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RunningRichelle
Posts: 346 Member
Well, I'll try and make this a 'sticky' thread when I figure out how. But here is one of my recent favorites.
I wanted to make something delicious and customizable last Sunday. I wanted to make 12 portions of it- a couple portions for my Mr. and I to have for dinner that night, and a work-week’s worth of lunches for both of us.
Had the fiance help me make it in bulk, and it seriously helps time-wise to have a second pair of hands! Each morning, I throw something random into the container like some green bell peppers, extra tomatoes, or whatever is on hand, to change up the flavor a little bit and keep myself from getting bored with it.
I love this recipe, because I brought all my veggies home from the farmer’s market, looked at them, and thought, “Well now what?” So I chopped ‘em all up and put em with some EVOO and grass-fed butter.
The fun thing about this recipe is you can play with it. If you want a lower fat content, cut the butter, and it will still taste great because of the olive oil and the spices! And so on.
Summer Chicken and Veggie Medley
Makes 12 servings (Should I post the 1-serving version? I totally will if anyone wants it!)
*Note- definitely feel free to adjust the veggie ratios to your taste preference. IE if you hate garlic, cut the amount in half, and you won’t even taste it in the end, but you’ll still get the benefits of having some garlic in there somewhere :-)
Supplies:
10 containers (the way I designed this, you make 12 servings, package 10 of them, and then use the extra two for dinner. I totally don’t feel like making dinner after this!) I used gallon-size ziploc bags for this last time, even though I’m trying to get as much plastic out of my life as possible. Quart-size would work well too.
Cutting board and veggie-chopping knives
Crockpot
Minions. Oh wait- that’s just my wishful thinking.
Ingredients:
2 large zucchini
2 large yellow squash
3 large beefsteak tomatoes (or however many/type tomatoes you want)
10-12 cloves of garlic
2 medium onions (whatever color you like)
2 medium eggplants
24-48 oz chicken, your choice (I go with chicken thighs. 1- higher fat content, 2- cheaper to buy organic.)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil- 1-2 tbsp per container
Grass-fed or organic butter- 1-2 tbsp per container
Greek yogurt- 1-2 tablespoons per container (for a little creaminess. Sour cream or heavy cream would work well too.)
Basil- 1-2 tsp per container
Oregano- 1-2 tsp per container
Do it!
1. Chicken goes in the crock pot. Either on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
2. Chop your veggies! I use my terrifying mandolin to make the process faster. If the zucchini or squash has exceptional girth (hehe, girth) slice it in half before chopping it, so the slices are bite-sized.
3. Weigh the veggies, if you’re tracking cals/nutrients. Do some math. If I’ve got 600g of zucchini, I’m dividing by the 12 portions that I want, and I’m putting 50g (more or less) into each container.
4. Label the bags/containers. This is really helpful if you’re making some for more than one person. Mr. gets double the portions I do, so I don’t want to end up mixing our bags. I write on em with a sharpie.
5. Put the veggies in the bags
6. Put the (cooked) chicken in the bags.
7. Put the EVOO in the bags
8. Put the butter in the bags
9. Put the Greek yogurt in the bags
10. It really doesn’t matter the order that the stuff gets in the bags/containers, just that it gets in there!
11. Put the basil and oregano in the bags.
12. Play with different flavors for each day!
a. For example, I added some green bell peppers and chives to one bag. Then I put a crumbled up slice of cheese in another bag. My fiancé loves bleu cheese, so I put some of that and a teensy splash of apple cider vinegar in his containers. The one I’m eating today has extra garlic in it. Funs!
13. Store everything in the fridge. Grab it in the morning when you’re ready to head out, dump it all into a bowl or onto a plate when you’re at work or if you’re lucky (ahem, Julie) when it’s lunchtime at home and microwave it for 2ish minutes and the butter will melt and everything will be coated with deliciousness.
14. Bonus, the one you eat on Friday will be the most marinated one and taste the yummiest!
Thoughts and critiques and additions welcome!!
I wanted to make something delicious and customizable last Sunday. I wanted to make 12 portions of it- a couple portions for my Mr. and I to have for dinner that night, and a work-week’s worth of lunches for both of us.
Had the fiance help me make it in bulk, and it seriously helps time-wise to have a second pair of hands! Each morning, I throw something random into the container like some green bell peppers, extra tomatoes, or whatever is on hand, to change up the flavor a little bit and keep myself from getting bored with it.
I love this recipe, because I brought all my veggies home from the farmer’s market, looked at them, and thought, “Well now what?” So I chopped ‘em all up and put em with some EVOO and grass-fed butter.
The fun thing about this recipe is you can play with it. If you want a lower fat content, cut the butter, and it will still taste great because of the olive oil and the spices! And so on.
Summer Chicken and Veggie Medley
Makes 12 servings (Should I post the 1-serving version? I totally will if anyone wants it!)
*Note- definitely feel free to adjust the veggie ratios to your taste preference. IE if you hate garlic, cut the amount in half, and you won’t even taste it in the end, but you’ll still get the benefits of having some garlic in there somewhere :-)
Supplies:
10 containers (the way I designed this, you make 12 servings, package 10 of them, and then use the extra two for dinner. I totally don’t feel like making dinner after this!) I used gallon-size ziploc bags for this last time, even though I’m trying to get as much plastic out of my life as possible. Quart-size would work well too.
Cutting board and veggie-chopping knives
Crockpot
Minions. Oh wait- that’s just my wishful thinking.
