Another week of 2 meals from one dish!

I have been searching and experimenting with dishes that produce 2-3 different meals.  Well so far I have only found a few recipes and blogs that produce such ideas, but I found a great one this week, and it has the limited ingredients which I like and a little on the healthy side (or I will at least substitute some alternative healthy choices).

This idea has to be started on Sunday for me as the Primavera Quinoa takes a little longer to make then I like on a week night.

MENU

Night 1- Primavera Quinoa with grilled chicken breasts.
Night 2 - Southwest Shrimp and Quinoa 'Lasagna"
Night 3 - Shredded BBQ Rotisserie chicken served on whole wheat buns and healthy broccoli slaw.
Night 4 - BBQ chicken cobb salad.

RECIPIES

NIGHT 1  - Quinoa is a healthy alternative to rice.  I switched my family over to it about a year ago and they hardly noticed the difference, and surprisingly, liked it better because it has so much more flavor (added by me of course).  As stated above, this recipe takes about 15 minutes to prep, 25 minutes to cook in addition to grilling your chicken.  So I would make this menu when you have a free Sunday or don't mind being in the kitchen for an hour after work.

For the chicken, buy thin fillets or cut your breasts in half, this way they cook faster.  I use the rule of about 8-10 minutes per side on Medium-high heat.   I must admit, I am not the best griller and I am still perfecting this, so if you have a great web page I could read up on, please let me know.

Click here for the recipe for Night 1 & Night 2

NIGHT 2 - This may take a little more than 20 minutes to put together before you put in the oven for 30 minutes, but the leftovers for lunch will be AMAZING!  Enjoy.

NIGHT 3- Ok, so I am not a fan of making more than one trip to the grocery store a week, but nothing beats picking up a fresh rotisserie chicken sometime.  If you choose not to pick up a fresh one, the deli sometimes has cold rotisserie chickens that you can heat up when you are ready to use. Never done this, but I am sure it would be just as good.  I would recommend brushing it with some additional BBQ sauce though.

Needed ingredients for the Coleslaw: 1/2 package of pre-made broccoli slaw (in the produce section), 2/3 cup of light mayo, 2 Tbs. of apple cider, 2 Tbs. olive oil, 2 Tbs of honey, 1/2 teaspoon of celery seed, salt & pepper to taste.  Let me just say, it taste like Carolina slaw!

To Make: Add it all together in one mixing bowl!

NIGHT 4- If you have walked into a Publix lately and looked at the Aprons dinner suggestions, you might have seen the BBQ chicken cobb salad recipe.  I suggest making a few changes to make it your own, and also a little healthier.  Click here for the recipe.
My alternative suggestions are as follows:

• Instead of the frozen BBQ chicken suggested, use extra chicken from the night before.
• Instead of fried onions, use the left over broccoli slaw.
• Substitute romaine or mix green salad mix for the suggested iceberg.
• Substitute reduced-fat feta cheese, or any part-skim white cheese, for the cheddar jack cheese.
• Substitute a yogurt base ranch dressing (found in the produce section and LOVE!) for the light ranch dressing.

GROCERY LIST

• Chicken breast - Publix has 32 oz. pkg. of Chicken boneless skinless on sale for $5
• Frozen or fresh shrimp (about 1/2 lbs) - Large white shrimp on sale for $6.99/lbs.
• Deli BBQ rotisserie chicken
• 1 bag of broccoli slaw
• 1 bag of Salad mix- Publix salad blends are 2 for $4 (only need one so $2, or you can get a head of romaine that is a little cheaper)
• 1 Granny Smith Apple
• 1-2 plum tomatoes (it is not listed that any are on sale, I like the cherry tomatoes as they are easier to cut up for a salad)
• 1 bulb of garlic
• For the chopped veggies: 1 zucchini, 1 carrot, 1 small yellow onion, small bunch of broccoli (the recipe also calls for mushrooms but the family is not a fan)
• 1 bottle of Yogurt based Ranch dressing
• Whole-wheat hamburger buns, if the deli has them individually pick up the amount you need.
• 1 container of reduced fate feta cheese
• 1 small pkg. of a shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese blend for the lasagna
• Small container of reduced fat cream cheese (you only need 4 ounces, so pick up some bagel thins for the kids, they are BOGO)
• Parmesan cheese
• Small container of Part-skim ricotta
• 1 small carton of eggs
• 1 small can of whole kernel corn
• 1 jar of "better than Bouillon", you can buy the Bouillon cubes, they are just high in sodium.
• 1 1/2 C. of uncooked Quinoa.  If it is not sold in bulk in the organic section, you can buy a box in the same area, you might just have more left over for another week.
• 1/4 cup of fresh basil  or you can use dried
• Following condiments if you do not have them: Salsa, light mayo, apple cider, olive oil, honey,
• Celery seed, salt & pepper.

Not bad on the grocery list, around 24 items (give or take if you have some of the ingredients left over from prior weeks), comes to about 6 ingredients per meal!  Enjoy!