Menu Plan Monday

Ok, I'm on a roll...for the second week in a row I'm posting a menu plan.

Here it goes...

BBQ Chicken Pizza/Green Salad
Nachos
Beef Fillet / Salad / Steakhouse potatoes

(Only cooking about three times this week since we'll be out of town for a couple of days.)

Check back in the week for recipes!!!!
(Also check out more menu plans at orgjunkie.com)

Italian Smothered Steak

This dinner is a slow cooker favorite around here. It's our Italian Smothered Steak. I grew up on the traditional Swiss steak with Tomato Sauce, Onion, and green pepper over rice so when I saw this recipe I knew I would like it. All the boys devour it. It's really inexpensive to make and of course under 500 cal a serving, so it's healthful. It's sooooo yummy. I love coming home from work knowing this has been in the slow cooker all day :o)


Whatcha Need...
2 pounds round steak (I use London Broil and stock up/freeze when on sale)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 jar (26 ounces) tomato pasta sauce, my favorite sauce in the whole world is the Newman's Own Sockarooni.

1 package (9 ounces) tortellini (I've made this with cheese tortellini and sausage filled tortellini...the sausage wins hands down for our family.)
2 small zucchini, chopped.
Salt, Pepper, and McCormick Steak Seasoning. (Not Pictured)



Whatcha Do with it...

Season London Broil with salt, pepper, and McCormick Seasoning and place in a slow cooker.
Pour jar of pasta sauce over meat and top with sliced onion.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.


20 minutes before you want to eat throw tortellini and zucchini in slow cooker and crank it to high for 20 minutes...
Viola...ya got dinner.

(We rounded out this meal with a salad.)

**You may notice in the picture that the zucchini is missing. This is because right when I went to cut up the zucchini I noticed it had gone south. It was still really good without it and nice to know that this is easily a "pantry/freezer" meal if I don't want to use Zucchini. I can have all the ingredients in the pantry and freezer for those days when we need something easy and quick to make, NICE!!! ;o)

Red Potato Caper Salad

I wasn't sure about Capers the first time I tried them, but they have since grown on me. This is a super easy and healthy Red Potato Hot salad to make.

Whatcha Need...
1 lb of red potatoes halved or quartered depending on size
1/4 tsp of oregano (I just used Italian seasoning I had on hand.)
1/4 tsp of thyme
3-4 Tbsp of Vinaigrette. I always just use whatever I have in the fridge. On this night I had Sun dried tomato and it was really good with it.
2 Tbsp drained Capers (can easily be omitted if you don't like them.)



Whatcha do with it...
Boil Potatoes in big pot of water for about 15-20 minutes...until fork tender, drain potatoes.

In a bottom of a bowl mix the Vinaigrette, Caper, and seasonings.


Toss the hot potatoes with the Vinaigrette and Viola, ya have a yummy, tangy and healthy potato dish.
(Not the best picture of the potatoes, but ya get the idea!)

Meatloaf Muffins

I sure do like Meatloaf, but never felt like I had the time to make it on week nights because it takes an hour to cook in a loaf pan. I saw Rachael Ray do Meatloaf in muffin tins to speed up the process one time and quickly jumped on that bandwagon. I am so happy that I now have the time to make meatloaf on week nights. I have to admit that Justin isn't a huge fan of meatloaf, but he will at least eat a couple of pieces. This is a super easy way to make meatloaf and it'll be crunchy on the outside and moist in the middle.

Whatcha Need...
1 lb of ground beef (I only buy the 93% or 98% lean ground beef so it's not too bad for you.)
1 egg
1/2 small onion, diced really small or grated.
1/2 cup of Break Crumbs or 1/2 cup of crushed crackers
About 2 to 3 Tablespoons Ketchup
couple dashes of Garlic Powder
2 to 3 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce


Whatcha do with it...
Pre-Heat Oven to 350
It was so easy I didn't take any pictures...mix the above ingredients into a big bowl and then fill 6 to 8 muffin tins with mixture...throw into the oven and cook Meatloaf muffins for 30-35 minutes...and Viola...ya got dinner! (I top with a dollop of BBQ sauce or Ketchup)

(We served with Red potato Caper salad and corn.)

Buffalo Chicken Wrap

This is a version of the Caesar Chicken Wrap that we do, but this one is a Buffalo Chicken version. It's pretty spicy, but oh so good. It's healthful because you are just cooking chicken breast, no breading like a lot of Buffalo chicken wrap recipes call for.


Whatcha Need...
1 lb of Chicken cut into bite size pieces
3 tablespoons hot sauce, I used Texas Pete's
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon of celery seed
Blue Cheese Dressing
4 8-inch tortillas
1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
1 large tomato, chopped
Seasoning...Salt, Pepper, McCormick Steak Seasoning.


Whatcha do with it...

Cook chicken about 10 minutes, seasoned with salt, pepper and McCormick Steak seasoning.


Stir hot pepper sauce, vinegar, cayenne pepper, and celery seed in a medium size bowl. (This is a good time to warm up Tortilla's)


Toss chicken into hot sauce mixture


Now all you do is assemble the wrap...
Spread Tortilla with about one Tablespoon Blue Cheese Dressing
Top with Chicken, Lettuce, and Tomato.
Drizzle some more hot sauce on top and...
Viola...ya got dinner!

(We served with Coleslaw)

PS....For the boys I set some chicken aside before tossing it into the hot sauce mixture and used ranch dressing instead of blue cheese