Chicken Parm Fingers Over Garlic Spaghetti Dinner

The Game Plan:

• Breakfast - Chocolate chip muffins (made the day before or from the freezer), smoothies
• Lunch - Taco roll-ups, apple slices
• Dinner - Chicken Parm fingers over garlic spaghetti, green beans

The Plan in Action:

• 8:00am - Make smoothies. Put 3-4 cups fruit (We like a combo of bananas, strawberries and blueberries. The frozen bags of fruit specifically for smoothies are a great option too.), and 2 c. plain or vanilla yogurt in a blender and blend. If the smoothie is too thick for your tastes, you can add a few splashes of juice or milk to thin it. Pull out cream cheese for taco roll-ups so that it can come to room temperature.
  
• 8:10am - Serve smoothies and muffins for breakfast. While eating, start boiling water for spaghetti.
• 8:20am - Throw spaghetti in pot. Finish breakfast.
• 8:28am - Drain spaghetti. Clean up breakfast dishes.
  
• 8:30am - Start making taco roll-ups. Combine 5 oz. cream cheese, 1/4 c. sour cream, 1/2 - 1 c. shredded cheese, 2 t. chili powder, 1 T. cumin, 2 t. garlic salt, 1/8 t. cayenne pepper, and olives, green pepper, red pepper, green onions (or any combination thereof). Stir until combined. Spread on tortillas and roll up. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until lunch time.
• 8:45am - Put cooked spaghetti in refrigerator. Cut chicken breasts into fingers and put back in fridge. Clean up kitchen and go do something else for awhile.
• 10:30am - On a plate, combine 1 c. flour, 1 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper. In a shallow bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and 2 T. water. In a second shallow bowl, combine 1 1/2 c. breadcrumbs, 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, 2 t. Italian seasoning, 1 t. garlic powder or garlic salt.
• 10:40am - In a large skillet, heat 3 T. olive oil over medium-high heat. Working with about 5 chicken fingers at a time, dredge through flour, dip in egg, then roll in breadcrumbs. Cook in heated olive oil for 5 minutes. Flip and cook for 5 minutes more. Repeat with remaining chicken.
• 11:10am - Put chicken in an oven-safe dish in the refrigerator. Make sauce by combining 1 8oz. can tomato sauce, 1 4oz can tomato paste, 2 T. water, plus more if necessary, 1 bay leaf, 2 t. Italian seasoning, 1 t. sugar, 1 t. garlic salt, 1/2 t. red pepper flakes, 1/4 t. allspice and additional salt and pepper to taste in a small saucepan. Place over low heat and let simmer all day. Stir occasionally and add more water if sauce becomes too thick for your tastes. Dice 6 to 8 cloves garlic and place in fridge.
  
• 12:45pm - Pull taco roll-ups out of the refrigerator and slice each one into fourths. Slice a few apples and serve lunch.

• 6:00pm - Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 T. butter or margarine and 3 T. Extra-virgin olive oil in a medium skillet. Add garlic, 1 T. salt, 1 t. black pepper, and 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes to skillet. Cook for about 5 minutes, until garlic is tender, stirring often.
• 6:10pm - While garlic is cooking, put chicken fingers in oven. Stir spaghetti from refrigerator into the skillet and warm through. Put fresh or frozen green beans in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat.
  
• 6:25 pm - Remove chicken from oven. Place a mound of spaghetti on each plate, top with chicken fingers and sauce. With a slotted spoon, serve green beans on the side of each plate.

BBQ Meatloaf & Carmelized Onion Pizza Dinner

The Game Plan

• Breakfast - Breakfast cookies (preferably made the day before or from the freezer), bananas
• Lunch - Sandwiches, yogurt, grapes
• Dinner - BBQ Meatloaf & Carmelized Onion Pizza, carrots with dill butter
• Snack - Cheese & crackers

The Plan In Action
*This plan takes advantage of some freezer cooking or earlier preparation. It's perfect for a relaxing Sunday meal. However, it also requires some last minute prep work.

• 8:00am - Serve breakfast. While eating breakfast, cut up pre-made meatloaf or meatballs. I used some meatloaf cups (recipe to follow) that I had in the freezer. If you don't have any extra or leftover meatloaf or meatballs on hand, brown 1 lb. of ground beef. Store in refrigerator.
  
• 8:30am - Make barbecue sauce. Combine 1 c. ketchup (or, in a pinch like I was, 1 can tomato paste, 1 can water, 1 t. apple cider vinegar and 1/2 t. salt), 2 T. worchestschire sauce, 2 T. brown sugar, 1 t. each; garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, and 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes. Stir until well blended, cover, and put in refrigerator.
  
