Weekly Food Prep

I like junk food. A lot. I just can't eat it, thanks in part to Fibromyalgia and the remainder to my waist that prefers to stay small... well, you know after B-Man gets here. Small is not a word to describe my waist currently. The best adjective would probably be nonexistent.

Being that I work full time, spend 40 minutes in traffic to get to the gym after work, drive 25 minutes home, have 2 puppies to tend to immediately, then need to straighten up and prepare dinner, I have many 12-13 hour days. On those busy days, it's easy to talk myself into "just one more" burger. Or better yet, Chick Fil-A. Yum!

In an effort to prevent stops for oh so good greasy junk, I spend roughly 2 hours preparing for the week on Sunday afternoon. It takes some practice and I won't lie- the first few times you do it can be crazy overwhelming. I'm hoping this post of tips will help you learn to do it. They aren't a real guide for how to do this yourself as meals change week to week, etc., but just things I've learned through trial and error.

Before I begin ANYTHING, I make a meal plan. You can download the Excel spreadsheet I use here. I try to use one ingredient in multiple meals. Not only does it cut down on prep time, but also on grocery costs and wasted food! We have the same meals for lunches all week and variety for dinner. I package his lunch in individual bowls so all he has to do on early tax season mornings is grab a bowl and run.

Start by cooking any meat that can be cooked ahead of time. I cook roughly 4.5-5 pounds of chicken for Clay's lunches throughout the week. Once the chicken breasts are in the oven, I can forget about them for a few minutes and start working on the other stuff. If I'm making anything that requires browned beef or turkey, I start it before moving on to chopping. Browned meat can be stored in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few days, or can even be frozen for later use. If you make a recipe that uses browned meat often, double up on the meat and freeze half for next time. It's a HUGE time saver.

Other meats that aren’t prepped ahead of time, but need to be marinated, like steak, should be prepped next since that's quick and easy. Put the marinade in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag, season the meat, then toss it in the bag. Done and out of the way!

When you're cooking things like rice, pasta or vegetables ahead of time, start them early so they can be working while you're doing the prep work for items to be cooked later. This week, I steamed cauliflower after the meats were taken care of. For both applications (paleo pizza crust & mashed “potatoes”), it had to be steamed to the point of falling apart, so I poured the entire bag of frozen cauliflower in the steamer and moved on to something else for 10 minutes.

When everything you plan to cook ahead of time is working, start prep work for things to be cooked later. Some meals, like the Philly cheese steak below, cooking ahead would ruin in the integrity of the dish. Instead, I slice the peppers, onions and meat, and store them together in a gallon zipper bag. When I'm ready to cook, I don't have to chop anything and clean-up is only one pan!

When everything begins coming together and ingredients are packed up, I chop fresh fruit and veggies for snacks. Snacks are incredibly important to me since I try to eat 6 small meals throughout the day, especially while pregnant. My best friends are small plastic bowls and snack-sized bags.

This was last week's fruit haul.  This week I made a fruit salad and packaged in small bowls.

Now, some easy prep ahead recipes:
Slow Cooker Pot Roast: Brown the meat during your weekly prep, then let cool. Place all ingredients, except water, in a zip bag. On the morning you're ready to cook, pour the contents of the bag in the slow cooker, pour in water, turn on the slow cooker and forget it!

Fajitas: Slice peppers and onions on prep day and toss in a bag. Season and slice chicken; put it in a smaller bag inside the pepper & onion bag. When you're ready to cook, oil a skillet and brown the chicken, then add the vegetables. Alternatively, combine all ingredients in one bag and toss in a slow cooker, then top with 1/2-1 cup of chicken broth. Slow cooker recipe here.

Stuffed Bell Peppers: Cook the brown rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, chop and saute veggies and cook whatever meat you choose to use. You have two options for storage. You can combine the ingredients and fill the peppers and place them in the dish you intend to cook them in, cover with foil, and pop them in the fridge 'til you're ready to cook. Alternatively, store the filling in a zip bag and the cored peppers in a separate bag, to be filled when you're ready to cook. If you have too much filling, put it in a bag and freeze for next time.

Baked Ziti: Make your favorite baked ziti recipe, but DON'T bake it. Instead, combine all ingredients in a baking dish and cover with foil until it's ready to cook. Some great looking recipes are here: Cheesy Spinach & Turkey Ziti & Traditional Baked Ziti w/ store bought sauce

Slow Carb Philly cheesesteak: Slice peppers, onions and steak and store all together in a zip bag. When it's time to cook, you'll only need to pour the ingredients in a skillet with the seasonings.

Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken: Chop cilantro, juice two limes, and combine in a zip bag with chicken. Pour the contents in the slow cooker and top with salsa when ready to cook.

A few other tips:
If you pack your salads in mason jars, the air doesn't get in to wilt the lettuce. Because tomatoes and other veggies lose moisture, putting them in the bottom makes the moisture fall away from the lettuce, also preventing soggy greens! You can even put the dressing in first and just shake when you're ready to eat!

If you plan on having burgers, don't cook them ahead of time! Not only will they lose moisture in the fridge, but they'll be even dryer after microwaving them. Instead, combine your raw meat and seasonings then form into patties. Stack the patties on top of each other with a piece of foil between each, then wrap in plastic wrap or pop in a sandwich-sized bag.

If you're cooking a dish that requires one ingredient to begin cooking first, use multiple bags! For instance, sometimes onions need to cook for a few minutes before adding the other ingredients. I do not want to chop before I cook, so I do it with my prep and put them in a sandwich-sized bag, then put that bag in the gallon-sized bag with the other ingredients. It still keeps all of the ingredients together, but keeps the onions separate for easy removal.

The juices of raw meats can't always be contained by zip bags, so ALWAYS safeguard the rest of your fridge. I use larger plastic bowls to contain the bags for each meal. Sure, I started that at first because as a self-diagnosed OCD gal, organization makes me happy, but then I realized the bowl was great because a leaky steak bag didn't contaminate my produce drawer!

If you have left over sauces or soups, you can always freeze them for use later. To save space in your freezer, skip the bulky bowl! Instead, pour the [cooled] sauce, etc in a bag and lie flat in the freezer. Gently remove all air from the bag, then zip closed. I always lean the end of the bag against something to prevent any leakage. When the sauce is frozen solid, it will stand up like a book! Thank you, Grandmama, for that little tidbit of knowledge. It's been used frequently!

You've probably picked up on this, but if you're bulk cooking/preparing, zipper bags are a much better option than bowls. They take up much less room and there's no clean up!

Do you have any prep ahead or storage tips you've learned? I'd love to hear them!

Roxie

My Christmas list usually consists of things like Buckle jeans and Sperry boat shoes. I officially entered adulthood Christmas 2010 when the top spot on my wish list went to the Swiffer Sweeper Vac. Throughout college, the regular Swiffer was enough to clean the tiny kitchen in my 40-year-old townhouse. It got under the dishwasher, refrigerator and the washer & dryer that sat in the corner like an extension to the countertops (only a man would design this setup- who wants to cook and do laundry in the same room???) With a grown-up house, I needed the bad boy. Like Tim Taylor on Home Improvement, I needed POWER (insert grunts here) to tackle the tumbleweeds of hair roaming the baseboards of my new abode.

Quick, convenient and effective! It was floor care nirvana!

When Clay and I got engaged, I found myself roaming Bed, Bath & Beyond for hours. A salesperson suggested we register for everything from trinkets like wooden spoons to more expensive appliances like the Roomba. I looked at him like he had a martian growing out of the side of his head and thought to myself that nobody was going to buy us a $300 gift and if they do, it won't be something boring like a floor cleaner.

Thankfully, I was wrong. Meet Roxie the Roomba.



Hubby's coworkers threw us a shower last Wednesday. A few of them went in together and adopted Roxie for us. I never thought the addition of a new appliance would be so fun. I’m fascinated by this thing. I like to watch her move across the floor and see what she can pick up. So far, she loves to feed on hair, dead bugs and the occasional blanket. She isn’t a fan of raw broccoli florets, but then again, without ranch dressing, neither am I. While I was cleaning the rest of the house Saturday, Roxie was busy working on the floors. When her job was done, she scurried back to her dock and I swept. The debris pile was only a quarter of the normal size. Job well done, Roxie.

On Roxie's first night at home, Jenna, the scaredy-cat Dobie/Lab mix, was not too gracious about sharing her territory. When Roxie got close to her toys, Jenna's maternal instincts kicked in and she leapt on her toys in a heroic effort to protect them. On several occasions, she jumped at Roxie and knocked her off her path. After a few attempts, Jenna is much more comfortable with her new buddy and lets her frolic through the house uninterrupted.

"The older you get, the better you get... unless you're a banana." Thanks, Rose Nylund, for these words of wisdom. I feel less like I am on the road to walkers and Aspercreme after writing this post. As the big 3-0 approaches, that phrase won’t suffice. Maybe I can find an appliance that mops and dusts to alleviate a little of the pain.