Melissas Bargains

For those of you who may be doing Weight Watchers, I have included the points per serving calculations for most of my recipes this week. I used the “Recipe Builder” feature on the WeightWatchers.com e-Tools program to input all of the ingredients and calculate the points, so it should be pretty accurate.

You can read more about my $40 weekly budget in this post here.

If you’re new to menu planning, check out my post about how I do my menu planning.

On weekdays, my posts don’t include lunches.  My son eats lunch at daycare, most days I take lunch or eat a Lean Cuisine/Smart Ones/Healthy Choice meal, I pack a lunch for my daughter, and my husband fends for himself!

SUNDAY:

Breakfast ~ Scrambled eggs and sausage

Dinner ~ Pizza

MONDAY:

Breakfast ~ Waffles

Dinner ~ Chicken enchilada casserole – This is a recipe that my sister came up with. She uses canned chicken when she makes it. I came up with a little bit of a variation.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (shredded) – or 1 can chicken
1 large can red enchilada sauce
corn tortillas
shredded cheese – I use reduced fat

Directions: (this is what I do) – I put my chicken and the enchilada sauce in the crockpot the night before and then shred it when I get up in the morning. If you are using canned chicken, you can just shred it as you are making the casserole. I spread some of the chicken/sauce mixture along the bottom of the casserole dish so it doesn’t stick. Break corn tortillas into four pieces and layer across the bottom of the casserole dish. Spread a layer of the chicken/sauce mixture and cheese. Add another layer of corn tortillas. Continue until you are out of the chicken/sauce mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

WW points = 8 points per serving (for 4 servings) – serve w/ green salad and fruit

TUESDAY:

Breakfast ~ Cold cereal

Dinner ~ Incredible Cheesy Turkey Meatloaf – This is a new recipe for us.  I saw it posted on someone’s Menu Planning Monday post last week (sorry, I can’t remember who the original poster was).  I’m a sucker for meatloaf these days and I’m putting this one in the crock pot with foil criss-crossed so it’s easier to pull out when it’s done (and so there’s less mess, too).

Ingredients

2 pounds ground turkey
1 cup milk (I’ll use skim)
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 pound Colby cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (after reading some of the comments online, I’m going to use shredded)
1/2 cup ketchup (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a bowl, mix the turkey, milk, bread crumbs, and eggs by hand. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the cheese cubes into the mixture. Transfer to a loaf pan, and top with ketchup.
3. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, to an internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). (Mine will be cooked on low in the slow cooker all day)

WEDNESDAY:

Breakfast ~ Toaster strudel

Dinner ~ Shredded lime tacos (slow cooker) – I got this recipe from Marci’s blog a few weeks ago.  We tried it and loved it, so it’s back again!

Ingredients:
* 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat – cubed
* 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
* 1/2 lime, juiced
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
* 1/2 white onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
Mix together vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, onion, garlic and cilantro. Put in crock pot with chicken and cook on low 6 hours. Shred chicken apart with forks and serve in tacos with toppings of choice!

THURSDAY:

Breakfast ~ Scrambled eggs and turkey bacon


Dinner ~ Cream cheese chicken (slow cooker) – My family loves, loves, loves this recipe and if you haven’t tried it, you should because I promise your family will love it, too!!

Ingredients:
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper (to taste)
2 pkg. dry Ranch or Italian dressing mix (we usually only use one)
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. cream cheese – cut into cubes (I use the 1/3 less fat kind)
½ c. chicken broth

Directions: Brush chicken with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in crock pot and sprinkle 1 pkg. dry mix over all. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours. About 45 minutes before serving, add soup, second packet of dry dressing mix, cream cheese, and chicken broth. Cook until smooth.
Serve over rice or pasta.

WW points = 6 points/serving (add 2 points for 1/2 c. rice or pasta or 4 points for 1 cup rice or pasta)

FRIDAY:

Breakfast ~ Waffles

Dinner ~ Swiss steak (slow cooker) – When I was a kid, my mom used to make Swiss Steak all of the time, but it’s been years since I’ve had it.  I saw this Paula Deen recipe and it sounded yummy and easy to make, so I decided to give it a try!

Ingredients:
1 round steak (approximately 1 1/2 pounds), see note
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (14-1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, cut into strips
1 medium bell pepper, cut into strips

Directions:

Cut steak into serving-size pieces. Season, to taste, with garlic powder and salt and pepper. Dust meat with flour. In heavy skillet, brown both sides of meat in vegetable oil. Transfer to Dutch oven. Combine garlic, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, and 1 tomato-can measure of water. Pour over steak and simmer over low heat until meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours adding water, if necessary to keep meat partially covered. Season, to taste, with additional salt and pepper. Hint: Cook this in a slow-cooker, according to manufacturers instructions, on low for a most fabulous dinner. Low heat on a slow cooker is about 200 degrees F and high heat on a slow cooker is about 300 degrees F.

Note: to ensure tenderness, it is necessary to have the butcher run the round steak through a cuber.

SATURDAY:

Breakfast ~ Lemon scones w/ sour lemon glaze – This recipe also comes from Tammy’s Recipes.

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Cut in the butter.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the lemon zest and juice, cream, and egg.
3. Stir egg mixture into dry ingredients, just until a dough starts to form. Knead a couple times until the dough holds together.
4. On a lightly floured surface, gently press dough into a circle, about an inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges (I use a pizza cutter to quickly and neatly cut the wedges!).
5. Place scones on an ungreased baking sheet, not touching each other, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let rest on the sheet for 5 minutes.
6. Prepare the icing by mixing the powdered sugar with enough lemon juice to make a drizzling consistency. Add a drop or two of yellow food color if desired.**
7. Place scones on a wire rack. Drizzle or brush icing over warm scones. These scones are delicious hot, but I think they taste even better the next day, when the lemon flavor has permeated the scone even more!
Dinner ~ Pasta (not sure what yet!)

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