Tag Archives: diabetic friendly

Final Sept 12-15 Menu and Master Shopping List

Posted on by
Reply

Final Sept 12-15 Menu and Master Shopping List

This week was not without it’s craziness and frenetic pace, but having a plan for dinners, shopping ahead of time, and even doing some pre-prep on Sunday, brought a bit of calmness to dinner prep AND gave me confidence that I could accomplish 4 healthy meals.

I was very happy with the on-the-fly modifications I made to the menus this week and have revised the menu accordingly.

So, who’s going to try this menu next week?!?!  C’mon, you can do it!!!

Menu:

Monday: Southwest Chicken, side salad, green beans, and fruit

Tuesday:  Turkey Burgers, green beans, fruit, and side salad

Wednesday: Asian Lettuce Wraps with Ground Turkey, avocado-tomato salsa, and fruit

Thursday:  Chicken Chili Bake and a side salad with figs, mangos, and tomatoes

Shopping List:

Please check this list against your pantry, particularly the dry goods. There are several items on the list that you might already have, and if you’re like me, you don’t want to buy more than you need, especially if you already have the ingredients in your pantry!

Entrees

3.5 lbs Boneless skinless chicken breast

3 lbs Ground turkey

Veggies

1 Bunch cilantro

2 Onions

Boston Bibb lettuce

Extra greens for salad – I get enough for lunch and dinner

3 Cloves Garlic

3 Tomatoes

1 Bunch green onions, chopped

2 Avocados

1 1/2 lbs Green beans (2 dinners and snack)

3 Bell peppers – you pick the color

1/2 lb Snow peas

Fruit

2 Limes for 1/4 c of lime juice for cilantro chicken – or purchase a bottle

Fruit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner:

Pineapple

Cantaloupe

1 QT Strawberries

3 Mangos

1 Pint figs (Just because I love them)

(Still have oranges from last week)

Dairy

Cheddar cheese or sheep’s / goat’s milk equivalent

Plain Yogurt or Goat milk yogurt if you don’t do dairy or you can use sour cream)

Frozen

I could not find the Tex Mex frozen mixture I used to buy so I have switched to 1 can of black beans and 2 bell peppers. If you find a frozen Tex Mex mixture or something similar, use it.

Dry Goods

1 Can black beans

Salsa

1 T + 1/4 cup Olive oil (or canola oil)

Olive or canola spray

1 T Soy sauce

1/4 C Hoisin sauce

1 T Rice wine vinegar

Asian chili pepper sauce (or sweet chili sauce)

1 8 oz can Water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped

2 t Asian (dark) sesame oil

1 T Ground cumin

Salt and pepper

1/4 Worcestershire sauce

Bragg’s liquid amino acids all-purpose seasoning spray (optional) – I use instead of soy sauce

Bakery

Tortillas

Small Hamburger buns (can also use for sandwich bread to avoid getting too much bread…

Recipes

Southwest Chicken, Fresh Green Beans, Side Salad and Fruit

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

For the Chicken:

1.75 lbs Boneless skinless chicken breasts

¼ C Olive oil

¼ C Lime juice

½ C Chopped Cilantro

1 T Ground Cumin

½ t salt

1/8 t pepper

For the Rest of the Meal:

Greens for salad

Toppings for salad

Fruit

Healthy handful of green beans

Olive Oil or Canola Spray

Salt

Make Ahead

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, holding the chicken out until mixed thoroughly.  Let marinate 30-40 minutes.  I prefer marinating overnight – the flavor is amazing.


