Meal Prep 2/24/20

Creamy Cheesy Chicken with Quinoa and Brussels Sprouts

Chicken : 5.8 lbs B/S chicken breast.  Chop into bite sized pieces, cook in a large skillet with a little bit of olive oil.  When you can't see any pink, add garlic, ground ginger, 2-3 tbsp dijon mustard, and1 c heavy cream.  For thicker sauce, mix 2 tbsp corn starch with a bit of cold water, then pour over chicken mixture.  Add 2.5 oz spinach and 4 oz chopped mushrooms.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until spinach is wilted and mushrooms are cooked.  Add 2 large handfuls of shredded cheese, stir til melted, and remove from heat.

Quinoa : Cook 3 cups quinoa according to directions on package.  We used about 1.5 cups of tri-color and 1.5 cups of red quinoa. 

Brussels Sprouts : Chop 3 lbs brussels sprouts, spread out on baking sheets, coat with olive oil and garlic powder, roast at 400 for 30 minutes. 

Makes 12 meals. 

5.8 lbs chicken $11.64

4 oz mushrooms $0.99

16 oz quinoa $3.50

2.5 oz spinach $1.75

3 lbs brussels sprouts $7.23

$25.11 / 12 = $2.09 per meal

Meal Prep 1/27/20

3.75 cups brown rice ($1.69)
5.3 lbs pork tenderloin ($15.84)
2 lbs brussels sprouts ($7.98)
1 lb frozen green beans ($0.99)
15 meals @ $1.77 each


Brown Rice
In a dutch oven, combine 3.75 cups brown rice, 7.5 cups water and 1 tbsp salt.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until water is absorbed. 

Garlic-crusted Pork Tenderloin
Place pork tenderloin in a large glass baking dish.  Cover the top with garlic powder.  Bake for 1 hour at 400 degrees.

Brussels Sprouts
Chop the sprouts into bite sized pieces.  Spread out onto baking sheets and coat with olive oil and garlic powder.  Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. 

Green Beans
Place beans in a skillet with some olive oil.  Cover and cook on medium until beans are thawed. Remove lid, add garlic powder, cook stirring frequently until beans begin to brown. 

Divide all food evenly between 15 containers.   

Meal Prep 4/8/19

I used to want to be really creative with my meal prepping each week, partly because it was fun and partly because it's nice to eat really different meals every week.  Lately though, I just want to do whatever is quickest and easiest so that it doesn't take too much time out of my weekend.  This weekend, I was sick in bed with the stomach bug all day Saturday, so I found myself once again wanting something super quick to cook on Sunday.  Didn't want my whole weekend to be spent either in bed or doing chores!

Pesto pasta : 1 lb pasta, cooked according to box.  (I used Barilla Cellentani, whatever you choose make sure it has at least 8 servings).  Once pasta has been cooked and drained, return it to the pot and toss with 4-5 tbsp pesto.  Make sure you get 1-2 tbsp of oil out of the jar.  If your pesto is drier, add some olive oil to the pasta.  Sauté 1/2 yellow onion and about 8 mushrooms, then mix in with the pasta.  Divide into 10 portions.

Chicken : 2 packages b/s chicken thighs (about 14 thighs).  Layer in a large glass baking dish and sprinkle with garlic powder.  Bake in the oven at 425-450 until internal temperature in the largest thigh reaches 160 (25-40 minutes).  Chop and divide into 10 portions.

Brussels sprouts : 2 lbs fresh sprouts. Chop into bite-sized pieces, toss with olive oil and garlic powder, distribute evenly onto 2 baking sheets, bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes.  Divide into 10 portions.

We are excited for another delicious meal!

