Sunday Food Prep – what went down in my kitchen (12)

Hello!

Happy (dreary) Monday!

Are you in an area that got slammed with ice and sleet last night and this morning? Ugh. All we have here is rain. Rain, rain, and more rain. It’s a little disgusting.

But, it’s not freezing so … it could be so much worse. I’m not complaining.

Since I’ve been feeling better, I’ve gotten my motivation back.

Boy, did it really tank last week!

That’s why there was no Weekly Workout post on Saturday. I only went to CrossFit twice and I wasn’t really thrilled about either time. That’s so not me. You know I love CrossFit. It was just way more fun to come home and drink bourbon. 🙂

Okay, seriously, I only drank a little bourbon last week.  I had too much school work to do. Lots and lots of reading!! And, unfortunately, passing out into a book or my computer certainly wouldn’t help me get As in all my classes (see 2015 goals).

But, this week, I’m raring and ready to go and I totally got my food prep on yesterday.

In case you’re new and/or wonder where I found my inspiration to start food prepping on the weekend, you should totally check out Lindsay’s blog over at the Lean Green Bean. She food preps like a mad woman – it’s really pretty impressive all that she gets accomplished!  She’s even shared tips here on how to get started, foods that freeze well, and how to eat healthy during the week. Just imagine how much money you could save without all those trips out to lunch or to the snack machine during the week! Plus, if you’re eating food you’ve made, chances are it’s going to be much better for you than anything you could get at a fast food joint so you’ll definitely be doing your body a favor, too. 🙂

All it takes is just getting started. Make a plan and start small. See what works for you and your family. You can do it!

Okay, so here’s what happened in my house yesterday.

I made some of Lindsay’s Quinoa Breakfast Bars.  Seriously, I cannot get enough of them. I didn’t make them last week because I didn’t food prep and boy, was I bummed during the week! So delicious!

I also made 2 Overnight Quinoa and Blueberry Oatmeals (ugh, that’s a strange word) for grab-n-go breakfasts/mid-morning snacks.

I haven’t done overnight oats in a while (and I LOVE them) and when I saw that recipe (on Pinterest, of course!) that included quinoa, I figured since I was cooking quinoa for the breakfast bars, I would give them a shot. So, that’s what in those 2 mason jars.

I had one today as my post-spin class meal and, well, the jury is still out.  It’s pretty good but I think I need to tweak it some. Like, maybe add some almond butter or something. I’m not sure. It needs something. I added roasted almonds and blueberries to the jar when I was ready to eat. Still needs something.

I picked up an organic whole cut-up chicken at Harris Teeter and cooked it in my crockpot. I sliced up some red onion and put that in the crockpot first. Then, I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and garlic powder and into the crockpot it went. Cook on high for 5 hours and, ta-da! Beautifully cooked chicken to be used in sandwiches, in salads, eaten whole, etc!

Finally, I made a huge batch of chili!  It served as dinner last night and will provide some nice leftovers during the week. For an extra protein punch (because 2 pounds of meat and 2 cans of beans doesn’t give enough – #sarcasm), I tossed in the remaining cup of cooked quinoa I had. Shh….don’t tell. 🙂

Not pictured are the veggies I chopped/sliced/etc – red bell peppers, cucumbers, and carrots.

That should get us through the week. Now, if I could just get my sailor to remember to actually TAKE the lunch that’s been made for him. *sigh*

Talk to me: Do you have a family member that forgets to take his lunch? What’s your favorite way to use a mason jar?

– jennifer

Sunday Food Prep – what went down in my kitchen (11)

Hello!

Can you believe it’s December 15th already?!

Only 10 more days until Christmas and 2 weeks until it’s 2015.

I can hardly believe it.

Man, this year has FLOWN by!

Of course, just because time flies and I’d like to grab onto it and slow it down doesn’t mean that I can shirk my chores and responsibilities.

Seriously, why isn’t there a loophole?

So, we got out in the yard and raked. So. Many. Leaves.

But, we built a big pile for mulching for my garden in the spring (yay!) and we hauled in another few pounds of pecans.