Dinner Time Prep

1. Pre-heat grill on high or pre-heat oven to 350

2. Lay plates out and portion greens

3. Put chicken on grill or in oven (in a roasting / baking pan)

4. Add salad fixings and a light drizzle of dressing on the greens

5. If chicken is on grill, flip the chicken

6. Portion the fruit on each plate

7. Cut tops off green beans, wash, and lightly spray with olive oil spray, lightly salt, and portion on plates

8. Pull chicken off grill, portion and serve!

 

Turkey Burgers, Fresh Green Beans, and Mango

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

1.75 lbs. Ground Turkey

1 3/4 T Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

1 3/4 T Worcestershire Sauce

Small Roll for Burgers (optional)

For the side dishes:

Large Handful of Fresh Green Beans

1 Mango cut up and divided across 4 plates

Instructions:

1.  Mix ground turkey, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.

2.  Divide the burgers into 7 equally-sized balls and form 1/4 lb. patties about 1/2 ” thick. The burgers will feel moist and a bit sticky – like dough that needs more flour.  Resist the temptation to add anything like oats or bread crumbs to the mixture…

3. Preheat grill on high

4. Put the burgers on and turn the heat down to medium

6. Rinse the green beans, cut off the stems, and spray a bit of olive oil (or canola oil), salt (light salt) the beans, and portion them on the plates.

7. Flip the burgers. (about 4-5 minutes)

8. Portion the mango across the plates.

9. Pull burgers off  (about 3 more minutes).

10.  Serve and see if that isn’t one of the best turkey burgers you’ve had!

 

Asian Lettuce Wraps

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

 

12-16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves

1.75 lbs. ground turkey

1 T cooking oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1T plus a little bit, soy sauce (or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos)

1/3 Hoisin sauce

1 T plus a little bit, rice wine vinegar

Asian chile pepper sauce or sweet chili sauce

1 8 oz can water chestnuts, sliced or finely chopped

¼ C chopped green onions

2 t Asian dark sesame oil

For the sides:

1 Avocado

1 Large tomato, or 2 smaller tomatoes

Fresh, seasonal fruit

Instructions:

  1. Rinse lettuce leaves and set aside to dry
  2. Brown the ground turkey.  Remove from pan
  3. In same pan, sautee onion.
  4. Add garlic, soy sauce (Bragg’s), hoisin sauce, vinegar, and chili pepper sauce (or sweet chili sauce) to the onions and stir.
  5. Stir in water chestnuts, green onions, sesame oil, and cooked ground turkey
  6. Lay out plates and add fruit and one or two lettuce leaves
  7. Dice a tomato and avocado and mix them together with a touch of salt.  (for those kids who have strong preferences, add avocado, tomato or both separately on the plate (see the four settings: the adults got the mixture, and one had no tomatoes and one had avocado and tomato separate on the plate…)
  8. Make sure turkey mixture is still warm.  Spoon the mixture into center of leaves, making sure not to put too much in as it will be difficult to wrap.
  9. Serve!
  10. Show the kids how to “wrap” the lettuce like a tortilla – see how many points you get for creativity

 

Chicken Chile Bake

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

For the “Casserole”

1.75 lbs. Chicken

1 Can black beans, drained

2 Bell peppers diced

1 onion, diced

1 jar salsa (you can mix a few together)

1 C plain yogurt

Cilantro

Canola oil spray

1 8 Whole-wheat tortillas

For the side dishes:

1 avocado

Greens with fresh fruit, tomatoes, or whatever salad fixin’s you have

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375

1.  Cook chicken – bake or grill.  Hopefully you can pair this dish with another chicken dish and cook the chicken at the same time and save time.

2.  In a large bowl mix all casserole ingredients, except the tortillas, in a large bowl

3.  Lightly spray bottoms and sides of a 9 X 13 and 8 X 8 baking pan

4. Place one layer of whole-wheat tortillas on the bottom of the pan, followed by some of the chicken mixture.

5. Repeat step 4, alternating a layer of tortillas and a layer of chicken mixture.

6.  Top with a final layer of tortilla and lightly sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.

7. Place in 375 oven for 20 minutes to heat through

8. While Chicken Chile Bake is heating, divide the avocado across the 4 plates and lightly sprinkle salt if desired.  Portion some greens and salad fixin’s on each plate.

