Menu Plan Monday

This weeks menu come from Cooking Light Magazine. I used their website yesterday to help me figure out what recipes to use. Hubby wanted Homemade Mac & Cheese this week and we have some bread leftover from making his daily sandwiches so I'll use that instead of the French Bread for the French Toast. One thing I had forgotten about, and I'll have to remember - you can put all your chosen recipes into a shopping list, and it will make said shopping list for you -all nice and pretty in the proper sections you'd most likely find the items in your grocery store. The other nice thing, you're not only searching Cooking Light. The website Cooking Light uses is called MyRecipes.com and it also has recipes for other magazines:

* Coastal Living
* Cottage Living
* Health
* MyHomeIdeas (pulls together all the home stuff from all the magagzines)
* Southern Accents (homes, gardens, arts & antiques)
* Southern Living
* Sunset

Anyway, not to sound like an ad, it's just something I had fogotten about.

Last weeks menu was a hit btw - the only thing I didn't like was not having much in the way of leftovers coming the weekend but that's ok. I'll plan for it better come this weekend. I'm not going to think about it right now. I will have leftovers of the Mac & Cheese because I won't cut that down. I was expecting to have leftovers of the pizza, but hubby loved it so much that we didn't. The rest of these recipes I'll cut down so we will only have 2 servings. I'm also going to give you the original recipes.

For more menu ideas visit I'm an Organizing Junkie

Thai-Style Ground Beef
Three-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
French Toast Waffles
Braised Chicken with Chickpeas and Tomatoes (Homemade Chicken Stock)
Mushroom-Prosciutto Pizza


Thai-Style Ground Beef

This dish appeals to adults and kids alike, which answers Sasha Wall's challenge to prepare one dinner that satisfies the whole family. Serve with lime wedges. Enjoy leftovers with warm tortillas.

Cooking spray
1 cup thinly sliced leek
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1 pound lean ground sirloin
1 teaspoon red curry paste (such as Thai Kitchen)
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
3 cups hot cooked short-grain rice
Iceberg lettuce wedges (optional)
Chopped cilantro
Chopped green onions (optional)

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add leek; sauté 5 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add beef; cook 7 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in curry paste and tomato sauce; cook until half of liquid evaporates (about 2 minutes). Add milk and next 4 ingredients (through fish sauce); cook 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Serve with the rice and lettuce wedges, if desired. Garnish with cilantro and green onions, if desired.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1/2 cup beef mixture and 3/4 cup rice)

CALORIES 353 (16% from fat); FAT 6.4g (sat 3.2g, mono 1.7g, poly 0.6g); IRON 6.3mg; CHOLESTEROL 49mg; CALCIUM 29mg; CARBOHYDRATE 51.5g; SODIUM 723mg; PROTEIN 23.1g; FIBER 2.8g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2006




Three-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

"If I go more than a day or two without pasta, watch out, because I get nasty," jokes one CookingLight.com user. Other users admit hankering for high-quality cheese. Keep a close eye on the flour while it cooks so it doesn't burn. For a weeknight supper, bake the macaroni in an 8-inch square baking dish for 35 minutes.

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion (about 1 medium)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (about 8 ounces)
Cooking spray
2/3 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 8 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add flour and garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in milk and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add Gorgonzola, 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, and salt; stir until cheeses melt. Discard bay leaf.

2. Preheat oven to 375°.

3. Cook pasta in boiling water 5 minutes or until almost tender, omitting salt and fat; drain well. Add pasta to cheese mixture, stirring well. Place about 1/2 cup pasta mixture into each of 6 (1-cup) ramekins coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella. Top evenly with remaining pasta mixture. Combine remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano and panko; sprinkle evenly over pasta mixture. Spray lightly with cooking spray; sprinkle with black pepper. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until heated.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 ramekin)

CALORIES 321 (28% from fat); FAT 9.9g (sat 5.6g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.9g); IRON 1.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 26mg; CALCIUM 332mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40.8g; SODIUM 487mg; PROTEIN 17.4g; FIBER 2.4g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2008




French Toast Waffles

A waffle maker creates a crisp, brown French toast without a skillet. Just make sure you start with slightly hardened bread so that the toast won't be soggy. Serve toast with fresh berries, powdered sugar, or maple syrup.

Cooking spray
1 cup fat-free milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
16 (1/2-inch-thick) slices day-old French bread (about 7 ounces)

Coat waffle iron with cooking spray, and preheat.

Combine milk and the next 5 ingredients (milk through eggs), stirring well with a whisk. Place bread in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish; pour milk mixture over bread, turning to coat. Let stand 5 minutes.

