Menu Plan Monday

Here is what we are planning for dinner this week:

• Chili Dogs, Chips, Veggie/Fruit Tray
• Spaghetti, Caesar Salad, Breadsticks
• Herb Crusted Chicken Piccata, Brown Rice, Steamed Broccoli and Carrots
• Steak Fajitas, Rice & Beans, Chips & Salsa
• Chicken Tenders, Pasta Primavera, Veggie/Fruit Tray, Homemade Wheat Bread
• Out
• Beef Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Sweet Carrots, Rolls

I love my Herb-Crusted Chicken Piccata recipe! I found it in a book called "Saving Dinner" by Leanne Ely. Here's the Recipe:

Herb-Crusted Chicken Picatta

Serves 6

4 T Italian bread crumbs

1 t garlic powder

Black pepper to taste

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 T butter, divided

1/3 c chicken broth

3 T lemon juice

On a dinner plate or pie plate, combine first three ingredients and set aside.

In a large zipper-topped plastic bag, add three chicken breast halves, close bag and roll them out with a rolling pin to flatten. Do this again with the other three. Dredge chicken in bread-crumb mixture and set aside.

In a skillet, melt half the butter over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook about 4 min. on each side or until done. Remove chicken from skillet when cooked and keep warm. Add broth, lemon juice, and remaining butter using a sire whisk to get everything up off the bottom. Cook 1 minute and spoon sauce over chicken.

Serve with brown rice, steamed broccoli and carrots.

Super quick and easy. I'm all about quick and easy, especially at the dinner hour. Here's a couple tips for making an even quicker meal:

• You can pound the chicken flat just after you buy it, then freeze. (thank you Rachel Ray!) The defrost time on the chicken is nearly half and how many of us forget to take meat out to defrost?
• I bake a large batch of rice on my cooking day and separate it into meal size portions to freeze. All you have to do is throw it in the microwave strait from the freezer and the rice is all done. Yes, I have to bake my rice because I have yet to successfully make rice on the stovetop. It is always either underdone and crunchy or overdone and mushy. By baking I get it perfect every time!
• Chopping veggies can happen in the morning or days before. I also use Ziploc's Zip 'n Steam bags. Just toss the veggies in, set the microwave, and away we go.

Be sure to check out Organizing Junkies Round-up of 500+ menu plans for more inspiration on what to make for dinner.