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 : 3/12/18

Turkey Meatballs, Corn Bread, & Broccoli

The Meatballs : Combine 2 lb ground turkey, 2 eggs, bread crumbs, and seasonings to taste. (I used garlic powder, mustard powder, ginger powder, and basil.)  I only had a scant 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs left, but the mixture ended up pretty wet, so I'd recommend using 1/2 cup or more--add 1/4 cup at a time until the mixture doesn't seem too wet anymore. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes, until 160 internal temperature is reached. 

*If you have a wire rack that you can put under your meatballs inside your baking pan, I would recommend it!  I do not have a wire rack that fits, and my meatballs were swimming in some kind of fatty gravy when they came out of the oven.  I'm glad I lined the pan with foil for easier clean-up! I removed the meatballs promptly and set them on paper towels to soak up the extra liquid. 

The Corn Bread : Melt 2 tbsp butter and combine with 1 c milk and 1 egg.  Add 2.5 tsp baking powder, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1 tbsp sugar.  Mix in 3/4 c flour, then mix in 1.25 c corn meal.  You don't need to over-stir.  Portion out into a 12-muffin pan, and bake at 425 for 25 minutes. I used my silicone muffin cups so that I can put the corn bread in the same container as the rest of the meal and not worry about it getting soggy. 

I bought these silicone baking cups years ago and only just today actually used them for the first time!  I'll definitely try to start using them more now that they have finally made 

their way out of the box!  

The Broccoli : Chop 3 carrots and steam them in a large skillet with 2 lbs fresh broccoli crowns.  I put a bit of olive oil in the bottom of the pan, and then added 1/2 c water since the broccoli was fresh instead of frozen. 

Meal Prep Monday : 2/12/18

Garlic-crusted pork tenderloin, 

cheesy mashed potatoes and a 

green bean mix. 

The pork : A 1.5 lb pork tenderloin, sprinkled with a generous amount of garlic powder, and baked for 1 hour at 400 degrees.  

The potatoes : 5 small-medium yukon gold potatoes, peeled and boiled until soft.  Mash with 2 oz cream cheese, some milk, a dash of salt, a generous shake of garlic powder, and a small handful of shredded cheese (I used monterey).  

The green beans : Chop 1/3 of an onion and saute with 3 pieces of chopped bacon.  Add two 12 oz packages of frozen french cut green beans when the onions and bacon have reached the desired crispiness.  Cover and steam, stirring occasionally.  Chop 10 mushrooms, add them and a large handful of spinach when the beans are done.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach has wilted.  

For each meal, I put in a large spoonful of mashed potatoes, filled half of the container with veggies, and added 2 slices of pork. I made 4 lunches because that is all the lunch containers I had at the moment, but had plenty of food left to portion out later in the week. I only needed 4 lunches anyway, because I have some leftover pasta & meatballs from last week. 

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If you aren't a super-active person or are watching your weight, you can leave out the cream cheese, shredded cheese, and bacon.  This meal will still be delicious without them!

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I had this meal prepared Friday night, and then Saturday evening I went to church and discovered that Lent starts this week, which means no meat on Wednesday or Friday.  So I got back in the kitchen on Sunday night and made some bacon-less green beans and some black bean salmon burgers.

Salmon burgers : 1 small can boneless/skinless salmon, 1/3 cup (ish) of black beans, bread crumbs, garlic powder, 1 egg.  I mashed up the beans, beat the egg, and mixed everything together.  I kept adding breadcrumbs until the mixture didn't seem to wet anymore.  I shaped the mixture into 4 burgers, then I put a little bit of olive oil in a pan and cooked them for 3-5 minutes on each side.  

Meal Prep Monday : 1/29/18

This week it's mushroom risotto with ground pork and veggies.

The risotto : Chop 1/3 onion.  Cover the bottom of a medium saucepan with olive oil and add onion.  Cook on medium heat until onion is translucent.  Add a chopped clover of garlic and 1 1/2 c white arborio rice.  Stir well to coat the rice with oil, then add enough chicken broth to cover the rice.  Stir occasionally, and add more broth whenever the previous broth has been absorbed.  I used 32 oz of broth, and then added an additional cup of water with a bit of salt.  I added 3 grated carrots and 6 large mushrooms (chopped) before adding the cup of water.  When most of the water was absorbed, I added the risotto to the pan with the meat & veggies, and mixed it all together.

The meat : I put 1 lb of ground pork in my large pan and let it cook covered.  I occasionally stirred it around and broke up the meat into pieces.  When it was about done I added the veggies.

