preheat oven to 375°.
Place the sweet potatoes in a Dutch oven, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and
simmer for 15 minutes or until very tender. Drain; cool slightly.
Place potatoes in a large bowl. Add sugar and next 3 ingredients (through vanilla). Mash sweet potato mixture with a potato masher. Fold in 1/4 cup pecans. Scrape potato mixture into an even layer in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup pecans; top with marshmallows. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until golden.

Yield: 16 servings
CALORIES 186 (27% from fat); FAT 5.5g (sat 2g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.9g); IRON 0.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 8mg; CALCIUM 23mg; CARBOHYDRATE 33.1g; SODIUM 272mg; PROTEIN 1.6g; FIBER 2.5g
Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2007

Weigh In

Woo Hoo!
 2.6 pounds lost last week!  I did 3 days on the treadmill, but only 30 minutes each time.  Maybe just getting up and moving around helped?  :)

Jason did great too.   He lost 3 pounds and did his 3 days of exercise.  He's trying to do the Couch to 5K program and I'm proud of his efforts!

Meal Plan for the Week

Menu Planning:

Monday:  salmon, mixed steam veggies, sweet potatoes

Tuesday:  chicken Parmesan, pasta w/ Alfredo sauce, garlic toast

Wednesday: beef tacos, black beans, rice

Thursday:  ham/pineapple pita pizza, sweet potato fries

Friday:  sausage, eggs, toast

Saturday:  (anniversary!)  Pizza

Sunday:  Out for dinner to celebrate