December Weekly Dinner Menus
 

Each week I pick out 6 things to make for dinner (one night is what we call FFY, or fend for yourself, night). This weekly menu becomes the base for the shopping list. DH does the shopping on Sundays, so that starts my "menu week". I do the planning and the prepping. Oh, and he also does the dishes.

I get burned out coming up with tasty low-carb dinner ideas week after week, and I'm sure you do, too. And since I write my menus on a white board, I erase them and quickly forget. So I'm going to start these menu threads every week and month, and post any recipes you want me to in the Recipe Forum. Whenever possible, I link to the recipes I use if they are posted online. A lot of the time, the recipes I use are not low carb on their own, so let it be known that any recipe I use is adapted to the LC and SF style.
Please feel free to post your weekly menus here, too, and ask for recipes if you want. If not, at least I'll have a record of my menus to look back on.

Past months:
June Weekly Menus
July Weekly Menus
August Weekly Menus
September Weekly Dinner Menus
October Weekly Dinner Menus
http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/lo...ner-menus.html
~~~~~~~
Week of Nov. 29 - Dec. 5
MON: Taco Salad
TUE: FFY
WED: Chili in the crockpot
THU: Grilled Steak/ broccoli with cheese
FRI: Grilled Pork Chops/ green beans for them, brussels sprouts for me
SAT: Chicken Diane
SUN: Homemade pizza

Question: You have a family right? So when you cook these meals do they get all eaten up, do you only cook enough for that day or are there leftovers? Is that the FFY day?

I ask cause I'm a single and almost anything I cook gets eaten for 3-4 days. my freezer is not big enough for leftovers from 6 recipes with only one serving removed from each.

For that reason I find it hard to make daily menus that have variety like that cause my recipes all have 5-6 servings like soups or casseroles for family sized families.

My meals end up being throw together stuff like eggs and whatever is in the fridge.

Most of what I cook get's eaten for dinner, or as leftovers for lunch the next day or two. I usually only cook enough meat to eat that night. Veggies that are leftover sometimes get eaten for lunch or end up in a soup. This week, I only anticipate that there will be leftover chili, which will end up as someone's lunch.
FFY is Fend For Yourself night. It could be leftovers, or something quick.

In no particular order:

1-turkey soup
2-sausage cabbage bake
3-baked ham, broccoli
4-meatloaf, green beans
5-cheesy mushroom fish bake
6-will probably go out

hey ya'll! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving... I ate waaayyy too much but I didnt do as bad as I thought:stars: make sense of that...Just wondering if you got to try the stuffed celery? I think it was totally a damage control savior item for me. Who could feel denied about anything when you eat that!?!:love: It was wierd...for the first time the sweets were not my biggest torture. This year it was more about salty chips and crackers and such. That is VERY different for me.

Gotta make my weekly menu. I know we are having taco something tonight.

No, I haven't tried it yet. I keep forgetting to pick up a can of tiny shrimp. Will definitely make it this month though.
I planned to eat off plan on Thanksgiving, and the scale is still up 2 pounds. Oh well, I knew it would happen. Didn't help that I lived off of the lc pumpkin cheesecake I made all weekend...lol.

I planned to not eat LC on Thanksgiving. I really did well though. The carbiest thing I had was a very small portion of stuffing and potatoes. I made a LC dessert. I didn't want sugar shock.

Where is the stuffed celery recipe? That sounds good.

8 oz cream cheese room temp
1/2 - 1 lb med. shrimp cleaned good and rough chopped (I like a lot of shrimp - you could use the little salad shrimp too)
2 green onions chopped
3 T horseradish
salt/pepper to taste

blend together, stuff celery and let chill reall well. best really to do the day before or the morning of an evening meal... they are SOOOOO good! Big chunks of shrimp and cream cheese

Yummy!
Please feel free to tweek and alter as you wish this is just a whipped up quickie recipe ;)

Yum!

ok so all 4 kiddos, dh and I have come down with the stomach bug from hell :stars:... So my menu has been shot out the window.

Breakfast for dinner
Taco Salad (lunch) then the drama started :lol:
Today we had Chinese soup... I swear the broth from the wonton soup at this place could cure most major illnesses!:up: I had that and the inside of an eggroll :doh: didnt think about the cabbage and the effects of it...

Now DH is off to Burger King. I swear every single time he gets sick, the night he starts feeling better he has to have BK!:rolleyes: However, he does get better after he eats it so maybe there is something to it:dunno: Just hate this weak feeling.. I am supposed to be supermom right?:blush:

Menu for the rest of the forseeable future is probably going to be some sort of soups and broths....maybe some jello. Wish there was a trick to getting over this faster, but I will post new menus for next week.

Wendalina, oh geeze, what a mess! I'm sorry. Get better soon, all of you!

Hope you feel better soon. After my first was born I asked for a bacon double cheeseburger from BK. :laugh:

I had Del Taco.

Dec. 6 - Dec. 12
 

MON: Stuffed Pita
TUE: FFY
WED:Chicken (tortilla) soup/salad
THU: Beef fajitas
FRI: Thai shrimp and cabbage
SAT: Peppery Beef Roast with horseradish sauce (:heart: this stuff!) / mashed cauliflower for me, raw broccoli/carrots for the gang
SUN: Chicken Marsala/salad or green beans

Last week was a crazy week. Both of my boys were in the Nutcracker. I wasn't able to plan much but so far I have:

