Menu Plan Monday + Recipe

So our menu for the week is looking pretty good...(I could be a little hungry!)

Monday - BBQ ribs..grilled porksteaks, salad, baked potatoe, mac & cheese

Tuesday - Chicken Alfredo, salad

Wednesday - Leftovers from previous two nights

Thursday - Tacos

Friday - Homemade pizza & salad (I fix lots of salads, mostly for me since I am dieting.

Saturday - Probably dinner out at Dennys (kids eat free + coupon = cheap eating)

Sunday - dinner at church - Not sure what I will be taking yet...hmmm


My recipe review is a dessert this time.

I know it simply as the Weight Watchers Cake

1 box of cake mix
1 can of diet soda

Easiest instructions ever..

Mix the cake mix & the soda together (nothing else at all). Bake as directed on the back of the cake mix box. I used diet orange soda

Once cooled top with low fat or sugar free Cool Whip.

All I can say is YUMMY!!

You so have to try it!!

Linking up to I an an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Longhorn Steakhouse, Oscar Meyer, Menu Plan Monday(A Day Late) 01/25/11

I am a day late on getting my menu plan out there...
After seeing the Longhorn Restaurant commercials I had to have steak last night, I really wanted to have it how the commercial shows they do theirs...

Loaded with cheese and bacon!

YUMMY!

I was good though and did not go that route and my husband was kind enough to grill outside among the melting snow.

The rest of the week is looking like this..

Tuesday: Baked chicken

Wednesday: Breakfast food

Thursday: Tacos

Friday: Chili...I made a pot of chili to take to my mom's on Sunday. I totally heart chili dogs, so I bought some Oscar Meyer turkey dogs..only 50 calories each, they were so good. They get a huge thumbs up!

Saturday: undecided (hoping for a date night with hubby)

Sunday:Dinner at church!

I am trying to use what I have in the freezer, so I am probably skipping a new recipe this week.

My review though for the Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies are a

thumbs down

Ugh..I feel so negative!

As much as I hate to admit it could have been because I was feeling really domesticated (or too lazy to go back to the store) and tried to make my own almond flour.

Or it could be because I am too cheap and thought why buy nectar when I have honey in my pantry.

Or because I decided to cut the recipe in half.

Or because I overcooked them.

Or maybe it just wasn't a good recipe. I'm just sayin'....

Have a great week!

Linking up to I Am An Organizing Junkie!

New Recipe Update & Menu Plan Monday 01/17/2011

The new recipe review will be easy this week..

We didn't get to try a new recipe.

Last week the stomach flu swept through our house half our house.

I, the cook, was a victim.

So there was a whole lot of non cooking going on, with the exception of the turkey. It had to be cooked since it was thawed. Fortunately, I was able to enjoy a little of it by the end of the week.

The line up this week is

Monday: Left over chicken. my mom gave me a whole roasted chicken yesterday, it was really good!

Tuesday: Roast beef w/ potatoes & carrots. Hoping to use leftovers to make some vegetable beef soap for lunch the next day!!!

Wednesday - Grilled pork steaks

Thursday - Turkey burgers

Friday - Spaghetti made with whole wheat pasta

Saturday - Leftovers

Sunday - Dinner at Mom's!

The new recipe this week is a dessert that I found in my Weight Watchers magazine. They are low calorie and gluten free.

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies
Preheat oven to 350
Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper

1 c. almond flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp amber agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 c sliced almonds

Mix almond flour, baking soda & salt in medium bowl.
Whisk canola oil, amber agave nectar & vanilla in small bowl
Stir agave mixture into almond flour mixture until well blended.
Stir in chocolate chips & almonds.
Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto each baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
Bake 1 sheet of cookies until golden, 7-8 minutes.
Let cool on sheet rak 5 minutes.
Transfer cookies to rack & let cool completely.

1 cookie has 41 calories or for those doing Weight Watchers they are 1 point.

Linking to

Menu Planning

Before we decided that I would be leaving my current position, we really had to take a look at our budget (if that is what you want to call what we had going) and see exactly where the money that I was bringing home was going. Much to our dismay, one thing that we saw was the amount of eating out we did, whether it be Brian and I grabbing a bite to eat on our lunch breaks or me just running through the drive through on the nights that Brian is at work. Feeding our size family at even the cheapest of fast food places is not so cheap!
Realizing that eating out will have to be a thing of the past, I am thinking now is the time to start practicing living with a menu plan. This not only will do wonders for our budget, but eating out is just plain unhealthy!
I am also hoping to incorporate new recipes into my meal plans that my family will like.
My goal is to have our menus for the week planned out and posted by Monday... I have found another blogger who does Meal Planning Mondays - check her out right here. She along with other bloggers will share there menus for the week with recipes, so I am sure I won't have any problems coming up with new things!