Meal Prep Monday & something exciting!

Happy Memorial Day!!

First of all, please remember what today is all about. Our freedom isn't free, y'all. AMERICA is the land of the free because of our BRAVE! xo

So, I think I meal prepped on Sunday last week. However, since we had this extra day off from life, I waited until today. It really kind of worked out, I had procrastinated and we planned to go swimming today... except its raining so no swimming for us. We went downtown to see the memorial day parade, and then we came home and I got started meal prepping for the week.

Today I prepped breakfast for Andy+the kids for the week, the kids lunches, and dinner for everyone. I'm starting my new J O B so things will be pretty hectic! Between work, school, kids activities, Andy's work events, church, and just trying to have a social life/keep my house semi clean... I'm trying to be prepared!

For breakfasts I made them egg+sausage muffins. These are SO easy. I whisked together 2 dozen eggs, and cooked a container of breakfast sausage (crumbled, like hamburger). Coat your muffin pan with non-stick spray, add the egg mixture (I just used salt and pepper in my eggs this week), add a spoonful of cooked sausage to each muffin cup, bake at 400 until the eggs are done. This made 2.5 dozen egg and sausage muffins.

For the kids lunches, I went with an old favorite. Corndog muffins. Jiffy cornbread mix, and hotdogs. 4 hotdogs per box mix. Bake at 400 and store for later!

For dinners, today I have verde chicken in the crockpot. A double batch so I can use this for my lunches as well as a couple of dinners.

I also made lentil soup. We had a lot of veggies in the fridge that were near extinction. SO, soup was my answer. Its also vegetarian, which is a change for us since meat is the main course every meal every day.

For the soup, I used onion, carrots, fresh green beans, a can of fire roasted tomatoes, fresh celery, garlic powder, a bag of lentils, and fresh mushrooms. I used a bit of olive oil in the soup pot and sautéed the onions and green beans together until the onions were almost clear. Then I added the celery and let it wilt a bit. I then added 2 cups of water, the rest of the fresh green beans, carrots, tomatoes, and then 6 more cups of water. I let it simmer for about an hour and then I added the bag of lentils. Then 2 more cups of water. Once the lentils expanded I turned the soup off to let it cool to room temperature before I put some in containers to freeze and save the rest for dinner this week.

The last thing on our dinner menu this week will be spaghetti. Sophia's pick, and she chose penne noodles. The sauce will be made fresh with orange, red, and yellow bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and garlic. I have to work an event one night this week so Andy will do the sauce. I will pre-dice all the veggies and so all he will have to do is brown the meat, add the veggies to the sauce, and make the noodles. Easy peasy!

Meal Prep SUNDAY

Meal Prep Sunday is something that hasn't happened in a LONG time in my house!

Andy's home every night now and he's off to the office every morning, its so wonderful! School is winding up though and I am NOT a morning person (I'm working on changing that). So breakfast is never a priority for any of us. I always buy easy things for Olivia to eat in the mornings but Sophia usually just wants pretzels on the way to school, sometimes goldfish. And I usually don't even eat until noon. I know that Andy is always starving when he comes home for lunch since he doesn't eat breakfast (we are both heavy coffee drinkers, I will drink an entire pot of coffee every morning if I don't have somewhere to go!).

Today, I prepared his breakfasts for the week and they're easy little egg muffins. Southwest style.

Step one: Cut flour tortillas into small square shapes and line muffin pan with them. Then add greenery (I used baby kale)

Step 2: add your veggies. I diced red and orange bell peppers, and mushrooms.

Step 3: whisk your eggs together with sea salt, pepper, and coriander. Spoon 2-3 tbsp egg mixture onto the veggies, and then add another tortilla square.

Step 4: repeat steps 2 & 3!

Next, add the tortilla bits you cut off the round tortillas to make squares. Brush them with olive oil, and sprinkle with cheese. I used parmesan, because that is one of our favorites and we already had it in the fridge. 

Bake at 350 until the eggs are done.

When they're finished, the tortillas and cheese will be crispy, and your eggs are golden yellow and finished (not runny). 

I am going to prep my own egg muffins tomorrow, with peppers and mushrooms as well. However, I will only use egg whites on mine and I am going to skip the tortillas and cheese. 

They're the perfect grab and go breakfast, they're tasty when they're cold but 30 seconds in the microwave is perfect, too. 

Next Up:

Rainbow Meatloaf Muffins

So basically, this is just a great way to get my kids to eat vegetables. Well, Sophia. She HATES anything called a "vegetable" ... 

This is 93/7 ground beef (about 2 pounds), 3 egg whites, 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 yellow bell pepper, 1c diced mushrooms, and 2 carrots, shredded. 

Mix everything, scoop into a muffin tin, and bake at 350 until the meat is done.

These are another easy grab and go item for lunch. They're also super convenient for late nights (hello, t-ball season). Just steam some vegetables to go alongside or if your house is like my house, your kids are begging for macaroni and cheese. 

