Meal Plan Monday!

*I really need to stop forgetting to hit “publish” after I write.  I thought I had this out last night (still late, I know) turns out I didn’t. Sorry!  Let’s flashback to Monday shenanigans shall we?

Did you know this is back already?! Monday made!

You know that feeling you get when you finally climb out of the pile of tasks that have been suffocating you for a while?  Well I finally had that feeling at work today.  207 student files cleared from my life forever……until they come back to haunt me under a new program of study but whatever.  Having a day that allowed me to catch up AND make progress on new tasks was so refreshing.  

 But enough about that, here’s what’s for dinner in our house this week:

Monday: Grilled Pork Chops with Watermelon and Sweet and Spicy Cucumber Salad  The Sweet and Spicy Cucumber Salad (this was SO good!!!!) comes from another one of my favorite food and fitness bloggers, Gina from The Fitnessista.

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Coleslaw and more Watermelon.  Usually I make pulled pork by covering the pork tenderloin in root beer and letting it cook on low for 8 hours. I then shred the meat and mix it with BBQ sauce.   I know it sounds weird but the acid in the soda eats away the fat and keeps the moist.  This is one of Aaron’s favorite dinners and was my brother’s too when we lived together.  However, this week I’m mixing  it up.  I’ll be cooking my pork tenderloin with a chopped onion and one cup of BBQ sauce on low for 8 hours.  I’ll let you know which version our house prefers. 

Wednesday: Summer Veggie Pasta. This is one of my super easy, got to quick meals.  In a pot cook noodles of your choice.  We use either veggie pasta noodles or whole wheat organic noodles.  While your noodles are cooking cut up some yellow squash, zucchini and asparagus and saute in olive oil until tender.  Toss veggies and cooked noodles in a bowl with artichoke hearts and pesto, then serve topped with Parmesan cheese.  This week, instead of a pesto sauce, I’m using something called Hooray Puree that came in my Bestowed Box, we’ll see how it goes!

Thursday: Honey Lime Chicken Tenders with Mashed Potatoes and Side Salad.  The recipe for the chicken comes from Family Circle Magazine.  They use chicken drumsticks but since I don’t eat meat off of the bone I’m going with chicken breasts instead.  You can find their recipe here,
although you might have to register for their website to see it :/

Friday: Grilled Pizza with Caesar Salad.  I get all of my pizza stuff from Henry’s unless I’m home on a weekend and can make the dough myself.  They have great sauce and excellent whole wheat crust dough, not to mention the best price on all the veggies you need to really give your pizza the works.  I’ve never grilled a pizza before but I think I’m going to try out this method. 

Happy Eating Friends!