Menu Planning

I hate planning out what we're going to eat. Almost as much as I hate grocery shopping with a toddler. But since we have to eat, I plan out our dinners for the week. It has more to do with my belief that I might actually cry if I have to grocery shop more than once or twice a week than an attempt to be organized. But it doesn't hurt. And since I'm trying to stick to this whole healthy eating thing, planning in advance is a must.

So, my plan for our dinners this week...
Monday: spaghetti with meat sauce (Want my secret recipe? Pay attention...brown about 1/3 a pound of lean ground beef...add a jar of sauce...simmer until kiddos are ready to eat), salad, rolls (I like to buy the Alexia frozen ciabatta rolls so we can have hot rolls and only make a couple at a time).
Tuesday: beef roulade, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli. The beef roulade is from Let's Dish, a meal prep place near my house. I adore Let's Dish. You go, they have everything chopped and portioned for you, you make your dinners, and in 2 hours you a have a freezer full of healthy meals. There are lots of places like this around us - we love Let's Dish for many reasons - most importantly the meals are yummy. They also give you all the nutritional info AND Weight Watchers points. Fantastic. (and a little plug that I am in no way being compensated for - if you live in an area with a Let's Dish and want to try it, drop me a note and I will send you referral email with a coupon code!)
Wednesday: Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli soup. This is the best knock-off recipe I have ever tried. It tastes just like the stuff at the restaurant, yet I can eat it in my pajamas.
Thursday: country style chicken with herb dumplings (Let's Dish meal), salad
Friday: chicken and wild rice casserole, salad. This is a super easy meal to make - I usually make it with a package of Perdue shortcuts (sometimes I use turkey, sometimes chicken) and I use the Campbell's Healthy Request cream of mushroom soup to make it even healthier.
Saturday: a new recipe for us - spinach, artichoke, and chicken penne. It's not the healthiest ever. But it's Saturday. And that's ok.
Sunday: Rachael Ray's turkey noodle casserole. We love this version - even my 18 month old loves this. Again, not the healthiest ever. But a lot of the calories come from the cheese on the top which you can use half of and not ever miss. I also use half and half instead of heavy cream and you can't tell the difference (FYI - once I made it with fat free half and half and there was a definite difference. Don't try it. Trust me.)

Not a bad week of meals, especially for such a cold week ahead.

For more menu planning ideas, check out Menu Plan Mondays at orgjunkie.com