Weekly Menu (and recipes too!)

EDITED TO ADD: I had this scheduled for Tuesday morning, but it never published. What is going on with Blogger? This is the 4th or 5th time a scheduled post never happened! Rah!

I'm not sure what night we are eating what, but I made two of the casseroles on Sunday and froze them. They are big, so they will last for several nights. That may throw off the timing of when we eat the other meals.

However, I love seeing what people are eating, and I espesh heart getting new recipes!

Hope you can find something you like!

Menu:
Weight Watchers Italian Sausage and Pepper Pasta
Rigatoni with grilled vegetables, served with "stir fried" carrots
Weight Watchers Chicken Spaghetti with salad
Baked Lemon Pasta with salad
Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff with broccoli



Weight Watchers Italian Sausage and Pepper Pasta
1 package raw turkey sausage, casings removed (I buy Honeysuckle brand in hot)
2 tsp EVOO
2 medium bell peppers (I used 1 colored and 1 green), cut into strips
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/2 C red wine (I omit this and use broth instead)
1 1/2 T minced garlic
28 oz crushed tomatoes-canned
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
kosher salt
8 oz uncooked fusilli pasta (corkscrew-and I use the whole box of pasta)
fresh, chopped basil (optional)
grated parmesan (optional)

This was off the old WW points plan at 5 points per serving. Not sure what it would be now.

Boil noodles. In a large nonstick pan, cook sausage, stirring and breaking up until cooked through. Remove to plate. Heat oil in same skillet. Cook onions and peppers about 5 minutes. Add wine and garlic-cook until most liquid evaporates. (I use broth here). Add canned tomatoes, pepper flakes, salt, and browned sausage. Bring to a boil. Simmer on medium low for 10 minutes until veggies are tender. Add sauce to noodles and mix well. Can add basil and some parm.

Rigatoni with grilled vegetables and "stir fried" carrots is from Food Network website, Sandra Lee. Click the blue link to view it. It is amazing and I LOVE IT! I have featured this recipe several times here before. The carrots are just diagonally cut carrots sauteed in sesame oil with garlic. Add in some soy sauce and cook until tender enough for you. It was originally a 1 pt WW recipe-I just took out the sugar snap peas and scallions this time since we were having crap loads of veggies with dinner already.

Weight Watchers Chicken Spaghetti  (originally I found this on a WW "support" website-no clue if it is legitimately a WW recipe or just called that)
8 oz cooked, shredded chicken (I use two breasts)
1 Lb spaghetti
half a block of Velveeta light
4.5 oz can chopped green chiles
1 can 98% FF cream of mushroom soup
1/2 C chopped onions
1/2 C bell pepper

Cook and shred chicken. Cook and drain noodles. In a large non stick skillet, melt Velveeta with soup and chiles. Add the onions and bell pepper. Stir together. Add chicken to the cooked, drained pasta. Pour Velveeta mixture over all and stir well. (This is the hard part. Trying to stir a box of pasta with a bunch of cheesy goodness.) Pour into greased 9 by 13. Cover with foil and cook on 450 for 10 minutes, or until heated through.

I freeze mine. You could also portion it out into smaller casserole dishes. When we want to eat it, I thaw it out in the fridge in advance and cook it as normal.

The nutrition facts that came with it are: 221 cal, 4.3 g fat, 4 points per serving on the old WW system.  Oh, and PS, I use a whole box of pasta and 5 oz more Velveeta b/c I make the big casserole dish to have for 2-3 nights worth of dinner/leftover lunches. So my recipe listed above calls for 8 oz Velveeta instead of 3.


Baked Lemon Pasta
This is one from my mom. I like it a lot b/c it can be simple and great by itself with a green salad, or you can add all types of things to it to make a major casserole. (Like chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, other assorted veggies).
1 Lb thin spaghetti
4 T butter
3 T EVOO
2 cloves minced garlic
1 whole lemon, juiced and zested
2 C sour cream (I use 1/2 FF and 1/2 light)
kosher salt
lots of shredded Parmesan
flat leaf parsley (I use dried)
extra lemon juice

Cook spaghetti. In a skillet, melt butter and EVOO. Add garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into pan. Turn off heat. Add sour cream and stir. Add lemon zest and salt. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti, stirring to combine. Pour into oven safe dish. Cover with foil on 375 for 15 minutes. Take off foil and cook for 7-10 more minutes. Don't over bake or it will get dry. When you remove from oven, squeeze more lemon juice on top, then top generously with Parmesan and parsley.

I also made this as a casserole. It will last for 2 nights. It's freaking good.


Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff
Another tried and true WW recipe from a "support" site, this joker is GOOD and EASY!
1 pack frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
16 oz container fat free sour cream (I know it sounds gross, but you cannot tell!)
1 can 98% FF cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 jar sliced mushrooms (you can use fresh, but add them later in cooking time)

Brown/white rice or egg noodles (I use 2 bags of Success brown rice-easy and healthy!)

Place frozen chicken breasts into crockpot. In another bowl, mix sour cream, soup, onion soup mix, and mushrooms. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 7 hours.

4 points per serving on old WW system. Add the "bottom" layer of rice or noodles and top with the heavenly mixture of slow cooked strog. It ROCKS! There is always left over rice and "sauce" and it's good for lunch even without the chicken.

Hopefully you found something that struck your fancy or inspired you!
Happy Tuesday!