Made a Menu

Monday means I'm down to the last week of the 2ww and the last week of my detox. Yay!

Since we're currently out of Dream Dinners till our next session, I had to make our meal plan the old-fashioned way, aka stare at food blogs till I find something that a) fits with my detox, b) looks good, and c) doesn't look too complicated.

This week, I'll be borrowing heavily from A Year of Slow Cooking. I highly recommend this site for anyone looking for slow cooker ("CrockPot") recipes.

Here's the plan:

Monday: Angelhair rice pasta with meat sauce (ground turkey, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce)
Tuesday: Applesauce Chicken (CrockPot) w/ steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Hoisin Drumsticks (CrockPot) w/ brown rice and stir-fried veggies
Thursday: Indian Chicken Curry (CrockPot) w/ quinoa
Friday: Holiday Party at our building
Saturday: Dinner Out OR Fish w/ spiced quinoa mix & steamed veggies
Sunday: Salsa Chicken (CrockPot) w/ brown rice

Menu Plan

Now that John Dear has started work again, I've taken on the task of grocery shopping once more. I'm going to try incorporating the Crock Pot more, so that neither one of us has to start dinner from scratch after a long day of work.

Here's the plan:

Monday - Store-bought rotisserie chicken and veggies
Tuesday - Weight Watchers Slow Cooker Veal Stew with Onions and Mushrooms
Wednesday - BBQ chicken and veggies
Thursday - Soup & Salad
Friday - Crock Pot Roast Chicken and veggies
Saturday - Brunch: Apricot Kugel; Dinner: Out with in-laws (provided they are free)
Sunday - Chinese takeout

I'm also going to try and get back on the exercise bandwagon. JD and I worked out twice last week, so I'm hoping for at least 3 times this week.

Menu Plan Monday

I'm getting back on track with the menu planning (or at least the posting about it). Decided to hop back on the wagon because Rosh Hashanah is next week and I'm going to be doing a lot of cooking this week to prepare. The dinners need to be quick to prepare and even quicker to clean up.

These are the dinners planned for this week:

Monday - Chicken with brown rice and vegetable
Tuesday - Steak with baked potato and salad
Wednesday - Weight Watchers' Southern CrockPot Chicken and Grits and vegetable
Thursday - Tofu and Vegetable Stirfry and brown rice
Friday - Breakfast for dinner (eggs, turkey sausage, toast)

I'll post more about my holiday preparations later in the week.

If It's Monday, There's a Meal Plan

There's a lot swirling around in my head right now; I hope to post on that soon.

Here's the meals planned for this week. John Dear will be cooking (this is the start of his "health sabbatical", two months out of work to help rehab his foot), so we're going with simple.

Monday - Chicken w/ baked potatoes and veggies
Tuesday - Whole wheat spaghetti w/ meatballs
Wednesday - Fish w/ veggies and polenta
Thursday - Beef and vegetables stir-fry
Friday - Broccoli and Shallot Frittata

This weekend, I'll be helping my sister drive down to South Carolina, where she will be doing a 2-month internship as part of her doctorate. So, no meals planned for the weekend - JD is on his own.

Goals for this week
1. Due to the aforementioned swirling, I'm not really focused enough to have specific goals for the week. Right now, my goal is to just get through this week with my sanity in tact and not eating to numb my emotions.

2. Have now checked out the Fat-Free Yoga DVD for a second time. Hope that this week I will actually do it.

Menu Plan and Weekly Goals

John Dear and I are still rocking the weight loss. With Weight Watchers, JD has lost 9.6 lbs and I have lost 7.2 lbs. The CORE plan is really working for us. If I maintain my current rate of loss, I will get my BMI to the magic number (40) for IVF around November. I'm already seeing a difference in the shape of my face, and my pants and shirts are starting to feel loose.

Goals for this Week
1. Eat only CORE foods from Monday - Thursday.
I'm not sure how this goal will work out, but I'm interested to try. It will help so that I can save my weekly points allowance for the 4th of July holiday (at the beach! Woo hoo!).

