What's for Dinner?

Monday - I like to keep Monday's "light" for weigh-in on Tuesday. This week I thought shrimp would be a good choice and found this little "fried" coconut shrimp recipe on the WW board:

Coconut Shrimp

1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp ground red pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp lime juice
3 egg whites
1 cup coconut flakes -- shredded
1 1/2 pounds shrimp, large, R-T-C

Preheat oven to 425F. Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a small bowl combine cornstarch, pepper and salt. Set aside.

In a small microwave safe dish heat up honey approximately 30-45 seconds. Add lime juice to honey and stir. Slowly add in egg whites and continue to stir.

Place coconut in a thin layer on a pie plate or other relatively flat dish. Take each shrimp and first dip it into the cornstarch mixture then in the egg white mixture and finally roll it in the coconut. Then place on the baking sheet. Lightly spray with butter flavored cooking spray and bake 10-15 minutes or until shrimp is pink and the coconut is lightly toasted.

This recipe yields 6 servings.

One person suggested rinsing and draining the coconut to remove some of the sugar.

Tuesday - No points. I think we have decided to get the carnitas (shredded pork) from the local restaurant. It is the kind of place where they have 1 thing on the menu: carnitas. LOL You either buy it by the pound or "plate". With the plate you get a HUGE portion of the pork, beans, tortillas, and a little cabbage salad. YUM! 2 plates feed the 3 of us with leftovers!

Wednesday - Again, I'm turning to the WW recipe review board. This is suppose to be pretty good, we'll see!

Doritos Casserole

6 ounces Velveeta Light
2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
10 3/4 ounces 98% FF cream of chicken soup
11 ounces tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel)
6 ounces Doritos, baked -- Nacho Cheese
8 ounces lean ground beef

Cook meat, drain and add taco seasoning. Mix the tomatoes and soup together. Then, layer meat, soup mixture, crushed Doritos, and cheese. Keep layering until done. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Thursday - Famous Dave's Country Roast Chicken. I made this a few weeks back and it was declared the best roast chicken I've ever made! I didn't make the full amount of the "seasoning" - I just used 1 tablespoon of each spice. I also didn't used FF italian dressing and only about 12 ounces and 1/2 cup of lemon juice. It was so juicy and delicious.

Friday - I will add the leftover chicken to this "mock" alfredo also from the WW boards. I usually double the recipe and add a light butter instead of the butter flakes. I'll serve it over angel hair.

Laughing Cow Alfredo Sauce

Servings | 2

Ingredients

3 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Garlic & Herb
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk (used FF half and half)
1 Tbsp reduced fat parmesan cheese
1/2 Tbsp Molly McButter Natural Butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

In a medium-sized saucepan, combine all the ingredients over a low heat,
until everything is melted and the sauce is velvety smooth, about 20
minutes.

Saturday - That stew didn't get eaten last week because I had so many leftovers... we'll try again! :)

Sunday - I'm feeling like bean burritos. I have some refried beans in the freezer - I'll have to give this some more thought!

Dream Analysis

On Tuesday night I had a very odd & disturbing dream. I wasn't necessarily a "scary" nightmare kinda thing, but I woke up feeling very uneasy and just out of sorts. Miss Steph did a great analysis (she is awesome at that kind of thing), but I wondered if any of you out there in blogland wanted to give it a shot.

I was in a green marble elevator. The button were way too small to see and you couldn't tell what you were pushing. The elevator was just traveling up and down and all the passengers were getting upset (including me). Then the walls seemed to disappear and I was afraid I was going to fall out. Finally we stopped and we were in a big Las Vegas hotel type place. I was wearing my pink silk bathrobe and a red worker type jacket. It even has my name on it!

I had my room key, but could not remember my room number. I was trying to convince somebody (a hotel person??) that I just needed my room number, but I didn't have my ID - just my room key. Then my chickies appeared and said "Mom, it's room 1126."

I remember all the colors vividly, KK was wearing a stocking cap and it was light blue. Any ideas?

I'm Sorry, What's Your Name?

I stole this from a random blog and thought it was hilarious:

In case you don't know mine:

1. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names) Lou Lynn

2. MAN NAME: (first name of your mother's dad, father's dad) Marvin Wallis

3. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 2 letters of your last name, first 4 letters of your first name) LiMe (lime??)

4.DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Pink Dog

5. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you live) Sue Royal

6. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite alcoholic drink, optionally add "THE" to the beginning) The Purple Vodka (that really sounds like a whacked out superhero to me!)

7. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name) Meod

8. GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Chocolate Oreo (???)

9. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pet's name, current street name) Daisy Highway

10.PORN NAME: (1st pet, street you grew up on) Sabrina Dodson (pretty good!)