Meal Prep 3/25/19

Leeky Mac n Cheese : 1 lb shell pasta, cooked according to directions on box.  2 large leeks, chopped, thoroughly washed, and steamed with olive oil.  Cheese sauce : 2 tbsp butter, 1.5 cups milk, 8 slices Swiss cheese, 2 large handfuls shredded monterey cheese, 1/4 c flour, garlic powder. Melt butter in saucepan, add milk and flour, stir til well combined.  Add garlic powder and cheese, stir til cheese is mostly melted.  Mix cooked pasta and leeks together in a large glass baking dish.  Stir in cheese sauce.  Cover top with a single layer of Swiss cheese slices.  (8 slices fit on mine).  Bake for about 30 minutes at 375-425.  Check after about 20 minutes, you are looking for the cheese on top to brown, but you don't want the pasta to burn.


Brussels Sprouts :  Halve 2 lbs of Brussels sprouts, layer onto 2 large baking trays, coat with olive oil and garlic, roast in the oven at 425-450 for about 10 minutes.

Chicken & Brats : 1 package boneless skinless chicken thighs (2.5-3 lbs), 2 packages Bratwursts.  I had one package of regular brats, and one of beer brats.  I reserved 2 beer brats for dinner Saturday, and cooked the remaining 8 brats in these lunches.  Chop the chicken and brats, cook in a large, lidded saucepan in their own juices.  Stir occasionally.  Add garlic powder to taste. Remove the lid when the pieces look cooked through.  When liquid is getting close to cooked off, add 6 ounces chopped mushrooms.  Cook til done.  Chop and brown a large sweet onion, add a spoonful on top of each serving of meat.

Extra :  We had some sauerkraut leftover from our St Patrick's Day Reubens, which is why we decided to buy brats.  We will have some sauerkraut with these lunches until it is gone.

Meal Prep 3/11/19

I usually try not to do the same carb two weeks in a row, but we went to Lewisburg to see friends and the Pony this weekend, so I wanted something quick and easy to cook when we got back on Sunday.  So here we are with pasta two weeks in a row.  I can't say I mind though...pasta is always my favorite! And just like pasta is our go-to carb, boneless skinless chicken thighs are our go-to meat!  So quick and easy in the oven, and they taste great even if you don't season them.

The Pasta :  2 lbs bowtie pasta, cook according to instructions on the box.  Tossed with 2 giant spoonfuls of pesto and about 14 oz of roasted garlic alfredo sauce.  

The Chicken :  2 packages of boneless skinless thighs (2+ lbs each). Sprinkle generously with garlic powder. The oven was set to 425 for 40 minutes, but knowing my oven it was probably closer to 475.  I had the thighs overcrowded in the baking dish, so that is probably why it took longer than the normal 30 minutes.

The Veggies : 7-8 carrots?  I don't think I ever remembered to count them.  The carrots were chopped and sauteed in olive oil and garlic powder with 3/4 medium sweet onion. I added about 6 oz of chopped mushrooms near the end.  We also chopped and roasted 2 lbs of brussels sprouts, about 1.5 lbs of which was added to the lunches.

I cooked the pasta in my stock pot so that I after I drained it, I could use it as a giant mixing bowl to mix the pasta and veggies together.  The chicken I chopped up in the baking dish after removing it from the oven, and then used a slotted spoon to lift the meat out of the ridiculous amount of fat it was swimming in.  I added about 2 spoonfuls of chicken to each meal.

We got 12 meals this week.

Meal Prep 1/28/19

This week I roasted everything in the oven!  Temperatures are approximate, because my oven is temperamental and I am fairly positive that it always runs hotter than I set it to.  When in doubt, set your oven to 400 and check every ten minutes for done-ness...

Pork Tenderloin : Sprinkle garlic powder and oregano over a 2.5 pound pork tenderloin, then bake at 400 for 45 minutes.

Brussels Sprouts : Chop 2 lbs of sprouts, coat with olive oil and garlic powder, and roast at 425 for 10 minutes.

Sweet Potatoes : Peel and chop 3 potatoes, coat with olive oil and garlic powder, and roast at 450 for 20-30 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Petite Tri-Color potatoes : Chop 20 potatoes, coat with olive oil and garlic powder, and roast at 425 for 10-20 minutes.  Stir halfway through.

