January 2012 Weekly Dinner Menus

[Speck333]

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. Shopping is usually on Sundays, so Monday starts my "menu week".
I start these menu threads every week and month so I have a record of what I fixed and to share to help others perform this sometimes tedious task. 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 share your weekly menus here, too, and ask for recipes.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Week of January 2-8
MON: Grilled Chicken Salad
TUE: Baked eggplant parmesan
WED: Baked pork chops and salad
THU: Chicken Diane
FRI: Grilled steak and salad
SAT: Baked sausage and creole veggies
SUN: Crockpot chili
(no FFY this week because everyone is on vacation)

[vaatje]

Happy New Year!

Jan 1-7
Sun: Hamburgers on salad, coleslaw
Mon: Adobo pork cauli-rice and cucumber salad
Tue: Spinach artichoke chicken bake
Wed: Beef green chili stew
Thu: Hotdogs
Fri: FFY/snacks/leftovers
Sat: out

[pcaltman]

Hi,

Just will move my menu. Thanks Speck. I didn't even think or I would have done it for you for a break

Morning,

Already change a few days from last night. Made a ham yesterday and thought I would have tons left. NO......these teen boys are eating me out of the house. Anyway, trying to keep the budget in line after Christmas.

Week of January 2-January 8
Mon = Pot roast, diced potatoes, maple bread, caeser salad
Tues = Beef & gravy,rice, homemade dinner rolls, side salad
Wed = Ham & noodle casserole(kids), Creamy ham & potato casserole (Linda's), steamed cauliflower, homemade dinner rolls
Thur = Spaghetti, leftover pot roast, side salad, canned fruit
Frid = Pizza & deep dish pizza
Sat = Taco, taco salads, refried beans
Sun = Rosemary chicken, bacon cauliflower stir fry, dinner rolls, leftover salad fixings

[cookwithme65]

Hi all heres my plan for the week:

Sun - Roasted turkey and green beans with bacon and mushrooms

Mon - taco salad made with left over turkey

Tues - Pastrami melt in low carb pita

Wed - Fish dill chowder

Thur - Grilled chicken with spionach mushroom casserole

Friday - grilled steak (premarinated in mexican spices from Trader Joes - 0 carbs) with loaded cauliflower

Sat - leftovers

Looking forward to trying some new recipes.

[Speck333]

mmm mmmm mmmm.... wish I could just eat at your houses this week

[kare30bear]

Hey girls...been a long time for me. I was off plan since before Thanksgiving week and just hopped back on this week and doing good so far....gotta get these cravings diminished, but luckily I am only up about 6 pounds from where I left.

I am in need of a good stock up for groceries in my house so I can be back to posting menus this weekend. I miss doing that and it helps me stay on track with our schedules around here.

Definitely wanting to try that Spinach & Artichoke Chicken!

Look at you Cook...is this your first menu post? Looks GREAT!!! Loving the sound of making some Eggplant Parmesan Speck! I've only made it once but Linda Sue's Chicken Eggplant Parm has been eyeballing me for months...might be time to get to making that recipe once and for all.

Can't wait to get back in the scheme of things, will talk to you ladies soon!

[vaatje]

Hi Karen,
Missed your posts these past weeks. I've been reading your menus and have gotten some great new ideas for new recipes. Hope you get back on track this week and look forward to swapping ideas with you and everyone on here.

[Speck333]

Glad to see you back, Karen!! I will post the recipe for the eggplant parm when I decide which one, or hybrid of ones, to use! lol

[cookwithme65]

Originally Posted by kare30bear

Hey girls...been a long time for me. I was off plan since before Thanksgiving week and just hopped back on this week and doing good so far....gotta get these cravings diminished, but luckily I am only up about 6 pounds from where I left.

I am in need of a good stock up for groceries in my house so I can be back to posting menus this weekend. I miss doing that and it helps me stay on track with our schedules around here.

Definitely wanting to try that Spinach & Artichoke Chicken!

Look at you Cook...is this your first menu post? Looks GREAT!!! Loving the sound of making some Eggplant Parmesan Speck! I've only made it once but Linda Sue's Chicken Eggplant Parm has been eyeballing me for months...might be time to get to making that recipe once and for all.

Can't wait to get back in the scheme of things, will talk to you ladies soon!