The veggies : I chopped up a small cabbage, and added it to the pan with the meat when the meat was about done.  I cooked it, stirring occasionally, until it was about done, then I added a 12 oz package of frozen peas and let it continue cooking.  When the peas seemed done, I added the risotto to the pan.

I boxed up this meal into about 6 lunches, with enough left over for another 2 smaller lunches.  

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What are you eating this week?  Leave me a comment!

Meal Prep : 5/22-5/26 One Pot Meal

Chicken

Veggies

Quinoa

Ingredients : 

1/3 onion, chopped 

2 B/S chicken breasts, chopped

1 c chicken broth

honey mustard

3/4 c quinoa

12 oz frozen broccoli

12 oz frozen cauliflower

garlic powder

salt

corn starch

Brown the onion in a large skillet on medium heat with some olive oil.    Next add the chicken, garlic powder, and salt, and cook til most of the pink is gone.    Then add all remaining ingredients except the corn starch.  Cover and simmer until the quinoa is done.  (10-15 minutes).  If there is too much liquid left, mix a teaspoon of corn starch with a bit of cold water, then add to the skillet and stir til thickened, then remove from heat.  

Notes : The broccoli had lost it's bright green color by the time the quinoa was done, so I know I overcooked the veggies.  They should probably be added a bit later.  

Meal Prep Monday : 3/27-3/31

Lunch This Week 

Pork Tenderloin

Black Beans

Carrots

Pork Tenderloin : I coated the top with garlic powder and oregano, then cooked in the oven at 400 for about 80 minutes, until a thermometer read over 140 degrees internal temperature. 

Black Beans :  I simmered the beans in a pot of water until they reached my desired texture.  Then I sauteed about 1/3 of an onion with garlic powder and olive oil until it started to brown.  I added 8 roughly chopped mushrooms, then added the beans to the skillet.  I mixed it all up and let it cook a few more minutes. 

Carrots : I chopped 6 carrots, added them to a skillet with olive oil and garlic powder, covered them until the started to soften, and then cooked them with the lid off until some edges started to brown. 

The meal : A big spoonful of carrots, a bigger spoonful of beans, and 2 slices of pork.  

Friday's meal will be carrots, beans, and salmon.  

We will see how this week goes with nothing that really qualifies as a carb to my tastebuds in my lunches.  I'm using the beans as my carb here, but I'm going to be missing the taste of pasta, potatoes, or rice.  I suspect I will be adding potato chips to these meals...we will see. 

Meal Prep Monday : spring break

 I'm on spring break this week, and staying with friends in Lewisburg until Thursday, so I haven't done any cooking.  But I started cooking weekly meals before I started posting them here, so I'm going to post my meal from the week of January 30-Feb 3.

Pasta Primavera with Chicken

I cooked up a bunch of rotini pasta, and tossed it with olive oil and pesto.  In a large pan, I combined some chopped carrots, a bag of frozen cauliflower, and a bag of frozen broccoli and cooked them together with olive oil and garlic powder.  I added some chopped mushrooms towards the end.  Then I mixed the pasta and veggies together, and portioned it into my lunch containers, adding a few small slices of chicken breast to each container.

Meal Prep Monday : 2/27-3/3

Well, I survived my black beans and lentils last week!  It did occur to me early in the week that I was eating baby food though...mushy beans, mushy potatoes, mushy lentils... I'm rewarding myself for all that protein-filled mush by eating pasta this week.

Lunch This Week

Meatballs

Pasta

Green Beans

Meatballs : 1 lb lean ground beef (93/7) mixed with 1 egg, a bunch of garlic powder, and some breadcrumbs.  Cooked in Prego mushroom tomato sauce with a bit of alfredo sauce for about 90 minutes.  

Pasta : Penne pasta, tossed in sauce from the meatball pot.

Green Beans : I sauteed some onion with garlic powder and olive oil, then added a bag of frozen french-cut beans.  Cooked til tender enough to eat.  I did cover the pan for a little while to let them steam.  

The meal : 3 meatballs, a large spoonful of pasta, and 1/5 of the green beans.  

Meal Prep Monday : 2/13 - 2/17

This week I had to do my cooking on Saturday instead of Sunday, since I was gone just about all day Sunday for the 10 miler in Blacksburg.  I didn't feel like being too productive on Saturday, so I went for something simple.

