Food Prep: Delicious Recipes for Easy Meals

Life has been a bit busy lately. I’ve been trying to do some meal prep and easy meals to make life easier…and maybe a little healthier.

M’s been working long hours at the racetrack while live racing is in session. When I say “long hours” I’m talking from 6 am to 9 pm…five days a week. Poor guy. It sucks because he doesn’t get to eat much, and when I’m hanging out on my own I’m not that motivated to eat right. So, for both of us, pre-planning is the best route to go.

I’ve done easy things like washing and cutting up carrots and celery which I can take for sides for lunch, making chicken salad for M to take and snack on with some crackers when he gets a few quiet moments at work, and I’ve also marinated and grilled chicken breasts that can be heated up for dinner or lunches. I’ve actually really enjoyed the grilled chicken because it’s so flexible–shred it for a salad, eat it cold or heat it up and eat it with my carrots and celery.

Another easy, yet delicious lunch I discovered last week is a salad with chicken sausage. We buy this spinach and asiago chicken sausage from Sam’s Club every once in a while and I love it. I’ve sliced it up to have with whole wheat pasta and tomato sauce, as well as just eaten it plain for dinner. But one night I had a bag of salad and wanted something different. I poured some salad in a big bowl, sliced up some carrots and celery, added some slivered almonds and sunflower seeds, then heated up one sausage link. After cutting it up into smaller pieces, I added that and some light Italian dressing to the salad. OMG. I’m telling you, it might sound weird, but it’s delicious! So good that I had it for lunch the next two days (I just packed the salad in one container, the sausage in a sandwich bag, and brought the dressing with me to work).

One of the most satisfying work lunches ever!

Another favorite has been this Meatball Parmesan Casserole that I discovered on Pinterest. If you think you might be pressed for time, you can pre-make the meatballs and store in the refrigerator to bake another night. The longest part is the baking, but if you can have these ready to pop in the oven, it helps so much.

To add a little something, I place slices of zucchini under eat meatball, as well as scattered along the top under the cheese. I love zucchini, especially in Italian meals, so any time I can incorporate it, I will. Plus I think it adds some fiber and extra nutrients to the meal. The meatballs are great in a sandwich, as well as leftovers for lunch the next day.

Meatball Parmesan Casserole

And, finally, for breakfast, I have loved the Lean Green Bean’s Baked Oatmeal. I made this recipe in one pie pan, substituting chopped walnuts and slivered almonds for the pumpkin seeds and I used peanut butter instead of the Nutzo (but I added some cocoa powder as well as the cinnamon and some nutmeg). Baking this in the pie pan yielded four servings for me. And I loved heating these up every morning, adding some more peanut butter to the top and having some fresh berries on the side. It’s a great way to wake up! Next time I’m going to try adding some of my protein powder to it for some added protein.

The Lean Green Bean’s Baked Oatmeal

I’ve come to appreciate taking a little extra time, when I have the free time, to do some food prep. It might not exactly be Sunday night like some people, but it works…whenever I do it.

Your turn: Have you started doing food prep? If so, share your favorite pre-made meals!

Elf4Health Challenge – Pumpkin Butter Vinaigrette

Yesterday’s challenge was to increase your fiber intake for the day. Unfortunately, I failed when I discovered my eggs from breakfast didn’t have a gram of fiber, amongst some of my other nutritional choices. Don’t get me wrong–we ate healthy meals, but they just weren’t jam-packed with fiber. Lesson learned: Be more conscious of your fiber intake. (It keeps you fuller longer, too!)

Flash forward to today’s challenge–have a salad and make your own dressing. I’ll be honest, I was nervous about this one, because I’m not one to venture into new foods (though I’ve been trying lately), and neither is my husband. Then around lunchtime Elle retweeted someone’s recipe of a pumpkin butter vinaigrette, and I was immediately intrigued. A quick look at the recipe meant all I needed to was pick up some honey (which I had been wanting to purchase) and maybe some pumpkin seeds to garnish our salad.

So I came home from the gym pumped for my new salad creation. I baked a couple of chicken breasts while I showered, then I set about chopping the lettuce, carrots, and celery. (I forgot to boil some eggs…oh well, next time!) After mixing the salad, I grabbed my Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter (why, oh why didn’t I buy more than just one jar!?!?), honey, apple cider vinegar, and olive and set about making this recipe.

After the chicken was finished, I dished up our salads, complete with the roasted pumpkin seeds and orange-infused cranberries from Trader Joe’s into our bowls, topped with chicken, then mixed up the dressing and topped my salad. O.M.G. Absolutely delicious! I added a little more honey to sweeten the flavor (it had a bit of a bite from the vinegar), but it was perfect. And even better: My husband really liked the salad! Yes, my husband, who believes a salad is a little bit of lettuce drenched in ranch dressing and cheese (love you, honey!) liked this light take on an Autumnal salad.

So…without much further adiu, here’s the recipe, courtesy Aggie’s Kitchen.

Delicious salad with chopped carrots, celery, pumpkin seeds, orange-infused cranberries, baked chicken (not pictured) and pumpkin butter vinaigrette.

Pumpkin Butter Vinaigrette

~1 tbsp pumpkin butter
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4-1/3 cup olive oil (I did only a 1/4 cup, which might have been why there was still so much of a bite left)
1/2 – 1 tsp honey (I just poured some in, didn’t really measure, but added more later to cut the sharpness of the vinegar)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a jar (the creator put hers in a jar that had remnants of pumpkin butter–I still have tons left still, so I just used a plastic container) and mix together. Then pour on salad and enjoy!

This will probably be a staple in our house now–I almost want to throw some of those sugar-laden, probably not good for you, salad dressings in our fridge out now! However, I’m afraid I don’t know what to do when I run out of pumpkin butter (TJ doesn’t have any more), so I’m wondering how this would taste with apple butter?

Any other homemade salad dressings I should attempt? 

Related articles

• Quinoa Salad with Pomegranates, Spinach and Sunflower Seeds (chronicinthekitchen.com)
• Strawberry Salad with Candied Almondsand Balsamic Vinaigrette | Babble (babble.com)
• Make Your Own Salad Dressings and Sauces (everydayhealth.com)

A Simple Meal – Taco Salad

Dinner at home is rare for me right now with my work schedule, and with the gorgeous weather we’ve been having, I don’t want to be stuck in the house, but rather taking the dogs for a walk or doing something besides cook. So the other night, when both M and I were actually home for dinner, I wanted something different, so I decided to make taco salad.

Unfortunately I didn’t have any taco meat seasoning or even any chili seasoning (chili seasoning does well in a pinch, fyi). So as I was browning the ground turkey, I added dried chopped onions, some fresh ground black pepper, a little garlic powder, and some red pepper flakes. Then once the meat was browned, I added some salsa and some taco sauce to give the meat a little more flavor.

Meanwhile, I chopped up the half head of iceberg lettuce we had left from salad earlier in the week (M hates bagged salad). I added a few tortilla chips to a bottom of my salad bowl (gotta have a little crunch in there), then piled on the lettuce, browned taco meat, some light shredded cheese, and more salsa. It was exactly what we both needed–a light, yet filling meal that was quick and healthier than going out (and cheaper, too).

I think next time I might add some beans for a little more protein and fiber. M added his trademark banana peppers. If I ever got the gumption to try to make healthy guacamole (or I could just buy it…), that’d be great to add on, too.

Feel free to make the recipe your own–that’s part of the fun of taco salads, right?

A colorful bowl of yumminess!