I'm also going to do a bit of meal prep tomorrow-- chicken salad is all I have left! 

That is super easy, I'm using canned chicken, a gala apple, crushed almonds, and a bit of olive oil mayo. Serve over a bed of greens and you've got a great, easy lunch! Also good with grapes instead of apples.

Balsamic Roasted Veggies

Last night I grilled chicken, made balsamic roasted vegetables (on the grill!), and black bean spaghetti. It was delicious!

Olivia is away at camp, and Sophia had leftover pizza, so dinner was a breeze. Andy spent the week with my brother in Conway while he was attending classes in Little Rock, so I was happy to make him dinner. I was excited to serve a non-picky-eater when I remembered Andrew doesn't like brussels sprouts!

DANG.

Just kidding! I decided to mix it up a little bit. Normally I roast them in the oven and serve them with red pepper, pine nuts, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and parmesan cheese. DELICIOUS! Only, its just the sprouts and I think that may be why Andy doesn't like them very much. Too sprout-y. haha! I made little tin foil packets and roasted them on the grill with different flavors and he really liked them!

Balsamic Roasted Vegetables

12 brussels sprouts, halved

1 cup sweet corn

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp olive oil

crushed red pepper

sea salt

black pepper

local honey

Once you've halved your sprouts, peel off the first 2-3 layers from each, and lay everything on your tin foil. Roll up the edges of the foil to create a sort of "tray" to hold your liquids in. Add the drained corn, oil, and vinegar. Sprinkle with the spices to taste, and then drizzle the honey over the top (optional). Roast on the top rack of your grill for about 10 minutes, and then move to the bottom rack for 3 minutes, or until sprouts are desired level of "roasted," (I like mine pretty crispy). Once they're finished, you can drizzle with a bit more honey to make them sweeter if you wish.

Spicy Chicken Soup

The weather is warming up but around here, strep throat is going around like its nobody's business! When I'm worried about getting sick, I make this delicious soup. I love it and since its pretty basic, you can add a lot to it to change it up.

I sliced up a couple of flour tortillas and made little chips to put in the soup for my family. They were easy, just spray with olive oil spray, crushed red pepper, cumin, and seasoned salt.

For the soup:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 jalepeno peppers

1 pablano (or omit this for an extra jalepeno)

7 small sweet peppers or 2 red/orange/yellow bell peppers

7 cloves of garlic

2 onions

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

1 cup (or one whole bunch) cilantro

1.5 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp coriander

juice of 2 limes

2-3 large chicken breasts (about 1.5-2 lbs meat when cooked)

8 cups chicken broth

cilantro, avocado, lime for garnish

I prefer to simmer my chicken in a crockpot all day before shredding for the soup. I simmer in water, cumin, and crushed red pepper flakes.

When you're ready to create your soup, your chicken should already be cooked and shredded. 

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

In your soup pot, sauté the diced onions, peppers, and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are translucent and the peppers are tender. 

Add the chicken broth, spices, diced cilantro, tomatoes, lime juice, and chicken. Simmer for about 30-45 minutes to allow all the flavors to mix and steep. 

Top with sliced avocado, tortilla chips, fresh tomato slices, hot sauce, lime slices, pepper slices... pour over rice, add in noodles if you wish. This is a great soup that is so versatile!

Bentos [2.14-2.19]

As a family, we eat way too much processed junk.

I used to be so, so good at keeping my kids shielded from kid-focused marketing when it comes to franken-food, and keeping it out of our home.

Then, life happened and I just kind of stopped. I feel so bad! So, the past couple of weeks I have been making an effort to get us back on that healthy eating wagon as a family. Not banning candy or chips, but definitely cutting way, way back. The kids do not NEED cookies every week to survive (and lets face it, I don't, either). 

Here are a couple of lunches from the week. I don't think I'll ever not have pepperonis in the house for Sophia. Those are her all time favorite. But we are cutting back on them. Olivia is much easier since she LOVES all fruits and most vegetables. 

Olivia's got the Lunchbots Uno container, full of veggies and a trail mix that I got at Aldi. It has peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, almonds, craisins, golden raisins, peanuts, and cashews in it. She's got a side of fruit and a side of ranch for dipping her veggies in.

Olivia is always saying "derp" and things are "derpy," so I used letter picks to spell out DERP in her pineapple. :)

Sophia's lunch is super simple but it still was "too much" for her-- she refused to eat the cheddar stars (she currently only likes babybel and laughing cow wedges as far as cheese goes). She also LIKES kiwi but she's super weird about when she will eat it. This time, she didn't want to eat it. So she asked for seconds on the clementine (which she got, and last month she wouldn't even eat clementines at all). 

What are you doing to entice your children to eat healthier? Or are you? Do you focus on that for your kids, or are you just happy they eat at all? When I was growing up there was not a real focus on fruits or vegetables. My sister and I both love them, and our brothers not so much. Its amazing how the tastebuds work!

