Meal Planning 101: Week 2

It's that time again! As promised, every Sunday I will post my weekly meal plan. AND technically it's still Sunday. It's a mostly simple promise to make and follow through because I do it anyway. Every week (or two weeks to be exact) I sit down and plan out my meals, shop for the needed ingredients, write them out on my cute little listy things, and do my happy meal prep. (For meal planning basics, tips, and tricks see the first Meal Planning 101 Post.)

Yes. I am an UBER dork and have a meal planning list for
dinners AND lunches.  It helps me make healthy choices! I also
write down breakfast options on the kitchen dry erase board.

Monday:
Key West Grilled Chicken Kebabs, Grilled Mushroom Skewers, Grilled Peppers and Red Potatoes

Tuesday:
Leftover Grilled Smorgasbord

Wednesday:
Key West Chicken Salad (Round 2 Recipe*) and Grilled Corn

Thursday:
Turkey BLTA* Panini and Chopped Spring Salad*

Friday:
Grilled Lemon Peppered Tilapia, Grilled Squash, and Tomato Quinoa Salad (a variation of this IF I can find quinoa)

Saturday:
Leftovers

Sunday:
Easter Dinner with the family! We do it entire family style at my Aunt's. I'll likely bring coconut macaroons, coconut cupcakes, skinny deviled eggs, and skinny red potato salad.

Notes:
*Round 2 Recipe - The term came from Sandra Lee. She always makes meals and then does a 2nd meal with the leftovers. I try to do this when it's an option because it's saves money and time.
*BLTA - Bacon Lettuce Tomato + Avocado.
*Chopped Spring Salad - Salad greens and normal salad ingredients like cucumbers and tomatoes + chopped apples, pears, cranberries and other fruity springy things.

What are you making this week? What are your family's Easter Dinner traditions? 

Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole

If you've been following, you know that one of this week's meals was Skinnytaste's Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole. Oh my goodness was it good! I served it to four RAs and myself for one of their birthdays this week. They all LOVED it. They had seconds and thirds and raved about it the entire time. I even got a few more comments from the eaters the next day. You know you made a good meal when people still talk about it days later.

Chicken Broccoli Noodle Casserole

adapted from skinnytaste.com

With some basic ingredients and a little effort you can have a yummy, filling, impressive casserole. It's a creamy casserole with absolutely NO cream of anything canned soups. I only changed the recipe just slightly. I used skim milk instead of 1% and Great Value whole wheat extra wide noodles instead of the more expensive brand. The other changes were minor as well and just based on my personal preferences. I'll write the recipe with the changes I made, but please see the above listing for the original.

I make my own bread crumbs from lower calorie bread, freeze them, and always have them on hand for recipes.

Doing a little prep work the night before or on your prep work day is a great way to make this meal take less time to prepare. Things you can do before: make bread crumbs, make chicken stock, make shredded chicken and pre-measure it out, and chop onions to keep on hand for recipes. 

I used the shredded chicken I made on meal prep day on this recipe. I also rely on my good scale OFTEN! 

Ingredients:

• 6 oz Great Value extra wide whole wheat noodles
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp minced garlic (I used the jarred kind)
• 14 oz bag of frozen broccoli
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 medium sweet onion, minced
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour 
• 1-3/4 cups fat free chicken broth
• 1 cup skim milk
• 12 oz cooked shredded chicken breast
• 4 oz shredded reduced fat cheddar (I used half sharp, half mild)
• cooking spray
• 3 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp seasoned breadcrumbs

Directions: 

Cook noodles in salted water until soft with a little bite. Drain and set aside. Noodles will cook in the oven too, so under cooking them just slightly is okay. Preheat oven to 375. Heat oil in a skillet. Add garlic and cook on medium heat until golden brown. Add frozen broccoli and saute with oil and garlic until broccoli gets soft and a few sprigs are just barely turning brown. Set aside. In another skillet heat butter until melted. Add minced onion and a little salt to sweat the onions, cook until translucent and soft. Add flour. Cook 2-3 more minutes coating onions in the flour. I like to multitask to minimize time, so I was cooking noodles, broccoli, and onions all at the same time. I recommend doing it that way, but if it stresses you out do it at your own pace and own way. 

Add chicken broth to the onions and flour. Whisk in slowly. Stir in milk and bring to a boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese and 1 tbsp of the parmesan cheese. Mix until cheese is almost completely melted. Add the shredded chicken, broccoli and noodles. Stir until everything is coated and pour into a sprayed 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with remaining parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Spray cooking spray lightly on top and bake for 25-30 minutes. 

I always have to think really hard about sides for dishes like this. Casseroles often have everything in them! Starch, veggies, dairy. Steam in the bag veggies can be great side dishes if you doctor them up a bit. I served this with two additional veggies, one starchy and one green. I made steam in the bag corn with a tablespoon of yogurt butter, a little salt, a good bit of fresh cracked black pepper. I also made steam in the bag brussel sprouts. I quartered them after they cooked. That part is a little hot, but just do it fast! It's worth it. People will like brussel sprouts if you chop them up a bit. I sauteed them in some yogurt butter and added Tony's with a heavy hand (I love that stuff!).

I didn't calculate the points for my version, but it would be equal to or less than hers since I used skim milk. Her recipe is 8 points for 1/6th of the recipe. 