• 8:40am - Slice one large yellow onion and heat 2 T. butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion to skillet. Stir in 2 t. honey. Reduce heat to medium-low and let cook for 20 minutes, stirring often.
  
• 8:50 - While onions cook, shred 2 c. cheddar cheese, or skip this step if using preshredded cheese.
• 9:10am - Store onions and cheese in the refrigerator.
• 12:30pm - Make & eat lunch
• 3:30pm - Make pizza dough. Dissolve 2 t. yeast in 1 c. warm water for 5 minutes. Stir in 2 T. honey, 3 T. olive oil and 1/2 t. salt. Add about 3 1/2 c. flour, 1/2 c. at a time, until dough is no longer sticky. (This can be done in a stand mixer also.) Knead for about 5 minutes.
• 3:45pm - Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
• 4:15pm - Punch dough down. Knead back into a ball and return to bowl. Cover and let rise again for 1 hour 15 minutes.
• 5:15pm - Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  
• 5:30pm - Roll out dough into a circle and place on a pizza stone or tray, or press onto a cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Prebake crust at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
• 5:40pm - Cover crust with sauce, caramelized onions, meatloaf pieces and shredded cheese. Place back in oven for 15 - 20 minutes.
  
• 5:45pm - Bring 2 cups of water and 1/2 lb. baby carrots or sliced carrots to a boil. Cover and remove from heat for 10 minutes.
• 5:55pm - Check pizza and remove from oven if done. Drain carrots and return to pan. Stir in 2 T. butter and 1 T. dill weed. Stir until butter is melted.
• 6:00pm - Slice pizza and serve with carrots.

BBQ Meatloaf & Caramelized Onion Pizza
For Pizza Dough

• 1 c. warm water
  
• 2 T. yeast
• 2 T. honey
• 3 T. olive oil
• 1/2 t. salt
• 3 1/2 c. flour

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water for 5 minutes. Stir in honey, olive oil and salt. Add the flour, 1/2 c. at a time, until dough is no longer sticky. (This can be done in a stand mixer also.) Knead for about 5 minutes.
2. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Punch down dough, knead 1 minute, recover in greased bowl and let rise 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
3. Roll out pizza crust and place on a pizza stone, or press onto a cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Prebake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool and top with pizza toppings.

For Pizza Toppings -
--BBQ Sauce

• 1 c. ketchup (or, in a pinch like I was, 1 can tomato paste, 1 can water, 1 t. apple cider vinegar and 1/2 t. salt)
• 2 T. worchestschire sauce
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 1 t. each; garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, black pepper
• 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes

1. Stir all ingredients together until combined.

--Caramelized Onions

• 1 large yellow onion, sliced
  
• 2 T. butter
• 2 t. honey

1. Melt butter in a skillet. Add onions and honey. Cook over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes, until onions are tender and caramelized.

--6 meatloaf cups, leftover meatloaf or meatballs, cut into cubes

--2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

To put the pizza together:
1. Spread BBQ sauce over pizza crust. Top with caramelized onions.
2. Cover onions and sauce with chopped meatloaf.
3. Cover all with shredded cheese.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees, until crust is done and cheese is melted.

For just the pizza recipe, go here.

Check out lots more recipes over at Grocery Cart Challenge.

White Veggie Lasagna Dinner

The Game Plan

• Breakfast - French toast
• Lunch - Snackin' Plate - cheese and pepperoni or ham slices, crackers, apple and banana slices, peanut butter
• Dinner - White Veggie Lasagna, tossed salad
• Snacks - Homemade Granola bars

The Plan In Action

• 8:00am - Make French toast. While it is cooking, slice the meats and cheese for lunch. Put in a plastic baggie until lunchtime. Also, put a large pot of water on the stove to boil for the lasagna noodles.
  
• 8:30am - Finish breakfast and chop veggies for lasagna. Heat olive oil in a skillet and start cooking the veggies. Put noodles in water to boil. Drain and rinse with cold water when done.
  
• 8:50am - Put lasagna noodles and veggies in the fridge. Go do something fun (or productive...find a way to combine the two and that's even better) for awhile. Or continue on this point and just finish the lasagna all at once.
  
• 10:00 am - Stir together the ricotta filling at put bowl in fridge.
• 10:05 - Make the white sauce for the lasagna.
• 10:15 - Pull all of the already prepared ingredients out of the fridge and line up assembly line style on your counter. Start layering the lasagna in a 13 x 9 casserole dish.
  
• 10:30 - Cover finished lasagna with tin foil and place in fridge. Wash all dishes.
  