Hi Karen, Glad to see your back. Yes this is my first menu post although I have been stopping in and reading/ commenting on these for awhile. Didn't cook dinner tonight as I have no heat in the house and it's 15 degrees outside and 30 - 40 in the house. We needed to purchase a new furnace Tuesday and they are having problems installing it. Last night the pipes froze in the garage and then burst so that is being fixed now so I have no running water. So for dinner I'm going to have heated up chicken broth probably with some heated up chicken sausage in it. Can't wait to make the chowder. I even made my own seafood stock out of the shrimp shells left over from new years eve's shrimp cocktail. But I need water and heat to be in my kitchen. Currently under 4 comforters. I started Atkins induction officially Sunday and I am down 4.4 lbs. A big thank you to you for leading me in this direction. You are such an inspiration to me.

[Speck333]

Originally Posted by cookwithme65

Hi Karen, Glad to see your back. Yes this is my first menu post although I have been stopping in and reading/ commenting on these for awhile. Didn't cook dinner tonight as I have no heat in the house and it's 15 degrees outside and 30 - 40 in the house. We needed to purchase a new furnace Tuesday and they are having problems installing it. Last night the pipes froze in the garage and then burst so that is being fixed now so I have no running water. So for dinner I'm going to have heated up chicken broth probably with some heated up chicken sausage in it. Can't wait to make the chowder. I even made my own seafood stock out of the shrimp shells left over from new years eve's shrimp cocktail. But I need water and heat to be in my kitchen. Currently under 4 comforters. I started Atkins induction officially Sunday and I am down 4.4 lbs. A big thank you to you for leading me in this direction. You are such an inspiration to me.

That is just about the suckiest thing I've read all week. Glad you didn't use it as an excuse to order pizza! You should be proud of yourself for sticking to it despite the house drama. 4.4 pounds! woohoo!

[cookwithme65]

Originally Posted by Speck333

That is just about the suckiest thing I've read all week. Glad you didn't use it as an excuse to order pizza! You should be proud of yourself for sticking to it despite the house drama. 4.4 pounds! woohoo!

Well it just got worse Speck. My BF just came in from the garage to say he is going to sleep out there as they have a large heater with an open flame aka "a salamander" per him. I don't know. To try to keep the pipes from freezing. I have been upstairs al night buried under the blankets in our bedroom with a space heater and my small dog. Well I went down stairs to make him some hot soup and a cold cut sandwich etc... and then went to our back room that abuts the back of the furnace and water tank in our garage to get him a blanket out of the dryer and the room was like 80 degrees and steamy. Then I noticed water pouring across the floor from the garage. Then I started screaming!!!! My very large 6 ft high x 15 ft in length at least bookshelf is housed back there. It contains most of my cookbooks. I have a very large collection. Like over 500 as a low ball. I threw the blanket down to stop the flow towards the books. He ran out to the garage to check to see what was the matter. Our water tank blew a leak. So now we have to replace that and also get the furnace working that we just pd 1800 for. So we will have no heat or water for tonight again. I think he is going to keep the heater on in the garage for another hour or so. Then shut it off and try to get a few hrs sleep and then we will get up at 5 and go back out there. I can't get a dehumidifier until the am. I'm really worried my books will get mildew. There are too many to move. I this all gets resolved tomorrow. I hate the winter. Can you tell. I so want to move to a warmer climate in a few years. I will not let this throw me off induction. I'm going to make him a cheese burger now and I'm going to have a few pieces of beef salami. This whole thing is getting to be a little to much for me.

[Speck333]

Originally Posted by cookwithme65

Well it just got worse Speck. My BF just came in from the garage to say he is going to sleep out there as they have a large heater with an open flame aka "a salamander" per him. I don't know. To try to keep the pipes from freezing. I have been upstairs al night buried under the blankets in our bedroom with a space heater and my small dog. Well I went down stairs to make him some hot soup and a cold cut sandwich etc... and then went to our back room that abuts the back of the furnace and water tank in our garage to get him a blanket out of the dryer and the room was like 80 degrees and steamy. Then I noticed water pouring across the floor from the garage. Then I started screaming!!!! My very large 6 ft high x 15 ft in length at least bookshelf is housed back there. It contains most of my cookbooks. I have a very large collection. Like over 500 as a low ball. I threw the blanket down to stop the flow towards the books. He ran out to the garage to check to see what was the matter. Our water tank blew a leak. So now we have to replace that and also get the furnace working that we just pd 1800 for. So we will have no heat or water for tonight again. I think he is going to keep the heater on in the garage for another hour or so. Then shut it off and try to get a few hrs sleep and then we will get up at 5 and go back out there. I can't get a dehumidifier until the am. I'm really worried my books will get mildew. There are too many to move. I this all gets resolved tomorrow. I hate the winter. Can you tell. I so want to move to a warmer climate in a few years. I will not let this throw me off induction. I'm going to make him a cheese burger now and I'm going to have a few pieces of beef salami. This whole thing is getting to be a little to much for me.