Did you know that the average pecan tree can yield 40 to 50 POUNDS of pecans?!

I should seriously set up a pecan stand. 🙂

In addition to all the raking, I also got some good food prep going.

I roasted a chicken in my crockpot and then made some homemade chicken stock.

I should have ended up with 8 1-cup portions but I made a mess (oops!) and ended up with 7 1/2 cups. So, I distributed the remaining half among the 7 jars.

I also have some homemade beef stock going. We went to an evening farmer’s and craft market on Friday and I nabbed some marrow bones. On Saturday night, those bones, a T-Bone steak bone, and the leftover bones from a chuck roast all went into a crockpot and have been cooking ever since.

Thank goodness for 2 6-quart crockpots!

I made some quinoa, Lindsay’s Quinoa Breakfast Bars (YUM!!!), and roasted some sweet potatoes.

Seriously, if you have not yet made those breakfast bars, you are totally missing out. I’m kinda addicted to them.

They’re so easy and so delicious! I like to put a little almond butter on mine and have it with a piece of fruit.  🙂

Finally, I chopped up some carrots and red bell peppers for the week next two days. 😉

I was wiped from doing the leaves but by the time 7pm came around, I was pretty pooped.

Ginny helped me feel better by being all warm and snuggly and cute on my lap.

Talk to me: Have you had to rake a lot of leaves this Fall? Do you bag them, burn them, or reuse them as mulch? Any recipe ideas (not Pecan Pie) for all my pecans? 🙂

– jennifer

Sunday Food Prep – what went down in my kitchen (10)

Hello, hello!

Welp, Monday’s back…

…and that means I get to share my Sunday food prep adventures with you!

I was feeling less than inspired – much like the Redskins offense – and only accomplished a little – much better than the Redskins offense. *sigh*

I decided that I needed to make some brownies. Because … duh … brownies.

I’ve been fiddling with my recipe a little and I like what I did this time around. I decreased the flour (gluten-free) to 3/4 cup, only used 1 egg, subbed peanut butter chips for the dark chocolate chips, and threw in some chopped pecans from the pecan tree in our backyard. We have a few so I figured why not?

I also added a couple teaspoons of this new chia, hemp, and buckwheat cereal I found at the Fresh Market.

These are definitely winners! Not overly sweet and dense but still thick and fudgy. Just the way a brownie should be! Have you tried them yet?

I roasted a chuck roast in my crockpot.

I defrosted some homemade chicken broth and used that as the liquid. I skipped all the fanciness and just went with salt and pepper and a little bit of garlic powder as my seasonings.

For a girl who doesn’t like pot roast, I was really reluctant to share!  So good!

My sailor and I had some last night for dinner with some quinoa and roasted broccoli and there’s plenty leftover for a few sandwiches or to top a sweet tater throughout the week. 🙂

This broccoli. It’s like veggie crack. Seriously, I could eat the whole pan.

Finally, I decided to make a loaf of The Lean Green Bean’s Dutch Oven bread.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m not doing that whole gluten thing right now.

Well, I’ve been gluten free for a few weeks now and I’ve been assessing my tummy situation. I’m not exactly sure that gluten is the problem (I see my doc tomorrow and we’ll discuss all the tummy things then) and I read Erin’s post about why she stopped being gluten free and it really resonated with me. I mean, I don’t eat a lot of gluten anyway (as long as I don’t eat an entire baguette in one sitting!) but I also wasn’t having any of those other, more serious issues like balance and headaches, etc.  So, unless a test comes back indicating that I need to eliminate all gluten, I figure I’ll eat it in moderation. And maybe only in homemade foods so I can control all the ingredients.

Like in this bread.

Which, incidentally, I made with 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of gluten-free flour and, while the loaf might be smaller than one that uses all gluten-y flour, it was still pretty delicious toasted and smeared with avocado this morning. And my tummy wasn’t mad. 🙂

Random Spam Comment Time!

…in response to this post

“Today, I went to the beach with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally off topic but I had to tell someone!”

Talk to me: Have you ever done an “elimination” diet? What did you eliminate? What did you learn about yourself?

– jennifer