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. 

Foodie Friday : Cooked veggie salad

Is this a food blog or a running blog?  Years ago I merged my food blog with my running blog...and now I post more about food than running!  I really do intend for this blog to be a little bit of everything, and there is a running update post in the works.  I just have to make some time to figure out what to say and get it typed up.  Apparently food is easier to write about. 


Run Club had a potluck on Wednesday and, no surprise, I did not remember it when I was grocery shopping on Sunday.  So Tuesday afternoon rolled around, I really did not want to go back to the store, and in addition to the bread I said I would bring, I wanted to bring something healthy because no one else had volunteered to bring anything healthy and I have pretty much become the designated healthy-food bringer.  I swear I'm not trying to be a healthy-food fanatic...I just know my body feels better when I eat vegetables! 

Anyway, I raided the fridge and freezer to see what I could make without going to the store.  I didn't want to make anything that needed to be hot, because I knew I couldn't keep it hot up until the time it would be eaten after we all ran, but I also didn't want to bring raw veggies because I hate raw veggies.  A quick google search confirmed that I wasn't the first person to think of serving a cold, cooked, veggie salad.  So I whipped one up. 

Cold Cooked Carrot Salad

1.5 lbs carrots

24 oz frozen cauliflower

6 oz frozen corn

2 tbsp (ish) minced garlic

olive oil 

for the dressing : Tuscan Herb Olive Oil and 18 yr aged Balsamic 

Chop the carrots into bite-sized pieces and sauté in olive oil.  Stir frequently to aid in even cooking. When they start to brown, add frozen corn.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until corn begins to brown.  Add minced garlic and cook for another minute or two.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Sauté frozen cauliflower until it is cooked through and the edges are browning.  Add to the bowl. Allow to cool to room temperature.  (I set it outside on the screened porch to help it cool faster...)  Drizzle with Tuscan Herb Olive Oil and Balsamic, stir well.  

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When I finished running some people had already started eating and someone asked me if I made the cauliflower salad.  Yes, yes I did.  Although I prefer to think of it as a carrot salad.  It was a hit, and most of it got eaten, but thankfully there was a little bit left to enjoy at home the next day!

Meal Prep 4/1/19

Last week's lunches were delicious, but there was something in those brats that tore us up!  I don't know if it was just the fact that they are full of preservatives and we are not used to eating such processed food, or if it was something else, but by Wednesday I was eating around the brats and throwing them out.  I hate wasting food, but my stomach thanked me for not eating them any more.  This is the downside to eating healthy, if you want to call it a downside... The further away I get from processed foods, the harder it is for my stomach to handle them on the rare occasions when I do eat them.

After last week, I felt like we needed something much lighter this week, so I decided to make tuna risotto.  With double the veggies.

Risotto : Chop 1 sweet onion and brown in olive oil in a large pot.  When onion is browned, add minced garlic to taste, and 1 pound of arborio rice. Stir to coat rice with oil, then add enough chicken broth to cover the rice.  Simmer, adding chicken broth as necessary.  If you run out of chicken broth, use water.  I used 32 oz of broth and about 2 cups of water. Chop 8 or 9 mushrooms and add them with the last 1/2 cup or so of water.  Rice is done when it is creamy and not crunchy.

Tuna : Open and drain 3 12oz cans of tuna.  Add to the risotto after it has been removed from the heat and mix well.

Veggies : Chop and roast 2 lbs of Brussels sprouts in the oven around 450 for 10 minutes.  Chop 10-11 medium carrots.  Sauté in a skillet with olive oil and garlic powder to taste.

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.