I ended up with about 1 extra serving of potatoes and 2-3 extra servings of brussels sprouts. 

Meal Prep 1/7/19

As I typed the date in the title for this post, I realized that I most likely wrote 2018 on the last check I filled out...oops.  Time to get used to writing a new year on everything! 

After a long and relaxing break filled with family time and Netflix, I head back to work today!  While I can't say it was nice to wake up to an alarm after days of sleeping in til 10, I am ready to get back into my daily routine.  I definitely function a lot better on a set schedule! 

Ground turkey was on sale this weekend, and we really liked the turkey meatballs I made a little while back, so I decided to make them again.  Add some fried rice and roasted brussels sprouts, and we are excited for this week's lunches! 

The meatballs : 2 lbs ground turkey, one egg, scant 1/2 cup italian breadcrumbs.  Shape into 20-25 balls.  In a large lidded skillet, place meatballs in a single layer.  Pour in just enough liquid to cover the bottom of the skillet.  (Last time I used chicken broth.  I didn't have any broth this time, so I used beer...) Mix 2 tbsp mustard, 1/2 c soy sauce, and some garlic powder, and pour over the meatballs.  Cover and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally to turn the meatballs.  When they are about cooked through, remove the lid and allow most of the liquid to cook off. 


The brussels sprouts : Quarter 4 lbs brussels sprouts and spread them out on 2 large baking sheets.  Coat with olive oil, garlic powder, and a dash of salt.  Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.  (It may take longer....I'm fairly certain that my oven runs hot.  According to the thermometer I put in it, it is running at least 25 degrees hotter than it is set to.)

The rice : 2.5 cups brown rice, 5 cups water, dash of salt, garlic powder.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until water is absorbed.  Chop 5 carrots and 1/4 onion.  Cook the carrots and onions in the meatball drippings, then add the rice.  Fry the rice, adding oil as needed.  We didn't fry it too heavily or add egg like I originally intended because it was a LOT of rice.  (2.5 cups was 10 servings according to the bag, but we ended up with closer to 12-13 portions.)

Meal Prep 12/10/18

Veggies : Quarter 1.5 lbs brussels sprouts, spread on a baking pan, coat with olive oil and garlic powder, bake for 15 minutes at 400.  Spread 2 lbs green beans on another baking pan, coat with olive oil and garlic powder, bake for 10 minutes at 400, stir, then bake another 7-10 minutes. 

Pork Roast : Cover with garlic powder and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

Risotto : Chop 1/3 sweet onion and cook in olive oil until translucent.  Add 1 lb arborio rice and stir to coat in oil, then add 1/2 cup wine.  When the wine is just about cooked off, add enough water to cover the rice.  Add salt, garlic powder or other seasonings to taste.  Simmer and add water as necessary until rice is smooth and creamy.  Add a handful of chopped mushrooms with the last bit of water.

**I only had 1/2 bag of arborio rice, and 1/2 bag of brown rice, so I made two pots of risotto.  Half our lunches have delicious creamy arborio risotto, and the other half have slightly crunchy brown risotto because I can't ever get brown rice to completely lose its crunch...

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms

Snow Day #8.  I'm so over digging my car out of the snow, scraping ice off my windshield, freezing half to death in polar vortexes, etc.  I know I've been spoiled by mild winters over the last few years, but this is getting ridiculous.  It was 60 degrees yesterday, and then last night it poured freezing rain, and then snowed 6 inches.  So of course we couldn't go to school.  I ended up inside all day long (until this evening when I ventured out to unearth my car).  I had a productive morning, and then felt tired so I took a pre-lunch nap.  I was awakened from my nap by the sound of wet boots squeaking all over the apartment.  I fail to understand why it is so hard to take them off at the door...but apparently it isn't as simple as I think it is?  So I had to get out of bed and grab a towel to dry off the floor before those puddles turned to salt stains.  Because I am also tired of cleaning the salt stains off the floor.  Roommate.  Can't live with one, can't live without one.

