Chicken Soup

... I didn't actually meal prep this weekend.  We have 3 lunches leftover from last week because of various lunches provided at our workplaces, and we had enough leftovers from dinner last night for 3 more lunches.  And I only need 2 lunches for work this week because we get out at 10 on Wednesday.  So Coby can enjoy some Taco Bell a time or two, and I can make him sandwiches for any other days that he needs lunch since I won't be at work...

I made a giant pot of chicken soup on my snow day off from school last Monday, so I decided to post that this week in place of my normal meal prep post.  I used this recipe from Dishes and Dust bunnies for general guidance.

Chicken Noodle Soup.  Goes well with bacon.

Buy a whole chicken.  4-6 ish lbs is good, ours was 5.8 lbs.  Remove the packet of I-don't-want-to-know-what from the stomach cavity and toss it.  Rinse off the bird and place it in the bottom of a 12 qt stock pot.  Cover with water.  Bring to a boil, let boil for a few minutes, then turn the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 2 hours.  When the meat is starting to come off the bones, remove the chicken from the pot and pull the meat off the bones.  (Coby did this part for me while I was out losing my mind running the 1.1 mile figure 8 loop around our neighborhood for 8.5 miles because it was too snowy to run safely anywhere else.) Return all of the meat and the leg bones to the pot. 

Chop and add a few carrots, about 1/2 onion, a cabbage, a big handful of mushrooms, and a bunch of celery.  Add basil, garlic, and oregano, and salt to taste.  Bring to a boil for a few minutes, then turn back to low, cover, and cook for 2 more hours. 

I cooked up some egg noodles separately and have been adding them to a bowl and then pouring soup over them each time I've eaten the soup.  It also goes great with grilled cheese sandwiches. 

You will have enough soup for many, many meals.  Last time I made this, I froze a bunch of it.  And had enough broth leftover after eating all the substance out of the soup that I could use it to make a few batches of risotto.  This time...we might just eat it until it's gone.  We're about to go on week 2 of soup for dinner and it's so delicious we don't mind.

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...

Meal Prep 12/3/18

36 oz frozen cauliflower : 

toss with olive oil and garlic powder, roast at 450 for 15 minutes, stir, roast 10 more minutes

24 oz brussels sprouts : 

toss with olive oil and garlic powder, roast at 400 for 15 minutes

3 lbs ground turkey : 

mix with 2 eggs and 1/2 c bread crumbs, shape into meatballs, cook in a large, lidded, skillet with just enough chicken broth to cover the bottom of the skillet. Remove lid when meatballs seem cooked through, let cook until all the liquid is gone and meatballs are beginning to brown. 

(Depending on the size of your skillet, you may not be able to fit all the meatballs.  I fit 32 meatballs, and then made 3 turkey burgers with the remaining meat. Each meal got 3 meatballs, so there were 2 leftover plus the burgers.)

7 sweet potatoes : 

peel, chop, boil, mash with milk and garlic powder

Meal Prep 11/26/18

One Pot Beef Stroganoff

I used a 12 qt stock pot to cook this meal. It left plenty of room for stirring without splashing, which was nice.  

Chop and saute 1/2 lg sweet onion, 3 tbsp garlic, and 1 tbsp ginger root.  When the onion begins to brown, add 2 lbs stew beef.  Chop 12 carrots and 6 large celery sticks

Add 21 oz condensed mushroom soup, 1 can of Guinness, 12 oz marinara sauce, and 14.75 oz golden creamed corn.  Mix well, then add chopped carrots and celery.  

When carrots are soft, add 1 lb egg noodles.  When noodles are just about done, add 12 oz frozen peas.  Cook til done. 

Makes 11-12 servings. 

Meal Prep 11/12/18

The Protein : 2.58 lbs catfish nuggets.  Cooked in a large skillet with some olive oil and about 1 tsp of yellow mustard, 2 tbsp soy sauce, and 1 tbsp minced garlic.  (I totally guessed on those amounts...) I kept the lid on for most of the cooking, stirring occasionally. 

2nd Protein : 1 cup navy beans, simmered until done.

The Veggies : 13 carrots, 12 oz frozen corn, 6 mushrooms.  Sauteed with garlic powder in the drippings left in the catfish skillet.

The Carb : 2 cups tricolor quinoa, cooked in 2 cups chicken stock and 2 cups water, with some garlic powder and a dash of salt.  (Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 15 minutes)

Makes 10 meals. 

