My Week in Food- Week #1

As a self-professed 'Queen of Procrastination', it should come as no surprise to any of you that this post is actually about 1 1/2 weeks late. What can I say?! Dieting is time-consuming! Be that as it may, I try to live by one of my favorite mantras 'better late than never' and I truly feel like as long as this gets posted sometime within the 365 days that make up the year 2013- well, then I'm doing pretty good!

I have to say that this first week was a pretty great week all around for food stuffs here. I'll admit it was a bit more work than usual, as this time around I have decided to cook all 3 meals from scratch each day instead of just dinner. This stems from several factors: the fact that I homeschool the kids now (so my whole day consists of little voices cawing 'I'm hungry! I'm hungry!), the fact that I am trying to use LESS processed foods which limits easy go-to and 'snack-y' type items easily kept in the pantry, and the fact that... I guess I just wanted a challenge?!

Keep in mind when you are looking at these reviews and Points+ breakdowns, I tend to alter recipes considerably to suit my family's tastes or to accommodate what  ingredients we happen to have on hand. I will list each of these recipes (and my subsequent dissection of them) under my 'Eats' tab above. There will ALWAYS be a link to the actual recipe so you can be as faithful to the original as you so choose.

To streamline things around the house, to make things fun, and because I just happen to dig alliteration I decided to make each day of the week specific to a certain type or style of food. Therefore, we plan our menus around:

• Meatless Mondays (fairly self-explanatory)
• Tasty Travels Tuesdays (ethnic cuisine of some sort- attempting to broaden my children's horizons)
• Wet 'N Wild Wednesdays (seafood critters)
• Throwback Thursdays (old-fashioned favorites with a lighter twist: 'Sghetti and Meatballs, Steak and Potatoes, etc.)
• Pizza Fridays (Friday is ALWAYS pizza night- alliteration be damned!)
• Souper Saturdays (again, self-explanatory)
• Slow Cooker Sundays (can I just put 'duh' here?)

Now that you're 'in the know'.. to Week One we go!

Thai Shrimp Scampi (Weight Watchers Magazine)

 Tasty Travels Tuesday 

Meal: Thai Shrimp Scampi from Weight Watchers Magazine. With it is an Asian 3 Bean Salad from Ellie Krieger (love her!) and a delicious spinach salad! YUM!

Review: The family really enjoyed this dish although I found the sauce a bit thin for my taste. When I make it again (and yes, I will make it again, the kids said to definitely put this one in the rotation) I will allow the sauce to reduce down and thicken up some. I think I'll also punch up the flavor with a few more spices. I found it a bit bland for my palate.

Points+ Breakdown: This whole meal only costs 10 points (that's including cheese and bacon bits on the salad). It's a keeper!

Throwback Thursday 

Meal: Brown Ale Braised Chicken Thighs (a Better Homes and Gardens winner!) served with Goat Cheese Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes and Honey Roasted Glazed Carrots (my mama's recipe). Don't forget the requisite salad- mixed greens this time! DELISH!

Brown Ale Braised Chicken (Better Homes and Gardens)

Review: I have to say this meal was one of the most amazing meals I have ever made in my entire life- and I've made some really good ones! I think if I was stuck on a deserted island and could only have a single meal for the rest of my life- this would be the meal! The meat was so flavorful and succulent (thanks Sam Adams!), the potatoes were divine (and I didn't even think I would like goat cheese!), and the carrots were as sweet and delicious as I always remember.

Points+ Breakdown: Okay, I have to admit... this one is definitely pricey in the Points+ department. But if you have some weekly points left and you want a delicious meal that is SOOOOO worth it- this is without a doubt the one to try. 1 chicken thigh, 1 potato, and 1 serving of carrots will cost you 13 points- but it's impossible to stop at just 1 so keep that in mind!

Pizza Friday

Meal: Pizza Pasta and spinach salad (not pictured- like the weird kid in high school) and Raspberry Fool with Angel Food Cake (again, Ellie Krieger!) for dessert!

Review: Crappy riddle of the day: What tastes just like pizza- but isn't? PIZZA PASTA!! (I told you it was crappy) But seriously folks, this pasta does taste JUST like pizza. Only it's waaaaaaaaay more filling (thanks to the whole wheat pasta) and even richer and more flavorful due to the addition of sweet Italian sausage and mozzarella cheese (I know it looks like a lot- but it's really only 2 cups!)

Raspberry Fool (Ellie Krieger)

We indulged our sweet teeth (plural on purpose!) with Ellie Krieger's Raspberry Fool- amazingly satisfying considering it's just yogurt and a bit of cream with a few cubes of angel food cake and some raspberries thrown in. Really hit the spot and made for an awesome Friday night delight.

Points+ Breakdown: This meal, as sinful as it sounds, skates in at a mere 11 points. Well worth it if you're craving a pizza fix and a sumptuous dessert.

Souper Saturday

Meal: Although Souper Saturday is usually all about...well...soup- this review is actually about the Apple Coffee Cake I made to go with our Veggie Egg Scramble for breakfast. Again, by the wonderful Ellie Krieger!

Review: As you can imagine, anything with flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, apples, and pecans can't possibly be anything other than scrumptious! It was warm and hearty and made you feel good eating it- absolutely a coffee cake I'll make often in the future.

Apple Coffee Cake (Ellie Krieger)

Points+ Breakdown: Each slice of this cake came in at 7 points, but that's possibly because I cut it into 10 pieces due to baking it in a round cake dish. If you follow her instructions and bake it in a bigger dish, and cut it into more portions, your points intake would be reduced. But it was undeniably worth it. Would I do it again? You bet your butt I would!

Well folks, that does it for this week's worth of food (but remember, I'm about 2 weeks behind at this point so somewhere I've got some catching up to do). I hope you learned a little, salivated a lot (!), and maybe gathered an idea or two to take the place of next week's Tuna 'Surprise'. I'm pretty sure your family will thank me. And you. (But mostly me)

Remember, you can find any and all of these recipes on my 'Eats' link above- and if you're lucky... a tutorial or four!

Until next time..... may the fork be with you!