2. Exercise every day, Monday - Friday.
I wanted to keep the goal of exercising 6 days in the week, but I skipped Saturday and Sunday, so that goal is shot for this week. Instead, I'll be focusing on exercising during all the days I have left this week by scheduling it into my calendar. I'm still really motivated to hit that 6 days a week goal, so I'm saving it for next week.

Menu Plan for this Week
Monday - Fish w/ leftover Chinese eggplant (brown rice)
Tuesday - Weight Watchers recipe: Grilled Chicken w/ Peppers & Chimichurri Sauce
Wednesday - Steak w/ veggies (baked potato)
Thursday - Salad w/ sliced steak on top
Friday - Jen's Better-than-Crack Salad (recipe below), Hamburgers, Weight Watchers dessert (haven't decided on it yet)
Saturday - BBQ chicken (corn-on-the-cob)
Sunday - Scrambled eggs (sliced potatoes and shallots)
Monday - Weight Watchers recipe: Provençal Beef Stew

Jen's Better-than-Crack Salad

1 head cabbage
1 bunch scallions
1-2 cups slivered almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 pkg. Ramen
Olive oil
Rice wine vinegar

1. Slice cabbage into ribbon strips. Slice scallions. Mix in large bowl.

2. Toast almonds and sesame seeds in a small frying pan to light golden brown. Add to bowl.

3. Take Ramen package, unopened, and break noodles apart. Not too much, just enough to break the noodles into smaller pieces. Add to bowl.

4. Empty Ramen seasoning packet into a small bowl. Mix with drizzled olive oil, whisking in enough olive oil to mix thoroughly. Slowly add in several tablespoons of vinegar, whisking constantly. Keep drizzling and whisking in olive oil until you have the taste and consistency you like.

5. Pour dressing on salad and toss.

Chunks of cooked chicken can be added to the salad to make a more substantial meal.

Rock On - Goals & Menu Plan

I've now lost a total of 5.8 lbs on Weight Watchers (my ticker at the bottom started prior to my WW membership) and John Dear has lost 7.2 lbs total. We are rocking it!

Last Week's Goals
1. Use Splenda in my coffee rather than sugar
I thought that achieving this goal would be incredibly difficult, but it was really easy once I reminded myself to reach for the yellow packet not the sugar bowl. I used the Splenda for each coffee or tea I had this week (1 coffee or tea per day).

2. Exercise at least 6 days
This goal is incredibly challenging to me. I only reached 5 days as I was sick on Wednesday. I think the key will be making sure to exercise both days on the weekend (when my Weight Watchers' week starts) just in case I have a day during the week where I won't be able to exercise.

This Week's Goals
1. Pack healthy snacks for work each day.
I've become pretty good at this, but I can always do better.

2. Exercise at least 6 days.
I'm keeping this as my exercise goal until I achieve it - I'm determined to achieve it! I was able to exercise on both Saturday and Sunday, so I think it's going to be easier to meet my fitness goal this week. I also took out 2 exercise DVDs from our library -- Dance Off the Inches-Tummy Tone Party Zone and Fat Free Yoga. We'll see how those go.

Meal Plan
Monday - Chicken with Sesame Honey Butter (Dream Dinners)
Tuesday - Chicken Yakitori (Dream Dinners)
Wednesday - Beef Kabob with Tomato-Thai Ginger Sauce (Dream Dinners)
Thursday- Broccoli-Shallot Frittata for Two (Weight Watchers)
Friday - Grilled Chicken with Peppers and Chimichurri Sauce (Weight Watchers)
Saturday - Whole-Wheat Spaghetti w/ meatballs
Sunday - Polenta Lasagna (I'm experimenting)

Since Saturday is the start of my Weight Watchers week, I want to save as many points as possible on the weekend of the 28th-29th for Friday the 4th. So, I'm going to try extra hard to be eating as CORE-ly as possible and exercising as much as I can next week.

Menu for this Week

Last week's menu plan went really well. I also did well on my goals for the week. Goal 1: Make all lunches and dinners CORE. All but one of my lunches were CORE and all of my dinners were CORE. Goal 2: Exercise at least 6 times during the week. I exercised 5 times during the week.