1. ham, veggies with cheese
2. roasted whole chicken, veggies
3. bacon zucchini crustless quiche
4. hot dogs
5. bacon cheeseburger pie
6. chicken soup

here's my list

1. shrimp and tomato linguine toss (Dreamfields)
2. Santa Fe stuffed chicken, green beans
3. fried turkey meatloaf patties for DH and steak for me (he won't eat beef), veggies
4. baked whole chicken, veggies
5. chicken soup
6. hot dogs with sauerkraut
7. ham, Swiss, zucchini quiche

Can I just eat at your house this week?

By the way, I made the Thai Shrimp and Cabbage a little while ago, and decided to eat it with chopsticks. It made it taste better!!! I swear!

Week of Dec. 13 - 19
 

MON: Chicken Marsala/Green beans (carryover from last week)
TUE: FFY
WED: Lipton Onion Burgers/Cottage Cheese/Salad
THU: BBQ Pork Roast (crock pot)/Coleslaw
FRI: Grilled Steak/Salad
SAT: Spaghetti (dreamfields) and meatballs/salad
SUN: Broccoli, cheese and chicken soup

It's like 85 degrees right now, and as you can see I'm trending towards foods I typically only make in summer time because of that. Funny how that works. It's supposed to cool down again this coming weekend.

ok we actually are getting snow flurries right now... this is crazy! Speaking of shrimp stuff... do any of you lovely ladies have a recipe for coconut milk shrimp soup type deal?:aprayer:

Of course! Come on over. :D

I'll have to post the recipe for the Santa Fe chicken, that was really yummy. I just finished it for breakfast this morning. LOL

Snow in Atlanta?! That is crazy.

Santa Fe Chicken

3/4 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 cup finely crushed pork rinds (in place of bread crumbs)
2 TBSP butter
1 clove chopped garlic
1 small red bell pepper finely diced
1/2 cup corn (spread out among the chicken it comes out to under 4 grams net)
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley if preferred)
5 chicken breast halves, bone-in with skin

1) Spray baking dish with cooking spray. In small bowl combine chili powder, cumin, salt and paprika; mix well. Reserve 1 tsp of seasoning mixture; set aside. To remaining seasoning mixture, add crushed pork rinds; mix well.

2) In medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add red bell pepper and garlic; cook 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add corn, cheese, cilantro and pork rind mixture; mix well.

3) Loosen skin from each breast and cut a slit into the center top of the chicken to form a pocket. Stuff some of the mixture in, cover back up with the skin. Sprinkle reserved seasoning on top of skin.

4) Broil chicken 4 to 6 inches from heat for about 5 minutes (or until skin is crispy).

5) Remove baking dish from oven, cover with foil. Turn oven down to 350 F and bake for 35-40 minutes (or until internal temp is 165 F).

I don't know the carb count, but the only carby thing is basically the corn, which is still not a lot. The original recipe says 13.5 grams (with real bread crumbs). That would still be within my count, but I'm sure the substitution lowers it quite a bit plus the recipe says 4 breasts, the stuffing was plenty for 5 large breasts. You could substitute with chopped celery or onion (or add that in as well).

That is crazy! It would be even crazier if it snowed here where I live, though it does snow not too far from here. It did snow here on my 5th birthday though :)
No, sorry, don't have any recipes for a soup like that.

Wow, that Santa Fe chicken looks mighty TASTY!

Level with me (a bit OT but I don't feel like having an all out debate and discussion about it).... Would you eat a hot dog roll that had 13 grams net carbs? You figure with a hot dog (1-2 grams) that would be below my 20 gram max per meal. I don't know why I'm nervous about it. It feels like cheating to eat a bun. LOL, but really why not?!

So what do you think? I can take it. :blush:

Would I? Yes. Yes, I would. I don't have major issues with wheat or gluten. I wouldn't make a habit out of it unless I was on a much higher carb count per day (I try to stay under 30 per day). But if you're on 20 per MEAL, I'd totally eat it.

I had one for lunch today. So I'll see how it goes. I put lots of butter on it, fried it on the pan and had a Nathan's bun length dog on it. It was yummy. I think it will be fine. I don't seem to have any issues with wheat either. Really as long as I have a good amount of fat and protein with each meal I'm good.

Brace yourself.... YES I would totally do it. I probably wouldnt make it a habit, but I would eat a hot dog and bun in a NY minute. I think portion control is a lot easier with a HOTDOG bun rather than a cinnabun:love::doh:

Seriously, part of the glory of this woe is finding out what works and what doesnt. You tried it today and in the next few days you will know...mystery solved AND you got a good hotdog! :hugs:

We are grilling out tonight... yes its only 5 here with the windchill, but DH really wants a Tbone. Who am I to say no to his grilling needs:dunno::hyst:
Starting to make my grocery list for Christmas day and morning and I was wondering if either of you had thought ahead that far. Really want a yummy coffee cake type recipe for Christmas morning - but I dont have a lot of fancy ingredients. Just throwing this out there....

Thanks,
Wendy

Hey, when a man wants a grilled steak, he wants a steak! LOL!

There's a fairly simple looking coffee cake type thing on Linda Sue's website I've been wanting to try for a long time. Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes
Some LC pancakes would be good, too, especially with whipped cream and berries, or a sweetened cream cheese filling rolled up inside. A baked fritata with bacon and cheese would be simple and filling (though not sweet like you want). So, yah, guess you could say I've given it a little thought. :)