MEal Plan Monday

This weeks meal plan features some simple, easy, family favorites enjoy!



Monday: Garlic and Ranch Turkey Burgers

Tuesday: Salmon and Shrimp with Garlic Rice

Wednesday: Baked Pork Chops

Thursday:Sweet and sour meatballs with rice


Friday crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu


Saturday: Beef Stir Fry


Sunday: Chicken breast Florentine

Tangy Sliced Pork Sandwiches

This was a great way to serve up last nights leftover pork lion

Tangy Sliced Pork Sandwiches from Real Mom Kitchen

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 pound boneless pork, cooked and sliced thin
4 hamburger buns

Melt butter or margarine in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, sugar, paprika, salt and cayenne pepper. Mix together and bring mixture to a boil, stirring often. Add the cooked pork and let simmer just until pork is heated through. Divide into 4 equal portions onto the bottom of each hamburger bun.

SPICY PORK LOIN

SPICY PORK LOIN


Ingredients:

1 pork loin, boned and skinned
1 teaspoonground cumin
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
plenty freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablesppon vinegar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons of brown sugar


Directions:

Combine all ingredients, rub over meat. Bake in baking dish (not on rack) approximately 1 1/2 hours basting frequently.

Stand 20 minutes, cut into thick slices,

Garnish with coriander. Serve with roast vegies or steamed rice and pineapple or mango and a green salad.

Review: I would double the sauce. Where the flavor had seeped it tasted good, other parts of the pork where a little bland.

Pork Chops Supreme

Pork Chops Supreme from here

4 pork loin or rib chops, about 3/4-inch thick
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste
4 thin onion slices, about 1/4-inch thick
4 thin lemon slices, about 1/4-inch thick
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup*

* Chili sauce or your favorite barbecue sauce may be substituted.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle both sides of pork chops with salt and pepper. Place pork chops in ungreased shallow baking pan. Top each pork chop with a onion slice, a lemon slice, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and 1 tablespoons ketchup.

Cover and cook for approximately 20 minutes. Uncover and cook spooning sauce over the chops occasionally, an additional 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches a temperature of 155°F on a meat thermometer. Remove from oven and serve

thee bean salad

1 (15 ounce) can green beans
1 pound wax beans
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 onion, sliced into thin rings
3/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup distilled white vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery seed

Mix together green beans, wax beans, kidney beans, onion, sugar, vinegar, vegetable oil, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Let set in refrigerator for at least 12 hours.


Review: Simple, deilicous and easy to prepare! This is great for cookouts or summer picnics

Homemade Hashbrowns

Homemade Hash Browns


3 - Potatoes, peeled
1 - Onion
1 - Egg, beaten
Salt & pepper
Cooking oil

Grate the potatoes and onion.
Add egg, pepper and lots of salt, mixing well.

Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat until hot.

Scoop in spoonfuls of the potato mixture and flatten into patties about 1/2 inch thick.
Brown patties on both sides, adding more oil as needed.

Serve them hot.

Review: These were simple and delicious!

Baby Food

In my quest for frugality I'm going to attempt to make homemade baby food. I tried to this with my oldest daughter, but why when the pre packaged stuff is so much more convenient? I'll tell you why, because it is cheaper and healthier for the baby then the prepacked meals. Just remember to save the plastic Gerber containers because they are a simple way to measure portion sizes and its simple to throw your homemade baby food in the containers and freeze! Here are some great resources for moms looking to start making their own baby food:

Wholesomebabyfood (This site has a very through FAQ and recipes.

Weelicious This is another great site has baby food ideas as well as recipes for those picky toodlers!

Simple and easy, well I hope. Organic and fresh are the best options. Just remember that you can use frozen foods, but stay away from canned.

Meal Plam April 12-21

As you may have noticed from my previous posts we as a family are attempting to eat healthier. For us as a family this means eating well blanced meals, without losing all the flavor and still remaining on a budget. My goal is to lose 20 pounds, even though I would like to loose forty. In addition, I want to be a good rolemodel for my children! Our weekly meal plan includes resources from sparkspeople.com and food network.

Breakfasts include
Cereal with non fat milk, fruit and Orange juice
Chali's Egg McMuffin (Made ahead and frozen for the week)
Gronola
Weekend treats are
Peanut Butter and Banana Packaes
Veggie Fritata

Lunches include:
Noodles with Veggies
Chef Salad
Leftovers

Dinner:
Monday:Tangy Grilled Chicken and
Tuesday: Pork Chops Supreme
Wednesday:Brown Rice Meatloaf
Thursday: Maple Glazed Chicken
Friday: Ground Turkey Sheppards pie
Saturday: Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Sunday: Slow Cooker MAde over chicken

Chicken Marsala

My husband and I are on a weight loss kick together. This is one of the recipes that we tried that is on the healthier side.

Chicken Marsala
This is a SparkPeople.com Recipe

Wine, lemons, and mushrooms flavor this chicken recipe the lower salt and lower fat way.



Poultry |


Ingredients



1/8 teaspoon black pepper


1/4 teaspoon salt


1/4 cup flour


4 chicken breasts, boned, skinless (5 oz.)


1 tablespoon olive oil


1/2 cup Marsala wine


1/2 cup chicken stock, skim fat from top


1/2 lemon fresh lemon juice


1/2 cup sliced mushrooms


1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped





Directions
1. Mix together pepper, salt, and flour. Coat chicken with seasoned flour.



2. In a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat oil. Place chicken breasts in skillet and brown on both sides. Then remove chicken from skillet and set aside.



3. To the skillet, add wine and stir until the wine is heated. Add juice, stock, and mushrooms. Stir to toss, reduce heat, and cook for about 10 minutes until the sauce is partially reduced.



4. Return browned chicken breasts to skillet. Spoon sauce over the chicken.



5. Cover and cook for about 5-10 minutes or until chicken is done.



6. Serve sauce over chicken. Garnish with chopped parsley.



Yield: 4 servings--Serving Size: 1 chicken breast with 1/3 cup sauce

Review: While this was good. I would adjust the amount of lemon in the recipe. This was overall another great way to prepare chicken marsala.

Zesty Turkey Sloppy Joe

Another attempt at healthy cooking. Only around 130 calories per serving, without cheese or bread!

Zesty Turkey Sloppy Joe


25 Minutes to Prepare and Cook



Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tblsp lemon juice
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup BBQ sauce



Directions
In a skillet, brown the turkey along with the onion, bell pepper, and garlic until the turkey is cooked completely through. Be sure to break up the turkey into small pieces - large chunks just aren't that appealing in sloppy joe!

Once the turkey is done, add the remaining ingredients and allow to cook until heated all the way through.

Take caution that you do not want to burn the mix after adding the ketchup and bbq sauce.

Makes approximately 8 servings; 1 serving = 1/2 cup

Number of Servings: 8