I go back to work today (hence the delay in getting this post up) and I don’t feel ready, but ready or not, it’s coming! I tried to plan a menu this week that was relatively simple. When I was a kid, my mom always made us a great breakfast every morning. My goal this year is to be better about finding time to make breakfast for my kids in the morning rather than having them do “quickie” things like cereal, frozen waffles, and Pop Tarts. Since they will be with babysitters most of the week, we don’t have a lunch plan on the weekdays.

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.

Get more inspiration by checking out the hundreds of menu plans posted every week at orgjunkie.com!

NOTE:  I sometimes get e-mails expressing “concern” that there are no fruits and vegetables included in our meal plan.  I typically only include our “main dish” items and not our “side/snack” items unless there is a really yummy recipe that I want to share.  If you want to know more about what my $40 weekly grocery budget includes, check out this post.

SUNDAY:

Breakfast ~  I got this recipe from Marci’s blog awhile ago and tried it out. My whole family loved it and it’s super easy to make!

Ingredients:
1/2 cube butter (not margarine)
6 eggs
1 cup Milk
1 Cup Pancake Mix (or Bisquick)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 Degrees. Place butter in a 9 X 13 inch pan. Put in preheating oven until butter is melted. In a blender, combine eggs, milk and pancake mix. Pour batter into baking dish. Bake for a bout 15 – 18 Minutes until pancakes are puffy and lightly browned. Do not open oven while pancakes are cooking. Top with sifted powder sugar.

Serve with warm maple syrup or fruit toppings.

WW points = 4 per serving (not including toppings)

Lunch ~ Peanut butter, jelly, and marshmallow fluff sandwiches (this was apparently one of my husband’s favorite sandwiches as a kid, so he made the kids lunch yesterday and they LOVED it)

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)

MONDAY:

Breakfast ~ Cold cereal

Lunch ~ Macaroni & cheese

Dinner ~ Out (we weren’t SUPPOSED to have dinner out tonight, but since my car broke down, I didn’t make it home in time to pick up dinner, so we ended up eating Quiznos – love their free kids meals with the purchase of a sandwich!!)

TUESDAY:

Breakfast ~ Waffles

Dinner ~ Melt in your mouth meatloaf (slow cooker) – I’ve made this several times now for our family.  It’s easy to make and yummy!

Ingredients:
2 eggs
3/4 c. milk (we use skim)
2/3 c. seasoned bread crumbs
2 tsp dried, minced onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp rubbed sage
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (we always make this with ground turkey instead and it’s yummy!)
1/4 c. ketchup
2 T brown sugar
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well (mixture will be moist.) Shape into a round loaf; place in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the ketchup, brown sugar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Spoon over the meat loaf. Cook 15 minutes longer or until heated through. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before cutting.

WW points = 5 per serving with the ground turkey, ground beef may be more (makes 6 servings)

WEDNESDAY:

Breakfast ~ Pop Up Pancakes – This is a “new” recipe for us that I took from Make & Takes (I love this blog!) – we were going to try it last week, but it didn’t happen, so we’ll try again this week!

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
6 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
dash salt

Preheat oven at 400*. Blend all ingredients in blender. Grease muffin tins. Bake for 15 minutes or until puffy and golden on top. Use a knife to “pop” them out. Add desired toppings.

Dinner ~ Ingredients:
3 cups hot cooked rice
1 lb lean beef round steak (cut into 1/2 inch thick strips)
1 T Paprika
2 T butter
2 cloves garlic, crusehd
1 1/2 c. beef broth
1 cup sliced green onions
2 green peppers, cut in strips
2T cornstarch
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 lg tomatoes (cut in eighths)

Pound steak to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 1/4 inch wide strips. Sprinkle meat with paprika. Let stand. Brown meat in butter. Add garlic and brother. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in onions and green peppers. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Blend cornstarch, water and soy sauce. Stir into meat mixture. Cook, stirring until clear and thickened, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir gently. Serve over beds of fluffy rice. Serves 6.

WW points = 7 points/serving  (add an additional 2 points for 1/2 cup rice and 4 points for 1 cup rice), this makes 4 servings.

THURSDAY:

Breakfast ~ Scrambled eggs w/ cheese and turkey bacon

Dinner ~ 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 grapes

FRIDAY:

Breakfast ~ Cold cereal

Dinner ~ Teriyaki chicken –  If you are wanting to get started with freezer cooking, this is seriously the EASIEST freezer meal to put together and a great one to start with!

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup pineapple juice
4 chicken breasts

Directions:
Mix marinade ingredients together and throw in a freezer bag with the chicken breasts. If you use it as a freezer meal, just defrost and cook as you please when ready to eat!

WW points = 8 points per serving (add 2 points for 1/2 cup rice or 4 points for 1 cup rice)
(We will serve this with rice and steamed broccoli)

SATURDAY:

Breakfast ~ Eggs Florentine – I got this recipe from Marci’s blog and have made them with the kids a few times now – they are always a hit!

Lunch ~ Chicken nuggets and fruit skewers (for the kids)

Dinner ~ Chicken & dumplings (slow cooker)

Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2-3 carrots, sliced
2-3 celery stalks, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup (I use 98% fat free)
1 tsp salt, optional
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
paprika
2 pkg refrigerated biscuit dough, torn in pieces (I only use one)

Place chicken, vegetables, soups & seasonings in crockpot and fill with enough water to cover.  Cover with lid and cook on low 5-6 hours.  About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough into the crockpot.  Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.

NOTE:  If I don’t have time for the biscuits to cook in the slow cooker, I just cook them in the oven and then tear up the biscuits and add them.

WW points = 8 (makes 6 servings)

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