Weekly Menu

This is coming out late this week...Sorry!  I was just not feeling very motivated for some reason...and then felt busy... and then wondered if anyone reads this....so I put it off  :)

Monday- Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken

Tuesday-Thai Beef Salad

Wednesday- Buttermilk-Oatmeal Pancakes

Thursday-  Grilled Cheese

Friday- Pizza

We LOVE our pancakes!!!

So, we've decided that Buttermilk-Oatmeal Pancakes will be a once/week meal around here... everyone LOVES them!!!  We did add some add-ins again (bananas, walnuts, chocolate chips) and I've gotta say these are my FAVORITE pancakes EVER... and I'm THRILLED that I make them!!!!  This time I added the cinnamon and they were equally good...

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Tenders

This recipe I could give or take... They were really good dipped in pizza sauce (but I like anything dipped in pizza sauce).  The Italian seasoning just didn't "work" for me with chicken tenders... but I do think I could play around with the spices and get something I like better.  I definitely like our Chicken Nuggets recipe much better...

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Tenders

Chicken-Fried Steak

Britt is from Texas.  She loves Chicken-Fried Steak.  When she orders it in a restaurant I can feel my own arteries clogging.  To me it is akin to deep fat frying an oreo.  Gross. 

With that said, I made it a mission of mine to make it at home...and healthier.  Not a task I thought I would spend much time on because I wasn't counting on success....   but I thought I'd give it a go.

I hit it out of the park.

Thank you Eating Well magazine!!!  Tonight was the second time I've made it.  The last time was a few weeks ago and it earned rave reviews... but I knew I could do better.  And tonight... I did! .I think Britt was astonished....and I felt SO proud.  My gravy was amazing...which I NEVER have luck with... I was giddy with happiness about this meal  :)

I never cared whether I ate this sort of dish ever in my life... but with this recipe I have discovered that it isn't all bad... and can be a healthy way to get a favorite comfort food!  To save time I serve ours with the pre-made mashed potatoes and a vegetable...

Chicken-Fried Steak


Enjoy!!

The Health Project

I am joining Kelly from the Rosie Radio Recap Blog in a year long attempt to get healthier!  It seems that I am ALWAYS attempting to get healthier (with very few positive outcomes in the last few years) and am hoping that being accountable to a group might help me be more successful.

So, I have read MANY books on overeating and weight management in the past few months and have decided to blend some ideas from each of them to tackle My Health Project.  The whole outline and organization of my plan is a different way to look at Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project.  I love her idea for monthly goals AND her way to chart her progress, so I decided to use it as my platform.

SO... for September my goals are:

1.  No Diet Coke.

2.  Record EVERYTHING I eat.

3.  Use the Idaho Plate Method while planning and preparing meals. (I'll explain this more in a later post!)

My actual goal is for compliance 80% of the time.  I will check in after a month to reflect on how these changes made me feel... Oh...and I've decided to start TOMORROW, August 23.  I've been in a downward spiral as far as nutrition lately so I don't want to put it off another week!

Menu Plan

M-  Chicken Fried Steak

T- Buttermilk-Oatmeal Pancakes (we loved them so much!)

W- Parmesan Crusted Chicken Tenders

Th-  OUT to Mexican Village for Monk's Birthday!!

F-  Pizza of some sort. 

"Crunchy French Toast"

This is the recipe that "reeled in" Britt over 6 years ago  :)  We LOVE US some Crunchy French Toast.  I have made this numerous times over the years... It is a recipe from Cooking Light magazine.  I tend to like all of their breakfast recipes! 

Crumb Topped French Toast

We splurge and serve bacon with this meal....Yummo!

Hamburger Buddy

Tonight's recipe is from Eating Well's website... Hamburger Buddy grabbed my attention because it has noodles and meat and chopped up veggies...something for everyone in our family!  And it went over very well!!!  The biggest shock was that Odin snarfed it down and said, "This sure is good, Mommy...can I have some more, please?"  I NEVER hear that.

Britt and I both agreed there was something bland about it...but we couldn't really figure out what it needed... but we both did really like it.  For the time being I will be making it "as is" since Odin likes it and we'll just add things to it at the table if we want to....but later I will do some experimenting  :)  Another note:  It says it makes 6 servings, however Britt, Odin and I all had what I would consider 2 servings and we still have over half of it left!  So, it makes a lot...

Another keeper:  Hamburger Buddy!

