Monday, April 21, 2008

What's For Dinner This Week


Just one carry-over meal from last week, the Brown and Wild Rice Chicken Salad. Other than that, I'm trying to keep things simple. The Easy Oven Crisp Chicken is so flavorful and tasty -- not to mention easy. I'm sharing the Mexican Lasagna recipe below. It is a healthier version of the old standby. It's my go-to meal when I'm bringing dinner to a friend (I've entertained at home with it, as well), and the leftovers taste even better. I made mine up last night and froze it for Thursday.

Monday: Easy Oven Crisp Chicken, Green Beans, Brown Rice
Tuesday: Chicken Marsala with Sauteed Vegetables, Egg Noodles, Corn
Wednesday: Pork Tenderloin, Broccoli Salad, Brown Rice Pilaf
Thursday: Mexican Lasagna (recipe follows), Salad, Fruit
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Carne Asada Tacos, Salad, Fruit
Sunday: Brown and Wild Rice Chicken Salad, Fruit

(If you're looking for an easy, downloadable menu planner, you'll find a great one here.)

For more menu planning ideas, don't forget to head over to orgjunkie.com.

Mexican Lasagna (from The Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers)
Serves 8

1 lb. lean ground beef (90% or higher)
1 large carrot, shredded (about 1 cup)
One 16-ounce jar salsa
One 15 1/2-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
Five 8-inch flour tortillas, cut in half
One 16-ounce container lowfat cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups preshredded reduced fat Cheddar cheese

1. Cook the meat and carrot in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up the large pieces, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Drain excess fat.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
3. Add the salsa, black beans, corn, chili powder, and cumin to the skillet and stir to combine.
4. To assemble the lasagna, arrange a third (about 2 cups) of the meat mixture in a 9x13-inch baking pan. Layer half the tortillas over the meat, allowing them to overlap. Spoon half of the cottage cheese and 1/2 cup of the Cheddar cheese over the tortillas and spread evenly.
5. Place 2 more cups of meat mixture over the cottage cheese. Layer with the remaining tortillas and cottage cheese. End with the meat mixture.
6. Top with the remaining Cheddar cheese and bake uncovered until the cheese melts and the lasagna is heated through, about 25 minutes.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Mexican Lasagna look like something my kids would love.

Have a great week!

Emily said...

ooh, I want to make the Mexican lasagna! thanks for sharing the recipe.

Martha said...

What are you doing to your pork tenderloin? I'm making one for the first time this week and I just picked a recipe online that sounded good. :)

mah-meeee said...

sounds so yummy! i don't know if i can plan out a week's menu like you do. but reading your posts always gets me at least thinking about what to eat for the week!

Kendra said...

You so inspire me!

Anonymous said...

Sounds delicious! We have done zero planning this week because of a family illness, so I may just borrow your plan and make a grocery run tomorrow afternoon! It's not often the frugal family is caught off guard like this, but hey, life happens. By the way, I just stumbled here today and enjoy what I've read so far.