Menu Planning Monday: My menu for the week of 9/27

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!

MONDAY:

Breakfast ~ Cold cereal

Dinner ~ Slow cooker chicken and gravy over rice – This recipe comes from Eat at Home and was posted on orgjunkie.com last week. It sounded good and easy to make!

Ingredients:
2 lbs. boneless chicken breast
1 onion, diced
2 cans cream of chicken soup
3 Tbs. soy sauce
black pepper, to taste
brown rice, enough for 6 people, cooked according to package directions

Place the chicken and onions in the slow cooker. Stir the cream of chicken soup, soy sauce and pepper together and pour over the top of the chicken. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 5-6 hours. Serve over hot, cooked brown rice.

This dish doesn’t have a strong taste of soy sauce. The soy just makes the gravy rich and flavorful.

TUESDAY:

Breakfast ~ Scrambled eggs and turkey bacon

Dinner ~ Family sized burrito – I saw this recipe on DeAna’s blog originally (she’s got great pictures of it all on her blog, so you should definitely check it out!). We tried it awhile ago and it was a hit, so we’re having it again!

Ingredients:
2 small tomatoes, thinly sliced
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded*
1 tsp onion powder
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp chicken taco seasoning mix
1 Tbsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp salsa
1 shredded cheddar cheese
4 burrito-size flour tortillas
1/2 can (9oz) bean dip
Toppings: shredded lettuce, sliced olives, sour cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix chicken with onion powder, lime juice, seasoning mix, garlic powder and salsa. Microwave chicken mixture 3-4 minutes or until hot, stirring occasionally.
Arrange tortillas in an overlapping circular pattern on a large pizza stone (you could use a cookie sheet as well), covering entire surface of baking stone. Tortillas will extend off edge by a few inches.

Starting in the center, spread bean dip over tortillas. Spoon chicken mixture over bean dip and cover with 3/4 cup of cheese.

Fold edges of tortillas up over chicken mixture in an envelope pattern. Arrange sliced tomatoes in rows over top of burrito. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top. Bake about 18 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges are browned.

Cut into rectangles; serve with assorted toppings and enjoy!

Notes: I put my chicken in the crockpot with the taco seasoning, spices, and salsa and then shred it. I also just use regular refried beans rather than bean dip.

WEDNESDAY:

Breakfast ~ Waffles

Dinner ~ Chicken lickin’ good pork chops (slow cooker) – I know today’s going to be a busy day, so I wanted something I could stick in the slow cooker that would basically be ready by the time I got home, and this recipe is perfect for that!

Ingredients:
6-8 lean pork chops, 1-inch thick
1/2 cup flour (omit if you don’t brown chops in skillet)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp oil (omit if you don’t brown chops in skillet)
1 10.5oz can chicken & rice soup

Dredge pork chops in mixture of flour, salt, dry mustard & garlic powder. Brown chops in oil in a large skillet. Place browned pork chops in crockpot. Add can of soup. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3 1/2 hours. If I don’t brown the chops, then I just toss the salt, dry mustard & garlic powder in the crockpot instead of dredging the chops.

*Note: When making this meal, I use a can of family size chicken & rice soup and drain off some of the broth – it keeps the meat tender and there is more of the chicken & rice mixture for everyone! If you don’t have time to brown the chops first in a skillet, I’ve also just dipped it into the flour mixture and put it straight into the slow cooker and it works fine that way, too.

WW points = 6 servings, 7 points per serving

THURSDAY:

Breakfast ~ Cold cereal

Dinner ~ Creamy beef over noodles – This recipe is from the “A Year of Slow Cooking” blog

Ingredients:
–2 lbs stew meat
–2 T butter
–1/4 cup soy milk
–1 T gluten free worcestershire sauce
–1 T black pepper
–2 T dried minced onion
–1/4 cup beef broth
–1/2 t kosher salt
–1 t herbs de provence
–1/2 block of cream cheese

Place the frozen meat into the crockpot. Add all other ingredients (with the exception of the cream cheese). Cook on low for 10-12 hours. Add in cream cheese and mix. Serve over rice or pasta.

FRIDAY:

Breakfast ~ Waffles

Dinner ~ Texas Kielbasa skillet – I originally got this recipe from a freezer swap and it has become a big hit with our family

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) CREAM OF CELERY SOUP (I use whatever cream soup I have on hand)
1 1/2 cups WATER
1 Tablespoon BUTTER
¾ cup uncooked LONG GRAIN RICE
1 pound SMOKED KIELBASA SAUSAGE, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 pkg. (10 oz.) FROZEN PEAS
½ cup SLICED MUSHROOMS
1 cup SHREDDED CHEDDAR CHEESE

Combine soup, water and butter substitute in a large skillet with a lid. Bring to a boil. Add rice and sausage. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in peas and mushrooms. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes,
or until rice is tender. Sprinkle with cheese and serve hot.

SATURDAY:

Breakfast ~ Breakfast pies– This was posted on a message board that I belong to and sounded yummy!

Dinner ~ Perfect Enchiladas – I asked my husband what he wanted for dinner on Father’s Day and was surprised when this is what he chose. Don’t get me wrong – these are yummy. But, his “favorite” has always been my creamy chicken enchiladas. The basis for this recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman, but she uses ground beef and I’m going to use chicken (I’ve used pork before and that was yummy, too!) Marci posted the recipe on her blog awhile back and we have tried ti several times now and love it!

Our “filling” – I’m going to put 2 frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot on low with a can of enchilada sauce (red) and some taco seasoning. I’ll shred the taco meat and that and some cheese will become our “filling”

The sauce (from Marci’s blog)
1 T. canola oil
1 T. flour/cornstarch
1 large (28 oz) can enchilada/red sauce
2 c. chicken broth
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
2 T. chopped cilantro

-In a large saucepan over med. heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for 1 min.
-Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and cilantro, and bring to boil.
-Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 min.

I’m going to use 1 dozen flour tortillas. Whenever I make enchiladas, I always put a little bit of sauce along the bottom of the pan to keep the enchiladas from stocking to the pan. I’ll fill each tortilla with the shredded chicken breast and cheese, roll it, and place it in a 9X13 Pyrex baking dish. Then, I’ll cover the rolled enchiladas with the sauce and some cheese and bake it in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 350 until the cheese is melted.

WW points = 9 per serving for 2 enchiladas