I was about to spend the rest of the afternoon being angry about once again cleaning up someone else's mess, but I realize that that is not a productive use of my time or energy.  So I decided to indulge in some kitchen therapy.  First, I made a big pot of my favorite Creamy Carrot-Ginger Soup.  When that was done, it was time to start thinking about dinner, and I decided to try making roasted brussels sprouts.  I had a bunch of mushrooms in the fridge as well, so I decided to roast them too.


1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2) Cut the stem ends off of about 8 or 9 sprouts.  Cut each sprout in half lengthwise.
3) Thoroughly rinse the sprouts and 5 mushrooms (whole).
4) Dry the sprouts/mushrooms as best you can with a towel.
5) Put them in a bowl and sprinkle with sea salt.
6) Coat with a mixture of olive oil/mustard/pesto/oregano.
7) Spread evenly on a baking pan and bake for 30 minutes.
8) Eat them.  They are good to munch on straight off the pan.  Or you can be civilized and eat them for dinner using plates and forks and stuff.

Pre-bake

Post-bake

On top of my soup

Corn-Veggie Chowder

This is some kind of a hybrid between corn chowder and vegetable soup.  

And it's pretty delicious.  

Like everything else I make.

Peel 2-3 yukon gold potatoes and boil them.

Mince 5 cloves of garlic and a large chunk of ginger root.  Chop 1/4 of an onion.  Brown them in a dutch oven with a few tbsp of butter and some olive oil.  When they start to turn brown, add 4 chopped carrots, 1/4 c veggie stock, and 1/4 c water.  Chop a big bunch of brussels sprouts, add them as well.  Add seasonings to taste, more veggie stock, and more water.  Cook for a few minutes.  Add one 15 oz can of corn and one 12 oz can of evaporated milk.  Simmer for awhile.  

When  the potatoes are done, mash them with butter, milk, salt, oregano, and shredded cheese.  Add them to the soup.  Stir well. 

Eat. 

Enjoy.

Tastes like Broccoli

Turns out brussels sprouts are edible.  Who knew?  And, they taste kind of like broccoli.  I might not have waited 26 years to try them if I had known they tasted like broccoli.  I mean, I'm not a huge broccoli fan but I do find it to be edible, and it's certainly not my least favorite vegetable.   

I heard recently that brussels sprouts get a bad rep because they get boiled frequently, and boiling makes them nasty.  Apparently they are really good roasted.  Since I didn't feel like waiting 45 minutes for them to roast, I sauteed them instead.  

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts

10 brussels sprouts, cleaned and quartered

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp minced fresh ginger

garlic powder

ginger powder

pinch of crushed rosemary

Brown the garlic and ginger in olive oil.  Add the brussels sprouts and saute for a few minutes.  Add garlic and ginger powders if desired.  Add pinch of rosemary.  

Brussels Sprout Soup

I was perusing the produce section of Kroger yesterday morning and the brussels sprouts caught my eye.  I may or may not have ever gotten brave enough to try a brussels sprout before, but I know they're really good for you.  And I've heard recently that they are only nasty when you boil them, and that they are actually quite good if you bake them.  So, I said what the heck and bought a package of them.  I saved a few to bake later in the week, but most of them went into the soup I made today.  Which I just put away in the fridge even though I still haven't taste-tested it.

I didn't really measure most of the vegetables I used, but I'll make guesses for you...

Brussels Sprout Soup

1 stick of butter

4 c water

1 c veggie stock

3 c brussels sprouts, quartered

3 carrots, chopped

a bit of chopped onion

2 c chopped cabbage

garlic cloves to taste, minced

ginger root, grated

1/2 c quinoa

2 b/s chicken breasts, poached & shredded

seasonings to taste

steam the veggies and butter in a large soup pot

brown the garlic & ginger in some olive oil, then add to the soup pot

when the veggies are soft, add the water, veggie stock, and seasonings

add the quinoa, cook til done

add the chicken