Now, tell me YOUR names.

I've Been Tagged

Here are the rules:
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six '8' items
3) Let each person know by leaving them a comment.

8 favorite TV shows:
1. My Name is Earl
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. How I Met Your Mother
4. Ultimate Recipe Showdown
5. Iron Chef America
6. Diners, Drive Inns & Dives
7. Two and a Half Men
8. Life on Mars (I'm still deciding about this one)


8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Got dressed
2. Went to church
3. Laundry
4. Dishes
5. Watched TV
6. Made pot roast for dinner
7. Went to the grocery store
8. Wished my WII was here

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. Spring
2. Getting in to my fat girl jeans, not to be confused with the REALLY FAT girl jeans I'm currently wearing
3. Summer including putting the pool up
4. Finishing the estate
5. Getting paid vacation at work
6. Planting a summer garden
7. Having my chickies grown into productive human beings
8. Getting my taxes finished

8 favorite restaurants:
1. Tsunami Sushi, Moses Lake
2. La Cabana, Royal City
3. Golden Corral, Moses Lake
4. Michael's, Moses Lake
5. Shari's
6. Olive Garden
7. Tony Roma's
8. Any place new

8 Things on my wish list:
1. A clean house
2. A family vacation
3. Children that don't fight with each other
4. A new car
5. Less stress
6. Less debt
7. New clothes in a smaller size
8. A kitchen aid mixer - as much as a love to cook, I don't have one! :(

8 people I tag:
1. Shelby aka HoneyB
2. Grannyloohoo
3. Katypi
4. Katie
5. Kelly
6. Carrie
7. Dishy
8.Alyson

New Week, New Meals

Wow~The weeks are flying by here, but where the heck is spring?

Monday - Leftovers. No work for me and no school for the mini-chicks. We have lots of bits and pieces from last week hanging around. The Greek Villagers salad was a major hit from last week and I'll make up another batch for lunches this week.

Tuesday - KK has requested Stroganoff for our no-points dinner this week. This is really a glorified hamburger helper kinda thing, but ohhhhh soooooo yummy!

Wednesday - I've been pursuing the WW boards again and found this interesting chicken dish I'll serve with some rice:

KONA CHICKEN
2 (2 pound) broiler chickens, quartered (I'll use boneless, skinless breasts)
1/2 cup chopped green onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp fresh minced ginger root
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup honey
ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Place chicken into a slow cooker. Stir together the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over the chicken. Cover, and cook on low for 4 hours. (cooking time vary with crockpots)

If you like, thicken sauce on stove with a little cornstarch.

Thursday - Spaghetti. We never did get to it last week since I was off gallivanting around with Mrs. S. and the chickies were with their dad.

Friday - I found a good buy on some boneless pork roasts last week, and was very intrigued the sounds of Roasted Pork with Onion Stuffing over on AR. I love cooked onions and it just sounded so good.

Saturday - Stew. Leftover from a few weeks ago, currently hanging out in the freezer.

Sunday - One of my cooking friends mentioned that one of the ways she tried to help out her budget was to go meatless a couple of meals. I'm not sure I'm ready for "a couple" but, since I remember my Grandma Gregg making lentil patties (she was vegetarian) I found this recipe for a Lentil Loaf and thought it sounded pretty tasty. I'm sure it will bring back lots of childhood memories for me. I am so sad they quit making Nuteena. I loved that stuff!

Another big thanks to Mrs. S. for insprining to meal plan. It makes me think about points planning for KK (who, by the way got her 5% weight loss sticker last week!!) and I. It gathers my thoughts on all the wonderful recipes my cooking friends share and fulfills my need to plan things!! Good all the way around.

The "Mean Mom"

It's true. KK said it out loud to me the other day "You are just being mean." I'm sure I'm going to hear that many more times between 11 1/2 and 18 (and probably beyond!) - but sometimes you just have to be. For the record, I hate it - it isn't an easy stance for me to take.

KK is social - she has been since 1st grade and never has really cared much about actual school work, but she likes to be a "helper" and I never heard much from most of her elementary school teachers other than we needed to get her to read more. Middle school has definitely brought changes to our world. Now she is in a school with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. Dynamics are changing among her friends. Actual grades are being issued without much of a chance for making up a bad grade and just being well liked by the teacher isn't enough to get you through.

Due to what I felt was a complete lack of caring about her grades, I made KK cancel a sleepover at our house with a friend this weekend. This elicited the "mean" comment and as difficult as it is for me, I'm sticking to my guns. When she brings her grades up more acceptable level we will discuss having friends over.

