Sunday, January 18, 2009

Menu Planning Monday

I was so proud of myself yesterday! I actually spent less than $100 for groceries. I did go to 3 different stores though: Family Dollar for cleaning supplies, Sav-A-Lot for items that the family is not picky about the brand, and finally Ingles for our favorite (and of course more expensive) needs. I was able to do it in about 1 hour and 15 minutes but most importantly, it was under $100. And....I forgot to get toothpaste. Never fails. Anway, here is this weeks menu. Go to Organization Junkie for more great ideas!

Sunday
- Pesto Chicken and corn on the cob. Top it off with Caramel Squares. See recipe at bottom.

Monday - Black beans and rice with smokes sausage and sauted cabbage.

Tuesday - Baked meatballs and Trader Joe's frozen lasagna.

Wednesday - Dad cooks! Burgers and roasted potatos.

Thursday - Bruswick Stew and cornbread,

**Pesto Chicken**
2T. balsalmic vinegar
4T. olive oil
1/2t. dried thyme
1/2t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1c. slide mushrooms
Bag of fresh spinach
2T. butter
1 1/2c. chicken broth
2T. flour
1/3c. milk
1/4c. store bought pesto

- Combine first five ingredients and pour over chicken. Allow chicken to marinade anywhere from over-night to 15 minutes. Heat skillet over medium high heat with 1T. olive oil. Add chicken (marinade can go in to if you like)and mushrooms. Saute chicken until thoroughly cooked. Remove chicken and set aside. Add butter to skillet and melt. Add flour and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in broth, milk and pesto. Bring to a simmer and let thicken. Place a handful of spinach on the plate and top with chicken and mushroom sauce.

**Caramel Squares**
1 stick butter, softened
1/2c. sugar
2 egg yolks
1t. baking powder
1 1/2c. flour
1t. vanilla
2 egg whites
1c. light brown sugar
1c. pecans, chopped

-Cream butter and sugar; add egg yolks. Sift dry ingredients and add, mixing well. Last add vanilla. Mixture will be crumbly. Spread on a buttered 8-inch square pan.

-Beat 2 egg white for 2 minutes. Add brown sugar and nuts and and mix until combined well. Spread over first layer.

- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until brown. Cool and cut into squares.
By the way, this is great with vanilla ice cream!

9 comments:

Kristen said...

Pesto chicken sounds really tasty. In fact, your whole menu looks great.

Jennifer (Niffer) said...

Here you go;

Salsa and Cream Cheese Chicken

1. saute 6 chicken breasts with garlic (as much as you want) and 1 finely diced onion

2. toward the end (so they don't get too soggy) add 1 red bell pepper and 1 yellow pepper. you can either cut them into long strips (prettier) or bite sized pieces (easier to disguise for little ones).

3. add 1/2 cube thingy of cream cheese and 1 cup salsa (I use Pace) and stir till melted together

4. I serve it over rice.

Delicious! And Super easy too! My munchkins don't like the peppers so I use more salsa and less peppers (for the 5 of us I use 6 chicken breasts, and 1/2 of each pepper then freeze the rest for next time!)

Hope your family loves this as much as we do!

oh yeah, be sure to spoon the excess sauce over the chicken and rice!

Upstatemamma said...

That pesto chicken looks great!!!

Kiy said...

Oh yum! Funny I've been thinking about pesto. But you had me at caramel squares. I wonder if I have all the ingredients. So much for eating healthier, lol! :)

Cheers, Kiy

Jennifer (Niffer) said...

I've been eating serious amounts of zero points veggies (cucumber/ zucchini/tomato/ mushrooms) to fill me Laughing cow cheese is only 1 pt per wedge, and WW makes a cream cheese that's only 1 pt a serving, pretty good too! I'll be using that for the recipe I gave you.

WATER!WATER!WATER! crystal light is my new best friend!

I'm exercising 2-3 times a week.YUCK!

I made a WW log so I'm accountable for everything that passes my lips, and I also tell my hubby what I'm eating. I'll be less likely to cheat!

I basically was working pretty hard to put the weight ON! Binging when no one was looking. Yeah, I'm one of those "emotional eaters"

I'm trying to break all my bad habits.

Also, I plan my points based on how many I need for dinner, and I usually eat about 2/3 to 3/4 of a serving so I'm not getting the full points!

Hope some of my rambling helps!
Jennifer

Oh, and I'll order the cash envelope wallet when I get my spending money after payday (on Friday)... you know, you gotta stay within the budget.
Can I change the titles for the envelopes? Can I add envelopes?
I also use paper envelopes to store the coupons/lists for the stores I'll be visiting that week.

Lotsa questions I know!
thanks again!

The Happy Housewife said...

Great job on the shopping! I am going to try to visit more stores this year in hopes to save money on groceries.
Toni
http://thehappyhousewife.com

Lisa said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I LOVE The Total Money Makeover. We have been following the plan for about 20 months. It really works. We are about to be facilitators at FPU at our church. Life changing book! God's plan for handling money--brilliant!

randi said...

Yum! Can I come over for dinner this week?

Thanks for the chicken recipe. That one is going on the menu!

Connie said...

Great job on those deals!

Your menu sounds great! Thanks for the recipes.