• 10:40 - Chop any ingredients you'd like to have in your tossed salad and store in individual baggies. (Confession time - our tossed salad is usually more like lettuce "salad." Lettuce, dressing, and croutons or chickpeas if we have any on hand. I suppose this is because I do not like raw tomatoes or onions. My family doesn't seem to mind though.)
• 12:30 - Slice apples and bananas. Arrange crackers, meat, cheese, fruit slices and peanut butter for dipping on individual plates. Have fun with your arrangements. The kids will have a blast with this lunch, at least mine always do.
• 12:45 - Eat lunch.
• 3:30pm - Snacktime. We love this recipe from Mom Advice for our homemade granola bars. (I use honey in place of the corn syrup with no problem.) A tray of these usually lasts 2 or 3 days in our house.
• 5:00pm - Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take the lasagna out of the refrigerator to bring to room temperature, but do not remove the foil.
• 5:15pm - Put lasagna in oven.
• 6:00pm - Remove foil from lasagna and continue cooking 10 - 15 minutes.
• 6:15pm - Remove lasagna from oven. Let sit at least 5 minutes before cutting. Combine all of the prepped salad ingredients and toss together.
  
• 6:25pm - Eat and enjoy!

White Veggie Lasagna

• 12 lasagna noodles, cooked
  
• vegetable filling
• ricotta filling
• white sauce
• 1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

For The Vegetable Filling

• 1/2 large onion, finely diced
• 1/2 large green pepper, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 pound mushrooms, diced
• 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 5 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bag frozen spinach, thawed
• 1/2 bag frozen broccoli cuts, thawed
• 1/2 t. nutmeg
• Salt & pepper, to taste

1. Warm 2 T. of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion, green pepper, and celery. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
2. Add the mushrooms, zucchini, and garlic, and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the thawed spinach and broccoli.
3. Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cook for yet another 5 minutes.

For The Ricotta Filling

• 16 oz. ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
  
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Combine and set aside.

For The White Sauce

• 3 T. butter
• 3 T. flour
• 1 c. milk
• 1/2 c. chicken stock or white wine
• 3 oz. cream cheese
• 1/3 c. grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
• Salt & pepper, to taste

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and let cook 1-2 minutes. Whisk in milk and chicken stock. Cook until sauce just begins to thicken.
2. Add cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, and salt & pepper. Cook until all cheese is melted.

To Assemble The Lasagna
1. Spread 1/4 c. white sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9 casserole dish. Top with 4 lasagna noodles. Top lasagna noodles with 1/3 of the ricotta filling, 1/3 of the veggie filling, and 1/3 of the remaining sauce. Repeat layers, ending with a final layer of white sauce. Sprinkle 1 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese over the top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10 - 15 minutes longer, until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly. Remove from oven and let sit at least 5 minutes before slicing.

For just the lasagna recipe, go here.

**If you have about 20-30 extra minutes, and all of the necessary ingredients, why not make a second lasagna with red sauce to put in the freezer? (Note: Lasagna with white sauce does NOT freeze well, at least in my experience.) Go here on my other blog to get the full recipe and instructions for making both lasagnas at once.

Creamy Chicken Enchilada Dinner

The Game Plan

• Breakfast - Cheesy scrambled eggs & toast
• Lunch - PB & honey sandwiches, yogurt, bananas
• Snacks - Carrots & celery sticks w/Ranch dressing
• Dinner - Creamy Chicken Enchiladas, skillet corn

The Plan In Action

• 8:30am - Make breakfast. Heat 2 T. olive oil in skillet, add chicken cover and cook.
• 8:50am - Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
  
• 9:00am - While finishing breakfast and clean-up, slices carrots and celery sticks for snack time. Put back in fridge. Dice onion.
  
• 9:15am - Add 1/2 the onion to skillet (put other 1/2 in fridge) that the chicken was cooked in. Cook for 5 minutes. Add flour, cook for 1 minute. Whisk in chicken stock. While stock simmers, shred chicken.
  
• 9:30am - When sauce is thickened, remove skillet from heat. Stir in sour cream, diced green chilies, and seasonings. Reserve one cup sauce. Stir chicken into remaining sauce.
• 9:40am - Grease a 13x9 casserole dish. Fill tortillas with about 2 T. chicken and sauce. Roll up and place seam side down in dish. Repeat for all 10 tortillas. Cover with reserved sauce.
• 9:50am - Cover casserole and put in fridge. Melt 2 T. butter in a small skillet, add onion, corn and seasonings. Cook for 10 minutes. While corn cooks, shred 1 c. cheese and put in fridge.
• 10:00am - Transfer corn to a microwave-safe dish and refrigerate. Clean kitchen.
  
