Menu Plan Monday 11/9/15 and Recipe Review

Homemade Pizza Night, delish!

I didn't make one thing on my list last week even though I ate at home for all of the nights...even the night I met with a friend that I haven't gotten to gab with for a while.  My freezer meal of Mexican Pizza came in super handy on that night, especially since Ty came home a day earlier than expected. The individual flash freeze idea worked out beautifully and to be honest, the taste was better the second time around.  I baked them at 425 from frozen for about 25 minutes {checking after 15 minutes} then topped them with chopped lettuce, tomato, and a dollop of fat free Greek yogurt.  {I never buy sour cream anymore}  So much better than fast food!

I marinated some Springer Mountain Farms {these are delicious, worth the extra money even when they aren't on sale} chicken breast tenders in the Southwestern Marinade {I'm slightly obsessed with this one, yum!} cooking enough for at least two meals. My first meal was the grilled tenders with 1/2 of a baked potato.  The only thing green in that meal were the chopped green onions as a potato topper.  My aversion to washing dishes was rearing its ugly head so I didn't make anything else to go with.  To dispel my guilt over what I should be eating and since I felt like I needed some vegetables, I roasted some corn and black beans the next day and chopped lettuce, carrots, and celery for lunch and dinner salads.  I washed the lettuce, patted it dry with paper towels, then put a dry paper towel in the bottom of a glass bowl covering the whole thing tightly with plastic wrap.  {I also made homemade salad dressing} This darn lettuce stayed fresh for 3 days!  I'm hoping to duplicate the results this week for the Autumn Crunch Pasta Salad {with spinach}. I even have all the components ready for my Monday evening meal.  I'm planning to eat this salad for lunch for a few days so here's hoping my new process works.

Last week's super lasting salad!

1/2 baked potato for lunch, perfect sizing.  Now that I've seen this pic again, I just may be cooking potatoes tonight for lunches this week.

I'm always looking for ways to make "healthier substitutions" that incorporate easily in my life. This past weekend I decided to purchase a pound of organic turkey and make two different types of sausage.  I just so happened to search {while I was in the grocery store} and came up with two recipes from Taste of Home.  Since I've always had good luck with recipes from them...I gave them both a shot {adjusting the amounts of course} . This Italian Sausage was fantastic...no gristle or unknown additives to be found at all....and the Homemade Breakfast Patties are delicious.  On top of pizza, in recipes, for breakfast...I find the minimal work to be so worth the extra effort and the bonus is that the fat in these ingredients is significantly dropped without affecting the flavor.  Any leftovers {or mix and flash freeze patties or links for quick meals} can be frozen which works out when cooking for smaller families.

Here's what I'm planning this week but who knows what I'll really make...I'll let ya know.

MONDAY-Autumn Crunch Pasta Salad

TUESDAY-Sausage and Cheese Ravioli Saute

WEDNESDAY-Asian Style Grilled Chicken Breast, Garlic Roasted Green Beans, Basmati Rice

THURSDAY-Browned Butter and Sage Pumpkin Ravioli, Roasted Asparagus

FRIDAY-?

I know, pasta twice?  I have two packages that need to be used up so I may have to "bless" Tanner and Jesse with a meal.  Let's just hope they look at it like that :0) {vegetarian meals just aren't my boy's favorites}

Cheers to a great week of cooking and enjoying the little things...like weather with temperatures below 80 degrees.

This post is linked to orgjunkie.com