Meal Prep Monday...or, Tuesday

In an ongoing effort to simplify my day and eliminate time wasting (which, for the record, I am pretty fabulous at doing), I made a commitment that once I got back from vacation, I would start doing some batch meal prepping.  When I did this before and created entire meals (grilled chicken breast, half of a sweet potato, steamed broccoli, sliced peppers), I got bored and let some of the meals go to waste.  

Today I decided I would prep specific foods, but not combine into set meals.  This gives me the time benefit of having foods already cooked and prepared, but still allows me the flexibility to create a few different meals with the same base ingredients.

I browned two packages of ground bison meat.  Have you ever tried it?  It taste just like ground beef (no gamey taste like you might get from venison or other such meats) but it's leaner and buffalo are raised more humanely than cows - there are no anti-biotics or hormones used and in many cases, the buffalo are pasture raised.  Do your research on the brands your store carries.  If you happen to live near a farm that sells buffalo meat, check that out and support your local agriculture.

I also cleaned and prepped two packages of Brussels sprouts.  I'm not a big fan of steamed Brussels sprouts, but I still want the health benefit of eating them, so I lightly tossed in extra virgin olive oil and organic garlic sea salt, then baked in a single layer on a baking sheet at 450 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Tip:  if your sprouts are of varying size, slice the larger ones in half to ensure even cooking.

Lastly, I simply steamed two washed & prepped bags of organic Broccoli.

Today's lunch, post-gym, was chopped raw baby spinach with the broccoli & Brussels sprouts topped with 1/2 cup cooked ground bison meat.  I then added 1/2 sliced avocado and topped with a little drizzle of Organicville Gluten-free chili sauce.  It was a fabulous lunch!  Stay tuned tomorrow to see what I make with my prepped food.

Shredded Chicken Stuffed Peppers

Hey friends!!  This is part one of a two-part blog post.  I made two separate but awesome foods for dinner tonight (the other one was Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce) and I feel like they deserve their own posts.  Therefore, this is part one...Shredded Chicken Stuffed Peppers.

I visited one of our local farm stores today and picked up three chicken breasts.  I know the chicken is from PA, just a hop, skip & a jump away from MD - and I know that it's humanely raised with no hormones or anti-biotics.  I pretty much always buy my chicken from this particular farm store.

I tossed the chicken in the crockpot and added a mixture of about 1/3 cup of my FAVE chili sauce by Organicville and 1 cup water, then I sprinkled a Mexican spice mix over top.  The chicken cooked on low for about 6 hours and it shredded with just one fork (can't beat that!)

Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cup shredded chicken
1/3 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
6-7 lacinato kale leaves, chopped
1T coconut oil
2 large green bell peppers
garlic powder
taco seasoning or Mexican spice mix
Daiya cheese, 3T chopped (or any dairy or non-dairy cheese of your choice)

Heat oven to 425.  Cut the tops off of the green peppers and scoop out the insides (pic 2).  Place in baking dish and bake for about 10 minutes before stuffing (pic 3).  Meanwhile, heat a pan on stove over medium heat and add 1T coconut oil.  Add red pepper and onion (pic 8).  Once those turn translucent, add the chopped kale (pic 9).  Cook for two minutes, then remove from heat.  Mix veggies in a bowl with the chicken and cheese.  Spoon half of the mixture into each green pepper (pic 12).  Put back into oven and cook 10-15 minutes (pic 13).

Let cool and serve with Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce (part 2 of this blog post).

Now - step by step pictures!

1. Organic, fresh bell peppers 

2. Cut off tops & scoop out seeds

3. After pre-baking for ten minutes

8. Red Pepper & onion, sauteed in coconut oil 

9. Sauteed veggies with kale added for final 2 minutes

10. Shredded chicken

11. Daiya Jack - my favorite cheese substitute

12. Before baking

13. After baking

Serve alongside my Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce 

Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce

Here's part 2 of my two-part blog post tonight:  Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce.  My earlier post was for Shredded Chicken Stuffed Green Peppers.  I served these zucchini noodles with the stuffed peppers tonight and they were heavenly!  A great pairing if you ask me.

A friend had posted on Facebook last week that she purchased a spiral cutter for veggies, to make noodles and such.  I have been wanting one for quite some time - well over a year now...so I jumped at the opportunity to get this Paderno spiral slicer on Amazon.  It arrived today and while I had already decided to make my stuffed peppers, how could I not use my brand new kitchen tool?  Just happens I picked up three organic zucchini this morning.

I want to say that while I will totally make raw zucchini noodles (recipes forthcoming), I decided to steam them tonight.  I liked the consistency, but I did really need to drain them.  Zucchini retain a lot of water!

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini
pinch Himalayan sea salt
1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
1T coconut oil
2 avocados
1/2 lemon
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp taco or Mexican seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder

I used my spiral cutter to make the zucchini noodles.  I did cut the zucchini in half crosswise to make sure it would stay securely on the cutter (pic 1).  It worked perfectly (pic 2). Toss zucchini noodles with a pinch of sea salt and steam for about 12 minutes.  Remove from steamer and drain well to remove excess water (pic 7).

