Week 2 Menu and tips

Good evening friends! Sorry I'm posting so late. I wanted to get you this menu sooner but life got in the way - sleepless nights, packing away Christmas decorations, reorganizing play room, teething baby...but I won't bore you will details.  The baby is FINALLY asleep so here we go!

My menu for this week with links to any corresponding recipes:

Sunday (tonight): Barefoot Contessa's Weeknight Bolognese served with green beans. It was just like what I've had in a great Italian restaurant. Highly recommend! I followed the recipe exactly (except for cutting back on the salt and pepper, but that's your call)
Not a low calorie recipe but so yummy!!! And one of my cheat meals. :)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/weeknight-bolognese-recipe/index.html

And look at all the leftovers!

Monday: Greek salad with falafels and hummus. My husband is working late this night, won't be home for dinner, so I'm getting some help from Whole Foods on this one. Not much cooking here - just assemble and reheating. There's nothing wrong with buying pre made items once in a while, especially when you know you'll have a long day.

Tuesday: slow cooker pork carnitas, black beans, cilantro rice, steamed broccoli
original recipe:
http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/pork-carnitas-50400000124223/
my version:
http://deliciouslydomesticdining.blogspot.com/2013/01/pork-carnitas.html

Wednesday: Italian chicken served over whole grain pasta with arugula salad
original recipe:
http://aaronandjillw.blogspot.com/2011/08/italian-chicken.html?m=1
my version:
http://deliciouslydomesticdining.blogspot.com/2013/01/italian-baked-chicken.html

Thursday: cooking light's loaded baked potato soup (in this month's issue - not yet available online) and some sort of chopped salad
http://deliciouslydomesticdining.blogspot.com/2013/01/creamy-cauliflower-and-potato-soup.html

Friday: pizza night

Saturday: date night out 

I also meant to mention on yesterdays post that in planning for the coming week, I made another batch of the crockpot buffalo chicken.  I wanted to have the buffalo chicken for salads and wraps.  This time, I used the unused liquid (which usually would go down the drain) and some of the chicken to make a small pot of homemade chicken noodle soup for the kids.  I only had to add some chopped carrot and whole wheat alphabet pasta.  It was surprisingly really good and I wished there was enough for me to eat too!   

And just because it's been an unusually busy cold and flu season, I thought you might be interested in this read. Foods that boost your immune system:
http://m.runnersworld.com/nutrition-runners/foods-strengthen-immune-system

Have a great night and happy cooking!
Sarah