I registered a 0.6 pound loss when I weighed in on Saturday morning. I think this loss would have been more had I not had spaghetti (whole wheat) and meatballs (lean ground turkey) on Friday night, something I did the week before as well. I'm not beating myself up about it at all; I'm very happy that I'm losing, but I am changing my meal plan around so I don't have pasta the night before I weigh in.

This week, I'm going to be having some of the meals that were on last week's list as we never got to them.

This Week's Plan
Monday: Eggplant Parmigiana, whole wheat noodles
Tuesday: Moroccan Slow-Cooker Stew
Wednesday: Italian-seasoned Chicken with veggies, polenta
Thursday: Broccoli-Shallot Frittata
Friday: Teriyaki Chicken w/ stir-fry veggies
Saturday: Dream Dinner!!! Yahoo!

This Week's Goals
1. Use Splenda in coffee/tea instead of sugar.
This goal seems difficult as I prefer using the natural product, sugar, over something artificial. Yet, Splenda is CORE and sugar is not.

2. Exercise at least 6 days during the week.
I'm hoping that I achieve this goal this week.

Planning for Next Week
Since I have a Dream Dinners session scheduled for Saturday, I don't think next week's dinners will be CORE. That doesn't really screw up what I do for lunch, but it will entail changes in John Dear's plans. I think that we will need to pack his lunch while eating Dream Dinners meals so that he doesn't blow through points by eating his regular lunch (a 5-point Caesar salad with chicken or steak).

UPDATE: John Dear went to weigh-in tonight and he has a lost a total of 4.8 lbs!!! JD is rocking that sheeeeeeeet!

Meal Plan

Monday: Shrimp w/ veggies (whole wheat pasta)
Tuesday: Lemon-dill chicken w/ broccoli & cauliflower (brown rice)
Wednesday: Italian chicken w/ vegetables (polenta)
Thursday: Weight Watchers Southern Slow-Cooker Chicken and Grits
Friday: Weight Watchers Moroccan Slow-Cooker Stew
Saturday: Eggplant Parmesan (whole wheat pasta)
Sunday: Father's Day - Dinner Out
Monday: Whole wheat spaghetti and meatballs

This week's menu is really 8 days a week so that I don't run out of food before going to the grocery store.

I'm proud to report that I'm a LOSER!! Down 1.6 lbs and I worked really hard to get there. I indulged (strategically) this weekend while John Dear and I were in NY, so I'm getting right back on that bandwagon and exercising my little heart out this week, so that I can continue being a Lahoo Zaher. (John Dear lost 2.8 lbs, so we are very proud of him).

This week, my goals are: to exercise at least 6 days, and to keep my lunches and dinners all CORE meals.

I had such a nice time visiting JD's aunt and uncle. The two of them have been through a lot in life and I really value their advice and counsel. I was able to speak with them openly about IF and Asperger's and John Dear's latest job issues. JD's aunt did bring up adoption pretty strongly, but shut down on that when I informed her how much money and time adoption takes. If only more people realized that adoption is not the easy, quick fix. Sigh.

Hope everybody else in bloggyland is doing well. I'm hoping and pulling for all of you!

Menu Plan

Since my Dream Dinners appointment was rescheduled, I find myself having to come up with a menu for the week. Otherwise, we'll just order in all week and it'll be a huge health and financial disaster. So, here's the plan and we'll see if we stick with it.

Monday - Meatloaf w/ baked potatoes and green beans
Tuesday - Steak w/ turnip oven fries and broccoli
Wednesday - Paprika chicken with sour cream gravy w/ couscous
Thursday - Chicken and veggie stir-fry w/ jasmine rice
Friday - Spaghetti and meatballs w/ salad

Menu Plan Monday - Late Edition

I apologize for getting this up so late, but it's taken me this long to think up a menu plan. We are still using a few dinners from my last Dream Dinners appointment. I'm also trying to use up stuff in the pantry and freezer.

