Meal Planning – Dinners for the Week – 3

This is the last weekend that we are in New York for the next three weekends, so this will be my last dinner prep Sunday for awhile. Trying to do dinner prep for the week ahead on the weekends we travel is just too much (those weeks, I tend to do a lot of ordering out and frozen dinners). 

Sunday – Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

I made this back in April and liked it a lot, but made a few changes to it that made it much better (in my opinion)—namely, I eliminated the cilantro, which I don’t typically love. 

INGREDIENTS

½ cup of cream cheese, soften in microwave for 20-30 seconds

Juice and zest of one lime

½ teaspoon of cumin

½ of a red onion

¼ teaspoon of garlic powder

Sliced green onions (I used about four)

3 cups of shredded cooked chicken (I boiled about three chicken breasts and then shredded it)

4 cups of grated cheddar cheese/Monterey Jack cheese blend (use 2 cups in the chicken mixture; use the remaining 2 cups to put on top of the enchiladas)

Medium whole wheat tortillas

DIRECTIONS

1.           Pre-heat oven to 350.

2.          Combine all ingredients (cream cheese through cheese) in bowl.

3.          Add about ½ to 2/3 cup of the chicken mixture to each tortilla

4.          Roll up loosely, and place in a glass baking dish.

5.          Spread the remaining cheese on top of the enchiladas.

6.          Cover with foil and bake for approximately 30 minutes.

I also made a fresh salsa to go with this, but did not do the corn cakes, as they were too time consuming.

Chopped Tomato and Avocado Salsa

INGREDIENTS

1 large tomato, cored and chopped

1 scallion, trimmed and minced

3 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh cilantro

1 garlic clove, minced

Juice and zest of one lime

1 ½ teaspoons of extra-virgin olive oil

Dash of salt and pepper

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

Makes about 2 cups

DIRECTIONS

1.         Place all of the ingredients (except the avocado) in a bowl, and stir to mix. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to serve, for up to 2 days.

2.         Just before serving, add the avocado, and mix gently.

Monday – Tortellini with Zucchini, Summer Squash and Pesto

I don’t think I have done a blog post about this meal, but it is the easiest meal, and always a crowd pleaser. I will try to post a photo tomorrow when this is completed.

In order to prep the meal, I boiled the chicken and shredded it, chopped all the veggies and seasoned everything.

INGREDIENTS

½ onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, diced

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1-2 zucchinis (depending on size), cut into quarters

1-2 yellow summer squash (depending on size), cut into quarters

2 green onions

Dash of garlic salt

Dash of diced fresh basil

2 cups of boiled, shredded chicken

2 boxes of tortellini (I use the mixed cheese Buitoni, with regular and spinach tortellini)

1 jar of your favorite pesto sauce

Parmesan cheese  to sprinkle on top

DIRECTIONS

1.           Saute the onion and garlic with the olive in a skillet over medium-high heat.

2.          Add the chopped zucchinis, summer squash and green onions.

3.          Season with the salt and basil and add the chicken.

4.          While this is cooking, boil a pot of water with salt. Once boiling, add the tortellini (it takes about 3-5 minutes to cook).

5.          Drain the tortellini and add the chicken and veggie mixture from the skillet.

6.          Add the entire jar of pesto and mix.

Tuesday – Leftovers

We definitely have enough pasta for leftovers.

Wednesday – Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil Grilled Cheese with Tomato Vegetable Soup

I did a version of this about a week and a half ago—as I mentioned then, grilled cheese and soup is our go-to meal when I don’t know really know what else to make. Last time, I made up my own tomato soup and it was delicious! I thought I would use that recipe as the base and doctor it up with some added vegetables.

INGREDIENTS

28 ounce can of San Marzano tomato puree

1/3 cup of heavy cream

1 carrot, diced

½ onion, diced

1 green onion, diced

Garlic salt (generous)

Salt (dash)

Fresh basil, diced (generous)

DIRECTIONS

1.           Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan and warm until the carrots are tender.

2.          Serve warm.

For the prep, I diced all veggies and basil for the sandwiches.

Thursday – Dinner with Friends

Alex and I will be going out to dinner with friends this Thursday.

Friday – Away

This Friday, the entire family will be traveling to the Poconos for a long weekend. Not sure what our dinners will be there, but I am sure we will improvise.