Menu Plan Monday ~ Monday, February 21st

Good Morning, Friends! 

I'm back with a new menu plan, after taking last week off from both menu planning and blogging.  Last week was a really long and stressful week.  Menu Planning would have made things slightly easier, but since the stressful factors began over the weekend, I just didn't have it in me to even think about meals for the week.  Luckily, there were enough leftovers from the week before, plus some frozen chicken fingers that Joe picked up on a whim when he saw they were on sale. 

Not only am I back to menu planning, I'm also back to trying to eat healthier and control my portions in order to lose some weight.  If you notice my Weightloss tab above, I didn't get very far the last time I started to diet.  Sigh.  I'm even back to my starting weight.  I really want to change my eating habits but lack the will-power to avoid temptation.  Part of last week's stress was health related.  Joe's health.  After a trip to the ER and several tests, we found out he was fine, but it was still scary.  Considering he is healthier than I am, I decided I needed to do something.  I don't want to end up in the ER.  In my prayers last night, I asked God to give the strength needed to get healthy so I can live to see my daughter grow up. 

So, I'll be checking out some blogs for healthy recipes for meals and SNACKS (since I tend to snack a lot) and weightloss tips.  If you want to share your tips or recipes, share them in the comments!  I'll check them out! 

Here's my menu for this week: 

• Monday:  Navy Bean & Ham Soup.   I made this soup over the holidays using the ham bone leftover from Christmas.  We still had so much food in the fridge, that the soup went right into the freezer after cooling.  I don't even remember how I made it.  I'm guessing I followed the recipe on the bag of beans and most likely added extra vegetables.  Biscuits and salad will be served on the side. 

• Tuesday:  Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad.  I love salad with chicken added.  I rarely make them though.  Grilling while chasing after Grace is a hassle to me, so I avoid it.  While at Walmart last week, I saw a George Foreman Grill on the clearance rack for $8.  It's just the mini one, but I'm sure it will be perfect for a chicken breast or two.  I'll serve some garlic bread sticks or Texas toast on the side.

• Wednesday:  Ham, Pierogi, asparagus.  We still have a lot of ham in the freezer from Christmas.  I figure with Easter being just around the corner, I'd better use up the Christmas ham before we have to store the leftover Easter ham!  Salad and carrot sticks will be served on the side. 

• Thursday:  Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos, using some leftover Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili from the freezer.  In addition to some toppings for the burritos (sour cream, shredded cheese), I'll serve iceberg lettuce wedges with dressing. 

• Friday:  Breakfast for dinner.  I'm considering making some Baked Omelet Cups like the ones I saw over at Mom Getting Fit!  The individual omelet cups will be perfect for portion control!  I'll be sure to let you know how they turned out!  I'll probably serve some sort of veggie on the side, maybe some steamed broccoli, with a salad. 

• Saturday:  Slow-Cooker Wild Rice Soup.  We love Chicken Rice Soup, so when I saw this recipe over the weekend, I decided to add it to this week's menu plan.  I love wild rice, but we don't eat it regularly.  We tend to stick with white rice.  I figure this is an easy enough recipe to start with to add some new rices to our meal plans.  Bread and salad will also be served along with the soup. 

• Sunday:  Spanish Chicken.  This is an old "recipe" that my Mom made when we were kids.  There's no true recipe for this dish, which is why I haven't shared it with you yet.  Sundays are sometimes pretty busy for us, so I may not actually get to making this, but if I do, I'll be sure to write down the recipe as I make it! 

Click the logo above to visit this week's Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organizing Junkie.