On the Menu

I find it odd that this is our last weekend in September.  We have had record breaking highs in the 90s for a few days now, and before that our highs were in the 80s.  Shouldn’t it be fall/winter and snowing by now!?!  Trust me when I say that I’m not complaining about the heat; however, the mosquito infestation that has come along with it is killing us.  I swear when I run out to grab some produce out of the garden I risk getting West Nile!  Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating on that one, but our poor furbutts get covered in mosquitos each time they go outside.

How is your fall going?  Any heat waves in the other states?

On to this weeks menu.  This week/weekend I’ve picked easy-to-put-together meals that I know my family will love.  I’ve linked each recipe title and picture to the blog/website it came from.  Happy Cooking!!

Saturday: Slow Cooker Chicken Parmigiana Sandwiches

New Pin!! Cat Davis at Food, Family, and Finds is a GENIOUS for coming up with this recipe.  I can’t believe we have never thought to try something like this in our home before.  When I told my husband this our dinner tonight, I swear I saw him start to drool.  I’m thinking about using one of my frozen Parmesan cheese rinds in the crock pot with the chicken to give it an extra boost in flavor and maybe dice up some mini bell peppers too.

**Recipe Changes** I added 6 chicken breasts, 1 Tbs of sugar, 1 tsp of fresh rosemary, and a rind of parmesan.  I’m thinking about adding fresh thyme next time.

Monday:  Grilled Fish on Pineapple Bark

My husband and son have been fishing nonstop, and they have brought home a ton of fish to cook up.  I love the idea of infusing pineapple flavor into the fish.  I’m going to make a glaze using soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha sauce and reduce it on the stove.  Then, you can brush the glaze on the fish once it is finished.  Check out Make the Best of Everything for this recipe and more!

Wednesday:  Rachael Ray’s Super Scampi

This recipe comes out of Rachel Ray’s Look and Cook Book, and I HIGHLY recommend you add this book to your collection.  She has so many wonderful, healthy, and clean recipes for you to choose from.  Plus my son loves the recipes in the book too.  You’ll love this recipe for the fact that it only uses 1 pot to cook everything, and is easy for even the beginner cook to put together, and will feed a good amount of people.  Food Network has kindly posted this recipe on their website too, so click here to check it out.

Friday:  Grilled Thai Spice Chicken Sliders

New Pin!!  I love anything relating to Thai food, and when I found this recipe I started drooling immediately.  I’ve made several recipes from Family Fresh Cooking, so I know I will love these sliders!  I’m making Sweet Potato French Fries with Smoked Gouda and Black Beans as a side.  I’m cheating and using frozen organic sweet potato French fries for this recipe to cut back on meal prep time.

Did Someone Say TABATA?

I love tabatas!  I may be in the minority with this, but I love the way my body feels after a tabata workout.  For those of you who have never done a tabata I’ll break it down for ya.  You do a specific exercise for 20 seconds, and then you take a 10 second break.  Repeat for a total of 8 times, so your whole tabata equals 4 minutes.  It is 4 minutes of sweat and you feel awesome afterwards!

Below is a tabata and strength based workout.  It is a great introduction to tabatas, since each tabata is broken up with weighted moves.  This will bring your heart rate back down, and give those lungs a chance to recover.

I taught this workout a few weeks back, and only a few swear words were thrown my way. 

**Instructor Note**:  If you are going to teach this in one of your fitness classes, make sure you give alternatives to the burpees, mountain climbers, etc.  Also, at the very end I gave the option to just hold a plank in the last tabata.

Spinning Time!

Had to share that little quote with ya.  I’m thinking I need this quote on a workout tank for the gym.  I know it would make everyone laugh.

Thought I would share the outcome of yesterdays ravioli lasagna with ya.  It was delish!  This recipe is a definite in the “make-again” department.  Plus it was fast and easy to put together.  I’m thinking about switching out the chicken sausage next time with garlic roasted chicken breasts that I can shred up.  Definitely make this recipe.  It is perfect for those days when you don’t want to come home and have to spend a ton of time cooking in the kitchen.

