Recipes this Week

Just returned from a week vacation visiting our parents over Easter break, but we are hitting the ground running to make our weekly meal plans, and keep my sanity. Sunday morning after we flew in, hubby and M ran to the store for breakfast supplies (eggs, sausage, fruit, bread and milk). Then later he went back during naptime for the veggies for the sausage and rice! My motivation for cooking most weeknights is to have leftovers - so I have something to pack for M's lunch as well as our own. It helps us all make better food choices when we are crunched for time, and let's us spend our $ on meals out over the weekend when we can really enjoy it.

As usual the lineup includes one meatless dinner and one fish dinner.

Sausage and Rice - Our dinner-in-a-pinch, this week with brown rice! I still haven't perfected this, but I try to sub whole grains for processed ones in as many places as I can. I started 1 cup of brown rice with 3 cups of water. Brought to a boil and then simmered for 10 minutes before adding the kielbasa rounds. Cooked with sausage for 10 more minutes, then added the chopped broccoli and red pepper. Cooked for a final 10 minutes. The result was still a little soupy, and a bit creamier than the white rice version, but I let it rest, uncovered for a bit, served with a slotted spoon. By the end of dinner the extra water had been absorbed/evaporated.

Chicken and Bean Nachos - adapted from this recipe, We make the avocado salsa (usually omitting the jicama if we can't find it). Otherwise we layer tortilla chips, then shredded rotisserie chicken (we use about half of one, and save the rest for something else), rinsed canned pinto or black beans, and a thin layer of shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese on a cookie sheet. Broil for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted, and top with the salsa. We usually make one cookie sheet-ful for our family of 2.5, and the rest makes all our lunches for the next day.
To make the next day lunches, I put all the topings together in a tupperware, one in each corner, and pack chips seperately. Hubby and I assemble all but the salsa, microwave to melt cheese, then top with Salsa. M eats all his seperately.

Not your mama's tuna salad - courtesy of Rachel Ray. This is another easy favorite of mine :)

Tacos & re-fried beans - The tacos are your average recipe (store-bought shells; meat seasoned with a store-bought packet of seasoning... we used half a pound of leftover bison, and some of our leftover rotisserie chicken from the nachos above; diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, avocado chunks, plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream) and we used Ellie Kreiger's recipe for the beans (delicious! even my husband was pleasantly surprised!)

Quinoa salad - adapted from this recipe, I swapped quinoa for the wheat berries, but everything else is the same - YUM!

This week we also took a family urban hike to our closest grocery store on a chilly, overcast day and picked up frozen pizzas (hubby and I always get our own since we like different things, which means plenty for M and lunch leftovers) + frozen veggies for a Saturday-night-in dinner. We also picked up ingredients to make our favorite breakfast casserole Sunday morning:

2 cans reduced fat crescent rolls
1 roll reduced fat breakfast sausage, cooked and crumbled
8 eggs (1 yolk reserved)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350
1. Unroll one can of crescent rolls on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.
2. Top with sausage and cheeses (beware: too much cheese will make the casserole too greasy).
3. Scramble the 7 eggs and 1 egg white (reserving the 8th yolk), and pour over the sausage and cheese.
4. Unroll and top with the second can of crescent rolls.
5. Brush top layer with reserved yolk.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until center of casserole is set.
Cut and serve!!

This Week's Recipes!!

Another easy, healthy recipe plan for the week! Includes one fish dish and two meatless dishes! And, yes, all except the tortellini and egg salad wraps became my 2.5 year old son's lunch for school the next day (and only because there wasn't enough left over)!

For the Tortilla Soup and Enchiladas, I bought a rotisserie chicken (split between the two recipes) to save even more time. Those things are money-savers, too!! $6-8 for two meals' worth of chicken!

Kale, Gruyere, and Sour Dough Strata, FitPregnancy (I can't get enough eggs in this pregnancy!)

Creamy Tortellini with Bacon, Dream Dinners (side of red pepper strips and spaghetti squash - our first Dream Dinners taste! Look for my upcoming review)

Chicken Tortilla Soup, Weelicious

Not Your Mama's Tuna Salad, Rachel Ray (Pesto, Roasted Red Peppers, shell pasta + tuna = yum! This week, I swapped lightly sauteed carrot slices for the grape tomatoes)

Mexican Enchiladas, Weelicious

Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps, Fit Pregnancy (got some beautiful heads of Bibb lettuce in our CSA box this week! Served with toasted slices of our leftover Sour Dough!)

I can't find links to the egg recipes from Fit Pregnancy this week, so I am reprinting them below:

(From the Dec/Jan '13 issue of FitPregnancy)

Sourdough Kale Strata

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large finely diced shallot
6 cups kale, washed, deveined, and torn into bite sized pieces (about 1 bunch)
1/4 tsp salt
10 eggs
2 cups 2% milk
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cups sourdough bread (best with stale bread) torn into bite-sized pieces
1.5 cups shredded Gruyere cheese, divided

1. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add shallots and saute 2 minutes. Add kale and salt and cook another 2 mintues. Set aside.
2. Whisk together eggs, milk and pepper in a large bowl.
3. Coat a 9x13 in baking dish with cooking spray. Add kale mixture, torn bread and 1 cup cheese, Toss together and spread evenly over pan.
4. Pour egg mixture into the dish and top with remaining cheese.
5. Cover strata with aluminum foil and let stand 20 minutes (this allows the bread to absorb the eggs mixture) or refrigerate overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 400 F. (If dish was refrigerated  let it warm up at room temperature for a bit so it won't crack in the oven.) Bake 35 minutes, then remove foil and continue baking 15 to 20 minutes until puffed and golden brown around edges. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.



Curry Egg Salad Wraps

6 large eggs
3 tbsp nonfat Greek yogurt
3 tbsp light mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp curry powder
Pinch salt and pepper
1 celery stalk, diced
1/4 c finely chopped radishes (we used carrot instead)
2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1/4 c sunflower seeds
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley (or dill, chives or cilantro)
8 large Bibb, Boston or butter lettuce leaves

1. Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with 1 inch of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. when water reaches a boil, immediately cover saucepan, remove from heat and let sit 12 minutes. Place eggs in ice water for 3 minutes to stop the cooking. When cooled, rinse under cold water to peel. Chop coarsely.
2. In a large bowl, stir together Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, curry powder, salt and pepper until combined, Add chopped eggs, celery, radishes, red onion, sunflower seeds and fresh parsley and stir until combined.
3. Divide eggs mixture evenly among lettuce leaves (about 1/4 cup each). Roll up and serve.