Rocco's Turkey Nachos

We LOVE this recipe.  In fact, this was the second time I have made it!  We do make a couple of adjustments, though...  Britt doesn't like black beans so much so I use a Red Bean Dip...  and we use the Baked Scoops (which is actually what Rocco suggests in the book)...

The next time I make these I will be adding black olives,  some sort of pepper..and anything else we can think of.  This will probably become our "Official Nacho Base Recipe" since we all love it...!

Enjoy!!



Rocco's Turkey Nachos

Menu

We're back...and here's the plan for the rest of the week...

Wednesday:  Rocco's Turkey Nachos

Thursday:  Crumb Topped French Toast

Friday:  "Hamburger Buddy"

A Mini Vacation

I am out of town for a few days enjoying the last days of summer so I'll be eating out through Tuesday night!!  You know what that means...no dishes!!!  And no meal planning...

If I get some spare moments I will post my menu for the week while I'm away...If not, I'll be back on Wednesday!

Book Review

This coming week I'll be making a recipe from the book Now Eat This by Rocco Dispirito.  When I started this blog I promised myself I would never take a recipe out of a book like above and simply post it online.  I thought that was very uncool, except if I adapted the recipe in some way.  Luckily I did an online search for the recipe I wanted to make this week and I found it... on Dr. Oz's website, no less!  There are also a few more of Rocco's recipes from this book on this website.

I really like this cookbook.  Sometimes I buy cookbooks and they include a lot of "fancy" recipes that my family just doesn't go crazy about... or else they include a ton of ingredients and some that are hard to find here in Fargo.  This cookbook wasn't like that.  It included all the "old favorites/comfort foods" that most families make often anyways... just with a healthier touch.

I became aware of Rocco during his work with the show The Biggest Loser.  He is all about making food healthy but with great flavor.  He has achieved that with all the recipes of his I have tried so far...

Another Mac n Cheese Fail

Last night I threw together my next attempt at Homemade Mac n Cheese...  The people who claim "it's better than the box" have never met my 4 year old.  I didn't add the red pepper flakes or hot sauce since I wanted the kiddos to eat it...so that left it too bland for me.  Of course, I ate it but I wouldn't make it again.  This is not to say this isn't a great recipe...it's just not a meal that our whole family will enjoy.

I asked Odin what he didn't like about this Mac n Cheese and he said, in the whiniest voice possible, "The holes are too big."  After digging a bit deeper I came to understand that it was the noodles that were different than his beloved Kraft... the "holes" in the noodles I used were "too big." 

I think the next time I make something like this I am NOT going to call it Mac n Cheese... that might be a big part of the problem.  Ah, well...  hopefully the babies will eat the leftovers for lunch today.  :)

A Change in Our Plans...

Tonight was supposed to be Britt's night to grill burgers, but she didn't feel up to it... and the next meal on the docket was Stovetop Mac n Cheese...which didn't sound appealing to any of us since it is hotter than heck here!  A belly full of pasta just did not sound appetizing...

SO... we decided to go out to eat!  We let Odin pick and he chose Granite City...Good choice, Odin!  We persuaded Gaga to come with and all of us adults ate wonderful salads and the kiddos noshed on chicken fingers.  It was a nice meal out...(If you live near a Granite City kids eat free on Tuesdays and Sunday nights... and there are $6 pitchers on  Tuesdays, too so you could really have a great Tuesday night out sometime!)

My plans are to make the Stovetop Mac n Cheese for lunch tomorrow... the kids will eat Mac n Cheese anytime (and I hope that they like this recipe!)...

PS  We also had last night's pancake leftovers for breakfast today and they were still gobbled up frantically by the kiddos!  Yippee!!!

LOVIN' the Pancakes!!!

We just finished our Pancake Night meal and YUMMY!!!  Everyone in our family loved them... this will be a standard recipe in our house for awhile!!!  I did leave out the cinnamon since some of the comments on the recipe suggested that...and we did make a few with bananas and walnuts (Britt's favorite) and chocolate chips (mine and Odin's favorite).  BUT, they were fantastic without any additions, too!!!


Buttermilk-Oatmeal Pancakes

This recipe also introduces you to a website I have found very helpful while trying to cook and bake healthier.  Eating Well is a magazine that I subscribed to around Christmas through a special deal and I loved their approach to food.  Their first goal is to use WHOLE foods... and then it's nutrition....(in my words)  which are pretty closely related.

