Menu Monday

Monday:  Orange Chicken

This was that straight up out of a box frozen meal from Costco that has been on repeat for months.  It comes with two packages so this was package number 2.  It's yummy, easy, but very high in points and not something I'm into every week.  It makes the day seem so long when I've used the rest of my points up by 11:30 and have to wait until 7:30 to eat this.  Bring on the fruit.

WW Points:  19 points (1 3/4 cups) + 4 points for a serving of brown rice


Tuesday:  Velveeta Italian Sausage Bake

New meal this week using the feature of plugging your ingredients into the search boxes and seeing what comes up.  Mine?  Sausage and penne pasta.  This meal was super delicious!  If you're into Velveeta of course.  The thought of Velveeta kinda grosses me out, but in finished dishes I cannot deny its awesomeness.

I omitted the zucchini in this recipe so it probably could've used a little more pasta in my version, but if you follow the recipe the amount should be adequate. 

WW Points:  17 points/serving
4 servings


Wednesday:  Leftovers


Thursday:  Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Up

For some reason I picked two meals with Velveeta this week.  Not really on purpose but it worked out well because I already had some in the fridge.  This meal kind of reminds me of this yummy cheese dip my mom makes but all rolled up into a pizza dough.  It's good, but I feel as if the dough is a little thick for my taste and leaves me wanting more meat.  That's what she said.  But nonetheless, yums.

Next time I would cook the bacon separately and then add it in later.  I don't feel like it gets crispy cooking it with the beef and I'm a crispy bacon kind of girl.

WW Points:  17 points/serving
4 servings


Friday:  B-Spot & Leftovers

It was Girls' Night Out Friday at B-Spot, a new restaurant in town by Michael Symon.  I ended up getting a salad because I saved the rest of my points for wine.  Yep.  That's how I roll.  Matt ate up the leftovers from the previous evening.


Saturday:  Hamburgers & Grilled Corn

This was a last minute throw together meal as my plans for the evening fell through at the last minute.  Matt was in charge as I do not grill so I just kind of made up the points for this one.  AKA: a night of not caring.  Followed by ice cream.  With peanut butter smeared on top.



Sunday:  Steak and Chicken Kabobs, Potato Casserole, Caramel Brownies

We had a cookout at a friend's house and I was of course in charge of bringing dessert.  The brownies were so yummy, but they were incredibly rich and very gooey.  Practically impossible to get out of the pan.  They were so gooey you had to eat them with a fork.  I'm not sure I would make them again because of the messiness factor but they were soooo good. 


Clearly I lost no weight this week because of my weekend crazies.  But some weeks, maintaining is succeeding my my book.  And so is sending the leftover brownies to work with your husband.

Menu Monday

Monday:  Leftovers

These Cheesy BBQ Sloppy Joes are just as delicious the second time around.  I do wait until right before we are ready to eat to make the bread each time, though.  Reheated bread = sucktastic.


Tuesday:  Chicken Tortilla Casserole

I LOVE this dish.  I did a lot of prep work throughout the day so it wouldn't take as long to prepare that evening (chopping the veggies, prepping the chicken, crushing the tortilla chips) and it was super delicious.  Matt thinks it's only okay as he's not much of a tomato eater and the chopped tomatoes are not hidden in the slightest.  His plate was full of picked out tomatoes bits.  But I'm not a tomato fan myself and I think the other flavors masked it quite well.  Well enough for me to eat them without spitting them out.

I used red onion instead of a shallot as I had some leftover.  Also, I used 1 Tbsp. of the chipolte peppers in adobo sauce and that was plenty.  Perhaps even too much.  It was very spicy.  Matt and I are both lovers of the heat but these peppers are my nemesis for sure.  So be careful.  Also, I used 5 oz. of tortillas chips and about 26 oz. of chicken.  The points reflect these amounts.  Oh, and no cilantro.  Matt thinks it tastes like soap.  I know.  He's a strange, strange man.

WW Points:  14 points/serving
4 servings


Wednesday:  Leftovers


Thursday:  Burritos

Nothing fancy here folks.  I browned 12 oz. of lean ground beef, threw in some taco seasoning...and ta da!  Done.  We're more of a burrito family rather than a taco family so I served the meat up in soft shells.  Easy peasy!

