Thursday Temptations

As we are slowly recovering from our vacation, I am trying to save money and eat healthier by cooking.  Funny that you have to recover from vacation, isn't it?!  Anyway, this week we'll be mainly making easy and tasty food to help us get back into the swing of things.  Also, we're slowly getting out our Christmas decorations so on David's days off, we'll be trying to make something fast and filling.  Wish us good luck!

photo from skinnytaste.com

Thursday:
Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets from skinnytaste.com and sweet potato fries will hopefully have David singing a happy tune when he gets home from work.  He's actually opening today so that will be different but exciting.  I'll get to have a normal honey-comes-home-from-work and wifey-makes-the-dinner day!  We'll also have one of my favorites as well:  Roasted Parmesan Green Beans from skinnytaste.com.

photo from pillsbury.com

Friday:
Since tonight is date night, I'm planning a fun, yet cheap evening.  We found the last two Harry Potter movies at Walmart the other day for $9.00! So, I thought it would be fun to have a Harry Potter movie marathon after a big morning of errands, putting together the baby dresser, and general house cleaning. I'm going to hopefully make it even better by having some of David's favorite foods like pigs in a blanket, mozzarella sticks, and fried green beans.  No, it's not going to be the healthiest meal on earth, but it could be one of the tastiest!

Saturday:
Before David heads to work we're gonna grill some Bubba Burgers.  I love how quick and still tasty these patties are!  I'll bake some potatoes and we'll reheat some of the Parmesan Green Beans from Thursday to balance out the meal.

photo from thepioneerwoman.com

Sunday:
We went to Sam's recently and purchased quite a bit of meat so I'm gonna go to one of my healthy and yummy favorites:  Cheeseburger Salad from the Pioneer Woman.  I probably won't make the homemade croutons because we need to use up a bag we already have on hand.  But I'm sure it'll be great with or without the homemade croutons.  I'll have a loaded baked potato on the side.  Not that I really need an added part to the meal because it is really filling, but I am supposed to have "healthy" carbs at every meal, so I thought a baked potato would do the trick.

sorry about the poor picture.  It's from the magazine.

Monday:
For David's first day off of this work week, we're gonna try something new.  I saw this recipe in the most recent issue of Real Simple and I thought it would work great for a vegetarian option.  I am still trying to do meatless Mondays, but it's getting harder and harder as the baby craves meat a lot now.  Hopefully this Sweet Potato and Apple soup will satisfy the little one because it does love apples!  And although I hate most football teams with the color orange in them, I am weirdly attracted to the beautiful color of this soup.  Hopefully it'll be as tasty as it is pretty!

Here's the recipe!

Tuesday:
For a simple and speedy meal, we'll be making grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit salad, and veggie chips.  Can't fault a girl for always having a go-to meal when time isn't on her side, right?!

Again, sorry about the picture quality.
It's from the magazine too!

Wednesday:
Today I plan to be super woman.  I am going to get up and go grocery shopping for the next week (most grocery stores are closed on Thanksgiving) and make a delicious and healthy meal.  All before David has to get ready to go to work.  Look at me go!  I am hoping (crosses fingers) that Real Simple's Creamy Chicken and Spinach Pasta really does only take 20 minutes to make.  We'll see, huh?  I am hoping if I smother all the veggies in a thick cream sauce David will eat it right up.  Here's to having my cape ready for today!

Enjoy!