Lunch This Week

Chicken Breast

Pesto Pasta

Carrots & Cabbage

Chicken Breast : I had a pizza night with my friends a few weeks ago, and ended up with a jar of artichokes and a jar of sun-dried tomatoes to finish on my own.  Once I had eaten them, there was still lots of liquid left in the jars, that I didn't want to just dump out.  In a sudden moment of inspiration, I dumped out both jars into a pot with some chicken breast, added enough broth to cover the chicken, and poached the chicken.  It came out delicious and tender.  I happened to buy both artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes this weekend because they are yummy, and because I wanted to cook chicken that way again.  Except this time I stole the liquid out of the jars before I actually ate the food out of them.  

Place two chicken breasts in the bottom of a saucepan.  Add artichoke and sun dried tomato liquids, then add chicken or vegetable broth until the chicken is well covered.  Add a generous amount of garlic powder.  Bring to a boil, uncovered.  Once a boil is reached, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, then remove from heat and let sit for 15-20 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred, it should be very tender.  Last time I made this, I let the chicken sit in the liquid to keep it extra moist and just cut off the amount I needed each day.  This week I didn't want the "extra work" during the week so I just portioned it out. 

Pesto Pasta : I believe I cooked slightly less than 1/2 pound.  Cook pasta according to directions on box.  Toss with a generous amount of pesto, and a dollop of alfredo sauce.  

Carrots and Cabbage : I chopped about 5 carrots and sauteed them with some olive oil.  I covered the pan for a little bit at the beginning to help them soften faster.  I divided the carrots into my five lunch containers, then used the same pan to cook some finely chopped cabbage.  I didn't have a lot of cabbage left, so there wasn't very much to divide up in my container, just a spoonful for each.  I also added a tiny bit of sauteed onions to each container.  

The meal : Thin layer of carrots, spoonful of cabbage, covered with a serving of pasta, topped with some shredded chicken.  

Like last week, I will be supplementing each meal with some green grapes (on sale again!) or sugar snap peas.  

Meal Prep Monday : 2/6 - 2/10

Last school year, I had just about the exact same thing for lunch every day.  A tuna-egg salad sandwich, a golden delicious apple, and potato chips.  This was all well and good...relatively healthy, easy to make, and I somehow never completely got sick of it, though it did get old occasionally.

This school year however,  I am at a new school.  Where my commute is about 15 minutes longer.  And where I no longer have to wait in line for a microwave at lunch.  So I decided I was done with the sandwiches.  It saves me time in the morning if I can just grab a pre-packed container out of the fridge, and not have to make a sandwich and slice an apple (since I can't bite apples ever since my bike wreck in November 2015).

So now, I spend some time in the kitchen every Sunday afternoon, cooking up a meal to portion out into 5 containers to take to lunch each day during the school week.  I am loving this new routine.  I get to eat something slightly different each week, and it is so nice to just grab and go in the morning!


I've been keeping track of each week's meals for awhile now, but haven't gotten around to getting them on here.  I'm going to try to start posting them each Monday now.   And the one's I haven't posted yet will be saved for the random weeks when I don't get around to cooking and end up scrounging all week instead.

Lunch This Week

Pork roast

Risotto

Cabbage

Pork Roast : Pre-heat oven to 450.  Lightly coat a pork roast with olive oil, and then sprinkle the top with garlic powder (a lot of it, in my case) and oregano.  Bake for approximately 1 hour.  I use a meat thermometer to check temperature, and remove from the oven once it gets past 145 degrees.  A smaller roast will take less than an hour, a larger one takes more. 

Risotto : I'm not a huge fan of rice, I much prefer pasta.  However, I'm trying not to eat pasta every day...gotta change it up once in awhile.  And I do like risotto.  It's time consuming, so I don't make it too often, but occasionally I talk myself into it.  I have found that it does matter what kind of rice you use, I have had zero luck with brown rice, but arborio rice works great.  

First, I sauteed some chopped onion in olive oil.  While the onion was sauteeing, I grated a carrot and added that to the pot.  When the onions were translucent, I added about a cup of rice and some more olive oil, and stirred to coat the rice.  I then added about 1/2 cup of white wine.  I stirred occasionally to make sure nothing was sticking.  Then I warmed up about 4 cups of  chicken stock and vegetable stock in the microwave, and added it about 1 cup at a time, only adding more each time all liquid was absorbed.  When the risotto was almost done, I added a couple of chopped mushrooms and some garlic powder.  

Cabbage : I finely chopped some cabbage and sauteed it in olive oil with some garlic powder.  

The meal : A thin layer of cabbage, topped with a big spoonful of risotto, and 2 slices of pork. 

I usually cook more vegetables, but just wasn't enthused by any of my options this week.  I will supplement each lunch with some green grapes or sugar snap peas for extra fruit/veggie though.  I haven't had grapes in a while, but they were on sale this week and looked good so I couldn't resist!