WW Points: 8 points for 6 oz. taco meat, 3 points for 1/3 cup Mexican cheese, 6 points for 2 tortilla shells
Total meal:  17 points


Friday-Sunday

We were out of town for the weekend so no cooking for this mama!

Hope y'all are having a great Monday!!

Menu Monday

Monday:  Three Cheese Chicken and Pasta Skillet

This was a new recipe for the week and boy was it good!  I had to use up some leftover rotisserie chicken and this fit the bill.  It came together very quickly for a weeknight meal (a necessity in our house) and was quite reasonable points wise.  I left out the Kraft Singles because they are disgusting and a sorry excuse for cheese.  In my opinion of course :)  The points reflect this.

I wasn't super impressed with this dish as a leftover meal, but Matt thought it was quite good both days.  Take that for what you will.

WW Points:  10 points/serving
5 servings

Tuesday:  Leftovers

Wednesday:  Lasagna Soup

Dude.  I mean, DUDE.  This soup is G.O.O.D.  I insist you make this immediately.  Perhaps it would be more appropriate for a cold winter month but I'm not one to get caught up in all of that garbage.  Good food is good every month of the year.  And this, boy is it good.  I mean, the topping is called "cheesy yum."  Enough said, yes?

I used chicken broth instead of stock as I already had that.  I didn't notice any loss in flavor because of this substitution.  I also used the leftover rotini from Monday evening as I couldn't find either of the suggested pastas at the store.  I also didn't use as much basil as mine withered to grossness a little quicker than expected.

WW Points: 16 points/serving
6 servings

This could definitely be an 8 serving dish.  The amount I ate was quite a large bowl but I didn't mind as it was incredibly delicious.  But it made a ton.  Judging by the fact I forced Matt to have two days of leftovers.  But unlike the earlier dish, the taste was of the same high quality as the first night.


Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Leftovers

Saturday:  Pizza

Menu plan fail.  Do you ever have nights where you just need to have pizza?  I mean, deep down in your soul need it?  Well, I do.  And it was Saturday.   It was also too many points to count.  Ahem.


Sunday:  Cheesy BBQ Sloppy Joes

This is a repeat dish for us.  We LOVE it.  I mean, whenever a recipe calls for Texas toast we are all over it.  I could not recommend making this dish more.  Easy, tasty, Texas toasty.  Yum.  Just do it.

WW Points: 21 points/serving
4 servings

FYI it's major high in points.  You could totally make this into an 8 serving meal and only eat one piece of Texas toast.  But you know me by now, right.  That ain't my style.

Menu Monday

Monday:  BBQ Chicken Pizza

This pizza is really, really good.  It's super easy to throw together on a weeknight and it completely holds up to my high standards of what I consider an awesome pizza.  And that means a lot considering I exclusively eat sausage and cheese.

I did decide to use a 'just add water' pizza crust for this pizza instead of making my own crust.  Forgive me.  It was a Monday.  And also, I only had two slices of bacon leftover from our Sunday breakfast.  A travesty in my book.  So the points include my changes. 

I personally ate half the pizza.  But a normal person could perhaps eat less.  So please take the high point value of this recipe with that in mind.

WW Points:  25 points/half of pizza


Tuesday:  Pasta Alla Vodka

I had this meal out at a restaurant a few months ago for the first time and have been craving it ever since.  Finally, I had a chance to attempt a recreation.  I thought this pasta was pretty good, but a little involved.  I'm not a fan of recipes that involve me using a blender, the stove, and a ton of other dishes.  I also didn't feel like there was enough sauce when the meal was ready.  But it did have a nice kick to it which I appreciate.  In conclusion, I think I'm still on the lookout for the perfect Pasta Alla Vodka recipe.  Have any suggestions?

WW Points:  14 points/serving
5 servings
We served it with a side of Texas Toast (5 points for Cheese variety)


Wednesday:  Leftovers
This wasn't super fab leftover.  The sauce soaked up even more into the pasta so it had even less than the day before.  Not such a fan.


