Making A Plan and Making It Easy: 4 Premade Meals That Will Make Your Week

 I get so completely annoyed with meal plans. I have to begin making that statement because these things are always made for people who work Monday through Friday, from 8 to 5. They don't sit in front of food all day and they get a set time to stop, sit down and eat. Oh and never mind that they probably have a microwave and a break room to sit and eat in. Is this reality for everyone? Are planning healthy meals only for them? I'm here to say NO and NO.
  I work 40 hours a week minimum in a high volume kitchen and my husband works on a flight line in the Air Force. My schedule is all over the place and his is at odd hours. The only thing certain for me is 2 days off a week. I spend one cleaning and grocery shopping and another meal prepping so we can stay on track.
  Along with 2 meal replacement shakes (we us Visalus) and a healthy snack, these meals are total life savers and I've even found that I can eat them cold if I can't heat them up (Don't judge. The struggle is real). We don't put any restrictions on the time of day we eat or what day of the week belongs to what meal. The idea is to make things as easy as possible. If we can do this with our nutty schedules, then surely anyone can.

Let me start with a shopping list. This may be the most important step. In the restaurant industry, we are taught something called cross utilization. This means to use one ingredient in as many recipes as possible. This way nothing gets wasted and money gets saved. It works great at home. The following is a list for the 4 recipes I am providing. Each recipe is meant for 2 people so you may need to make adjustments based on quantity.

Dry Goods/ Condiments:
12 oz Brown Rice Pasta
Cavendar's Greek Seasoning
Salt
Olive Oil
Fish Sauce
Light Soy Sauce
Sambal Chili Sauce
Picante Salsa
1 16oz Can Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)
PB2 (Low Fat Peanut Butter Powder)

Meat/ Dairy Products:
Almond Milk (Works great for protein shakes too)
Plain Greek Yogurt (Also works great in shakes)
Small Package of low fat Shredded Cheese
Eggs (Cage Free and Organic)
1 lb Ground Turkey
1 lb Thin Sliced Chicken Breast (You can also cut it thin yourself and save $)
Buffalo Mozzarella (I prefer Ovalini, but it doesn't matter.

Produce:
1 Large Tomato (Heirloom are best.) -Vitamins A and C, Potassium and Folic Acid
1 Red Bell Pepper- Vitamins A and C
1 Large Portabella Mushroom- Potassium
3 Cups Baby Spinach- Folic Acid and Iron
1 Head Garlic
1 Bunch Green Onions
1 Head Cauliflower- Potassium
1 Pineapple (I prefer fresh, but a small can of chunks in water is fine.)
1 Jalapeno Pepper
*Ground Basil, Ginger and Cilantro (of course these can all be fresh then chopped, but these tubes in the produce section are very helpful)

Now that all your goodies are together, you are almost ready to start this cooking party. As far as equipment goes, you all should know that I hate doing dishes so I used 1 stock pot, a cutting board, a rubber spatula, my food processor with the grater attachment, a whisk and a chef knife and cleaned as I went. In preparation, you can grate the whole head of cauliflower (a box grater works if you don't have a food processor), Boil out all your noodles, dice your Bell pepper and slice your mushroom and Green Onions.

HERE WE GO!

Portabella Melting Pot
This recipe was actually thrown together at an Armenian BBQ one night in Hollywood. The host had a huge pile of veggies hanging out on his counter and insisted I do something with them haha! So basically over some great Russian Vodka, this got thrown together. It has evolved a little and I added the pasta and ground turkey to make it a full meal. Basically this one is dear to me.

Ingredients:
6 oz Brown Rice Pasta (cooked)
1 Cup Tomato (large dice)
1/4 Red Bell Pepper (diced)
1 Large Portabella Mushroom (thinly sliced)
2 Cups Spinach
2 Garlic Cloves (thinly sliced)
1/4 Cup Green Onions
2 Tablespoons Chopped Basil
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
8 oz Ground Turkey (Browned)
1/2 Cup Mozzarella (sliced)

Instructions:

• Boil Pasta.
• In a large pot over high heat, saute bell peppers, mushrooms, and garlic cloves until soft.
• Once soft, add the remaining veggies, reduce heat to medium, cover and let steam until spinach wilts. I typically use pan spray instead of oil and add a very small amount of water if things start sticking.
• Set veggies to the side and brown the turkey.
• Divide everything in two containers starting with pasta, veggies, turkey and then mozzarella on top. Pour olive oil over and sprinkle with Cavendar's and you are done!

Cauliflower "Fried Rice"

 This was the recipe that changed my thinking about Cauliflower. The texture is wonderful and it's a total favorite in my house. It's also super healthy and easy to make.

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 Head Cauliflower (Grated)

1 tsp Fish Sauce

1 tsp Sambal Chili Sauce

1.5 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce

1/4 Cup Green Onions (sliced)

1/4 Red Bell Pepper (diced)

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Pineapple (diced)

8 oz Grilled Chicken Breast

1 Tablespoon Chopped Cilantro

1 tsp Chopped Ginger

1 Tablespoon Chopped Basil

1 Tablespoon Chopped Garlic

 

Instructions:

 

• Grill 8 oz Chicken Breast, slice and set to the side.
• In a large pot over high heat, scramble the eggs, remove from pot and add everything but the chicken and eggs.
• Reduce heat to medium, cover and stir occasionally until everything is soft.
• Once soft, remove from heat and fold the eggs and chicken in.
• Divide into 2 containers and your set.

Mexican Style Cauliflower "Rice and Beans"

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 Head Cauliflower (Grated)

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 Cup Picante Salsa

1/4 Cup Scallions (sliced)

1/4 Red Bell Pepper (Diced)

1 Tablespoon Chopped Cilantro

1 16 oz Can Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)

1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt

1 Tablespoon Minced Jalapeno

1/4 Cup Shredded Cheese

8 oz Ground Turkey

 

Instructions:

 

• Brown the ground turkey with salt and set to the side.
• In a large pot over high heat, mix together cauliflower, 1/4 cup salsa, scallions, bell peppers and cilantro.
• Reduce heat to medium and cover until soft.
• Once soft, remove from heat, divide into 2 containers and begin with the beans.
• Puree drained garbanzo beans with greek yogurt, Jalapeno and remaining salsa.
• Put beans in the pot over high heat, mix in cheese and stir constantly until cheese is melted.
• Divide beans and add them and turkey to the rice.

Thai Style Noodles

I absolutely love Pad Thai but it is not exactly healthy. I recently put this together using similar elements of this classic dish that are significantly lower in fat. It's not as thick but its a great substitute.

 

Ingredients:

 

6 oz Brown Rice Pasta (cooked)

1 Tablespoon PB2 Peanut Butter Substitute

1 Cup Almond Milk (or light coconut milk or soy milk)

1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

1/4 Cup Chopped Cilantro

2 Tablespoons Chopped Basil

1 Tablespoon Chopped Ginger

2 Cups Spinach

1/4 Red Bell Pepper (diced)

1/4 Cup Green Onions (sliced)

8 oz Chicken Breast

1 tsp Sambal Chili Sauce

1 tsp Chopped Garlic

 

Instructions:

 

• Boil pasta and grill chicken then set aside.
• In a small pot over high heat, whisk together milk, PB2, cilantro, Sambal, garlic, ginger, basil and soy.
• Let the mixture reduce until it can coat the back of a spoon, then set aside.
• Saute bell peppers, spinach and onions until soft.
• Mix everything together and divide in half.

  Everything is meant for grab and go and it can be heated on anything from a flat top grill to a microwave. I hope everyone enjoys! Feel free to comment with any questions you have!