Father's Day Special

Father's Day is around the corner.   My hubby has asked for a meal fit for a King!  So this week my home cooked meals will begin on Sunday.

Also,  I am changing my blog a bit in hopes to make it little more user friendly.  Let me know what you think!

MENU
Sunday - Grilled sirloin fillets, baked potato and a mixed nutty salad. For desert it will be an Crispy Apple Crumble.

Monday- Meatless Monday is back! Mediterranean Quesadilla's from Budget Bytes.

Tuesday- Spicy Basil Chicken (an oriental dish) served with brown rice.

Wednesday- Fish Tacos served with a cold corn/cucumber salad.

Thursday- Grilled Pork Rib Chops with fresh broccoli.


GROCERY LIST: (if you don't already have left over from the week(s) before)

• 1 - 2 chicken breasts
• Sirloin fillet (on sale for $6.99/lbs.) Again, I buy about 1/2 lbs. per person
• Center-Cut Pork Rib Chops (on sale for $3.69/lbs.) 1 per person will be more than enough
• 2 small fillets of talapia or a white fish. 
• 1 Mango (on sale for $1)
• 2 bags of Fresh Express Salad blends, one spinach and one mix spring salad. (These are BOGO, comes to about $2.04 per bag)
• 1 bag of broccoli, you should only need 1/2 a bag so save the rest for the next week (Eat Smart products are on sale 3 for $5, @ $1.67 per bag)
• 1 lime
•  lemon
• 1 head of cabbage
• 1 red onion
• 1 cucumber
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 shallot (or small white onion)
• 2 potato's
• 1 apple (I am going to buy the Crunch Pak Apple Slices as they are one sale for $2.50 and my son will eat the rest during the week)
• roasted red peppers (optional for the quesadillas, you can use fresh peppers too)
• 1/2 cup of kalamata olives (again, optional for the quesadillas) 
• 1/2 cup of sunflower seads
• 1/2 cup of almonds ( measure your own amount in the organic area)
• 1 container of fat-free crumbled feta
• 1 container of voskos greek yogurt, plain (on sale for $1)
• 1 package of whole wheat soft tacos
• Panko breadcrumbs.
• 1 package of brown rice (Near East Rice or Couscous is BOGO, comes to about $1.01 per box)
• cornstarch
• Olive oil
• Balsamic glaze
• Salsa
• Fresh basil, fresh cilantro, red pepper flakes

RECIPES:
Sunday:
Grilled sirloin steaks

• Season the steak with salt, pepper and fresh garlic.
• Bake your potato's in the oven for 1 hour at 400 degree.  Found a great website if you have not "mastered" the baked potato:  http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/how-to-make-a-baked-potato.htm
• Mixed  nutty salad:  Salad mix, chopped cucumbers, chopped apple, sunflower seeds, chopped almonds and feta.  Then drizzled with olive oil and balsamic glaze. 

For the desert...http://purplefoodie.com/crispy-apple-crumble-anyone/  AMAZING!! That is all I have to say.

Monday:
mediterranean quesadilla's, served with salsa.
http://www.blogher.com/mediterranean-quesadilla-budget-bytes?wrap=blogher-topics/food/vegetarian-and-vegan&crumb=106893

Tuesday:
Spicy basil chicken
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-basil-chicken-50400000120262/
I make a few substitutes to this recipe:

• I use olive oil instead of canola oil. 
• Instead of chili paste, I use some red pepper flakes (we are not a spicy family).
• I take the advice of the recipe and do not use fish oil and add some extra low-sodium soy sauce.
• Also, if you don't want to buy the shallots, substitute chopped up white onion.

For the brown rice (or couscous), I saute 1/4 of the purple cabbage (chopped), red onion and any leftover peppers I had from last week.  Stir the veggies into the rice about 5 minutes before it is ready.

Wednesday:
Fish Tacos

• Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Meanwhile, take the fish of your choice, and lightly cover with planko crumbs.
• Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  
• After the oil is hot, place the the fish into the pan.  Cook on each side for about 4-5 minutes or until lightly brown. 
• Transfer to a cookie sheet and place in the over for an additional 5-10 minutes.  
• While the fish is in the oven, cut up the mango, cabbage and red onion (these are toppings for the tacos). 
• Instead of tarter sauce, I make my own cream dressing with greek yogurt.  Whisk together 1 cup of greek yogurt, juice from 1 lime, chopped cilantro and salt and pepper to taste.  
• Salad consists of the corn from one ear of corn, 1/2 cucumber peeled and cut into small bites, 1/4 cup of feta, 2 Tbps. of chopped cilantro, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic glaze.

Thursday:
For the pork chops, I marinate mine in a homemade remedy, then dip in whatever bbq sauce we have in the house.
For the marinade, mix together:

• Juice from 1 lemon. 
• 1 table spoon of olive oil.
• 2 garlic gloves, pressed.
• Salt & pepper

Broccoli, I steam mine.

This grocery list may be a little more than my normal bill (under $80), but hey, we are celebrating Dad's day!