Aug 15: Food Prep

I was really kind of surprised when the timing for making my food for the entire week was an hour, almost to the minute.  I knew I spent approximately that amount of time, but it was interesting to document.

This week's menu:

Baked Chicken Breast

Turkey/Chicken Meatballs

Mexican Seasoned Turkey/Chicken Mixture

Broccoli/Cauliflower Salad

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower and Edamame

Garden Spinach Salad

Every week, when I have a day off, I spend time doing food prep.  Whenever I fail to do this, I end up going off my plan unexpectedly because I'm hungry, dammit, and there's nothing to eat!  Here's a little step-by-step of how I make a week's worth of food in an hour to heat and eat throughout the week.

STEP ONE

I always chop an abundance of onion, and I cheat and use already minced garlic - I hate when my hands are stinky.  If I actually liked peppers, I'd chop those right now too.  Then I sautee them in a bit of olive oil so they are ready for my recipes.

STEP TWO

I scooped out half of the onion and garlic mixture to add to my meatballs.  The other ingredients in the meatballs are: equal parts of extra lean ground turkey and extra lean ground chicken, whole wheat cracker crumbs (from the food processor), egg white, finely chopped spinach, and Mrs. Dash.

STEP THREE

I add the rest of the ground meat to the skillet containing the remainder of the garlic and onion and cook it on low, stirring frequently.

STEP FOUR

I cook turkey bacon for the salad in the microwave on a paper-towel lined plate for about four minutes, or until crispy.

STEP FIVE

I get the meatballs and chicken breast ready to go into the oven.  I use foil underneath so there is no scrubbing required.  (I forgot to snap a before pic of the chicken.)  Into a 350* oven goes the meat.

STEP SIX

Oops - I slacked on the pictures here.  Veggie prep time.  This week, I cut up cauliflower and broccoli.  I took half of the cauliflower and stirred it with minced garlic, olive oil and edamame, throwing it in the oven to roast while the meat is cooking.

STEP SEVEN

The rest of the cauliflower and the broccoli go into a yummy cold salad that also contains Kraft Pure Raspberry Yogurt dressing, finely shredded cheddar and crumbled turkey bacon.  (I accidentally took a pic of the French side of the salad dressing - the labels in Canada are French on one side and English on the other.)

STEP EIGHT

I season the now cooked ground meat with an organic ketchup sweetened with evaporated cane juice (it's better for you than refined sugar), chili powder, and sea salt.

STEP NINE

I prepare a basic salad with baby spinach and cherry tomatoes.  This salad can have any protein added to it during the week to make a super quick meal.

STEP TEN

I save last week's strawberries from certain demise by slicing them up and putting them in pre-measured servings in Ziploc bags.  These go in the freezer to be added to protein yogurt during the week.

And that's it.  From upper left hand corner, clockwise:  Mexican Seasoned Ground Meat, Meatballs, Broccoli/Cauliflower Salad, Baked Chicken  Breasts topped with BBQ Sauce, Spinach Salad and Roasted Cauliflower and Edamame.

Now, I have no excuse to for not grabbing a healthy meal - I can put one together faster than you can say "Drive-thru" or "Pizza Hut."  I also have staples like Greek yogurt, Kashi cereal, skim milk, fresh fruit, low fat cheese, tuna, whole grain crackers and whole grain organic pitas.  Good eats this week!