Meal Prep 2/3/20

Back to one of my all-time favorites...pasta and meatballs!  I'm glad my sister helped me chop all those carrots because that pile was never-ending! 

Meatballs 
3 lbs 80/20 ground beef
1 lb 93/7 ground beef
1/4 c (ish) italian bread crumbs
2 eggs
oregano and garlic powder to taste

Mix it all up together and shape into balls.  I made 45 (3 for each lunch).  Layer in a large pot (I fit 30 on the bottom layer and then just spread out the remaining 15 on top), cover with your favorite sauce (Prego Fresh Mushroom) cover, turn heat to medium, and cook for about 1.5 hours.  Cut open a meatball when you think they are done to make sure there is no pink.

Pasta
Cook 2 lbs of pasta according to directions on box.

Veggies
Chop about 3 lbs carrots and saute in large pot with some olive oil.  Add 1 bag frozen peas when carrots are soft.  Add garlic powder to taste. 

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 3/11/19

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 3/4/19

Back to one of my favorites...pasta and meatballs!  

Meatballs :  3 lbs ground beef (I used 80/20 this time.  It's fattier than I normally buy, but it comes in a 3 lb package for convenience.) Mix ground beef with 2 eggs and about 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs (you know I didn't measure those breadcrumbs, I just poured them).  Shape into 25-30 balls.  Drop into a pot filled with sauce, cover and cook on medium for 90-120 minutes.  For sauce, I used a big 2 lb 13 oz jar of Prego Fresh Mushroom.  

Pasta :  1 lb of penne rigate, cooked according to package instructions.  Mixed with the sauce left in the pot after I removed the meatballs.  

Broccoli :  2 lbs fresh broccoli, coated with olive oil and garlic powder and roasted.  My oven was set to 425, I think it was actually around 475.  The broccoli roasted for 10 minutes. 

I turned the oven setting down to 395 after that to roast something else, and when it dinged to say it was at 395 I checked the thermometer I have in the oven.  It said 450.  A new oven is next on our list of big-purchase items.  As soon as we make time to go pick one out...  

Meal Prep 2/11/19

Chicken : Boneless/skinless thighs, 2 packs (6-8 per pack).  Season with garlic powder and bake in the oven at 425 for 35 minutes.  (Use a thermometer to check for thorough cooking - I stuck the thermometer in several different pieces to be sure they had all reached an internal temperature of 165.)

Brussels Sprouts : 2 lbs of sprouts, cut into bite-sized pieces.  Tossed with bacon grease and seasoned with garlic powder.  Roasted at 425 for 12-15 minutes. 

Pasta : 1.5 lbs of tri-color rotini, cooked according to instructions on the box.  Tossed with Classico Sundried Tomato Alfredo sauce.

Makes 11 meals.

Meal Prep : 10/29/18

Pasta & Meatballs

The Meatballs : 1 lb ground pork, 1 lb 93/7 ground beef, 1 lb 85/15 ground beef. 2 eggs, breadcrumbs, garlic powder.  Makes 33 meatballs.  I cooked them in approximately 72 ounces of sauce for 60-90 minutes.  The sauce was a mix of tomato-mushroom, tomato-roasted garlic, tomato-basil, and alfredo.

The Pasta : approximately 1.5 lbs of bowtie noodles.  Cook, drain, mix in sauce left in meatball pot after meatballs are removed.

The Veggies : Sauteed onion, 5 carrots, mushrooms, and 2 packages of frozen cauliflower.

The veggies were split evenly 10 ways, each lunch got 3 meatballs and 1 cup of pasta.   There was still pasta left over, so Coby's lunches each got some more pasta.  There was then about 1 serving of pasta left, so that went with the 2 last meatballs.  (The 33rd got eaten as a taste-test)

Meal Prep 9/24/18

We found ourselves with about 45 minutes of extra time between breakfast and leaving for church yesterday morning, so we decided to see how fast we could get lunch made.  This left us the entire rest of the day with nothing on the to-do list but to run.  It was so nice to have the whole afternoon and evening to just spend time together!

Boneless chicken thighs (8) : season to taste and bake at 425 for 30 minutes

Pasta (1 lb) : cook according to directions on box, mix with olive oil and about 3 tbsp of pesto

Broccoli (2 lbs) : steam in a large pot

Sweet onion (1/4, chopped) : saute until turning brown then add...

