Week's Eats!!

I haven't blogged since before Keely ...my non-food baby =) But now that she is more independent and growing and eating like crazy I thought this would be a good time to post.  One of my first loves is cooking and of course eating.  Being a working mom who is also taking on another responsiblity of becoming an official baptized and confirmed Catholic, I don't have a lot of time during the work week to mess around with one of the most important things we do.  EATING!
In an attempt to stream line the food prep process I've been spending Sunday afternoons prepping lunches and meals for the work week.  Nothing worse than walking in the door at 430pm with no game plan.  I can't lie, I HATE making lunches.  It is the last thing I want to do after making dinner, bathing Keely, and getting her off to bed.  I need a little down time with Kraig (when he's home) and who doesn't want to rot their brain with TV a little bit? =) Any how here is what I do to make life easier.

Lunch:  For me I make salads or prep Greek yogurt parfaits. The key to salads is buy your produce, or if your lucky enough have organic farm fresh goodies delivered.  Gather gladware disposable containers (any container you have will work as long as it's enough for the week) I hate washing containers every night too, so if you have enough you just load the dishwasher every night and voila! Problem solved.  Kraig eats at work, or if he flies I make him lunch on demand. (I'm so nice)

Pam's quasi - greek salad

Wash all veggies and prepare them (cut'em up how you like em)
I use cucumber, tomato, red onion, chick peas, craisins, red bell pepper, spring mix or romaine lettuce, sliced turkey, crumbeled feta ( lower in fat, lots of flavor and you don't need much)

Once all the ingredients are prepared I start layering my salad fixings in the container.  Juiciest/moist on the bottom (seeded tomatoes, chickpeas) to least (lettuce/spring mix) .

I use a combo of red wine vinegar and tzatziki sauce (greek yogurt, garlic, lemon, cucumber) You can find it in a lot of grocery store refridgerated sections but I get mine at Costco. 

I put the tzatziki in small containers one for each day of the week, and I bring my vinegar in a small jar each day.  Boo-ya yummy crisp salad all the way to Friday and I only chop veggies once.  Nice huh?

When I do greek yogurt parfaits I use the same assembly line process, but i use flax seed, bran buds, strawberries, and agave nectar.  Yummy, packed with fiber and protein to keep you full, and healthy for busy folks who need a lot of energy and are short on time.

Dinners

Repeat after me "Crock pots are gifts from God" ... "Crock pots are gifts from God"!!

I use mine about twice a week.  I get a meal all prepped, seared and seasoned, put it in a large ziploc bag and take it out the morning I will cook it, and place it in the crock pot.

Last week I did a chicken thigh stew seasoned with thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper.  It had diced granny smith apples, carrots, onion, and new potatoes.  I used apple cider, apple cider vinegar and chicken broth for the liquid.  Delicious over rice, or served with bread.  Keely loved it too.  She even picked up the bowl to drink the gravy.

Pizza dough!!! Love it, you can make it on Sunday and it's good for a week in a plastic bag sprayed with pam or olive oil until you are ready to roll it out and top it.  Faster than delivery and you can have your kiddo help top it.

Pasta Salad and grilled chicken.  Pasta salad gets better the longer the flavors marry up in the fridge, and Chicken tastes better the longer it marinates.  Don't use sugar based marinades they burn on the grill.  Try to always use an acid like lemon or lime, or different vinegars, olive oil and difffernet spices of your choosing.  Beer is also a great marinade liquid for chicken if you combine it with prepared mustard.  I love using Adobo seasoning as a marinade base with white vinegar and olive oil.  Very tangy and flavor full.  Great combo to a pasta salad.  You can then use the left over chicken to have chopped salads the next night for dinner or save it for enchilada filling, or a chicken salad sandwich. 

Prep a chuck roast for the crockpot with sliced onion, beef broth or cream of mushroom sauce.  The next day you can use the left over roast for open face beef sandwiches, or a stroganoff, or even shred it for enchiladas. 

Brown a pound of ground beef.  Lay it out on a cookie sheet in the freezer until it's frozen, then portion it into ready to use bags.  You can instantly throw it in pasta sauce to heat on the stove for spaghetti, and beef stock and worstechire (sp) sauce for a loose meat sandwich on a bun. 

Those are just a few things I do, and as for Keely I portion turkey or chicken into baggies, slice grapes into baggies, string cheese, yogurt, craisins, banana, pasta salad basically anything I know she'll eat on her own at school and I leave it in a plastic tub in the fridge, so all I have to do is grab it, and put it in her lunch bag.  I also leave a basket on the counter with her room temp snacks portioned for the week so I can grab those and go.  

I hope this gives y'all some ideas.  I've been asked a lot about how I make my meals for the week.  So in a "long winded" way =) I hope it's made sense.  I'll share more Ideas as they hit me.  Hope this makes your "week's eats" easier!