Menu Planning Monday: My Menu for the week of 10/24

**Make sure you check out my Lawry’s What’s Your Flavor? Prize Pack Giveaway!!

Most of my recipes are new this week and I haven’t had a chance yet to calculate points per serving.  For those of you who may be doing Weight Watchers, I have included the points per serving calculations for some of my recipes this week. I used the “Recipe Builder” feature on the WeightWatchers.com e-Tools program to input all of the ingredients and calculate the points, so it should be pretty accurate.

You can read more about my $40 weekly budget in this post here.

If you’re new to menu planning, check out my post about how I do my menu planning.

On weekdays, my posts don’t include lunches.  My son eats lunch at daycare, most days I take lunch or eat a Lean Cuisine/Smart Ones/Healthy Choice meal, I pack a lunch for my daughter, and my husband fends for himself!

SUNDAY:  Creamy Corn Chowder – This recipe comes from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. water
2 1/2 c. milk (I used skim milk and it worked just fine)
2 regular-sized chicken bouillon cubes, 1 Knorr chicken bouillon cube, or 2 tsp. chicken base
1/2 lb. bacon (optional, I’m going to use crumbled bacon pieces)
1 onion, minced
2 red potatoes, diced into small cubes
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can corn, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
A few dashes of hot sauce (like Tabasco or Cholula)

Fry bacon until crisp (if you’re using the bacon pieces, you can obviously skip this step!). In the meantime, melt butter over low heat in a soup pot. When melted, add flour to make a roux and whisk until it comes together in a little ball. Add water and whisk until completely combined and there are no lumps. Add milk and chicken base or bouillon and bring to a simmer. Add potatoes, onions, and garlic, and simmer (but don’t boil!), stirring very frequently, for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add crumbled bacon and corn and heat through. Add a few drops of hot sauce and then salt to taste.

Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with extra bacon and/or cheese if you want.

WW points – On the Our Best Bites site, it lists this as being 3 points per serving, but when I put all of the ingredients into the Recipe Builder on WW.com, it came out to 8 points per serving (for 4 servings).   The bulk of that was from the bacon pieces, so you could cut down the points by cutting that.  You would need to add additional points if you add cheese.

MONDAY:  Spaghetti – I asked the family for ideas in menu planning this week and this is what my 3 year old asked for!!

TUESDAY:  Country Ham and Macaroni Casserole – This is always my daughter’s first week when I let her choose something for the menu!

Thanks to Sandy~Bettyinthekitchen (BabyCenter.com Cooking for Your Family Board)

1 lb country ham slices or regular smoked ham in one piece (I just use whatever leftover ham we have on hand)
1 large onion, diced
1 lb elbow macaroni
2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (8 oz) – I use reduced fat
1 cup sour cream (I use reduced fat)
1 can cream of chicken soup (I use 98% fat free)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine, melted (I don’t use this when I make it)
1 cup dry plain bread crumbs

1. Heat oven to 400º.
2. Bring 4 quarts water and ham to boiling in large pot. Once water begins to boil,
remove ham to a plate. Add onion and macaroni to pot. Return water to boiling; cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Coarsely chop ham, discarding any fat and bones.
4. Drain macaroni and onion and return to pot. Add ham, cheese, sour cream and soup. Scrape into a 13x9x2 baking dish. Pour melted margarine over top. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.
5. Bake in heated 400º oven 30 minutes or until heated through and top is golden brown.
Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Note: Prepare in two 8×8 casserole dishes, bake one and freeze one (unbaked) for another day. If freezing, top with crumbs and margarine right before baking.

WW points = 9 points per serving (with modifications above), makes 8 servings

WEDNESDAY:  Beef Stew (slow cooker) – I got this recipe from orgjunkie.com awhile ago.  In Texas, fall hasn’t quite “hit” yet, but I’m still in the mood for fall comfort food!

Ingredients:
*2 pounds beef chuck or stew meat, cut in 1? cubes (or you can even buy stew meat already cut up)
*1/4 cup flour
*1 1/2 tsp salt
*1/2 tsp pepper
*1 1/2 cups beef broth
*1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
*1 clove garlic
*1 bay leaf
*1 tsp paprika
*4 carrots sliced
*2 cans of potatoes (I have a few potatoes that need to be used up, so I’m going to just cut them up and throw them in)
*2 onions, chopped
*1 stalk celery, sliced

Directions: Place meat in cooker (no need to brown first). Mix flour, salt and pepper and pour over meat; stir to coat meat with flour. Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix well. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours or high 4-6 hours. Stir stew thoroughly before serving.

WW points = 8 (I’m guessing 8 servings on this but I’ve never made it before, so I really don’t know)

THURSDAY:   Black bean and chicken burritos (slow cooker) – This is another family favorite that is SUPER easy to make!

Ingredients:
1 taco/fajita seasoning packet
2 cans black beans, drained
2-3 chicken breasts
1 can green enchilada sauce

Place chicken breasts in bottom of the crockpot and then add remaining ingredients. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Shred chicken before serving and serve in tortillas. We add cheese, sour cream, etc. to the tortillas. We sometimes add rice (cooked rice to the mixture once we’re ready to serve, not in the crockpot!). This is also really good if you use beef instead of the chicken!

Side:  Cilantro Lime Rice (this recipe also comes from Marci’s blog!)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter (I use I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
1 1/2 cups rice
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 large lime (juice and zest)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Directions:
In a skillet, melt butter and add rice. Let cook for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients (except cilantro) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 18-20 minutes. Add cilantro with a few minutes before done. Fluff with fork and serve.

WW points = 3 points per serving (makes 4 servings)

FRIDAY:  Lemon chicken saute – This recipe has come to be known as “Grandma’s chicken” around our house because it was a recipe from my husband’s grandmother that his mom used to make for them

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (this is what we need for our family, adjust accordingly for yours)
3 T all purpose flour
PAM no-stick cooking spray
1/3 cup butter or margarine (we use I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
3 T lemon juice
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp sugar

Roll chicken in flour to coat. Spray large skillet with Pam or other cooking spray. Add butter and melt over medium heat. Add chicken breast and saute till lightly browned on one side. Turn and brown on second side, 5-7 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove chicken and set aside. Stir teriyaki sauce, lemon juice, garlic and sugar into skillet. Return chicken to pan and simmer 3 minutes. Turn chicken over, and continue cooking until fork tender (2-3 minutes)

Serve over cooked rice.

WW points – 5 points per serving with chicken; 2 points for 1/2 cup rice or 4 points for 1 cup with rice, 1 point for the asparagus recipe below

Sides:  Marci’s Roasted Parmesan Asparagus

SATURDAY:  Pizza and “trunk or treating”

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