• 12:30pm - Make lunch.
• 4:00pm - Snack time.
• 5:30pm - Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• 5:45pm - Put chicken enchiladas in oven.
• 6:00pm - Sprinkle cheese over enchiladas and return to oven.
• 6:15pm - Remove enchiladas from oven. Put corn in microwave for 2-3 minutes. Dinner is served.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

• 2 T. Extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (about 1/2 - 3/4 pound)
• salt & pepper, to taste
  
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 T. flour
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1 small can diced green chilies
• 2 t. cumin
• 1/2 t. salt
  
• 1/8 t. cayenne pepper
• 10 flour tortillas (homemade or packaged)
  
• 1 c. shredded cheese (cheddar or monterey jack are best)

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Add to skillet, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until juices run clear, flipping over after 10 minutes. Remove from skillet and shred.
2. Add onion to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 2 more minutes, stirring often. Whisk in chicken stock, bring to a boil and let simmer until thickened.
3. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in sour cream, green chilies and seasonings. Reserve 1 c. sauce. Stir chicken into skillet and fill tortillas with about 2 T. filling, roll up. Place rolled up enchiladas in a greased casserole dish. Cover with reserved sauce.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, sprinkle 1 c. cheese over the top and return to the oven.

(For just this recipe, go here.)

Bangers And Mash Dinner

The Game Plan

• Breakfast - Oatmeal & fruit-yogurt smoothies
• Lunch - Pizza grilled cheese & apple slices
• Snacks - Crackers w/ peanut butter & raisins (commonly referred to in our house as "ants on a raft")
• Dinner - Bangers & Mash, peas
• Extra baking - Banana muffins

The Plan in Action

• 8:30am - Make oatmeal and smoothies for breakfast. Slice one block of mozzarella cheese and put back in refrigerator.
  
• 9:00am - Finish breakfast and heat 2T. extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the sausages. While the sausages are cooking, begin peeling potatoes.
• 9:10am - Flip sausages, cover skillet. Cube potatoes and toss them in a large pot filled with water. Bring the potatoes to a boil.
• 9:20am - Slice one onion and dice 2 cloves garlic. Remove sausages from pan, add onion and garlic, salt to taste, and cook.
  
• 9:30am - Drain potatoes, return to pot and mash with milk, butter, sour cream, salt & pepper.
• 9:35am - Stir 1 1/2 c. beef stock or broth into skillet with onions and garlic. Add 1 t. thyme and 1/2 t. pepper. Return sausages to skillet. Bring to a boil until reduced by half.
• 9:45am - Let the sausages and potatoes cool for at least 15 minutes. Cover sausage skillet and put in fridge. Transfer potatoes to a serving dish and put in fridge. Dinner is done for now.
  
• 12:30pm - Make pizza grilled cheese using already cut mozzarella cheese. While sandwiches cook, mix together homemade pizza sauce or open a jar of pizza sauce. Slice apples.
  
• 1:30pm - While cleaning lunch dishes, make banana muffins for breakfast tomorrow.
• 4:00pm - Snack time.
  
• 6:00pm - Warm and plate dinner. Warming options: 1. put potatoes and sausage skillet in 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, 2. plate food and warm each plate in the microwave, 3. warm serving dish of potatoes in microwave and warm sausages on the stove. Also, warm some frozen peas to serve with dinner. Eat and enjoy!

Bangers & Mash Recipe
For Bangers:

• 2 T. Extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 1 pkg. mild Italian sausage (either pork or turkey)
• 1 onion, sliced
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 1/2 c. beef stock
• 1 t. thyme
• 1/2 t. pepper

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausages and cook for about 10 minutes. Flip sausages, cover skillet and cook 10 minutes longer.
2. Remove sausages and set aside. Add onions and garlic to skillet, season with salt to taste. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in beef stock, thyme and pepper. Add sausages back to skillet. Bring stock to a slow boil and let simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes.

For Mash:

• 1 1/2 lb. potatoes
• 1/3 c. butter
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/3 c. sour cream
• salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

1. Peel and cube potatoes. Put in a large pot filled with cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Drain.
2. Return drained potatoes to the pot. Mash with butter. Stir in milk, sour cream, and salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.

(For just this recipe, go here.)

Homemade Pizza Sauce

• 2 - 6 oz. cans tomato paste
• 18 oz. water (just fill the tomato paste cans with water)
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 - 1 1/2 T. Italian seasoning
• 2 t. garlic salt
• 1/2 t. crushed red chili pepper flakes

Mix all ingredients together until well combined. If sauce is still too thick for your tastes you can add more water until it is the desired consistency.

(For just this recipe, go here.)

Banana Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups flour
  
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
  
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. salt
  
• 1 egg
• 1 t. vanilla
  
• 2 mashed bananas
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/4 c. chopped walnuts or chocolate chips (optional)
  

1. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in egg, vanilla, mashed bananas, sugar, and applesauce until combined. If desired, fold in optional ingredients.

2. Pour into greased muffin tin and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

(For just this recipe, go here.)