{Meal Plan and New Recipes}

I'm a little late this week, but here's the plan for this weeks meals.
We are waiting for the superbowl to start and I'm ready to start eating!

{Chicken marsala with mashed red potatoes and green beans.  }
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/chicken-recipe

{Superbowl food-  Buffalo chicken dip , guacamole and soft pretzels.  }
      Buffalo chicken dip:  1c Franks buffalo sauce, 8oz soft cream cheese, 1c cheddar cheese, chopped cooked chicken, 1/4c bleu cheese (optional).  Mix all and bake at 350 till bubbly. 
      Pretzels:  This recipe, but bring water and soda to a boil and drop the dough in for 30secs to 1min, then remove. 
http://www.food.com/recipe/auntie-annes-pretzels-copycat-59462

{Chicken baked with peaches, brown rice, corn.  }

{Quinoa mixed with organic sauteed black beans, corn, onion.  Topped with avocado, cilantro and salsa. }

{Trader Joe's Mandarin orange frozen chicken mixed with broccoli and rice.  }

{Chicken, pepper, onion, pineapple kabobs with a Chickpea, spinach, tomato side and French bread }
http://mrsbrechtl.blogspot.com/2012/03/chickpeas-or-garbanzo-beans.html

{Chicken artichoke pasta with French bread }
This recipe with organic whole wheat pasta:  http://www.yumsugar.com/Recipe-Chicken-Artichokes-Angel-Hair-10967770
This French bread recipe: http://www.dealstomeals.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-post_09.html

Breakfast:
Organic cereal, oatmeal, Greek yogurt pancakes, eggs and homemade 'mcmuffins'.

Lunches and snacks:  PBJ's, ham sandwiches, crackers, mangos, bananas, apples, cookies, yogurt. 

*Weekly Meal Planning*

I'm getting back on track this week, we really did eat last week, but we had snow days so our meal plan was all over the place! 

This week I'm going with an easier menu, I'm getting a little burnt out with cooking for what feels like hours every afternoon. I think a week or two of easier but healthy meals will take a load off of me, and we can all use that sometimes, right?

{ Roasted chicken with herbed quinoa and green beans. }

{ Spelt pasta with garlic marinara and chicken meatballs, with a salad. }

{ Quinoa with black beans, corn , onion, avocado and salsa.  }

{ Black bean and sweet potato chili over quinoa. (We will probably have leftovers on a night that is rushed.) }

{ Salad with grilled chicken, avocado, cucumber, tossed with some of the black bean and corn quinoa. }

{ Vegetarian hot dogs with broccoli. }

{ Ground chicken burgers on homemade buns with baked sweet potato fries. }

    For breakfasts we will be having oatmeal, cereal, and Greek yogurt pancakes.  Check out this recipe for the pancakes, they are GREAT!  ( Thin the batter out a little with some almond milk, milk, water, what have you...) 
http://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2013/01/greek-yogurt-pancakes.html

For lunches, the kids will eat PB sandwiches of various sorts (jelly, banana, honey..) Mac and cheese, fruit, crackers, etc.   We aren't very creative for lunch.

I will have curry chicken salad on flax crackers or a protein shake.   Check out the curry chicken salad recipe here : 
http://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2013/01/curried-chicken-salad-for-lunch.html#more-2289

And that is that! 

On a separate note ,  my almost 4 year old has been enrolled for pre K this fall!  How time flies!  When he was born it seemed like an eternity before we would be thinking about school, and now it's right around the corner.   Thankfully, of my two boys, he will be the easiest when it comes to starting school.  He begs to go all the time!   And I'm getting excited, looking at little backpacks, lunch boxes, snack bags, lunch ideas..
It's going to be a whole new world for both of us!
Look at that cute face... 

{ Weekly Meal Plan }

* Grilled chicken bleu cheese avocado salads with sweet potato fries. *
Fry recipe here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perfect-Oven-Sweet-Potato-Fries/

* Tofu fajitas with black beans and corn. *
Tofu fajita recipe here:
http://mexican.food.com/recipe/tofu-fajitas-61406
And how to cook your tofu first:  cut it into half inch by 2 inch strips, lay all pieces side by side on your cutting board.  Place in the freezer for about 20 min.  Remove and toss in enchilada sauce.  Let sit 5 min.  Move to baking sheet, bake at 375F for 15 mins, turn, and bake another 15 min.

* Grilled tilapia with chimol , herbed quinoa and steamed spinach. *
Chimol recipe here:
http://diaryofaglammommy.blogspot.com/2011/05/its-not-pico-de-galo-its-chimol.html

* Sun dried tomato chicken sausages (Trader Joe's) with herbed quinoa and brussel sprouts. *

*Breaded, baked Tilapia nuggets with mashed cauliflower and steamed veggies. *
Mashed cauliflower recipe , here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/george-stella/mock-garlic-mashed-potatoes-recipe/index.html

*Quinoa and kale patties with leftover steamed veggies and sliced farmers cheese from the coop. *
Quinoa and kale Patties recipe here: 
http://yummysupper.blogspot.com/2012/09/quinoa-kale-patties.html

And some pictures from last week...