Carrots (5, large, chopped) : add to brown onion, saute until cooked through then add...

 12 oz frozen artichoke hearts, 12 oz frozen peas : steam/saute until done.

We used a 1/2 c measuring cup to portion out the meals, each meal got 1/2 c each of pasta, broccoli, and veggie mix, plus a little bit more.  8 meals got chicken, 1 of those also got a little bit of salmon because the piece of chicken was tiny, and 2 meals each got a big hunk of salmon.

We got all that done and made it to church on time.  Might have to see if we can get lunches done before church on Sunday more often... They were too hot to put in the fridge, but we put them in the garage fridge with no lids so that they wouldn't sit out on the counter the whole time we were gone.  (There is nothing in the garage fridge that we had to worry about if the food raised the temperature too much.)

Meal Prep : 9/10/18

24 oz jar of Prego Fresh Mushroom Sauce

2 lbs ground beef (1 @ 93/7 and 1 @ 85/15)

1.5 lbs rainbow rotini pasta

2 lbs broccoli

1/4 sweet onion

4 carrots

minced garlic

Dump the jar of sauce into a dutch oven, then add ground beef.  Cook covered on low-medium, stirring occasionally.  Chop and saute onion and carrot, then add to sauce.  Cook the pasta according to directions on the box.  Steam/saute the broccoli with some garlic.  When the pasta is done, mix it into the meat sauce mixture. 

For 10 lunches, each will get approximately 1 cup of broccoli and 1 cup of pasta.  There will be enough pasta left over for several more meals. 

Meal Prep Monday : 8/27/18

Tuna Noodle Casserole

School starts back up this week, and therefore so does meal prep!  We had the kids this weekend and I knew cooking would be rushed at the end of the day Sunday, so I picked something relatively quick to make for the week.  I was in a hurry so I really didn't measure or count the ingredients...consider the amounts below to be approximate!

Ingredients

1 lb large elbow macaroni

2, 12 oz cans of tuna

9 carrots

1/4 yellow onion

1 bag of frozen peas

15 radishes

the sauce

2 cups milk 

2 tbsp butter 

1/8 c whole wheat flour 

garlic powder 

3 large handfuls shredded cheese (monterey jack)

I made 10 lunches, each with about 1/2 c of vegetables and 1 cup of tuna casserole. 

First start water boiling for the pasta.  While the water heats up, chop the carrots, onion, and radishes.  When the water boils, add some salt and the pasta.  Set a timer for 10 minutes.  Put the carrots and onion in a large skillet with some olive oil.  Cover and cook on medium-high heat.  When the carrots are almost soft, add the frozen peas.  Cook for a few minutes, then remove the lid and let the veggies brown a bit.  Add the radishes and cook until radishes reach desired done-ness.  (Less time for more spiciness, more time if you want the spiciness to cook out)  When the pasta is done, drain and dump into a large mixing bowl.

For the sauce, add milk and butter to a saucepan on medium heat. When the butter is almost melted, add the flour, stirring constantly (I didn't stir enough and the flour clumped up into dough balls that I had to fish out...) Add the cheese, stir, and then pour over the pasta.  Mix the pasta and sauce, and add the tuna.  Pour into a large glass baking dish and cover the top with shredded cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Meal Prep Monday : 3/19/18

Pesto Pasta with Chicken, Veggies, & Navy Beans

*makes 18 servings*

cost : <$23.92 

(see bottom of post for ingredient list with prices)

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The pasta : Cook 2 lbs rotini, drain, and toss with olive oil and pesto.  I think I used 2-3 tbsp of olive oil and 4-5 tbsp of pesto. 

The chicken : Preheat oven to 450.  Coat 6 b/s chicken breasts with olive oil, then sprinkle on garlic powder, basil, and oregano.  Bake until internal temperature reaches 160.  I couldn't fit all 6 in one pan, the first 4 took 35-40 minutes and the last 2 took about 30 minutes.  Cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes, then shred/chop into bite-sized pieces.  

The veggies : In a large skillet, steam broccoli with some olive oil and 1/2 cup of water until tender.  Watch to make sure you remove it from the heat while the broccoli is still bright green.  If it turns dull green, it has been overcooked.  Once the broccoli has been removed from the skillet, add some more olive oil and about 2/3 c chopped onion.  When the onion begins to brown, add 1 lb chopped carrots.  When the carrots are almost done, add 1 package of frozen cauliflower.  Chop 9 mushrooms and add them when the cauliflower no longer looks frozen.  Cook til cauliflower and mushrooms are done.  Mix these vegetables with the broccoli.  Chop up any large pieces of broccoli or cauliflower so that all pieces are bite-sized. 