Whenever I have the urge to make one of my usual recipes I always go here to see if they have a healthier alternative...and in many cases they do.  You'll be seeing plenty of their recipes in posts to come!!!

Snack: Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

I made these this morning and they'll be gone by evening...  Good, but a little too good for me to have around...  Kids love 'em...

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

This recipe has been one of my GREATEST finds while trying to get my family eating healthier.  After watching the documentary Food, Inc I swore I would never buy another Tyson product in my life.  The problem was that my kiddos LOVED chicken nuggets and they were such a quick go-to meal for them...

So, I started my search and I lucked out on the first attempt!  These are FANTASTIC.  We love them.  Of course, they do take longer than nuking Tyson nuggets, but they taste TONS better....

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

With this meal we like to have some Sweet Potato Fries and a salad.  I found a frozen Sweet Potato Fry brand that is healthful and yummy.  Check out Alexia's variety of products!

***  I didn't really mean to pick on only Tyson in this post... There are a few other meat processing companies that I'd rather not give my money to...  Tyson was just the one that we used to buy a lot...

This Week's Menu

Here we go again.... There are a couple of recipes I am excited to share this week!  What are your plans for the week???

M  Homemade Chicken Nuggets and Sweet Potato Fries
T   Buttermilk Oatmeal Pancakes
W  Britt's Secret Recipe Burgers
Th  Stovetop Mac n Cheese
F  Papa Murphy's

All my groceries are bought... Quite an accomplishment before starting the week. 

Weekends

On the weekends I like to do as little meal making as possible....especially lunches!  I don't know what it is, but I get so sick of putting together lunch each day...especially when we don't have any leftovers around...  My preference for weekend lunches are Extreme Pita, Subway, Jimmy John's, Taco Bell, etc.  This weekend we had lunch at home BOTH days.  Total Bummer.

I also like to shake up breakfast with something besides the usual toast, cereal and english muffins.  Didn't really accomplish that this weekend either.  Another Bummer.

I only made one thing...and it isn't for the health conscious.  (I am noticing that so far not many of my recipes have been healthful. )  This morning I made Donut Muffins.   They are nearly gone.  :)  Total YUM!!!  I DID use 1 cup whole wheat flour along with 1 cup white flour.  So, I gave some sort of effort, right????

Shout Out for Mac N Cheese Recipes

If there are any readers out there I am in GREAT need for the PERFECT Mac N Cheese recipe.  My kiddos love Kraft.  I don't want to serve them Kraft.  So far I have tried 3 recipes.  Two of them none of us really liked and one I really liked, but the kids didn't.

So, if you have any recipes that include fluorescent colored noodles that are not made by Kraft, please send them my way!!!

By the way, I do not pass judgment on any parents who choose to serve their kids Kraft Mac N Cheese!  I am still making it... and I completely understand the convenience and the love for it.  :)  I am just trying to change a few habits around here in hopes that none of my boys end up with some of my "issues" with food and weight management.  

My Journey

Anyone who has known me for a number of years knows that my weight has fluctuated many, many times since my days in elementary school.  I am either a fairly competitive athlete playing basketball or training for a marathon or triathlon...OR I am overweight and really mad at myself for being that way. Somewhere in the middle is where I want to be...and that, for me, is HARD.

This has been a life long struggle for me and it runs pretty deep.  It dominates my thoughts most of the time and it is just plain annoying.  During the past 6 months I've been really trying to dig deeper into why I struggle with this so much.  With the help of several books on a variety of overeating/mindless eating/emotional eating topics I have a fairly good handle on the WHY.

It is the next step that is a bitch.  The CHANGING of the behavior.  I have found some really great strategies that I feel could be the thing that "cures me" and they usually last about 2-4 weeks and then I fall back into old habits, get really mad at myself and then start searching again for the next "answer."

I write this here so that I have a place to be accountable to some of my efforts...  I also plan to share some of the resources I have found to be helpful.

The Journey continues...

Strawberry Cashew Salad

Oh. My.  This was good.


Strawberry Cashew Salad

When I first saw this recipe I thought of my sister.  Strawberries, candied nuts and chicken just screamed MONK.  Since I'd been wanting to take them a meal for quite some time I decided that I'd mix this up right away!  I was a little concerned about it being filling enough for a supper for the whole family...  but I think it was plenty filling.  I do know they loved it...!  The only issue Odin had with it was the "black things"  (poppy seeds).  He requested ranch on top of the original dressing.  I gagged and obliged and he ate a good portion of it.  :)

You'll notice there is quite a bit of sugar in the candied cashews and in the dressing.  I think the salad would be very good even with the cashews not candied...and the dressing can be made to taste with less sugar if you prefer.