9.  Once Chicken Chile Bake is hot, pull out and serve with salsa on the side.  Ol´e!

Chicken Chile Bake

Posted on by
Reply


9-15-11 Dinner Blog

Close up serving of Chicken Chile Bake

Vintage Dinner Reinvented

I was smiling to myself as I was making the Chicken Chile Bake last night, (which is basically a casserole), because I couldn’t bring myself to type the word “casserole” on Monday’s “Weekly Menu” blog…

When I think of casseroles, I think of canned cream of “something” soup, (with way too much salt), and the cooking genre of the 60’s and 70’s.  Remember the tuna casserole? Tuna, noodles and peas?  My mom didn’t make casseroles very often, (She was actually ahead of her time in terms of healthy cooking), but I had more than my fair share of tuna, and hamburger (remember?) casseroles at parties, friend’s houses and relative gatherings.

This recipe is not vintage, but it is a casserole.  I got it from a cooking class my daughter took at her school about 6 years ago.  I modified it to make it more healthy and added veggies.

Getting Dinner Together

It was 4:40 and I had to get dinner prepped and cooked before 5:25. Earlier in the day I had realized that I forgot to cook tonight’s chicken on Monday when I cooked the Southwestern Chicken.  That would have been a time saver… Note to self…

So I began by preheating the oven to 375 and turning the grill on high.  Luckily, I had already washed and cut the chicken on Sunday, so it was just a matter of putting the chicken on the grill.  You can also bake the chicken at 350 for about 20 minutes– but the real time saver is if you cook this chicken earlier in the week when you make the Southwest Chicken.

While the chicken was cooking, I mixed the following in a large bowl:

1 Diced onion

2 Bell peppers, (which I had diced on Sunday – score!!)

1 Can of black beans, drained

1 Jar of salsa (I mixed 2 kinds together to make “one jar”)

1 Cup of plain yogurt (Consider using instead of sour cream.  I use goat’s milk yogurt because of my daughter’s allergy to cow’s milk.)

The other half of the cilantro from Monday, chopped.

In the middle of getting all these ingredients into the bowl, I flipped the chicken (after about 3-4 minutes).  3 minutes later, I tested the chicken, pulled it off the grill, diced it and mixed it in the large bowl with the other ingredients.

Mixing Ingredients for the Chicken Chile Bake

Then I lightly sprayed the bottom and sides of a 9X13 and 8X8 pan with canola oil spray, and then placing one layer of whole-wheat tortillas on the bottom of the pan.  I followed up with a portion of the chicken mixture, and another tortilla layer.  I repeated the layering, ending with a layer of tortillas on top.

Building the "Casserole"

I topped the casserole (OK, now this word is coming out easier…:)) with cheddar cheese and popped the casseroles in the oven at 5:00. (Not being able to use cheddar cheese derived from cow’s milk, I used goat’s milk cheddar cheese, which, even the harshest critics in the family says tastes amazing!)

Putting the "Casserole" in the oven

After 20 minutes, I pulled the casseroles out of the oven and went to my second “Back to School Night of the week.

An hour later, I was home, preheated the oven to 375 and put the casseroles in for 10 minutes – just enough to heat through.

I laid out the plates, split an avocado among the four of us, and made a small side salad with figs, tomatoes, and mangoes, topped with the no oil balsamic vinaigrette. I pulled the casseroles out of the oven and served.

4 portions of Chicken Chile Bake

The Verdict

A 9!  Everyone loved the dinner.  My husband had a small second portion, but everyone else was full.  It was really great to have most of my nutrition in one dish.  You really don’t even need the salad, because you have a great variety of vegetables in the casserole, but if you like salad like I do, it is always nice to eat fresh fruit and vegetables.

I will be looking for more “casserole” recipes for the fall and winter sans the canned soup. The one dish meal – so easy!  …History repeats itself – with a healthy twist!