In blender, add avocados, coconut milk, juice from 1/2 lemon and seasonings.  Blend until desired consistency, adding more coconut milk if you'd like (pic 4).  *Note - I only used half of this sauce for the noodles.  Set the sauce aside and heat a small pan on medium heat.  Add the coconut oil and red peppers.  Sauté for 3-5 minutes (pic 6).  Toss drained noodles, red pepper & sauce together - serve warm.

These noodles can be served with my Shredded Chicken Stuffed Peppers or any other protein dish.  Enjoy!!

1. Half of a raw zucchini, ready for spiral cutting

2. Raw zucchini noodles, before steaming

3. Avocado Cream Sauce ingredients

4. Blended sauce

6. Red peppers, sautéed in coconut oil

7. zucchini noodles, steamed & drained 

8. Serve with Shredded Chicken Stuffed Peppers

Beef & Veggie Lasagna with Zucchini & Cashew Cheeze

Beef & Veggie Lasagna with Zucchini & Cashew Cheeze

I really love that so many recipes can be tweaked based on the ingredients, produce and spices that we have on hand at home.  Many of my original recipes are made differently each time because I may not have a particular spice or vegetable.  I encourage you to use my recipes as a base or starting point for your meals...but make any changes based on your family's needs or what you have available.  That's not to say that you can't make it exactly as posted.  Either way, I'm sure it'll be amazing!!

I knew that I was going to use zucchini for the noodles and organic ground beef for the filling.  I wasn't sure what else I was going to add, so this recipe was built as I was preparing dinner last night.

There will be picture overload following the body of this post.  I love adding step by step pictures because so many of us learn visually.  Seeing each step can help less confident cooks to really visualize what their meal will look like during each phase of the recipe.

Enough chatter from me.  Here's the recipe for Beef & Veggie Lasagna with Zucchini & Cashew Cheeze.

View of one serving, from the side

Ingredients:

3 medium zucchini

1 small yellow squash

3 cippolini onions

5 white or baby bella mushrooms

3/4 lb organic (grass-fed, no hormones added) ground beef

1 recipe Cashew Cheeze (click HERE and scroll to bottom for recipe)

1/2 bunch kale

2 avocados, sliced

chili sauce

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp Himalayan sea salt

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp taco or Mexican seasoning mix

1-2T coconut oil

First, prepare the Cashew Cheeze sauce and set aside (pic 2).  Wash and slice your zucchini lengthwise (pic 4).  I used a knife rather than a slicer or mandolin so mine were not quite the same thickness...but they still worked just fine.  Steam the zucchini slices for about 8 minutes until they begin to look translucent (pic 11).  While those are steaming, dice your squash, mushrooms & onions and saute in coconut oil in a large shallow pan until browned - add some chili sauce here if you'd like (pic 6).  Remove from pan, set aside and add chopped kale to the pan.  Cook for a few minutes until it turns bright green then remove from pan and set aside (pic 10).  Next, add the ground beef to the pan and stir until cooked through.  (I like to reuse the same pan for everything because it cuts back on cleaning dishes later!)  Add taco seasoning, to your liking to lightly season the beef (pic 7).  The rest of the spices still need to be added so don't overdo it with the just yet.

In a large mixing bowl, add the ground beef and sauteed veggies.  Sprinkle the cumin, sea salt & garlic powder and mix well (pic 8).  Taste it now - if you want more spice, add more.  Line a rectangular baking dish with non-stick foil or spray well.  Add one layer of steamed zucchini "noodles" to the bottom of the dish (pic 12).  Next, layer the beef/veggie mixture (pic 13).  After that, add the kale (pic 14).  Next, add the avocado slices (pic 16).  Spread some of the Cashew Cheeze over the avocado and add the final layer of zucchini "noodles" (pics 17 & 18).  I added more Cashew Cheeze sauce and a drizzle of chili sauce to the top (pic 19).  Bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes.  Let cool a bit before serving.  Enjoy!!

1. The makings for Cashew Cheeze sauce (I added a little chili sauce too)

2. Cashew Cheeze sauce, after blending.  Mine was very thin - I added extra water.  It really thickens up during cooking - keep that in mind!

3. Three medium, relatively same size, zucchini

4. Zucchini - sliced and ready to steam

5. Diced squash, mushrooms & onion (I added a little extra zucchini too)

6. Sauteed veggies with chili sauce

7. Browned ground beef with taco seasoning

8. Ground beef & veggie mixture

9. Lacinato ("elephant") kale from my garden

10. Chopped kale cooking in coconut oil

11. Steamed zucchini "noodles"

12. First layer - Baking dish lined with zucchini "noodles"

13. Second layer - ground beef & sauteed veggie mixture

14. Third layer - chopped, sauteed kale

15. Slice avocados lengthwise in half and remove pit with large knife.  Slice the avocados lengthwise.  Scoop out with a large spoon and separate the slices.

16. Fourth layer - add sliced avocado

17. Fifth layer - Cashew Cheeze sauce

18. Top layer - more zucchini "noodles"

19. Top layer with added Cashew Cheeze & chili sauce

20. After baking - looks SO GOOD!