Monday's Menu

Okay, so today you're cooking chicken, chopping, prepping the meals for the day, right? The menu for tomorrow is pretty easy. Standard stuff that I don't really need to post recipes for, since you've most likely made them before. You may also have leftovers from today that you can opt for as lunch items instead of preparing the chicken salad I suggested. That's up to you. Since no real recipes are required, I'm giving you a Pineapple Spice Cake recipe that you can use for dessert for the week (or at least part of it, if it lasts that long). It's low in fat, using pineapple in place of the oil in the recipe, and easy, since it uses a spice cake mix. Remember, if you don't know how to make something, let me know in the comments section and I'll add a recipe for it.

Monday's Menu

Breakfast: Oatmeal with sliced banana and/or sugar, juice, milk

Lunch: chicken salad sandwiches, carrot sticks

Dinner: pork chops, rice, cooked peas and carrots

Pineapple Spice Cake

1 spice cake mix

1 20 oz can crushed pineapple (I bought sliced by mistake and pulsed it in the blender to break it up)

3 large eggs

¼ tsp maple extract (or 1 tsp vanilla, rum, coconut or whatever you like)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all ingredients together until just blended. Pour into 13 x 9 inch pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired, or glaze with maple glaze (below).

Maple Glaze:

1 C powdered sugar

1 tiny drop maple flavoring (no more, or it will be too strong) OR 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 T milk (or reserved pineapple juice)

Mix ingredients together until well blended and smooth. If additional milk is needed, add only a drop or two at a time to avoid glaze becoming too thin. Spread over slightly warm cake.

Hint: I sprinkle a couple tablespoons cinnamon sugar over the top of the batter before baking. It adds a nice crunch beneath the glaze.

For all you Weight Watchers followers, slice this into 24 small servings and it's 3 points per serving. Sliced into 18 medium servings and it's 4 points. Don't know about you, but I'll use the extra point and have a bigger slice. :-)