 

On the Menu…

Well, it has been ages since I have posted a weekly menu for our family.  Sadly we have just been too busy to have a regular menu.  It seems like we are just going nonstop during the week, and my husband has an insane work schedule, so we haven’t been able to sit down for a family meal more than once a week.

Things have calmed down for this week, so I’m FINALLY getting a chance to put a menu together for the week!  I’m even trying out a few new recipes this week.  Woohoo!!  I feel like I’m being a good mom and wife this week.

I’ve planned our menu around the produce that is still coming out of our garden in abundance, and the food that came with our Bountiful Basket.  Hence, why everything seems to have a ton of veggies in it.  So, if you are looking to get a few servings of veggies in, I highly suggest trying some of these recipes too!

I should also note that there is a 90% chance that a side of roasted or grilled zucchini will be served as a side veggie for most of the meals.  Yet again, my husband insisted on planting 5 zucchini seeds, and he was oddly shocked that all 5 seeds produced 5 huge zucchini plants.  Ugh.

Each day’s recipe title is linked to the website that has the recipe, so click away!

Saturday:  Chicken, Jalapeno, and Cheddar Casserole

We absolutely love this recipe in our house, and it is a great way to use some of our peppers and onions we have a plethora of.  My son even gobbles this down…Well, after he picks out the jalapenos.  The only thing I did different from the recipe was to cover the top with queso cheese at the end when you add the cheese sauce you made.  It is great served over rice.  I highly recommend you check out this recipe at the KaoticKitchen’s blog.

Sunday:  Cheater’s Spinach and Ravioli Lasagna

NEW Recipe!!  I’ve had my mind set on making this recipe for awhile now, and it is in the oven as I type this menu up.  I did make a few changes to this recipe.  Instead of sausage ravioli, I used 4 cheese ravioli, and I replaced the chorizo with sweet Italian chicken sausage.  I also topped the lasagna with fresh mozzarella and covered before putting it in the oven.  My kitchen smells heavenly Italian as I type!  Check out this recipe at Urban Country Style.

Monday:  Slow Cooker Tosca Zuppa Soup

NEW Recipe!!  My wonderful friend Natalie shared this Slow Cooker Tosca Zuppa Soup recipe with me.  She swears it is the bomb, and I totally trust her opinion on anything food related, so I’m making this yummy looking soup for the first time this week.  I plan on adding shredded cooked chicken breasts in place of the bacon, and some gnocchi I found hiding in our freezer.

I’m a little upset that this weekend was the first time that I was on the GetCrocked website.  Jen’s recipes look so yummy and easy to make.  I’ve already Pinned a few more to try out.

Tuesday:  Leftovers…Something tells me we may have a few. 

Wednesday:  Baked Potatoes and Chicken Skillet

NEW Recipe!!  Told ya I was finally getting to a back log of new recipes to try.

This is the day that I get to use up some of our garlic, red potatoes, and onions that have come out of our garden, and I have a ton of potatoes (so thankful they store well in a cool place).  This was our first year planting potatoes, and we had a bumper crop!  Totally planting them again next year.

On to the meal…I found this recipe on Pinterest (of course).  I’m going to finally break out my cast iron skillet that is over a foot in diameter.  Still not sure why I bought it a few years ago, but I’m gonna finally use the bugger.  I’m planning on using chicken breasts and thighs instead of the chicken legs.  We just need more meat in our house, and little chicken legs just aren’t enough sometimes. 

Thursday:  Breakfast for dinner or Leftovers.  I’m leaving it up to my son and husband, since I’ll be teaching yoga during dinner time.

Friday: Seven Vegetable Minestrone Soup

If you have a garden you will totally understand why I’m making this soup.  If you don’t have a garden…Make this soup anyway.  It is super healthy and yummy!  I came across this recipe last winter, and my husband fell in love with it.  I’ve made it several times, and the last time I made it I added cooked shredded chicken breasts for extra protein.  It was yummy!  Check this recipe out on Mama Miss’s blog.