Verde Chicken & Rice (Crockpot Recipe)

I don't know about y'all, but my resolutions for 2016 are probably a little bit different than mine for last year. And the year before, and the year before. I have a couple of family resolutions and they include "eat more vegetables," "get Sophia to eat anything besides pretzels," and "try more new things," -- all as a family.

Last night I knew I would make chicken (We have FORTY pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in our freezer, thanks to ZAYCON!), but I'm definitely bored with the usual baked chicken, side of veggies, sometimes rice or quinoa or couscous. I know my husband is too, and my kids hate everything I just mentioned. At least in that combo.

We had just visited my grandparents and of course that meant the best ever homemade tequitos, tacos, salsa, beans. OMG SO GOOD. I'm always in the mood for mexican food anyway.. its literally my favorite food genre EVER. Mondays are also our late night for the week because of ballet, so I knew I'd want something super easy (sometimes we get Eureka pizza.... $4.88 for a large one topping, can't beat it!). Crockpot to the rescue!! One bowl meals are the best.

This is not the most attractive looking meal, which is why there's not a picture... but... its delishhhhuuuusssssss. Delicious! :)

You will need:
crockpot
electricity
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (get a zaycon account here)
2 cans of green enchilada sauce
1 can red kidney beans
1 can sweet corn
1 1/2 cups brown rice (uncooked)
1 cup water
1 orange bell pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
black pepper to taste

Chop the bell pepper into small bites. Add one can enchilada sauce to crock pot, lay chicken on top. Add the other can of enchilada sauce, the can of beans, the bell pepper, and spices. Cook on low 3-5 hours or until chicken falls apart easily when you touch it with a fork. One hour before you're ready to eat, add the rice and water. Just before serving, stir in the can of corn (drained).

This was an easy meal to make and my whole family enjoyed it.... even if Sophia whined the entire time, she ate it!

** Zaycon did not sponsor this post in any way shape or form. I just LOVE this company and the wonderful customer service I've experienced with them! As a business owner, I realize the importance of customer satisfaction and word of mouth. If you're local to me (Fort Smith), I really can't say enough about the great experience I've had at our drop off (CTK school).

Verde Chicken & Cilantro Lime Quinoa {KandiPie Kitchen}

Hi there!

Today I am sharing a recipe that I use for my health coaching clients.. and myself! :) It is currently one of my favorite meals. I love everything salsa, cilantro, lime, hot sauce, and so this is perfect for me.

I serve this on top of a salad, because I love salad and because #povertymacros. Well, if I was still counting macros. haha.

The chicken is super easy: in a crockpot, add 4 chicken breasts and 1/2-3/4 jar "my brothers" salsa verde (you can use any brand but that's my favorite). Cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours. When the chicken is cooked thoroughly, use a large fork (I use a wooden spoon/spork type thing) to shred the chicken inside the crockpot. Let it sit on warm/low for another 20-30 minutes to soak up all the salsa and juices left in the crockpot.

For the quinoa, I have already prepped a large container of quinoa for the week, so I just use 1/2c red quinoa, cooked according to the package instructions. It doesn't have to be red quinoa, either. Mix the 1/2c quinoa with 1-2tbsp plain greek yogurt (depending on how creamy you like your textures). Also mix in the juice from 1/2 a lime, and a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped.

You can mix the quinoa and chicken together and eat it as a "one bowl meal" or you can use them for burritos, salads, etc. So many possibilities! :)

Happy eating!

Quinoa & Turkey Meatballs

This is a delicious spin on an old favorite.

I use quinoa instead of noodles since well, its healthier. That and Sophia will eat anything she thinks is "wice, mommy!" ..... so here you go!

You will need:

1lb ground turkey
1 cup quinoa, cooked
Your preferred marinara or spaghetti sauce
Cheese (optional)
1 egg
fresh parsley
fresh garlic (or garlic powder)

Mix meat, cheese, egg, and spices in a bowl. Divide meat evenly in to non-stick mini muffin tin (sorry, you can roll the meat in to balls too, but I don't touch raw meat!) Heat at 350 until done.

Heat sauce in a pan, pour over cooked quinoa, top with meatballs and cheese. If you're feeling really adventurous, you could spread the quinoa over a portabella mushroom and garnish with a stem of parsley!

enjoy!

Taco Salad {the family table}

Or non table, in our case. Yeah... we have to buy one for our new house! :)

Here's my most recent taco salad recipe. I'm always making new things in to tacos and taco salad... I can't help it, tacos are my fave food EVAH!

You'll need:
1 lb ground turkey
1/4c chopped fresh cilantro
1 c prepared brown rice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
chili powder
cayenne pepper

Brown meat with cilantro, set aside. Add rice, beans, and spices. You may want to add 1/4c water and let everything simmer for a bit.

Put the mixture on top of a few chips, top with lettuce, tomatoes, all the toppings you desire!

I made some guacamole to go on the side, too.
1 avocado
juice from 1/2 lime
fresh cilantro to taste
sea salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper
tomatoes

smush everything, add tomatoes, enjoy!