Haunted Half Marathon 10/27/18

Half Marathon #36!  This was my first race since the Pittsburgh Marathon back in May, and it felt so good to race a half again! I had forgotten just how much I loved it, and now I'm itching to run another one!  BUT Boston is the goal right now, so I can't just go and sign up for a bunch of half marathons...

Race day was wet and cold, which did not make me feel very excited to run.  It was tough to decide how to dress for high 40s with rain, but I managed to pick out an outfit and hope for the best. 

Starting line photo with our friend Tony (dressed up as Bob Ross).  

My face is a rough approximation of how I felt about the temperature and weather...

We started out in the middle of the pack, as I intended to make the first mile or more my warm-up, and then speed up if I felt good. I tried to keep the pace comfortable as I weaved in and out of runners for the first mile or two.  Eventually the pack thinned out and I just focused on keeping my pace steady.  I pushed a bit harder on the ups and relaxed on the downs.  Eventually, I found myself near a girl running with her small dog on a leash.  Dogs were allowed on the course.  But this girl was letting her dog dash back and forth behind her, and after the 2nd time it almost tripped me, I got fed up and decided that I would have to use some extra energy to get ahead of her so I wouldn't have to worry about falling on my face.  We were 4 or 5 miles in at this point, and Coby and I had been running together, but when I sped up he chose not to, so I ran the rest of the race alone.  I had broken my 6ish year no-headphone rule for races, and I never regretted that decision during this race.  The music definitely helped make the cold, wet, windy course more enjoyable!  

The course was a double loop with quite a few hills.  I was worried about how it would feel to run the same hills twice, but I ended up not minding at all!  The hills were just about the perfect distance and grade, so that I was able to get a good strong push up them and reach the top before getting too tired.  I was carrying my inhaler in my pocket and had decided that I would use it halfway through if I felt that I needed it.  I felt fine at the halfway, so I spent the rest of the race wondering if I would regret not using it.  Turns out, I did not need it this time!  I didn't start feeling the effects of oxygen debt in my legs until the last two miles, at which point I was close enough to the finish that I felt I could push through it.  It certainly wasn't worth using the inhaler that close to the finish!  

I didn't catch up to the 1:40 pacer until the last 2-3 miles, and while I managed to pass him a few times, he eventually ended up back in front of me.  I wasn't looking at my watch, but judging from the few time clocks I had seen on the course, I decided he had to be running ahead of pace.  I was right, as I crossed the line in 1:37:47, and he finished ahead of me!  I had felt like I was running stronger than a 1:40 finish, so I was glad to see that even though I was behind the pacer, I wasn't actually running slower than 1:40.  

I waited a few minutes for Coby to cross the line, and then we headed back to the car and home.  The weather wasn't really the best for hanging around, and I didn't figure I had placed, so when he wanted to go home, I agreed.  I checked the results about halfway home and discovered I had finished 5th female, 2nd in my age group!  I got in touch with a friend who was still at the event and arranged for him to pick up my trophy for me.  

about 4 miles in

I believe this was taken in the same spot as the 1st photo, but this was the 2nd time around. 

I'm slowly working on correcting that heel strike...but it's a slow process...

Meal Prep : 11/5/18

Oh, Daylight Savings Time...When are we going to abolish this ridiculousness?  I've gotten used to driving to work in the dark, I'd much rather keep that than deal with this running in the dark evenings thing...  Also, I couldn't sleep in yesterday morning because the sun woke me up. I was worried the girls would be up even earlier than usual because of the time change, but instead I was the one who got up early!  Since I couldn't fall back asleep, I made the most of it and got lunches cooked and packed before we left for breakfast and church at 9:30.  (With help from Coby when he got up and joined me not too long after I got started).  Teamwork always helps make this meal-prep adventure go even faster, which allows more time in the day for fun stuff!  

2.8 lb pork tenderloin

7 small-medium russet potatoes

3 large sweet potatoes

3 lbs frozen green beans

onion

mushrooms

The pork was crusted with garlic powder, oregano, and basil, and baked at 450 for 1 hour.

The potatoes were peeled and boiled (1 pot for the russets, and 1 pot for the sweets), then mashed together with a dash of salt, some garlic powder, and just enough heavy cream (we were out of milk...).

I browned some onions in a large skillet, then added the green beans and steamed/sauteed them.  I added a large handful of chopped mushrooms near the end.


The pork was split 10 ways.  Coby got 2 large spoonfuls of potatoes, I got 1.5 spoonfuls.  I got about 4 scoops of beans and Coby got about 3 scoops.  There were no leftovers of pork or beans, but there was 1 sandwich-container full of leftover potatoes.