The beans : Pour one package of navy beans into a pot, cover with an inch or two of water.  Simmer on stove until soft.  

The meal : Each meal got 1/3 chicken breast, about 3/4 c each of pasta and veggies, and 1/8 c beans.  

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Ingredient List 

6 b/s chicken breasts : $9.28

2 lbs rotini pasta : $2.00

2 lbs fresh broccoli florets : $3.99

12 oz frozen cauliflower : $1.19

1 lb carrots : $0.99

1 lb navy beans : $1.39

8 oz mushrooms : $1.29 (I used about 3/4 of the package)

8 oz pesto : $3.79 (I think I used 1-2 oz)

My total cost at the store was $23.92, but since I had some leftover ingredients, the cost of the meal is less. 

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Wondering why I made 18 servings this week?  I've been making 10 servings a week for awhile now, to feed both my boyfriend and I.  Some of my coworkers have expressed interest in my meals on and off throughout the year.  2 weeks ago, I had some leftover food so I brought some meals for a coworker, and asked who else would be interested.  Since I was on spring break when I made this pasta meal, I had extra time, so it was easy enough to make all this extra food.  I imagine some of my coworkers will appreciate not having to worry about all their meals for the first week back from break!  

Meal Prep Monday : 2/5/18

Pasta, Meatballs, & Veggies!

Pasta & Meatballs has always been one of my favorite meals!  I remember it being my birthday meal of choice quite a few times when I was younger. I don't make meatballs too often anymore because they do take quite a bit of time to cook, but every now and then I start craving them and decide it's worth the time. 

I'm sharing with a friend this week, so I made 10 lunches for the workweek. 

Light amount of sauce for me, extra sauce for him.  

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The pasta : 1 lb penne rigate, cooked, and covered in sauce from the meatballs. 

The meatballs : 1 lb 93/7 and 1 lb 90/10 ground beef, mixed with 2 eggs, 2 tbsp bread crumbs, garlic powder, 1 tbsp mustard, some basil and oregano.  Shaped into 33 balls. Cooked in 48 oz of Prego Hearty Mushroom tomato sauce for about 1.5 hrs.

The veggies : 3 large crowns of broccoli and 5 small carrots.  Chopped into bite-sized pieces and cooked in a skillet with some olive oil and garlic powder. 

There was enough pasta left for a small meal, and 2 meatballs.  (1 was eaten when I checked to see if they were done...)

Sweet Potato Pierogies

Last year, we had our first snow day on December 10th and our second on January 7th.  This year, January 7th brought us our first snow day.  I woke up to a 1 hour delay because of the frigid temperatures, with a final decision to be made by 8:00.  8:00 went by and there was no word, so I figured I had better hurry up and get ready so I could get my car cleared and thawed in time to get to school for my early-arrival duty.  Then, hooray, the call came at 8:05, right before I started throwing on layers of warm school clothing.  So I happily stayed in sweats and curled up on the couch with a book for awhile.  And then I went for a run.  I was supposed to take today off, because I ran the last 8 days in a row, but I couldn't take a day off when it meant sitting on the couch all day.

After my run it was time to play in the kitchen, because I'm pretty sure that kitchen adventures are a snow-day staple.  My oven is out-of-order until Friday or Monday, so baking wasn't an option.  (I turned it on the other day, and several minutes later noticed fireworks going off inside it.  Turns out the heating element snapped in half...)  I had a sweet potato on the shelf that needed to be dealt with, so I decided sweet potato pierogies would be a delicious, fun, time-consuming project.

Pasta Dough

I used this recipe for the pasta dough, but I made everything smaller and used 2 eggs.  

And I added garlic powder, and skipped the cornmeal.

Filling

1 sweet potato, boiled and mashed with a spoonful of sour cream and a bit of butter

1/4 sweet onion, chopped and sauteed with 2 cloves minced garlic

The final product, boiled, lightly fried, surrounded by shaved carrots 

and drizzled with a ginger cream sauce.