OMGoodness!!!! I am so sorry! What a nightmare. What an absolute nightmare. I cannot even imagine. Get your favorite books out of there and into the house to dry out and pray for the rest. You can come out here, it was over freakin' 90 today. And no, most of us are not happy about it.

[pcaltman]

OMG!!! Cook I am so sorry. Where are you in MA? I lived in Sherborn for 9 years. Speck I don't think I want 90 either. Not at winter time a least I am a season's girl. Best of luck ladies

[Speck333]

My kids keep asking me if it's still winter and if we can go to the pool.

Cook - how are things looking today?

[cookwithme65]

Originally Posted by pcaltman

OMG!!! Cook I am so sorry. Where are you in MA? I lived in Sherborn for 9 years. Speck I don't think I want 90 either. Not at winter time a least I am a season's girl. Best of luck ladies

I'm south of Boston in Braintree. Expecting it to be fixed today.

[cookwithme65]

Originally Posted by Speck333

My kids keep asking me if it's still winter and if we can go to the pool.

Cook - how are things looking today?

It is suppose to be fixed today. My entire house is a disaster area. Mud tracked in everywhere. No hot water to even begin to wash the floors etc... Been using paper plates so the sink is not to full of dirty dished with exception ogf coffe mugs. I did go out and but some gallon jugs of water so I could feed my pates, fill the coffee maker, wash our face and hands after heating some up in my electric tea kettle. If I had ramen noodles in my house the past few days I could have eaten a whole case and thrown my diet out the window. I haven't taken out the chicken from my freezer for dinner yet because the kitchen is a mess. Tools, empty coke and chip backs (not mine) etc.... We may end up going out for dinner. That will be a true test for me.

My boyfriend just came in to see if I wanted a sub from a local spot. I said no but then said yes. I told him to get me a steak bomb with the roll on the side. I;m thinking that is still on plan. Shaved steak, onion, pepper, mushrooms and cheese. I will wrap up the sub roll to stay fresh and make him a coldcut sandwich with it tomorrow. I can eat mine out of a bowl plain or maybe atot a bed of lettuce or in a low carb pita.

What do you think?

[Speck333]

I would totally go with the low carb pita.

[cookwithme65]

I ate 1/4 of the steak bomb sub filling and put the rest aside for two reasons. i was full and might need it for my dinner with a small salad. If I do that I'll have my pita and maybe an extra slice of melted cheese.

[CincyDeb]

Hi. I have a question about the spinach artichoke chicken - but when I click on the recipe it goes to an artichoke chicken bake (which looks delicious) but there is no spinach in it. Do you just add sauteed spinach to the recipe? Thanks ....

[kare30bear]

Cook- What a nightmare you are experiencing...I would have lost my dang mind already. I, too, am having a bad start to the new year...minor things just building...I started to sulk and then realized that wasn't doing me any good. So I am choosing to be positive and do what I can at the moment. I hope things turn around for you and Bf soon...and good job sticking to plan while the craziness surrounds you, that is SO hard to do.

Bad news is that I had made a 2 week menu and then realized I had to redo it bc of financial issues this week and not being able to go grocery shopping like I planned. Good news is now I have my menu planned for an entire month so I can relax in that department. Whoever said money doesn't make you happy is an idiot or has TOO much money...I'm surely a lot more happier when I am able to buy the groceries I want and pay my bills on time.

I'm currently signed up for this Frugal Sustainability Challenge...it's really cool and has opened my eyes to looking at my spending in a new way. I have thus decided on no longer buying sodas to cut costs and sticking to my water and crystal light that I currently have in my house, but once the crystal light is gone...adios for the rest of the year bc I am not buying anymore of that either. I need to take a look at the things that I NEED & the ones that I WANT and do without the extra costs. I'm tired of doing the paycheck to paycheck crap and feeling limited, then wondering why I really felt like I should have made the purchase.