Enjoy!  I have leftovers for lunch and couldn't be happier!!

Not Healthy

So, there comes a time once every few days when I jump ship and make something simply because it looks soooo good.  I came across this recipe and knew I had to give it a try.  I probably tried to fool myself for a moment that it was "healthy" because it has bananas in it.  Nice try.  :)

The recipe of which I speak, Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Streusel,  was found at the blog, Buns in My Oven...and Not the Baby Kind.  I just came across this the other day and I have found many things I will be trying!

So, when you are looking for something completely mouth-watering...and maybe want to impress some guests...make this.  It is wonderful!!!

Pita Pizzas

So I switch my meal plan around pretty often.  Tonight I had planned to make the Strawberry Cashew Salad...BUT the avocados I bought last night aren't ripe enough for my taste so I am going to throw together Pita Pizzas tonight instead.

This couldn't be easier...

Place pitas down on a pan.
Spread a layer of pizza sauce on the pita.  (Britt prefers salsa.)
Add toppings.  (We usually use turkey pepperoni, canadian bacon, cheese, onions and mushrooms)
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes for a crispy crust, 350 for 15 for a little softer crust.

Give an extra effort to having a side salad and some fruit with this!!

Snacks

As we move along this journey to getting healthier I am trying hard to cut down on our cracker-y and granola bar-y snacks.  We definitely don't want to bring in any high fructose corn syrup into our home...and it is pretty much in all the store bought snack foods...

With that said I am doing a lot of baking these days...and I am trying to bake things that have some sort of nutritional value (but not always!).  I like to sneak in some oats, pumpkin, banana or nuts whenever I can...

This week some snacks we have around are..

Homemade LaraBar fruit nut bars
  I am shocked that we like these.  Most of the varieties have dates in them.  Every year at Christmas Britt requests cookies with dates in them and I pretty much gag the whole time I am making them.  But in this case I thought I'd give them a try (since I'm trying to make changes) and I LOVE these!!!  They also take NO TIME to make...


Homemade Clif Bars
  I found this recipe on the same blog as above.  Mine turned out a little crumbly probably because I didn't tamp them down hard enough...but the kids eat 'em up!  (I made the chocolate chip variety.)

Clif Z Bars
  These are a store bought snack that passes the nutrition test on many counts.  We all love these.  Buy them at Costco or Sam's Club to keep the cost down.

Honey Wheat braided pretzels with Hummus

Unsweetened applesauce

Baked Taquitos

This has been one of the best discoveries for a meal idea for our family.  I found this taquito recipe after making the shredded beef tacos on the same site.  You can make any kind of taquito with leftover meat of any kind... Here are the Clif Notes:

-Take some corn tortillas
-Add some meat and cheese down the middle
-Wrap up and place on a pan folded side down
-Brush each with a little olive oil
-Sprinkle with kosher salt
-Cook at 425 and start checking them at around 10 minutes.  They should be crispy.

Check the recipe link above for more specifics.

We eat ours with guacamole and/or sour cream.  YUM!!!

This Week's Menu

I thought that this week would be a great week to start since there are some very simple ideas...plus one of my family's favorites!

Su-  Shredded Beef Tacos and Pinto Beans

M- Taquitos (made with leftover beef from above!)

T- Strawberry Cashew Salad

W- Pita Pizzas

Th- Breakfast for Supper:  Eggs, Toast and Fruit

F - Fast Food (Extreme Pita or Subway)

Sa-  Not sure yet!

Welcome!

Here we go!  My attempt at a 2nd blog.  "Why?" you may ask...

Well, I am a stay at home mom who is always looking for new family friendly recipes...Soooo...I thought I'd start posting my weekly menus in hopes that some of you would share yours as well!  Also, if I am expected to post my weekly menus then hopefully I WILL be planning accordingly and won't be stuck some nights wondering, "What's for supper?"

Another goal of this blog is to chronicle my attempts at getting my family to eat healthier...and my attempts to cook and prepare healthier foods.  I have been at it for a few months now and have made some wonderful discoveries...I can't wait to share!!

By the way, very few of the recipes I post will be originals of mine (I'm not that talented)... Most of them will be links to things I find online...