I am working on my week`s menu again, and I was hoping for some new ideas. Do you all make a menu? I think it really helps me. I work full time, so I get home at night hungry and I am overwhelmed if I don`t know what to make. Then we end up going out more than we should.
Anyway- I`ll post what I have when i get it done. Anyone else have their`s to share? Any different recipes you`d recommend??
Terry

Saturday-
Breakfast-
1 organic waffle with mixed berries
2 slices turkey bacon
Lunch-
1/2 c mac n cheese (boxed stuff- what can I say- the kids were eating it)
Snack-
1 apple with 2 T Chocolate PB2 (That stuff is so good!!)
Dinner-
Hickory Molassis Pork Loin (It`s a rub I ordered)
Mushroom Black Rice (mixed black rice with mushrooms, onions, pecans, chicken broth)
Spinach
Fruit salad (frozen from Sams club)
And snack later- low fat ice cream with mixed berries.

Nutrition- (I track my food on Sparkpeople)
CALORIES 1,276, CARBS 166, FAT 35g, PROTEIN 64g Sodium 1522


I`m on a fruit kick- can you tell? Just tastes really good lately.

Ok- This one is on the menu for soon!
Seafood Lasagna.
Yield 8 servings

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
5 cups finely chopped mushrooms (about 1 pound)
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 (6.5-ounce) cans lump crabmeat
1 pound uncooked large shrimp
2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons celery salt
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) crumbled goat or feta cheese
1 cup 2% reduced-fat cottage cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Cooking spray
1 (8-ounce) package precooked lasagna noodles
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, onion, thyme, and 2 garlic cloves; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add wine. Bring to a boil; cook 1 1/2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in crabmeat. Set aside.

Peel and devein shrimp, reserving shells. Cut each shrimp in half lengthwise; cover and refrigerate. Combine reserved shrimp shells, 2 cups water, celery salt, and fennel seeds in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1 1/2 cups shrimp stock (about 15 minutes). Strain stock through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Set stock aside.

Combine goat cheese, cottage cheese, basil, juice, and 1 garlic clove; set aside.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Place flour in a small saucepan; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Stir in shrimp stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat; stir in Parmesan cheese.

Spread 1/2 cup sauce in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodles, slightly overlapping, over sauce; top with one-third goat cheese mixture, one-third crab mixture, one-third shrimp, 2/3 cup sauce, and 2/3 cup mozzarella. Repeat layers twice, ending with mozzarella. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until golden. Let stand 15 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.


Nutritional Information
Calories:428 (29% from fat)
Fat:13.9g (sat 7.7g,mono 2.5g,poly 1.1g)
Protein:40.1g
Carbohydrate:33.6g
Fiber:3.6g
Cholesterol:143mg
Iron:4.1mg
Sodium:934mg
Calcium:414mg
Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2003

some quick meals I sometimes make.

guacamole..home made..with baked tortilla chips

taco salad made with ground chicken....baked tortilla chips..fat free sour cream...lettuce, onion, tomato, guacamole and taco sauce...some times if im living dangerously..I add a lil fat free or low fat cheese

you can pre roast some veggies .then keep in the fridge..for later..then slap them on a low carb tortilla shell with pizza sauce and low fat cheese.....oh yumm ....

I keep low sugar maple oatmeal packs around

on spaghetti night I skip the noodles and steam onion, zucchini, peppers and mushrooms, and broccoli and have that with spaghetti sauce and usually some lean meat....turkey sausage, lean meat balls...

I have an electric steamer ...love it...

you can cook a chicken breast up pretty fast in some olive oil with either some salsa or lemon pepper...buy pre cooked brown rice and bag of micro wave steamed veggies...walla dinner.

That Seafood Lasanga sounds awesome! I am a huge sucker for seafood anyway. My favorite seafood has to be Scallops. I used to only be able to eat them deep fried but now love them in my wok with a little olive oil and some veggies. I like them with mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower and I also like to toss in a few cashews. I eat it with brown rice or couscous. Then I usually have a fruit too. I eat cereal for breakfast but for lunch and dinner I always try to have a protein, veggie, fruit and some type of starch. Since you are on a fruit kick lately I have to say I am finding tons of fruit lately that I love and have never tried. My favorites have been fresh mango, pomengranate, clementines, and minneolas. I am finding lots of food since I started trying to eat more healthy that I never thought I would have liked or even heard of. Here is a recipe I made this week and we loved it:

Scallops Pasta Dish
1 (8 ounce) package medium seashell pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package sliced fresh button mushrooms
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 pound scallops, rinsed and patted dry
1/4 cup milk
4 oz. RF cream cheese

DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook for 7 to 9 minutes, until al dente.
Put garlic and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and asparagus and onion powder; cook, stirring occasionally until asparagus is tender, about 5 minutes depending on the thickness. Place the scallops in the pan, and cook briefly on each side until lightly browned and the center is cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from the heat when scallops are just finished.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the milk and cream cheese. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sauce is warm and is completely melted and blended. Stir this sauce into the scallops and vegetables along with the pasta and serve immediately.