I have the feeling this is only the beginning between KK & I and much tween drama.

Food Thoughts for the Coming Week

I'm lovin' the meal plans.

Monday - I'm totally thinking outside of the box here. I want us to eat fish at least once a week. Last week we really enjoyed the tilapia, but wanted something different and inspired by a Greek thread on the WW recipe review board, I found this Greek Catfish. Since I had everything except the catfish, I thought I'd give it a try. I'm gonna make the following Greek Villager's Salad from the WW board to go with it (just as a salad,not as a pita filling):
Greek Villagers' Salad

Serving: 1/4 Salad with 1/2 pita

Ingredients:
3-ripe tomatoes, cut into 6 wedges
2-green bell peppers, seeded and cut into rings
1-cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices
4-pepperoncini(small peppers packed into vinegar)
1/2 cup sliced red onion
6 Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 oz reduced fat fetta cheese crumbles(about 1/2 cup)
2 pita breads, toasted and cut in half crosswise


Directions:
Combine tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, pepperoncini, onion, olives, vinegar, oil, oregano, salt, and pepper in a large serving bowl; toss well. Sprinkle salad with feta. Serve with pita bread.

Tuesday: No point night! I have some frozen chili, that I made pre-WW and don't even really know what's in it, which makes it really tough to count the points on - so we will have that with some good ol' sweet-buttery cornbread.

Wednesday: Spaghetti (maybe). I didn't make sauce this weekend, KK said she couldn't find any in the freezer, but I'm pretty sure there must still be a bag in there.

Thursday: This is the start of mid-winter break and my chickies won't go back to school until Tuesday. KK will be gone overnight to a friend's birthday party, so I'm letting SS have a friend over. I thought Sloppy Joe's would be a good choice, as they are SS's favorite. I have made my own chili sauce. It is actually cooking up right now and smells divine! I thought maybe some sweet potato fries might be good with this, and I'm positive that my girls would gobble them up - I always have to remember that other kids aren't as adventerous as mine, so we will just have oven fries with good ol' russets!

Friday - I've been craving this simple little pork recipe I got off of the WW board many moons ago:

4 lean boneless pork chops
2 cans ranch-style beans (or sometimes called chili beans)
1 cup of BBQ sauce

Throw it all in the crock pot. Call it dinner! The trick is to use a BBQ sauce that you love. I'm really easily pleased and like Kraft Original (I know, so horrible!!!!). I bought a bunch on sale for $.88, so I'm not even going to try and be impressive and make my own! LOL

Sautrday: Since I am going to all the trouble of making my own chili sauce, I thought we needed a nice recipe to utilize it and thought chicken was sorely missing from my menu this week, the result is Chili Sauce Chicken. I'm not sure what a good side for this would be?? Open to ideas!

Sunday: Another friend over day (since there isn't school Monday 2/16) and there was a 2-day meat sale at our small local store and I scored a nice roast for a reasonable price. I'll be making my favorite Slow-Cooker Pot Roast. I use red wine instead of water and it makes my favorite gravy on the planet. Some of "My Famous Mashed Potatoes" (that is what SS calls them - really they are ordinary mashed potatoes, but she loves them!) and that'll round out our week.

Hey, where all the food pics I keep promisin' y'all!??!?! BWAHAHAHAAHAHHA

Another Week

Although the my meal planning week didn't go EXACTLY as planned, all-in-all I really enjoyed not having to think too much about dinner last week. I think it is particularly helpful since we are doing Weight Watchers.

Monday & Wednesday were kinda a bust. Monday I couldn't find the tilapia that I wanted so we had shrimp and Wednesday I forgot I was going to town to get my hair done.

So, on with a new week:

Monday - We are really having the talipia and broccoli this week. I already have everything!
Tuesday - No points night ;) - KK has requested mac and cheese. We will have any other leftover lounging around.
Wednesday - KK is getting her braces off - weirdly she isn't that excited. She says having braces give her "character". Whatever. I'm ready for them to be off so I don't have to listen to her weird slurpy noises anymore! Oh yeah, dinner = Vegetable Barely Soup. I hoping to have my own homemade vegetable stock to use.
Thursday - Because I don't know how steady the toothers are going to be, we will either just have leftover soup or tacos.
Friday - Roast chicken. I'll have to pick a recipe - I have a few that I really like. I think I want one that I can do roasted veggies along with.
Saturday - At this point, I'm thinkin' I want to make a another big ol' batch of that spaghetti sauce. We'll have to see how I feel or if I just want to pull the last of the old batch out.
Sunday - Beans and ham. I have some frozen that need to be eaten up!