Monday: Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia with Sweet & Sour Sauce (Dream Dinners)

Tuesday: Raid-the-Fridge Nite

Wednesday: Moroccan Chicken and Pumpkin (Dream Dinners)

Thursday: Whole-Wheat Pasta w/ Meatballs

Friday: Salmon w/ brown rice and Asian stir-fry veggies

For menu plan ideas every Monday, visit the New and Improved Org Junkie site!

Menu Plan Monday

Well, after several weeks of not participating, I'm finally back! This week's worth of dinners is made up of meals that I made from the October menu at Dream Dinners. Dream Dinners is a meal assembly store, and I've found the meals to be healthy, DELICIOUS, inexpensive and very, very time-saving.

Monday: Herb Roasted Flank Steak

Tuesday: Peanut-Crusted Fish Fillet (leftover from Sunday)

Wednesday: Chicken with Sweet Ginger and Apples

Thursday: Moroccan Chicken with Pumpkin

Friday: Leftovers!!

For more meal ideas, go to Laura's new and improved blog!

Menu Plan Monday

Later than usual this morning due to craziness (what else?) at the office and taking longer than usual to plan out the week. Hoping that we'll be eating all of the meals at home as I'm trying to cut back after a spending splurge in other areas. After the Jewish Holidays, John Dear is back to his usual low-carb diet, so healthy meals for us!

Monday: Salmon fillet (steamed broccoli & cauliflower)

Tuesday: Meatloaf (mashed broccoli & cauliflower) Will make 2, 1 to use, 1 to save.

Wednesday: BBQ chicken breast (brown rice w/ stewed tomatoes)

Thursday: Chicken breast w/ cream of celery soup (green beans & onions)

Friday: Whole wheat pasta w/ tofu & stir-fry veggies

Saturday: Soup & sandwiches

Sunday: Breakfast for dinner (my favorite!)

For other meal plans, visit I'm An Organizing Junkie every Monday!

The Barking Seal

Yeah, that's me. Both John Dear and I have been sick all weekend; both taking the day off of work on Friday to lay around sneezing, sniffling, coughing and puking (that was just me - yes, I reserve the special jobs for myself).

No real menu plan for us this week until we start feeling better. For now, it's easy stuff like soup and sandwiches. For better menu plans than mine, see I'm An Organizing Junkie every Monday.

In the event that we do start feeling more up to snuff, I'll be following a free "body clutter" menu plan that I downloaded from the Dinner Diva at her site, Saving Dinner.

**Picture from Big Girl Feet**

Menu Plan Monday

I've been gone for awhile dear reader and promise to update you soon on the happenings in my life. For now, I tempt you with my menu plan for the week (both low-carb and with Weight Watchers Points calculated).

Monday: Meatloaf (salad w/ oil & vinegar; frozen broccoli & cauliflower) (7 pts.)

Tuesday: Honey-Soy Chicken with Mango Salsa (salad w/ oil & vinegar; whole-wheat couscous) (11 pts.)

Wednesday: Turkey Chili (carrot sticks w/ ranch dressing; Grapes) (6 pts.)

Thursday: Apricot Turkey Breast with Cinnamon Squash (sugar snap peas) (10 pts.)

Friday: Sesame Shrimp (salad w/ oil & vinegar; green beans) (6 pts.)

**The recipes below are from the Weight Watchers website. The Sesame Shrimp recipe is from Saving Dinner the Low-Carb Way.**

Honey-Soy Chicken with Mango Salsa
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup onion(s) finely chopped
2 Tbsp cucumber(s) chopped
2 Tbsp ground coriander leaves
1 Tbsp unsweetened lime juice
1/2 medium mango(es) chopped
1 cup cooked couscous
2 cup mixed greens
1 cup tomato(es) sliced
2 tsp olive oil
1 Tbsp vinegar
6 oz uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast

Marinate chicken in honey and soy sauce for 30 minutes. Combine mango, onion, cucumber, coriander and lime juice and set aside. Cook chicken breast in nonstick pan until tender and browned. Serve chicken topped with mango salsa on a bed of couscous. Complement with salad tossed with oil and vinegar.