Place 4 bread slices on hot waffle iron. Cook 3 to 5 minutes or until done; repeat the procedure with the remaining bread.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 4 waffles)

CALORIES 236 (27% from fat); FAT 7g (sat 3g,mono 2.4g,poly 0.8g); IRON 1.7mg; CHOLESTEROL 115mg; CALCIUM 129mg; CARBOHYDRATE 32.5g; SODIUM 395mg; PROTEIN 9.6g; FIBER 1.6g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2003



Braised Chicken with Chickpeas and Tomatoes

Total cost: $9.33/Cost per serving: $1.17. This dish uses dark meat chicken parts, which are cheaper and more flavorful than breast meat. Purchase leg quarters, if available, and split them into drumstick and thigh portions before cooking to save even more.

1 cup dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
4 cups water
1 cup thinly sliced onion (about 1), divided
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 chicken drumsticks, skinned (about 1 1/4 pounds)
4 chicken thighs, skinned (about 1 3/4 pounds)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 cups chopped plum tomato (about 5)
1/2 cup Homemade Chicken Stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Lemon wedges (optional)

Sort and wash chickpeas; place in a large Dutch oven. Cover with water to 2 inches above chickpeas; cover and let stand 8 hours. Drain chickpeas.

Place 1 1/2 cups chickpeas, 4 cups water, 1/2 cup onion, garlic, and bay leaf in pan; bring to a boil. (Reserve leftover chickpeas for another use.) Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes or until beans are just tender. Drain chickpea mixture in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Set chickpea mixture aside.

Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Dredge chicken in flour. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan.

Add remaining 1/2 cup onion to pan. Sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add vinegar, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook 1 minute or until liquid evaporates.

Add 2 cups tomato, Homemade Chicken Stock, and reserved cooking liquid to pan. Add chickpea mixture, and bring to a boil. Place chicken on top of chickpeas, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 40 minutes or until chicken is done and chickpeas are tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 chicken leg or thigh and 3/4 cup bean mixture)

CALORIES 261 (34% from fat); FAT 9.8g (sat 2.4g,mono 3.9g,poly 2.3g); IRON 2.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 82mg; CALCIUM 36mg; CARBOHYDRATE 14.8g; SODIUM 244mg; PROTEIN 27.7g; FIBER 3.2g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2007



Homemade Chicken Stock

Total cost: $.87/Cost per serving: $.11. This recipe yields 48 ounces of stock. The same amount of canned broth would cost about $4.32. Use this homemade stock in soups, stews, rice, and pan sauces.

This recipe goes with Fresh Vegetable Barley, Braised Chicken with Chickpeas and Tomatoes

Bones from a cooked (4-pound) chicken
5 whole peppercorns
3 quarts water
2 sprigs parsley (optional)
1 medium onion, quartered

Preheat oven to 400°.

Split carcass in half lengthwise. Place carcass halves in bottom of broiler pan with juices from Roast Garlic-Lemon Chicken.

Bake at 400° for 1 hour, turning bones once after 30 minutes.

Scrape bones, juices, and browned bits into a large Dutch oven. Add peppercorns, 3 quarts water, parsley, if desired, and onion to pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours; skim surface occasionally, discarding solids.

Strain stock through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Cool to room temperature. Cover and chill 8 to 24 hours. Skim fat from surface; discard. Refrigerate stock in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup)

CALORIES 5 (54% from fat); FAT 0.3g (sat 0.1g,mono 0.1g,poly 0.1g); IRON 0.0mg; CHOLESTEROL 2mg; CALCIUM 8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 0.1g; SODIUM 9mg; PROTEIN 0.6g; FIBER 0.0g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2007



Mushroom-Prosciutto Pizza

This simple pizza flavored with cremini mushrooms and Italian ham can be made in just about 20 minutes.

Cooking spray
8 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1 (10-ounce) Italian cheese-flavored thin pizza crust (such as Boboli)
2 ounces prosciutto, cut into thin strips
1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) shredded fontina cheese

Preheat oven to 450°.

Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add mushrooms and shallots to pan; sauté 7 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Add garlic and thyme; sauté 1 minute. Stir in vinegar; remove from heat.

Place crust on the bottom rack of oven. Bake at 450° for 4 minutes.

Place the crust on a baking sheet. Spread mushroom mixture evenly over crust; sprinkle evenly with prosciutto and fontina cheese. Bake at 450° for 6 minutes or until cheese melts.

Tips: For a crisp crust, bake the pizza crust on the lowest rack for a few minutes before adding the toppings. Presliced button mushrooms can substitute for the creminis.

Yield: 4 servings

CALORIES 273 (28% from fat); FAT 8.4g (sat 3.7g,mono 2.4g,poly 0.8g); IRON 2.3mg; CHOLESTEROL 23mg; CALCIUM 254mg; CARBOHYDRATE 34.5g; SODIUM 723mg; PROTEIN 15.3g; FIBER 0.4g

Cooking Light, JUNE 2004