Melissas Bargains

HAPPY MONDAY! One of my Facebook friends posted that there are only 13 more Mondays (after today) until Thanksgiving break.  Somehow that makes it a big more manageable!  Plus, I’m excited for fall to start kicking in with cooler temperatures and fun decorations!  Some of my recipes this week are “carry overs” from last week.  I spent most of the week sick, so most of the things on my menu didn’t even sound good (all I wanted on my birthday was chicken noodle soup, which my hubby made “from scratch” for me!) and I didn’t have the energy to cook much anyway.  Thankfully, I’m feeling MUCH better this week and ready to re-join the land of the living!

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 ~ Cold cereal (I usually cook a big breakfast on Sunday and I had planned to make strawberry crepes, but I got a great deal on Cinnamon Toast Crunch at Randalls this weekend and my kids were so excited and that’s all they wanted!)

Lunch ~ Ravioli

Dinner ~ Farmhouse chicken, mashed potato casserole, and green beans

Farmouse chicken – I got this recipe from Tammy’s recipes awhile ago and had bookmarked it to try, but hadn’t gotten around to it.  The sauce and chicken were really good, but my stuffing got dried out in the oven.  It says to cook it uncovered, but I think next time I will try cooking it covered.

Yield:  4 servings

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cup milk
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
4 celery ribs, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
12 ounce package of stuffing mix

Instructions:
1. Saute onion, and prepare stuffing mix according to package directions and set aside.

2. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter and then add flour. Stir until bubbly, then cook one minute. Slowly add in milk, stirring continually to avoid lumps.

3. Add chicken, celery, onion, salt and pepper. Cook and stir for 5-10 minutes, until chicken is done and celery is starting to get tender.

4. Pour mixture into an 8×8-inch casserole dish. Top with stuffing. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Mashed potato casserole – I got this recipe from Hoosier Homemade awhile ago and she reposted it last week and it sounded soo good that I just had to try it…it was absolutely DELICIOUS and a hit with the entire family!

Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup French onion dip (refrigerated) – I used Ranch dip
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 cups water
1/2 cup margarine
3 cups instant mashed potato flakes

Directions:
Spray 13×9 pan with nonstick spray, set aside. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, onion dip, eggs and milk until smooth. In a medium saucepan, combine the water and margarine, bring to boil and remove from heat. Add the instant potato flakes, mix well. Pour the potatoes into the cream cheese mixture. Beat until smooth. Pour into the baking dish evenly. Cool, cover and refrigerate.

Cooking Directions:
Remove the casserole from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, uncover and bake for 30 – 40 minutes.

MONDAY:

Breakfast ~ Waffles

Dinner ~ Easy enchirito – I saw this recipe, I think on orgjunkie.com last week and it sounded YUMMY so I decided to try it this week! (the recipe was originally posted on Blessed with Grace)

Ingredients:
* 1 package burrito-sized flour tortillas
* 1 package burrito OR taco seasoning (OR your best homemade version)
* 1 lb lean hamburger meat
* 1 can re-fried beans (I used fat-free.)
* 1 15 oz can Enchilada sauce (I only used 3/4 of this can.)
* 2 cups shredded cheddar (I used Mexican blend)
* 4-5 green onions, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven 350. Prepare 9×13 casserole dish with non-stick spray.

1. Brown hamburger meat and season, per package instructions, with the burrito seasoning packet.
2. Make one burrito by spreading re-fried beans on one tortilla. Then layer with the seasoned hamburger meat and a small portion of cheddar cheese. Wrap the burrito and place in casserole dish.
3. Repeat step 2 until the casserole dish is full.
4. Pour enough enchilada sauce to completely cover the burritos.
5. Add a layer of cheddar cheese.
6. Finally, top with chopped green onion.
7. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.

Serve w/ green salad

TUESDAY:

Breakfast ~ Cold cereal

Dinner ~ Tator tot casserole

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 (14.5 ounce) can French style green beans
1/2 (32 ounce) package tater tots
shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef and drain fat. Stir in condensed cream of mushroom soup, water, garlic salt, cheese, and green beans. Pour the mixture into a medium-sized casserole dish and layer with the tater tots. Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until tater tots are browned and crispy.