Speck- My kids are the same way. They think bc the sun is out they can go without a sweater and it drives me nuts and my 4 year old keeps asking me about going swimming....nutheads! It has been pretty warm in CA during the day, but never enough to make me think about swimming. Just tell them to go swim in the bathtub.

[Speck333]

Originally Posted by CincyDeb

Hi. I have a question about the spinach artichoke chicken - but when I click on the recipe it goes to an artichoke chicken bake (which looks delicious) but there is no spinach in it. Do you just add sauteed spinach to the recipe? Thanks ....

Hi CincyDeb!
Yes, this is my fault, I posted the link to that recipe for the first time a while back and added spinach to it. I think I used 3/4 bag of chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed of excess water.

[Speck333]

Karen, I totally relate to the money thing. My husband pisses away so much money here and there it's ridiculous.

[CincyDeb]

Thanks!

[Speck333]

Cook, congratulations on the new job and the 7.8 lbs! Working, dieting and running a home requires planning, planning, planning! No doubt about it. I was reading in the PG forum, someone was talking about what her home ec. teacher told her "back in the day", about how running a home was like running a business. That really struck a chord with me. It's so true, isn't it? And yet, it's a message we really don't hear (anymore?) as women, or men, or as a society. It all goes back to how important the menu planning is to the successful functioning of my household. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, if I don't have it planned out, the whole house is in chaos all week. For some reason, everything revolves around it in some weird way.

[Speck333]

Kristan, is everything back to normal in your garage and all that?

About the recipe, they do that with some of their recipes. Here it is

Pan-Fried Chicken Athena

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 ounces each)
2 tablespoons butter
4-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
4-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
Lemon wedges

Directions

Flatten chicken breasts to 1/2-in. thickness. In a large skillet, cook chicken in butter over medium heat for 5-6 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170°; remove and keep warm.
In the same skillet, add the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and salt. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir in chives and parsley. Spoon over chicken and serve with lemon wedges. Yield: 4 servings.


Nutrition Facts: 1 chicken breast with 1 tablespoon sauce equals 240 calories, 10 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 109 mg cholesterol, 348 mg sodium, 2 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 34 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 5 lean meat, 1 fat.

[pcaltman]

Good Morning

Week of January 9-January 15

Mon = Bacon & cheese quiche, side salad
Tues = Zesty chicken, broccoli, rice, muffins
Wed = Creamy taco soup, homemade dinner rolls
Thur = Turkey, rice, gravy, homemade dinner rolls, broccoli
Frid = Pizza & deep dish pizza
Sat = Turkey pot pie, caeser salad
Sun = buffalo wings, celery, homemade blue cheese

[Portia]

Just popping in - I've never seen this thread! I tend to plan at least 2-3 meals in advance and I like the idea of a weekly dinner menu. Very efficient! I am going shopping today, so here is the plan:

M: Beef tacos (mine will be over salad); pico de gallo; sour cream
T: chicken thighs sofrito (marinated in Goya sofrito sauce); roasted cauliflower (will steam if short on time)
W: Pork Loin baked with mustard sauce; sauteed cabbage
TH: Broiled steak with peppers/mushrooms
F: Fish and asparagus,
S/S: planning to make some kind of soup. Suggestions?? Or something for the crock pot?

[Speck333]

Portia, welcome to the thread! How about low carb chili in the crock pot? That's what I had last night

Bonnie, welcome back! I also indulged in a few too many holiday treats. It's ok, we'll make up for it in no time!

[kare30bear]

Has anyone ever tried adding black soybeans to their chili? They have a low carb rating and im curious to try thrm to get that bean in there...

[Speck333]

Originally Posted by kare30bear

Has anyone ever tried adding black soybeans to their chili? They have a low carb rating and im curious to try thrm to get that bean in there...

Yes, many times! Some people complain that they are harder than regular beans and don't care for the texture. The key is to let them stew a long time in whatever you are using them in. I make my chili in the crock pot and let it simmer all day, so they were fine for me. I don't use them anymore for three reasons: 1) I can't get them at the regular grocery store, and have to drive all the way to the others side of town to a store that has them, 2) there has been some discussion that the net carb count on them is incorrect and they are not really that low and 3) I'm generally avoiding soy products, as I now believe that unfermented soy is unhealthy.
In general, I make my chili without beans now, but once in a while will just add a can of regular black beans or white kidney beans, rinsed. These two types appear to be a little lower than other kinds of beans.