We are still eating salads several times a week. Not just because we’re trying to lose a little weight (which is not going very well due to dark chocolate somehow finding its way into our house), but mainly because salads are so healthy. There are many advocates of a half raw food diet, in other words, half of our diet should be fresh, uncooked fruits and veggies. One thing I know, I feel better when I’m on that type of diet but it’s hard to do during the cold months of winter. Now that warm weather has arrived, it will be much easier to do! So our menu this week will incorporate as many raw foods as possible:

Monday:  Chef Salad made with

• Organic Spring Mix Salad Greens
• Hormel Natural Choice Smoked Deli Turkey, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Tomato
• Chopped organic baby carrots
• Fresh avocado
• Cucumber
• Green Olives
• Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle on top of veggies
• Fresh ground black pepper and sea salt

Tuesday:  Chef Salad

Wednesday:  Chicken Pasta, green salad

Thursday:  Left-over Chicken Pasta, green salad

Friday:  Chick-Fil-A?

There’s one week left in my WordWorld T-shirt giveaway, your choice of your child’s favorite WordWorld character.

Also, watch for a WordWorld DVD giveaway coming soon.

Today was an absolutely beautiful 80° weather day, maybe a little on the windy side, but the sun was warm and the air had a bit of coolness to it.  It reminded me of Hawaii’s weather. Wish it would stay like this all week..

I just want to mention that I’m having a Giveaway for a WordWorld T-Shirt the next couple of weeks. If you have a child who likes WordWorld then stop by and enter.
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Now on to thinking about a menu.  This one is super easy:
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Monday:  Chef Salad made with Rotisserie Chicken

Tuesday:  Repeat of Monday’s salad.  (I really want to lose 5 pounds!!!)

Wednesday:   Chicken Alfredo with Broccoli -Low-fat!  You may wonder why I’d fix this since I’m wanting to lose 5 pounds.  It’s low-fat plus it was my husband’s request.  🙂

Thursday:  Leftover Chicken Alfredo

Friday:  Low-fat pizza, Culinary Circle’s Rising Crust Spinach and Mushroom Pizza

April was my grandfather’s birthday month.  I’m thankful for such wonderful memories of him!  If he were alive, family would travel to my grandparent’s house for dinner and birthday cake.  I would probably end up sitting in my grandmother’s rocking chair next to my grandfather’s, and we would rock while he would tell me stories about his life and growing up.  I wish so much I had written those stories down or recorded them!  I remember very few of them now. If your grandparents are still alive, don’t lose the opportunity to record stories they tell.

So with that said, here’s our menu for the week:

Monday:  Rotisserie Chicken, baby Lima beans, cauliflower

Tuesday:   Leftover chicken, baked potatoes, salad

Wednesday:   Chicken Tortilla Soup

Thursday:   Chicken-Zucchini Alfredo from Food Network’s Healthy Eating

Friday:  Pizza & salad

Where did the weekend go?  I still have several things on my list (Christi can relate to lists!) that have still not been done.  I ran out of time.  Oh, well!  The most important things have been done so that’s what counts.  I’m just now thinking about a menu for this week:

Monday:  Eat at a friend’s house

Tuesday:  Salmon patties, corn, and salad

Wednesday:  Leftovers from Tuesday

Thursday:  Culinary Circle’s Rising Crust Spinach and Mushroom Pizza (Someone told me these are really good, and they had them on sale for $3.99 which is great!), salad

Friday:  Try a new recipe:  Quick Fish Tacos from Eat Better America

Spring Break was so nice!  It was wonderful to have our son home from college.  We went to visit my husband’s mom and although she’s in her eighties and has slowed down a lot, she went on a little day trip with us to one of her favorite places.  My husband’s brother was able to come for a short visit, and the five of us were able to chill out, decompress, and enjoy the slow pace of life in the little town we visited.  Having soda at an antique soda bar where they still mix the syrup with the fizz, looking through antiques in a couple of shops, and visiting with some of the shop owners provided a much needed, relaxed small-town pace where we enjoyed being with our family.

Tomorrow is back to work, back to the fast track, so now to think about a menu.  I’m going to incorporate salads into our menu two or three days this week to help make up for the pecan pie, delicious peanut brittle, and taffy we ate several days while visiting my m-i-l.  🙂

Monday:  Leftover Chicken & Pasta from the weekend

Tuesday:  Chef Salad with Turkey

Wednesday: Chef Salad with Turkey

Thursday:  Salmon Patties, salad

Friday:  Maybe eat out somewhere?

I am SO ready for Spring Break!  This past week was really busy (at school Thursday from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm), and the two previous weeks were stressful.  Am I in the mood to cook?  Not really!  We’ll be playing it by ear, so to speak, this week so here’s a tentative menu and a possible answer for the age-old question, “What’s for dinner?”