Thursday:  Cheeseburger Pie

This dish was really tasty...and super easy to make.  At first it was a little weird to be eating puff pastry as a crust but the taste trumped the difficulty in getting a perfect bite.  We left off all the toppings as we're not super big veggie people and thought the dressing would be a weird addition so my points reflect that.

The serving size in the recipe is 4 and I think that would've been perfectly acceptable.  I, however, ate half.  Obvs.

WW Points: 28 points/half of pie


Friday:  Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells

I was a little weirded out by the fact there was no sauce with this dish, but OMG this was fantastic!!  Probably the best meal we've had in a long time.  The cheesiness was all that was needed with each shell.  And talk about easy to make.  Cook the pasta, stuff them, bake them...good to go!  We will definitely be making it again.

I used 16 jumbo shells so we each got 4 shells per meal.  I thought this serving size was sufficient.  We did have Texas toast with it one night...but ran out the next night and I was no where near starving with just eating the shells.

WW Points:  13 points/serving
4 servings


Saturday:  Leftovers


Sunday:  Orange Chicken

Don't get too excited friends.  This was out of a box.  I had grand plans to make this super awesome sounding Lasagna Soup but we didn't have time to get to the store.  Next week! 

We bought it frozen from Costco and it was really good...and quite yummy.  Not so great for you on the points side of things so I only had a wee little bit.  I've pretty much been stuffing myself full of watermelon lately that I wasn't even really hungry for dinner.  I guess there are worse things to stuff yourself with than watermelon, huh?

WW Points:  11 points/serving
5 servings
If I would've been my normal self, I would've eaten more than this.  Half of the package would've been almost 30 points though...so I doubt I would've done all that.  Perhaps two servings at 22 points would've been perfect.

Menu Monday

Monday:  Deep Dish Pizza

Matt invented this dish.  Well, I'm sure he didn't invent deep dish pizza, but it was something he made regularly before I was around.  My mom always made homemade thin crust pizza so this was all new to me.  I think it's really good, but I think I still prefer my mom's way.  I feel like I get more pizza when I get to eat 6 slices instead of 2 even though it's the same amount of food.

We used Walmart brand pizza crust.  You just add water to the packet, mix it up, let it sit for 5 minutes...and you're good to go.  We're an all sausage/half pineapple kind of family (fruit on pizza is a sin in my opinion) so that's what I used.  Top it with some mozz, pop it in the oven for 25 minutes at 425 degrees and you're good to go!

Recipe specifics for entire pizza:
8 oz. of sausage
1 cup pizza sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese

WW points:  22 points/serving
2 servings


Tuesday:  Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

I got this recipe from DAR, one of my very favorite bloggers who has since left the blogging world.  Insert tear here.  She actually got it from one of my other bloggy besties, Jenn.  For some reason I can't link to your blog, Jenn, so here's your official shout out!  Hey Jenn!  Thanks for the yummy recipe!

I changed it up a little bit so I'll post exactly what I did here:

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts (2 lbs. 8 oz.)
1 bottle of wing sauce (I used Frank's Sweet BBQ)
1 packet ranch dressing mix
3 Tbsp. butter
Hamburger buns

Put the chicken, wing sauce, and ranch packet into the crock pot.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours.  Shred chicken with a fork.  Add back to the crock pot, add the butter and stir.  Let the flavors meld for an hour or two and then serve it up on hamburger buns.

These were so yummy!  I do prefer the pulled BBQ chicken, but if you're in the mood for something a little spicy...this is definitely for you.  I really don't see the point of the added butter, so next time I would skip that for sure.

WW points:  8 points/serving
6 servings
2 hamburger buns used = 8 points
Total meal: 16 points


Wednesday:  Leftovers


Thursday:  Bow Tie Lasagna

This meal came together very quickly which is perfect for us during the week.  The sour cream in the sauce made it super creamy which was a nice treat, especially coming from two people who despise sour cream.  I cut the serving size down a little so I could have more and the amount was perfect.

WW points:  11 points/serving
5 servings
Texas Toast:  5 points
Total Meal:  16 points


Friday:  Leftovers


Saturday:  Cookout!