WW points = 8 points per serving
Serve w/ green salad and fruit salad

WEDNESDAY:

Breakfast ~ Toaster strudel

Dinner ~ Lemon chicken saute – This recipe has come to be known as “Grandma’s chicken” around our house because it was a recipe from my husband’s grandmother that his mom used to make for them

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (this is what we need for our family, adjust accordingly for yours)
3 T all purpose flour
PAM no-stick cooking spray
1/3 cup butter or margarine (we use I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
3 T lemon juice
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp sugar

Roll chicken in flour to coat. Spray large skillet with Pam or other cooking spray. Add butter and melt over medium heat. Add chicken breast and saute till lightly browned on one side. Turn and brown on second side, 5-7 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove chicken and set aside. Stir teriyaki sauce, lemon juice, garlic and sugar into skillet. Return chicken to pan and simmer 3 minutes. Turn chicken over, and continue cooking until fork tender (2-3 minutes)

Serve over cooked rice.

WW points – 5 points per serving with chicken; 2 points for 1/2 cup rice or 4 points for 1 cup with rice, 1 point for the asparagus recipe below

Serve with Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce – I got this recipe from Marci’s blog and it is YUMMY!

Ingredients:
1 bunch fresh asparagus
cooking spray
salt and pepper to taste
2 T. butter (We use I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
1 T. soy sauce
1 t. Balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Snap ends off of washed asparagus and place on baking sheet. Coat with cooking spray and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 12 minutes or until tender. Melt the butter in a sauce pan or in the microwave. Stir in soy sauce and Balsamic vinegar. Pour over baked asparagus and serve.

THURSDAY:

Breakfast ~ Scrambled eggs

Dinner ~ Spaghetti with garlic bread, green beans, and a green salad (not very exciting, I know, but it was a request from the kids)

FRIDAY:

Breakfast ~ Waffles

Dinner ~ Broccoli chicken bake – I got this recipe on my Babycenter message board – we’ve tried it once before (it’s not my husband’s favorite because of the broccoli, but the kids liked it and it’s easy to make)

Ingredients:
1 bag (14 oz) frozen broccoli florets
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup – I’ll use 98% fat free
1 package stuffing mix (6 oz)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 c. water
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan w/ foil.   Mix broccoli, soup, stuffing mix, 1/2 cup cheese and water together in a large bowl until wet and blended.  Spread evenly in foil-lined pan.
Top with chicken.  Sprinkle with seasoned salt and pepper.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until chicken reaches 170 degrees F and juices run clear.  Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.  Cover with sheet of nonstick foil; let stand until cheese melts.

Number of Servings: 4

WW points = 9 per serving

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!

Lunch ~ Chicken BLT taco salad – I got this in an e-mail from Betty Crocker recently and it sounded so yummy that I added it to my “must try” list

Dressing (I’m just going to use Ranch)
1/2 cup Old El Paso® Thick ‘n Chunky Salsa
1/2 cup French dressing

Salad
8 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
6 cups torn romaine or iceberg lettuce
1 medium yellow bell pepper, coarsely chopped
2 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 medium avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into thin wedges
1 1/2 cups shredded Colby-Monterey-Jack cheese blend
1/4 cup sour cream, if desired
1 cup small triangular tortilla chips

1. In medium bowl, mix dressing ingredients until well blended.
2. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain on paper towel; reserve 1 tablespoon drippings in skillet. Add chicken to skillet; cook and stir over medium heat 4 to 6 minutes or until browned and no longer pink in center. Cool slightly. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until chilled.
3. In deep 3-quart salad bowl, layer lettuce, chicken, bacon, bell pepper and tomatoes. Top with dressing. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 24 hours.
4. Just before serving, top with cheese, avocado, sour cream and tortilla chips.

WW points per serving = 7

Dinner ~ Perfect Enchiladas – The basis for this recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman, but she uses ground beef and I’m going to use chicken (last time I used pork and that was yummy, too!)  Marci posted the recipe on her blog awhile back and I finally got around to trying it a few weeks ago and it was a hit, so we’re having it again.

Our “filling” – I’m going to put 2 frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot on low with a can of enchilada sauce (red) and some taco seasoning.  I’ll shred the taco meat and that and some cheese will become our “filling”

The sauce (from Marci’s blog)
1 T. canola oil
1 T. flour/cornstarch
1 large (28 oz) can enchilada/red sauce
2 c. chicken broth
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
2 T. chopped cilantro

-In a large saucepan over med. heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for 1 min.
-Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and cilantro, and bring to boil.
-Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 min.

I’m going to use 1 dozen flour tortillas.  Whenever I make enchiladas, I always put a little bit of sauce along the bottom of the pan to keep the enchiladas from stocking to the pan.  I’ll fill each tortilla with the shredded chicken breast and cheese, roll it, and place it in a 9X13 Pyrex baking dish. Then, I’ll cover the rolled enchiladas with the sauce and some cheese and bake it in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 350 until the cheese is melted.

WW points = 9 per serving for 2 enchiladas

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