Meal Plan 3/7-3/13

We had some great meals last week! It took me an entire day (seriously 9am to about 10pm - I procrastinated all day) to plan out the last two weeks of dinner menus, but, oh, it was so worth it! We have eaten a lot of tasty, and for the most part, healthy meals, and we've done a lot of experimenting with "different" food combos. I've been doing a lot of recipes from Cooking Light and Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine; I like that the calorie count is included on most of the recipes because its easier for me to calculate my day's intake that way. (I now have an official goal of dropping 20 pounds by June so I can purchase a bridesmaid dress for a friend's wedding in the size I want to wear.)

My breakfasts for the past week have been different variations of this oatmeal. I stumbled upon it last Sunday, and despite eating it for seven days in a row now, I'm not anywhere close to sick of it! I started simply and topped it with 1/2 a banana and some walnuts before I moved on to peanut butter and bananas. Mid-week, I topped it with some Parmesan cheese, a chopped up chicken sausage and a fried egg (with a runny yolk). Later, I added some raisins and used up the pumpkin leftover from Thursday's dinner of Sausage and Pumpkin Pasta (one of the odd combos I mentioned earlier - wicked good! Chris declared, "I would eat this again.") and topped it with a sprinkle of coconut, walnuts and a spoonful of peanut butter. I even made a bowl for Chris this morning and he approved. All of the versions were so tasty and I don't think I could decide on a favorite.... but that runny egg yolk mixed in with the oatmeal was A.MA.Z.I.N.G.

For this week, we have planned the following:

Monday
L: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
D: Pumpkin Lasagna (minus the mushrooms), Whole Wheat Rolls (from freezer)

Tuesday
L: Leftover Lasagna
D: Sweet 'n' Sour Chicken, Rice Pilaf, Honey-Glazed Carrots

Wednesday
L: Easy Italian Stew (from freezer)
D: Applesauce Glazed Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli

Thursday
L: PB&J, Chips, Fruit/Veggie
D: Cheesy Spinach Lasagna Soup

Friday
L: Leftover Soup
D: Terrific Teriyaki Burgers, Sesame Green Bean Salad

Saturday
L: Heading to Mass for a Birthday Party
D: Charlie & I are heading to a Monarchs game with Sara & Kale from A Kiss A Day - should be fun!

Sunday
L: Pasta with sauce
D: Marinated Steak Tips, Baked Potatoes, Roasted Pear Salad