We had a few of our friends over for a cookout and had such a lovely time.  I really don't know why we don't do this more often.  We're totally the couple (I mean family of three!) that goes to their friends' houses way more than we have people over.  But I had such a lovely time being in my own home!  Especially with Natalie.  She had all of her toys right here, not to mention her crib when bedtime rolled around!

Here was the menu:

Appetizer:  Mexican Cheese Ball with Tortilla Chips

When I say this dip was awesome, I am SO not joking.  One of our friends lovingly referred to it as a mushed up taco.  In a good way.  If you can take it as that.  It went perfectly with the tortilla chips...and the toasted pecans on the outside...to die for.  I will say that the recipe said to form the cheese into a ball, roll it in the pecans, and put it in the fridge.  Um, the cheese was definitely not rollable.  At all.  It was not firm and was very much more of a dip than a cheese ball.  So I just sprinkled the pecans on top.  Worked out just fine!


Main Dish:  Smoked BBQ Ribs

Matt did the smoking so all I can say is oh.my.goodness.was.this.ever.outstanding.  Enough said.

Side Dishes:  Potato Casserole, Watermelon, Corn on the Cob

I didn't make the potato casserole but it was one of those casseroles that was creamy, potatoey goodness with corn flakes on top.  Oh yeah.


Dessert:  Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

I had such high hopes for these cupcakes...but they were just okay.  They were extremely tart and just super sweet.  I usually don't have a problem with this but even for me it was a little too much.  Plus, the cake was pretty dense and dry.  They looked super pretty though!

Notice I didn't include points for this day.  Yeah.  So did my ass.


Sunday:  Leftovers

Menu Monday

When a person, AKA me, decides to start posting menus, it's usually on a day when you make a really fantastic meal and can't wait to share so all of your bloggy friends think you are just such a fabulous cook and they can't believe you don't have your own show on Food Network.  Right?

Well, the truth is...some weeks are just full of pre-packaged meals and making whatever the heck you can find from something hidden in the bottom of the deep freezer.  That, my friends, was last week.  We went grocery shopping after church on Sunday without making a list (which I despise) so this is what happened.  Note to self:  never do that again.


Monday:  Frozen Pizza

source

Yep.  Keeping it real here, peeps.  Doesn't get much easier than this.  We actually ate it standing up as Natalie was having a rough night and Matt was walking her around in the Baby Bjorn just trying to get her to GO TO SLEEP!!  As an aside...that didn't work.  But the pizza was pretty good.  I prefer a good pepperoni and sausage myself...but this was alright.

WW points:  15 points/4 slices (1/2 pizza)


Tuesday:  Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Did you really think this was going to be homemade?  Nope.  Not this week.  I microwaved it for like 4 minutes and then ate it.  Unfortunately, you could tell.  It was just okay.  Not sure I would ever buy it again.  But really, it took 4 minutes.

WW points: 13 points/serving
2 Servings
Hamburger Buns:  4 points/bun
2 buns
Total Meal:  21 points


Wednesday:  Taco Stuffers

source

We had a coupon for this stuff.  For a few weeks we couldn't find it in the grocery store because we were looking in the refrigerated and frozen food section.  You know, because it has meat in it.  Um, we found it with the Mexican food.  Not refrigerated.  Both Matt and I were seriously weirded out by this, but we'll try anything if it's $1 off.

Talk about easy...microwave the pouch for 60 seconds and you're done.  We put it in tortillas and topped it with Mexican cheese.  I thought it was kinda mushy.  All the ingredients seemed to meld together and the texture was a little strange.  It tasted fine...but I definitely would not buy this again unless the coupon was perhaps $3 off.

WW points:  6 points/servings
2 Servings
Tortillas:  3 points/tortilla
2 tortillas
1/3 cup Mexican cheese = 3 points
Total Meal:  15 points

Thursday:  Ravioli

source

This was the "reach into the deeper freezer with your eyes closed and make what comes out" day.  I had some leftover frozen ravioli that I cooked...added some spaghetti sauce...and presto!  Meal!  We also had some Texas toast as a side.  I figure a day when I use the stove AND the oven constitutes a legit meal, yes?