Recipe

For the “Casserole”

1.75 lbs. Chicken

1 Can black beans, drained

2 Bell peppers diced

1 onion, diced

1 jar salsa (you can mix a few together)

1 C plain yogurt

Cilantro

Canola oil spray

1 8 Whole-wheat tortillas

For the side dishes:

1 avocado

Greens with fresh fruit, tomatoes, or whatever salad fixin’s you have

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375

1.  Cook chicken – bake or grill.  Hopefully you can pair this dish with another chicken dish and cook the chicken at the same time and save time.

2.  In a large bowl mix all casserole ingredients, except the tortillas, in a large bowl

3.  Lightly spray bottoms and sides of a 9 X 13 and 8 X 8 baking pan

4. Place one layer of whole-wheat tortillas on the bottom of the pan, followed by some of the chicken mixture.

5. Repeat step 4, alternating a layer of tortillas and a layer of chicken mixture.

6.  Top with a final layer of tortilla and lightly sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.

7. Place in 375 oven for 20 minutes to heat through

8. While Chicken Chile Bake is heating, divide the avocado across the 4 plates and lightly sprinkle salt if desired.  Portion some greens and salad fixin’s on each plate.

9.  Once Chicken Chile Bake is hot, pull out and serve with salsa on the side.  Ol´e!

 

Asian Lettuce Wraps, Tomato-Avocado Salsa, Fresh Fruit

Posted on by
Reply

9-14-11

Dinner Blog Dinner Prep

It’s a good night when things go as planned.  It’s a great night when someone says they want to drive your leg of the carpool!  Bonus!!!

I found tonight’s recipe on allrecipes.com.  It sounded easy, delicious, and fast.  Right up my alley.  The recipe estimated 20 minutes of prep time and 15 minutes of cook time, which was about how long it took me.  I entered the kitchen at 6:10 and began by cooking the ground beef.  I should have washed the Bibb lettuce first and let it dry, but I was too excited to start the meal to think in the right order…

Once the beef was done, I put it on the side and cooked the onion, adding the hoisin sauce, soy sauce (I used the Bragg’s Liquid Aminos), garlic and rice wine vinegar when the onion was tender. Then I added the beef back to the onion mixture with sliced water chestnuts and chopped green onions.

Mixing the ground turkey, onions, and asian seasonings

I laid out the plates adding pineapple, a sliced peach and the last of the strawberries.  And while the menu shows green beans for tonight, we had them the last two nights, so I made a tomato – avocado “salsa” mixture.  It was a nice change from a side salad since we were already using lettuce for our wraps.

At 6:25 I had to run and pick up my son’s carpool and at 6:45 when I was back home again, I washed the lettuce (should have done earlier so it would dry), and patted it dry.  I warmed up the ground turkey mixture and spooned a bit on each lettuce leaf. I thought we would probably eat more than one wrap, but I wanted to make sure everyone liked them before I loaded them up on their plate.  We sat down to eat at 7:05.

Asian Lettuce Wraps with Tomato-Avocado Salsa, pineapple, strawberries and peaches

Two Thumbs Up!

Everyone liked dinner and I even got points for creativity (using lettuce instead of a tortilla)!  We used the sweet chili sauce (you may still have extra from a couple of weeks ago) and that added another level of flavor.  My son and husband really enjoyed the wraps, had seconds, and gave the dinner a 9 and 9+ respectively.  This is a huge win as my son is not a huge turkey eater… My daughter was a little less enthusiastic, had a small second wrap, and gave the meal a 7, although I am not sure why and I am not sure she knows exactly why…

Recipe

Ingredients for Asian Lettuce Wraps:

12-16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves

1.75 lbs. ground turkey

1 T cooking oil

1 large onion

chopped 3 cloves fresh garlic

minced 1T plus a little bit

soy sauce (or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos)

