Menu Plan Monday 2012 ~ Week of June 18th

Today not only marks the start of the third week following our June Menu Plan but also the third week of my diet.

In the past while dieting, I always bought into the idea of needing to purchase "diet foods".  Items like spray butter substitute, low-fat mayo, etc.  With money and refrigerator space being tight, I don't want to have to buy extra "food" to accommodate my diet.  Instead, I've been avoiding seconds and really watching my portions.

I've seen a difference not only in how I feel, but also in the amount of food leftover after dinner.  Lowering my calories and paying attention to portion sizes has helped stretch those leftovers a bit further.

Here's a recap of last week:

• Balsamic Chicken over pasta:  We made this last Sunday and enjoyed the leftovers on Monday.  Joe had some of this later in the week as well, and I froze what was left after that.  I wish I snapped a picture to share with you, I guess I'll have to make it again so I can take a pic!

• Corn Chowder with Roasted Poblano Peppers with BLT sandwiches:  I made sandwiches with this soup since I pureed the soup a little more than I intended to.  After Joe worked long hours on Tuesday, I figured he would want something a little heartier.  I liked the soup both with and without the sandwich and enjoyed it again for lunch and dinner later in the week.  I even had enough to pop two servings into the freezer for a quick lunch or dinner.

• Salad topped with hard boiled egg:  One night last week, I wasn't very hungry and was just in the mood for a salad.  I reheated something more substantial for Joe and just ate a big bowl of leafy greens and carrots topped with hard boiled egg and Thousand Island Dressing.

• Fajitas and Spanish Rice:  I threw some boneless, skinless chicken breast into the crock pot with some peppers, onions and a little salsa.  After cooking for several hours, I had wonderfully tender chicken full of flavor!  I shredded the chicken and served as fajitas with some boxed Spanish Rice.  I would have made the rice dish from scratch but I wanted to use up the boxed stuff from the pantry.  Leftovers were enjoyed for lunches over the weekend.

• Vegetable Stir Fry:  This was lunch for a couple days last week.  Low-calorie and full of flavor.  While this would be delicious served over rice, I opted to keep the calories low by skipping the rice.  

• Spicy Shredded Beef and Oven-Roasted Vegetables:  Grace's Aunt Barb had surgery last week.  I knew I wanted to help out by taking dinner over one night.  I made shredded beef following a recipe I found over at The Cutting Back Kitchen.  Although, for some reason my roast didn't shred.  I sliced it thin for roast beef sandwiches instead!  Worked perfectly!  I also roasted some veggies in the oven as a side dish to the sandwiches.  I'll be sharing that recipe next week.  

For this week's menu, I will be working from the same monthly plan as I attempted to follow the last two weeks.  We've used up all of the chicken from the freezer, so we'll probably be eating a lot of beef this week.  We'll be utilizing leftovers as much as possible, too.



So, that's a recap of last week!  Check out my June Menu Plan, to see what else I'll be cooking up this month.  Also, please share your menu ideas in the comment section of this post!

Need more menu planning inspiration? Follow me over to Menu Plan Monday hosted by I'm an Organizing Junkie! Or, if you like what you see here, you can check out my past menu plans.

You can also find this week's menu plan linked to On the Menu Monday hosted by Yvonne at Stone Gable.