Makeover Madness

Say hi to everyone new madeover pretty-in-pink blog! I She says hi. She... Hmm. Its name was Mitch though, so it was a he. I guess we'll have to rename it. Oh, I know! Her name will be Julie. Because I often feel like Julie from Julie and Julia. For obvious reasons (our mutual love for cooking and writing), and because oh too many times have I found myself sitting on a floor crying like a crazy lady like she does often in that movie. Pink is much more me. As is talking to Julie and not Mitch. I'm not very good at that whole talking to boys thing. So I hope you like the, much more appropriately me, makeover.

And speaking of makeovers, my kitchen received a small makeover that might not seem like a very big deal to most people, BUT it was huge and exciting to me! My favorite co-worker who is much more than a co-worker, she's become a very close friend, says to me just casually, "Oh yeah, I brought my Kitchenaid mixer for you. I never use it. You can have it." I almost fell out of my chair and jumped up and down and squealed all at the same time! THE Kitchenaid mixer. The one that every Food Network chef has. The one I've wanted for 5 years but never bought because it's way too expensive for me to talk myself into buying for myself. So now it sits beautifully in my VERY humble little kitchen, making it shine a little brighter. I've already order the Mixer Bible and Kitchenaid Best Mixer recipes. Can't wait! And of course I will be sharing them all with you.

And speaking of makeovers... again, as wonderful as the Meatloaf of Awesome was, after eating it for dinner Sunday, lunch Monday, dinner Monday, and as a meatloaf sandwich for lunch today... I was meatloafed out. And it was a new cooking day (Sundays, Tuesdays, Fridays). I love every single one of my precious pennies and the food they go to buy and hate to waste anything. And there was quite a bit of meatloaf and mashed potatoes left. So, when I am -insert food-ed out, I try to make the meal over. But, I found myself in a quagmire (always looking for reasons to use that word). How do you makeover meatloaf other than meatloaf sandwiches? Well... shepherd's pie of course! I cut it into small chucks and then used my handy slap chop to mash it all up. I pressed the mashed up meatloaf into an itty bitty casserole dish, sprinkled a thin layer of frozen peas atop, and then topped with the left over mashed potatoes. Lid securely in place and into the freezer it went! I am thinking it will be a yummy surprise if I need a quick fix meal! And it's good for two more meals! I love stretching meals and pennies as far as I can make them go!

Tonight's scheduled meal was borrowed from my friend Carrie Tassin! She posted it on facebook with a picture and it looked super yummy! I had to try it! I only very slightly made it over (also knows as making a few changes due to what I had, but in keeping with the theme we'll call it made over).

Penne Macaroni with Peppers and Grilled Chicken
(changes or extra tips and comments will be noted like this)

13.25 oz Heartland Whole Wheat Penne (Used a box of Great Value brand Whole Wheat Penne)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 c sweet onions, diced (Used a whole onion)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 oz basil, chopped (Used about 2 tbsp of Italian seasoning)
1 c chicken, grilled and sliced into strips (Used 2 uncooked chicken breasts cut in small chunks)
1 c roasted red bell peppers, diced (Used 1/2 each of fresh green, red, and orange bell peppers)
1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c Parmesan cheese (If you use the shaky kind you put atop spaghetti, the good kind is so much better for recipes like this! It's by the cream cheese in the cold section in a little tub.)
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

* Cook Penne according to package directions.
* Heat olive oil in large skillet on med heat, add onions and garlic; cook until onions are transparent. (I also added my uncooked chicken. It's way too hot for me to use my grill.)
*Add basil, chicken and red bell peppers. (Added Italian seasoning and bell pepper assortment, chicken already added.)
* Cook 2 more minutes.
* Add chicken broth (at this point I also added just a little bit of cream, about 2 tbsp. I wanted to add a little more consistency to the sauce, but not make it all fatty. Just a little pour to give it a bit of a white color but still the same thinness) and hot, drained Penne to skillet and toss together until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.
* Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper as needed.
*Serve immediately.

I also made a salad to complete the meal. I used romaine, lots of grape tomatoes halved (trying to use them before they go bad), a diced green onion, 1/4th of a cucumber diced, 1/4th of a bell pepper diced, croutons, cranberries, sliced almonds, 2 crumbled boiled eggs, the rest of my feta (maybe like 4 tbsp) and carrots. Random carrot tip you can take or leave... I hate A. chopping carrots and B. biting into big pieces of carrot. Any way you slice or chop carrots, unless you finely juliane them, is too chunky for me to bite into in a salad. I love biting into a carrot by itself or to dip, but I hate biting into it in a salad. It disrupts the flow of salad to me. Crunch is good, but not super hard crunch you can't even poke with your fork! And have you ever tried to chop a carrot quickly? They shoot everywhere! Just not a fan of it. BUT I do love the flavor of carrots. So take a handful of baby carrots or carrot chips or if you have big carrots cut them into a few smaller pieces and put them in my handy electric mini food chopper/processor. Press the button a few times and you get little carrot pieces! They are chopped in less than a minute, no one's eye was put out by flying carrots from chopping them, and they just make more sense and fit the salad and its parts better.

I have an overwhelming urge to get a makeover now... Maybe just a pedicure.