Turkey Chili
1/4 cup onion(s) chopped
4 oz lean ground turkey
1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1 cup carrot(s) with
2 Tbsp reduced-calorie salad dressing ranch

1 cup grapes

Sauté onions in a non-stick skillet until onions are soft. Add ground turkey, tomato sauce and chili powder. Cook until turkey is no longer pink. Serve with vegetable sticks and dressing. Save the grapes for dessert.

Apricot Turkey Breast with Cinnamon Squash
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp table salt
1 item acorn squash
1 tsp margarine
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar snap peas
8 oz boneless, skinless turkey breast(s)
1 Tbsp apricot jam

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread turkey with jam and sprinkle with ginger and season to taste. Bake until no longer pink. Microwave squash until almost cooked. Top with margarine and cinnamon. Serve turkey and squash with snap beans.

Menu Plan Monday

During John Dear's brief interlude with unemployment (he'll be starting a new job in 2 weeks), he has been trying to make dinner during the week, so that it is ready when I come home from work. It feels like it is impossible to keep him to a menu plan, especially where recipes are involved. JD just hates, hates to follow a recipe -- preferring to make his own creations (which are not always that edible).

For this week, I'm going to write the plan for dinners this week and post it to the fridge, hoping that he'll follow the plan. Also, since JD isn't good about remembering to include a side vegetable, I bought a couple bags of frozen vegetable mixes that he can just pop in the microwave.

Monday - Meatloaf (steamed broccoli)
Tuesday - French Onion chicken (carrots, celery, onions)
Wednesday - Salmon fillet (whole wheat couscous & mixed veggies)
Thursday - Italian chicken (garlic cauliflower)
Friday - Teriyaki chicken (asian stirfry veggies)
Saturday - Dinner Out!

For more menu plans every Monday, check out Laura's blog, I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday

Continuing the plan from last week, since we ate out a couple of times. The first three meals are recipes from Leanne Ely's Saving Dinner the Low-Carb Way.

Monday: Skillet Salmon with Horseradish Cream (tomato salad)

Tuesday: Pub Beef Shortribs (coleslaw and Faux-tay-toes)

Wednesday: Crock Swiss Steak (Faux-tay-toes and broccoli)

Thursday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Veggie Soup

Friday: Get-away in Philly!

For more menu plans, see I'm An Organizing Junkie every Monday!

Menu Plan Monday

Last week, our Adventures in Menu Planning went pretty well up till the end of the week. That is, we followed the menu plan up till Thursday when chicken was not defrosted, no one felt like cooking and we went to Silver Diner.

Here is this week's attempt, a combination of chicken in the freezer and a menu from Leanne Ely's Saving Dinner the Low-Carb Way. You can check out the Dinner Diva's site for lots of great info on meal planning and cooking.

• Monday: Baked chicken w/ steamed broccoli
• Tuesday: Tandoori-Style Chicken w/ squash-zucchini-onion stirfry
• Wednesday: Thai Beef Salad w/ celery sticks
• Thursday: Crock Swiss Steak w/ Faux-tay-toes (mashed cauliflower) & broccoli
• Friday: Skillet Salmon with Horseradish Cream w/ salad
• Saturday: Pub Beef Spareribs (if I can get ribs) w/ coleslaw & Faux-tay-toes
• Sunday: Dinner Out!!

For more interesting menus, go to Laura's blog, I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday

First time for me doing a menu plan. JD is doing Atkins, and I'm trying to follow a modified low-carb diet. Please check out Laura's blog, I'm an Organizing Junkie, for more menus.

This week, I'm trying to use up the food in my freezer, so we'll be using lots of chicken.

Monday: BBQ chicken thighs (steamed broccoli)
Tuesday: Broiled flank steak (creamed spinach)
Wednesday: Fourth of July!! (@SIL's house) Hamburgers and hot dogs (veggie tray)
Thursday: Crock Roast Chicken w/ veggies
Friday: Leftover Crock Roast Chicken w/ stewed tomatoes and sauce (salad)
Saturday: Dinner Out!