WW points:  13 points for 1/2 leftover ravioli and 1 cup sauce
Texas Toast:  4 points
Total Meal:  17 points

Friday:  Hamburgers with Potato Wedges

source

WW points:  6 points/5 oz. lean ground beef burger
Hamburger Bun:  4 points
3 oz. Potato Wedges:  3 points
Total Meal:  13 points

Saturday:  Grilled Steak w/ Grilled Corn on the Cob

Finally!  A real meal!  Matt bought some ribeye last time we were at the store so we grilled it up with the corn and it was AWESOME!  In fact when we finished, I suggested we begin eating exclusively steak.  Apparently, according to my husband, we do not have a money tree growing in our yard so I was shut down.  Story of my life.

WW points:  9 points/8 oz. of steak; 2 points/one medium corn on the cob
Total Meal:  11 points
I used spray butter on my corn so as to not add any additional points.  We did marinate the steak in a teriyaki marinade beforehand but I've learned the meat never really soaks up enough of the marinade to add any points to a meal.

Sunday:  Sweet and Sour Chicken w/ Brown Rice

This meal was pretty good.  10 minutes on the stove top and it's done.  But, it does NOT serve 3.  2...maybe.  I was pretty much still starving after my measly little serving.  I had to finish off the meal with a bowl full of strawberries just to get through the night. 

WW points:  9 points/serving
3 servings
Brown Rice:  4 points/serving
Total Meal:  13 points

Now, please come back next week when I cross my heart to make you actual meals that include recipes.  PROMISE!

Menu Monday

Monday:  Spicy Tangerine Beef with Brown Rice

I'm not sure I can still call this recipe by it's original name since I actually used an orange instead of a tangerine.  Can you believe the grocery store didn't have one?  I thought that was weird.  Anyways, this recipe was super delicious.  And really easy to make.  It says it serves 4-6 which I find to be a total lie.  I would say 3 at the most.  Matt and I each ate a fourth of it on Monday and we both commented that there could've been more meat with the amount of rice we made.  (But honestly, when could you ever NOT say, "I could use a little bit more meat."?)

WW Points:  9 points/servings
Servings:  4

I also made these Sea Salted Caramels to take over to our neighbors for watering our plants when we were out of town.  The recipe was incredibly easy...make some caramel, put it in a pan, let cool, melt some chocolate, pour it over the layer of caramel, good to go.  Um, no.  When I went to cut the caramels into pieces my chocolate layer completely separated from my caramel layer.  AND the caramel layer was impossible to cut.  It got so hard.  Like the only way I was going to be able to break it into pieces was to throw it on the ground.  Needless to say I did not end up taking these over to our neighbors.  I did, however, eat the chocolate layer myself and send the huge block of caramel with Matt to work.  Dessert = Fail.


Tuesday:  Leftovers

(I finished these up myself as Matt was gone so I ate two servings of beef with one serving of rice and it was perfect)


Wednesday:

Matt got home late again and he was supposed to pick up some booze as an ingredient for the recipe I was going to make...so I pushed it back until Thursday.  I ended up eating nachos.  And ice cream.  Yep.  Not so great of a WW day for Jenny.




Thursday:  Bubba's Creamy Spicy Seafood Pasta

1.  This recipe says it serves 4.  Um, no.  It serves at least 6.  Probably more like 8.
2.  There is so not enough seafood in this dish for the amount of pasta.  If I were to make this again, I would definitely scale down the pasta to at least 12 oz. instead of a pound.
3.  Despite the above issues, it was really tasty!  The sauce had a real kick to it.  I just wish it had more seafood.

WW Points:  14 points/servings
Servings: 6


Friday: Menu Planning Fail


We were invited to a last minute cook out so we brought over hamburgers, hot dogs, and ears of corn.  Not a bad WW day, but it's always hard to calculate points when you're at someone else's house.  I mean, who really has the balls to say, "Hey, before you put that hamburger on the grill, could you please weigh that?  And could you get lite buns?"  Not me.




Saturday:  Cook Out...Again!