Peanut Butter Chicken Pasta

2 b/s chicken breasts

garlic powder

ginger powder

turmeric powder

1/2 c vegetable stock

1-2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 c crunchy peanut butter

1 carrot

2 big handfuls arugula

Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and dump them into a skillet on medium heat.  Liberally sprinkle with the seasonings (If I was less lazy, I would have used fresh minced garlic and ginger). Add the vegetable stock and soy sauce to the skillet.  Stir occasionally as the chicken cooks, so that it will cook evenly through.  When the chicken is about down, add the peanut butter.  Mix well. Turn down the heat so that the chicken doesn't over-cook.  Chop the carrot into bite sized pieces and add that as well.  The pan should stay hot just long enough to soften the carrots.  Add the arugula a minute or two before serving; it tastes better if it doesn't wilt too much.  Serve over the grain of your choice.  I chose pasta of course, but I'm sure it would be just as tasty over rice or quinoa or farro or whatever. 

 boiling peanut butter deliciousness

arugula

Cumin-Rubbed Beef

Step 1 : Mix together cumin, mustard powder, garlic powder, sea salt, sage, and bread crumbs.
             Heat water for pasta, add pasta when the water boils.  Try to time it so pasta is done around the                    same time as the beef.

Step 2 : Coat pieces of eye of round beef with the seasoning mixture, then brown them on each side.

Step 3 : Pour red wine into the pan, just enough to cover the beef. 

Step 4 : When the beef is about halfway done, add vegetables to the pan.  

             I used cabbage and carrots.  I also grated some ginger into the pan. 

Step 5 : Remove the beef from the pan when it is done.  Once the pasta is drained, add it to the pan with the              vegetables and sauce, mix well. 

Step 6 : Eat.

Ground Beef Surprise

It's been too long since I concocted something random in the kitchen, so I decided to remedy that yesterday.  I went through the fridge and cabinets and came up with some random things to throw together.  It came out quite tasty, just like all my other experiments.

Ingredient List

I also used about 1/4 c of marinara sauce, which I forgot to write down.

Brown the onion and garlic, then add the chickpeas, corn, and tomatoes.  Cook for a bit, then add the beef.  Mix well, then add the mushrooms and pineapple.  Add seasonings. Add marinara sauce.  Cook until it reaches whatever level of thickness appeals to you.  Serve over pasta. 

One Pot Meal : Beef Stroganoff

I bought a huge 5 qt skillet about 2 months ago, and it is a great addition to my kitchen!  It was the perfect size for tonight's stroganoff, and there was even room to spare (a/k/a room to stir the food without any spilling over the sides).

Side note : spell check wants me to change stroganoff to "strongman."  strange...

One Pot Beef Stroganoff

3 cloves garlic

1 in chunk of ginger root

1/4 onion

4 carrots

2 stalks of celery

1 lb stew beef

1 can mushroom soup

1 can cream corn

1+ c marinara sauce

1/2 c heavy cream

1/2 can Guinness

egg noodles

Chop all of the chop-able ingredients.  Brown the onion, garlic, and ginger in some olive oil.  When they start to brown, add the beef.  Let the chunks of meat start to brown, then add all remaining ingredients except for the pasta.  Stir well, cover, and let cook until the meat is almost done, stirring occasionally.  When the meat is almost done, add the pasta and cook until done.  

This stroganoff is definitely my favorite that I have made so far, the consistency was perfect 

and it was really delicious!

The Pumpkin Saga continues...

The Kale

(steamed with garlic and ginger)

The Pork Chop

(cooked in pumpkin cider, sage, and ginger)

The Linguine

(tossed with a pumpkin/apple cider/sage/ginger cream sauce)

Pumpkin Ravioli

It's been awhile since I made pasta from scratch!  But I've been wanting to make pumpkin ravioli and I had some time this evening (for once I wasn't too hungry to wait for dinner to cook), so I made them.

Pasta Dough

1 egg

1/4 c wheat flour

3/4 c + white flour

2 tbsp olive oil

garlic powder

ginger powder

salt

Filling

big scoop of pumpkin

big handful of shredded colby jack cheese

Pumpkin Ravioli, 

with a Pumpkin Cream Sauce*, 

on a bed of Kale, 

with some Pumpkin Chicken** on the side.

And don't forget the Pumpkin Porter!

*Pumpkin, Heavy Cream, Sage, Ginger

**Boiled in pumpkin and Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat Beer

Yes, I love pumpkin!