Saturday breakfast:
egg white, peppers, onions, chopped tomatoes, Franks Hot Sauce, and whole wheat toast, orange

Saturday lunch:
roasted red pepper tomatoe soup (recipe on 3FC thread), hummus, carrots

Snack:
string cheese and green apple

Supper:
baked pork loin, dark rice, broccoli, small taste red wine

Sunday-
Breakfast- 2 small organic pancakes
Light Syrup
2 slices turkey bacon

snack- banana shake- a banana, skim milk, ice cubes, PB2, and flax seed.

Chicken panini- precooked italian chicken, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and low fat mozzeralla on sourdough- cooked on the panini press.

Snack- fruit pizza (scouts made it)

Dinner- pasta with ground sirloin, cheese sauce, peas

Elf, The chicken panini sounds great and fast. I am not sure what a panini grill is...do you think a George Foreman grill would do the same thing? Can you spray the grill with olive oil to get that toasted flavor instead of butter? Thanks for this idea.

Pony- Yep- my grill is alot like the forman one. They just call it a panini grill- lol. I used pam, but any spray works. It was good and different.
Now I want to try a lean roast beef and low fat chedder one- with onions.
Has anyone tried the new low fat cracker barrel cheese? It`s GOOD. Like doesn`t even taste light good.

Today I had my slim fast shake for breakfast, a couple breadsticks for snack, a lean pocket and 1/2 can of light soup, banana for snack, and a taco salad and some chili for dinner. Unimaginative.
Terry

beemer- I LOVE scallops! I`ll be trying your recipe- thank you.

Breakfast
Egg whites with salsa, under 50 calories
Toast, 45 calorie each
Spray butter 10

Oatmeal or Instant Cream of Wheat 130 calories
Banana 110

Muffin 150
Coffee 0

Lunch
Usually leftovers and I try to go for mostly veggies
Salads
Or
Soups Progesso kind

Dinner
Meat (chicken breast usually, or salmon)
Veggie
Rice or cous cous 150 calories, or cup pasta

Snack

Popcorn the whole damn bag... 300 calories

You guys are so good! I wish I could do better. Just typing that popcorn makes me want to go heat some up and gobble it up!

WWWAAAAAAAAAA

Hi, I was just posting on this site and saw this question.. click on my link at the bottom for great recipes to make. I hope it is ok to put this on my signature page. If I have it here, I will always be able to reference it at the tip of my fingers.

mmmmmmm popcorn-lol.
Today I was home all day.
Made oatmeal with apples and walnuts for breakfast.
Snack was a slice of homemade bread. (7 grain- still hot)
Lunch- peanut butter sandwich. (Again the homemade bread-lol)
Snack- slimfast bar
Dinner- roast beef, a potato, broccoli/carrots/cailflower
Dessert- fruit salad.
Ok- too many starches today. It`s snowing like crazy, its cold, and I`ve been dying to bake bread. At least it was a healthy one.

Exercise- I shoveled snow. That`s it.
Terry

For over 10 years I've been living by a meal plan and can't live without it! The trick for me is not to assign a particular meal for a particular day. What I find most helpful is that actually looking at the menu list will alert me to health and budget issues because I can see the 'whole picture' before I shop.

I also keep a list of our favorite meals so that I have something to go to when I'm mentally 'dry'. I also consult online restaraunt menus for ideas and then change them to reflect a heathier dining experience. I'm not following a specific meal plan. I reduce the calories/fat/carbs in standard meals.

This week:

• Tilapia soft tacos with papaya/avacado/spinach salsa
• Zucchini 'pasta' with low-fat alfredo & chicken saltimbocca
• Tomato-basil soup w/fresh mozzerella/basil/spinach/turkey bacon on foccacia (most of the bread middle taken out)
• Steak & spinach salad with home-made croutons
• Pork Paillard with (reduced-fat/calorie) caper sauce & roasted asperagus
• Cherry chicken patty on foccaccia with spinach salad (we love baby spinach! lol)

Yesterday-
7 am- Slimfast shake
10 am- slimfast bar
noon-apple chicken cranberry salad with baby greens
an herbed scone
3 pm-an orange
7 pm- ground sirloin blue cheese burger- no bread or toppings
potato pancake
corn
9:30 pm- a banana