This one was actually planned.  Our neighbors invited us over.  Turns our neighbor is BFF with a guy Matt went to law school with in Virginia.  Totally random, right?  So he was coming up for a visit and we stopped over to say hey. 

I provided the Oreo Truffles and S'more Cookie Bars.  As always, the truffles were the hit of the party.  For something so incredibly easy to make, these things really get attention.  I get kind of sick of making them for everything though and I'm always looking to try something new.  Enter cookie bars.  They were AWESOME.  I do think they needed more chocolate so I will definitely add another candy bar if I make then again.  Seriously yum! They were, however, 7 points/bar.  With 16 servings.  Not so fab...but doable for one day.  Unfortunately, there are still some in my house.

Sunday:  Leftovers

Sorry for the lack of recipes this week friends.  But we all have those crazy weeks where nothing seems to go as planned, right?

Menu Monday...Vacation Style

Not so much of a menu for last week.  And don't even ask me about WW points.  We were in Panama City Beach on vacation so if you'd like photos of Twizzlers, Skittles, or cupcakes for dinner...I could share those?? 

Wait.  You don't eat like that on vacation?  Just me?

Sunday my BIL made homemade ravioli which was quite delicious.  We had a night of burritos on Monday and then my dad made his famous homemade lasagna on Tuesday.  I posted the recipe for it quite a while ago but I can't seem to find it now.  It will definitely have to be shared.  No other lasagna compares in my book.  Wednesday evening everyone went out to a late dinner whilst Matt and I stayed home with a sleeping Natty Poo.  My sister did bring me some fish and chips home which was incredibly tasty.  My mom stayed home with Natalie on Thursday so us kiddos could go out to dinner.  I had chicken and sausage jambalaya.  Seriously yum.  It was my (Matt's) turn to cook on Friday and we made Cheesy BBQ Sloppy Joes.  Anything with Texas toast in it is a winner for me and this did not disappoint.

I'll definitely be back to posting legit recipes next week.  Lord knows my thighs need it...

Menu Monday with a Twist!

Monday:  Leftovers from the weekend

Don't you just love a Monday of leftovers?  For some reason, I really dislike cooking on Mondays.  Perhaps I'm just not ready for the week to begin?  Not sure.  But the potato soup and pulled chicken from the weekend sure did hit the spot.

Tuesday:  Chicken Croquettes with Creole Sauce

This recipe is from Paula Deen.  Enough said, yes?  I thought it was super yummy.  It was basically a crab cake using chicken instead of crab.  Matt didn't eat any of the sauce that I made with it as it was mostly mayo and sour cream of which he is not a fan.  He chose to use BBQ sauce.  Personally, I thought the sauce was perfect with the meal.

Notes:
I made 12 croquettes instead of 10 and thought they were plenty big
I used green pepper instead of red as we had some leftover...I also left out the onion because I thought we had some and then I couldn't find it (aka:  what happens when your husband cooks a night)
4 servings (3 croquettes each) with 1/4 of sauce
15 points/serving

Wednesday:  Leftovers

Thursday:  Baked Shells with Pesto, Mozzarella, and Meat Sauce

Pesto?  Mozzarella?  Meat?  Who could go wrong, right?  Although I thought this dish was really yummy, I think the pesto was completely hidden within the tomato sauce.  Which is sad because I could basically eat pesto right out of the jar.  It's one of my favorite things and to put it in a dish and not be able to tell is a complete travesty in my book.  Plus, it is a hellified amount of points due to the oil so I felt like it was a complete waste.

But other than that, it was quite delicious.  And got two thumbs up from the hubs which is always a plus. 


Notes:
I left out the onion because, again, we ran out.  Since I didn't need to cook the onion, I also left out the oil. 
I changed the recipe to 5 servings instead of 4 because I wanted to have a piece of Texas Toast with my meal.  Upon further investigation, the servings could be dialed up to at least 6.  I mean, the meal completely filled up a 9 X 13 pan.  It was a lot of pasta.
5 servings
17 points/serving


Friday:  Leftovers

Saturday:  Find Your Own


Do you ever have days like this at your house?  A day where you don't have anything to cook or don't have any time to cook and you just say, "Honey...have whatever you can find?"  My mom used to do this and she called it "find your own."  So that's what we're doing tonight.  We're leaving on vacation in the morning so I want no leftovers in the house.  Enter "find your own."