Monday: Chicken Alfredo with Broccoli

Tuesday:  Chicken tenders, corn, green beans, Pumpkin Custard

Wednesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Thursday:  Leftover soup

Friday:  Eat out, maybe at Chick-Fil-A

We received something in the mail this past week from Krogers. It was a recipe for “Italian Chicken Pasta Bake” plus four coupons to use on four of the ingredients. The coupons total $2.40! I thought that was a great marketing strategy on their part. The recipe sounds like something we would really like, so I plan to fix it Friday evening to have when our son gets home from college. Here’s the recipe:
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…………………………………….Italian Chicken Pasta Bake

INGREDIENTS:

• Kroger Cooking Spray
• 1/4 cup Kroger Frozen Chopped Onion
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed (I’ll probably used minced garlic from my jar in the fridge)
• 8 oz. Kroger Fresh Selections Mushrooms
• 2 small zucchini, diced
• 2 (14.5 oz.) cans Kroger Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon Kroger Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 Kroger Deli Rotisserie Chicken (I like that!), deboned and broken into chunks
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) Kroger Finely Shredded Italian Cheese Blend, divided (can use Mozzarella)
• 1 pkg. (9 oz.) Kroger Wholesome@Home Chicken & Bacon Borsetti Fresh Pasta, uncooked

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat large skillet over medium-high heat and spray bottom with cooking spray (I’ll use olive oil).  Add onion and garlic and sauté 1 minute.  Add mushrooms and zucchini and sauté for 5 minutes.  Add crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and sugar.  Stir to combine.

Remove from heat, add chicken and 1 cup cheese.  Stir to combine.  Spread uncooked borsetti pasta evenly in bottom of baking dish.  Top with chicken and vegetable mixture, making sure all pasta is covered.  Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes on center oven rack until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

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Monday: Chicken tenders, broccoli, corn

Tuesday:  Leftover tenders, salad, baked potatoes

Wednesday:  Chicken Tortilla Soup  (we didn’t have it last week after all)

Thursday:  Leftover Chicken Tortilla Soup

Friday: “Italian Chicken Pasta Bake“

Today is the last day for my giveaway of the DVD movie “Fireproof.” This is open to all U.S. and Canadian residents and ends tonight at midnight CST.  If you haven’t seen it, it’s a great movie!  If you have seen it and would like to own it, just a leave a comment on the giveaway post.

Now, on to our menu for the week.  Last week was a busy, stressful week, and I’m thinking this week may turn out to be the same.  I guess that’s why this fun song by Francesca Battistelli, “This is the Stuff,” is so appealing to me now.  Puts things in perspective!

So here’s another easy menu:

Monday:  Salmon patties, salad, corn

Tuesday:  Chicken Tortilla Soup

Wednesday:  Leftover Chicken Tortilla Soup

Thursday:  Chicken strips, mashed potatoes, fried okra (good comfort food)

Friday:  Pizza, carrot sticks

I’m feeling a little under the weather and hope I’m not coming down with anything.  Our daughter, Christi from The Frugal Novice, had the flu this past week.  Not fun!  I’m so glad she’s feeling better!

This will be a crazy week for me.  I tutor after school at my house on Monday & Tuesday, have a training session for Conscious Discipline after school on Wednesday (I’m excited about this – sounds like such a positive discipline program that fosters a sense of school family), and another meeting after school on Thursday, plus a couple of other extra things this week.  It’s going to be a hectic week!

So, here’s an easy menu:

Monday:  Chicken Spaghetti, broccoli florets, garlic toast

Tuesday:  Leftover Chicken Spaghetti, salad, garlic toast

Wednesday:  Barbecue sandwiches, baby carrots

Thursday:  Enchilada-zagna (got this recipe from Leslie)

Friday:  Leftover Enchilada-zagna

By the way, I’m having a giveaway for the movie “Fireproof” on DVD.  The contest is open to all U.S. and Canadian residents, and it ends Feb. 28th.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you need a dessert for today but you’re hesitant to bake anything because, like me, you’re trying to lose the pounds gained from the recent holidays then you might want to try this low-carb, fat-free recipe:   Chocolate Bliss Cookies!

Here’s our menu:

Monday:  I’m not sure what we’re going to do.  Who knows, we might eat at Qdobas Mexican Food.  If you kiss the person you’re with while you’re at the register then it’s “Buy one entree, get one free.”  (no coupon needed)

Tuesday: Homemade Turkey & Vegetable Soup

Wednesday:  Leftover soup

Thursday: Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Friday:  Leftover Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

The weather forecast for this week, starting on Tuesday, is for very cold, icy weather.  That sounds like soup weather to me!  There’s nothing like a hot bowl of soup to warm a person on a cold, chilly day.  So, I might make soup a couple of times this week.  I’ve been looking for a healthier version of cream of chicken soup with veggies, and I think I’m going to experiment and combine parts of two or three different recipes.  I’ll let you know how it turns out next week.

By the way, here’s a picture of the soup I made last Wednesday with leftover rotisserie chicken:

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Monday:  Use Chick-Fil-A coupons for freebies that expire after today!

Tuesday:   Homemade Chicken Tortilla Soup

Wednesday:  Leftover Chicken Tortilla Soup

Thursday:  This recipe for salmon patties is one of our favorites that we’ve made many, many times.  Add a couple of frozen veggies and we have a yummy meal!

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Salmon Patties

INGREDIENTS:

• 14 ounce can Honey Boy Pink Salmon
  

• 3 eggs

• 1/4 cup yellow corn meal

• 1/4 cup flour

• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 – 3/4 cup onion, chopped

• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic

PROCEDURE:
Mix the above ingredients well. Heat 3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in skillet on medium/medium-high. When oil is hot, drop salmon mixture by heaping tablespoonfuls into skillet.  Brown on one side. Turn and brown on the other side.  Makes approximately 12 salmon patties the size of the ones pictured below.  (My skillet isn’t large enough to cook them all at once, so I cook two batches.)

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Friday:  Cream of Chicken & Veggie Soup

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