1/3 Hoisin sauce 1 T plus a little bit,

1T rice wine vinegar

Asian chile pepper sauce or sweet chili sauce

1 8 oz can water chestnuts, sliced or finely chopped

¼ C chopped green onions

2 t Asian dark sesame oil

  1. Rinse lettuce leaves and set aside to dry
  2. Brown the ground turkey.  Remove from pan
  3. In same pan, sautee onion.
  4. Add garlic, soy sauce (Bragg’s), hoisin sauce, vinegar, and chili pepper sauce (or sweet chili sauce) to the onions and stir.
  5. Stir in water chestnuts, green onions, sesame oil, and cooked ground turkey
  6. Lay out plates and add fruit and one or two lettuce leaves
  7. Dice a tomato and avocado and mix them together with a touch of salt.  (for those kids who have strong preferences, add avocado, tomato or both separately on the plate (see the four settings: the adults got the mixture, and one had no tomatoes and one had avocado and tomato separate on the plate…)
  8. Make sure turkey mixture is still warm.  Spoon the mixture into center of leaves, making sure not to put too much in as it will be difficult to wrap.
  9. Serve!
  10. Show the kids how to “wrap” the lettuce like a tortilla – see how many points you get for creativity!

Turkey Burgers, Fresh Green Beans, and Mango

Posted on by
2

9-13-11 Dinner Blog

It was all about getting the job done yesterday evening.  We had “Back to School” information meetings at our son’s new school, which began at 5 and ended at 8:30, so, having to get out the door at 4:45, with dinner ready, I was already an underdog…

At 4:15 I made the burgers.  Adding 1 ½ T of Braggs Amino Acids and 1 ½ T Worcestershire sauce, I mixed up 1.75 lbs of ground turkey and made 7 turkey burgers.  I bought dark ground turkey meat thinking it would be a bit moister.  As I mixed in the flavorings, the meat felt wet and almost ‘sticky’. Kind of like dough that needs more flour.  I was tempted to put in some oatmeal or bread crumbs but resisted and left them as they were.  At 4:30 they were on the grill (medium heat) – by 4:40 they were off the grill and I was out the door.

I had instructed our baby sitter to cut a mango and prepare the fresh green beans, (with olive oil spray and salt), to accompany the hamburger on the plate.  I considered having her take pictures of their plate but thought it might be too much pressure…J

At 8:45 when my husband and I returned – ravenous – we warmed up the turkey burgers and bread in the toaster oven.  I also cut a mango and prepared a few green beans for the two of us.  I really needed comfort food at this point, and against my usual protocol, I spread a bit of Earth Balance (a plant based vegetable shortening – a “healthy margarine”) on the bun… Are you sensing a bit of justification?! J

The Verdict

YUMMY!!!  It was a great late night dinner and if I do say so myself, those were my best turkey burgers yet!  I have experimented over the years, searching for the best tasting turkey burger recipe, usually finding them dry and tasteless.  I think the combination of using dark turkey meat, Worcestershire sauce and the Bragg’s Liquid Aminos All Purpose Seasoning gave the burgers a more meaty flavor.  The burgers were moist, not dry.  I am soooo glad I didn’t add any oatmeal or breadcrumbs!   …And yes, that small victory does bring a smile to my face!!!

Recipe

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

1.75 lbs. Ground Turkey

1 3/4 T Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

1 3/4 T Worcestershire Sauce

Small Roll for Burgers (optional)

Large Handful of Fresh Green Beans

1 Mango cut up and divided across 4 plates

1.  Mix ground turkey, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.

2.  Divide the burgers into 7 equally-sized balls and form 1/4 lb. patties about 1/2 ” thick. The burgers will feel moist and a bit sticky – like dough that needs more flour.  Resist the temptatin to add anything like oats or bread crumbs to the mixture…

3. Preheat grill on high

4. Put the burgers on and turn the heat down to medium

6. Rinse the green beans, cut off the stems, and spray a bit of olive oil (or canola oil), salt (light salt) the beans, and portion them on the plates.

7. Flip the burgers. (about 4-5 minutes)

8. Portion the mango across the plates.

9. Pull burgers off  (about 3 more minutes).

10.  Serve and see if that isn’t one of the best turkey burgers you’ve had!