Sunday:  WE'RE LEAVING FOR FLORIDA!

Enjoy your Fourth of July friends!

Menu Monday with a Twist!

Welcome to another edition of Menu Monday!  Here what happened last week in the food department.

Monday:  Buttermilk Pecan Chicken

There's not much on in the TV department during the day for this SAHM, so when Natalie's eating you can usually find me watching the Food Network.  Except from 11-2 when I am watching reruns of 90210 and Days of our Lives, obviously.  This recipe came from the show 5 Ingredient Fix.  I'm not such a fan of the host, but the whole idea of five ingredients in a meal intrigues me.  Especially during the week.  I prepped this meal in the morning and fried it up when Matt got home and it was delicious.  I did have to cook the chicken for a few minutes longer than the recipe said...which I always find to be the case.


Notes:
This recipe was a little hard to calculate at the beginning as it calls for ingredients to coat the chicken and oil to shallow fry it.  I actually calculated the points out of what the recipe called for and then reduced it by the amount that I actually used.  I ended up only using about 1/2 of the pecans and bread crumbs for coating as well as 1/2 the oil.
2 servings
17 points/serving


Tuesday: Barbecue Beef-Filled Biscuits

Another newbie from Kraft.  Super simple.  Super yummy.

Notes:
4 servings (2 biscuits each)
10 points/serving
I will say that the serving size for this was a little small.  I could've definitely eaten 3 of these babies :)  Also, our peppers were fairly large so we just used one red pepper instead of two small ones.


Wednesday:  Leftovers


Thursday:  Chili Topped Potatoes

This meal used to make a fairly regular appearance in our house but has since fallen off the radar.  I actually am not sure I have made it in this house!  I told Matt to pick a meal that he hadn't had in a while and loved...and this is what we ended up with.  It's always an easy, yummy, weeknight staple.

Notes:
Our potatoes were just over 9 oz. a piece
1/3 cup of Mexican Cheese used on top of each potato
2 servings
13 points/serving

This evening was also treated to a dessert.  I was our 8 year anniversary of when we started dating so I thought I would make something special for Matt.  His favorite cookies are Oatmeal Scotchies so I ran with the butterscotch theme.  I made Oatmeal Cream Cheese Butterscotch Bars.  Can I just say that these are dangerously good?  I mean, seriously dangerous.  Why I torture myself when I am on a diet I will never know.  I cut these into practically bite size pieces (48 servings) leaving them 4 points/bar.  Make these if you dare.

Friday:  Pulled BBQ Chicken

I told you I would make this every week if Matt let me!  I thought it would be a good idea to schedule an easy meal today as Matt's parents are coming into town for the weekend.  I have no idea when they are arriving (par for the course...don't get me started) so this is a perfect crock pot meal that can be done at any time.  Thanks again, ILYMTC!

Notes:
6 servings
11 points/serving
4 point honey hamburger buns makes this meal 19 points for two sandwiches


Saturday:  Fully Loaded Cheesy Potato Soup with Cheddar and Herb Biscuits

Both these recipes are courtesy of Gina and Pat Neely on the Food Network.  Again, not so much a fan on them but their food always looks and sounds so delicious.  And these did not disappoint.  Oh, the soup was probably the best potato soup I have ever had.  And we make several different recipes.  The biscuits weren't as fabulous as I expected them to be for the amount of butter I put on top but pretty good nonetheless.

Notes:
The recipe said the soup served 4-6 so I took 1/4 of the soup.  It was WAY too much.  I would definitely stick to 6 servings.  I used chicken broth instead of stock as that was all I had.  I also went with 2% milk instead of whole.  Who really has whole milk in the house?
4 servings
11 points/serving

Biscuits:
12 servings
4 points/serving (7 points for two)


Sunday:  Menu Fail

Matt's parents stayed home with Natalie so Matt and I could go out to dinner.  I will not mention the fact that Natalie woke up after we left and cried for her Mommy.  I will also not mention my breaking heart.

