Menu Monday (on Friday)...otherwise known as "I'm a copycat"

Inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Elefantitas Alegres, and her menu Sunday and also copying my BFF Christie who just posted this two days ago, and also inspired by a Facebook friend who had a status saying she was curious what moms do regarding meal planning, I've decided to jump on the Menu Monday bandwagon. I'll be posting my weekly menus and following up at the end of the week with my comments regarding hits and misses, and also any changes I might make in the future. I try to make two new meals every week and try to cook low calorie meals more often than not, and will post the recipes whenever possible. Feel free to share your favorite recipes---I love to cook!

Here is our menu for this week:

Monday: Dirty Rice and butter beans---Christie's husband Brad's recipe and NOT healthy at all, but it was really good and SO easy. Basically you just boil some rice in one pot, brown some thinly sliced kielbasa sausage in another pot, then combine the two and mix it up until the rice soaks up the grease. Yum!

Tuesday: Pork Chops with Mushrooms and Shallots--this was really good but lacked a little flavor, in my opinion. Loved the mushrooms and next time will definitely add more shallots and will add some wine for more flavor. Really low cal, though, and very filling. The kids loved it, which was a definite plus.

Wednesday: Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Salsa Verde---my favorite we've had so far this week. SO good, full of flavor, easy to make, doesn't taste low cal at all, and the kiddos gobbled it up. We had tons left over, too!

Thursday: Ben and the kids had leftovers from Wednesday and I went out to dinner with a friend. In case you're wondering, I had crab bisque, sushi, and wine. Delish! :)

Friday: Another girls' night for me--not the norm, but I'll take it! A big group of us is going out for sushi and to see Country Strong, and Ben is taking the kiddos on a Daddy date. They've been talking all day about Chick-fil-a so I'm guessing they'll talk him into that tonight.

Saturday: Grilled Chicken Thighs with White Barbecue Sauce--this is one of my favorite recipes and I'm so excited to have it tomorrow night. I make it all the time in the summer and we haven't had it in months, but we are having some friends over tomorrow night and I thought it would be a good meal to serve. It's a great choice to make when you have company over because you can make everything ahead of time and then just throw the chicken on the grill. I usually serve it with corn but I'm going to do twice baked potatoes tomorrow instead.

Sunday: Panko Crusted Salmon and French String Bean Salad, both from Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? cookbook---made this last Sunday and it was easy and gooooooooooood. Can't wait to have it again!

Okay, that's that, and I'll be posting our menu for next week on Monday!