Menu Monday with a Twist!

I've decided to go ahead and jump right on board the "Menu Monday" bandwagon.  I'm big into the meal planning around these parts and I personally enjoy scouring blogs for recipes...so I thought I would create a segment of my own!  Not sure who came up with this whole "Menu Monday" idea...since it's on quite a few blogs that I read, so if it was you, let me know and I'll give you some cred.

But for a twist, I think I will include the WW points for each meal and update you on our meals from the past week.  That way I can include pictures.  I'll start that next week.

And just so you know upfront, I get a crazy amount of WW points.  Reasons include:  1.  I'm huge.  2.  I'm a nursing mom.  I currently have 49 points for the day so sometimes my points for dinner are seemingly high.  But right now, I need to eat more calories for my little girl so I'm obliging :)  Feel free to scale down for yourselves as necessary as the portions I eat now are larger than I have eaten in the past.  I'm also using higher point ingredients so I am able to hit my point value for the day.  This, unfortunately, will not last.

Here are some highlights from last week:

Monday:  Pulled BBQ Chicken

I found this recipe from I Love You More Than Carrots a while back.  Honestly, it's my new favorite meal.  It is ridiculously easy, super yummy, and I would make it every week if Matt let me.  Plus, you do it in the crock pot so my house smells delicious all day long.  We serve it on hamburger buns, but I was recently thinking it would be awesome with tortillas and cheese.  Yum!

Notes:
33.5 oz. chicken breast used
6 servings
11 points/serving
3 point wheat hamburger buns makes this meal 17 points for two sandwiches

Tuesday:  Leftovers

Wednesday:  Pizza Calzones

This is a go to recipe for us around here.  It's very simple and comes together quickly for a yummy meal during the week.

Notes:
This recipe makes 4 calzones.  Matt and I each eat two, but I could definitely just have one and call it a meal.  I don't, but I could.
9 points/calzone

Thursday:  Beef Casserole

This is a new recipe for us this week.  I really enjoy Southern Living recipes, as does Matt, so it's a site I frequent to search for yummy new meals to try.  It ended up being a super yummy dish!  I will say, the recipe instructed me to roll out some crescent roll dough, cut it into strips, and form a lattice on top of my casserole.  Um, that did not happen.  I did roll it out, cut it into strips, and then proceeded to just lay them all over the top.  I found there to be too many strips and I sure as heck was not going to throw away pieces of crescent roll dough.  No way!

Notes:
Lean ground beef used
Points do not include toppings which I chose not to use
6 servings
15 points/serving

Friday:  Leftovers

As a side note, the leftover beef casserole was just so so in my book.  Crescent rolls reheated are just never the same.

Saturday:  Chicken Skewers w/ Brown Rice

We ended up having a little bit of a change of plans Saturday.  We met our friends at a festival in town and they invited us over for dinner.  We did bring these skewers over for appetizers, but we also had steak for the boys, turkey dogs for us dieting girls.  And no rice.  Matt marinated the chicken in soy sauce, pineapple juice, brown sugar, and a few spices and it was really good on the grill.  Doesn't grilling something just make it taste so much better?

Notes:
3/4 lb. chicken tenders used
2 servings
8 points/serving (this includes using all of the sauce...which we intended to boil and use over rice)

Sunday:  Pepper Seared Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Cream Sauce; Crab Legs

I went a little fancy today to celebrate Father's Day.  I let Matt chose the meal.  He also got Peach Cobbler for dessert.  I cannot vouch for how that turned out as cooked fruit is something I am not super fond of...so this dessert was special for Daddy.

The steak was so good!  But my favorite part of the meal was the sauce.  I will say that it made way more sauce than necessary so I bet the points were considerably less as I didn't even come close to using it all.  But hey.  Better under points for the day than over, am I right?

Notes:
I halved the recipe but used 1 lb. of meat.  The more meat the better in our house.
2 servings
19 points/serving
3 oz. of crab meat= 2 points + 3 points for the necessary tablespoon of butter used for dipping

Hope you enjoyed the first installment of Menu Monday a la Jenny!