Ingredients:
2 large zucchini
2 large yellow squash
3 large beefsteak tomatoes (or however many/type tomatoes you want)
10-12 cloves of garlic
2 medium onions (whatever color you like)
2 medium eggplants
24-48 oz chicken, your choice (I go with chicken thighs. 1- higher fat content, 2- cheaper to buy organic.)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil- 1-2 tbsp per container
Grass-fed or organic butter- 1-2 tbsp per container
Greek yogurt- 1-2 tablespoons per container (for a little creaminess. Sour cream or heavy cream would work well too.)
Basil- 1-2 tsp per container
Oregano- 1-2 tsp per container
Do it!
1. Chicken goes in the crock pot. Either on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
2. Chop your veggies! I use my terrifying mandolin to make the process faster. If the zucchini or squash has exceptional girth (hehe, girth) slice it in half before chopping it, so the slices are bite-sized.
3. Weigh the veggies, if you’re tracking cals/nutrients. Do some math. If I’ve got 600g of zucchini, I’m dividing by the 12 portions that I want, and I’m putting 50g (more or less) into each container.
4. Label the bags/containers. This is really helpful if you’re making some for more than one person. Mr. gets double the portions I do, so I don’t want to end up mixing our bags. I write on em with a sharpie.
5. Put the veggies in the bags
6. Put the (cooked) chicken in the bags.
7. Put the EVOO in the bags
8. Put the butter in the bags
9. Put the Greek yogurt in the bags
10. It really doesn’t matter the order that the stuff gets in the bags/containers, just that it gets in there!
11. Put the basil and oregano in the bags.
12. Play with different flavors for each day!
a. For example, I added some green bell peppers and chives to one bag. Then I put a crumbled up slice of cheese in another bag. My fiancé loves bleu cheese, so I put some of that and a teensy splash of apple cider vinegar in his containers. The one I’m eating today has extra garlic in it. Funs!
13. Store everything in the fridge. Grab it in the morning when you’re ready to head out, dump it all into a bowl or onto a plate when you’re at work or if you’re lucky (ahem, Julie) when it’s lunchtime at home and microwave it for 2ish minutes and the butter will melt and everything will be coated with deliciousness.
14. Bonus, the one you eat on Friday will be the most marinated one and taste the yummiest!
Thoughts and critiques and additions welcome!!
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Replies
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It sounds great except for the part of eating the cooked chicken for 5 days in a row. I believe the guidelines for saving cooked chicken is 3- 4 days at most, as even in refrigeration bacteria will develop. The one caveat would be if you vacuum saved the chicken bag each time you removed a portion of meat; in that instance, it should hold up for 5 days w/o the oxygen for anything to use. I am really intense about food safety though and my adherence to the shorter side of any food line is due to food poisoning more than once in my life!0
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It sounds great except for the part of eating the cooked chicken for 5 days in a row. I believe the guidelines for saving cooked chicken is 3- 4 days at most, as even in refrigeration bacteria will develop. The one caveat would be if you vacuum saved the chicken bag each time you removed a portion of meat; in that instance, it should hold up for 5 days w/o the oxygen for anything to use. I am really intense about food safety though and my adherence to the shorter side of any food line is due to food poisoning more than once in my life!
Good one! Probably best to stick the Thursday and Friday bags in the freezer??0 -
This is such an excellent idea! I desperately need a crockpot haha.0
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Sports drinks without the crapola!! http://www.thrive-living.net/2013/07/ditch-commercial-sports-drinks-and.html
The Chicago Tribune article, "Sports drinks: How to make your own," offers several simple, inexpensive recipes for recovery drinks. According to registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, refueling beverages need three elements: water, electrolytes and carbohydrates. Just make sure to use purified water, organic ingredients and high quality Himalayan or Celtic sea salt for maximum nutritional benefit.
Electrolyte Replacement Drink from Yoga Journal
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients and chill before consuming.
Organic Sports Drink from Kitchen Table Medicine
Organic fruit juice
Water or green tea
Organic sea salt
Fill sports bottle with half juice and half water. Add a pinch of sea salt and shake.
Thrive Sports Drink (Raw)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/4 lime
3 dates
2 cups water
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp coconut oil
Sea salt to taste
Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
In addition, unsweetened coconut water with a pinch of sea salt is a basic, electrolyte-rich recovery drink.
Delicious and nutrient dense energy bars
Now onto the protein bars. Here we can really get creative. Anna Sward of Protein Pow(d)er offers the following recommendations and recipes:
"For each recipe below, bind the powder, flour and other ingredients with milk [coconut, almond or hemp varieties are heathy choices]. You can also use a nut butter. The goal is to have a batter that comes together like a dough which can be easily formed into bars. Next, melt 90-100 percent dark chocolate over low heat -- enough to coat the bars, about 40 grams. Once coated, place the bars in the freezer for at least 30 minutes."
Again, organic ingredients are recommended.
Goji Berry and Citrus Protein Bars
1 cup organic unflavored protein power
1 1/2 cups ground nuts of choice
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 1/2 cup goji berries
1/2 cup nondairy milk substitute
2 tbsp orange extract
Surprise Almond and Vanilla Protein Bars
4 small cooked beets
1 cup vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup cup nondairy milk substitute
2 tbsp organic almond butter (peanut, pumpkin or hemp butter works as well)
Using the recipes above as a foundation, it's easy to play and experiment, modify and adapt handmade protein bars and sport drinks to fit specific tastes and needs. We are also liberated from expensive and bizarre products. In the end, it's an economical, nutritious and tasty win-win solution.
Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/039217_sports_drinks_DIY_recipes_protein_bars.html#ixzz2XWskFkuy
Sources for this article include:
http://www.proteinpow.com/
http://www.naturalnews.com/038869_Gatorade_BVO_flame_retardants.html
http://wakeup-world.com/2012/05/31/naturally-all-processed-what-your-energy-bar-is-really-packing/
http://www.abqjournalfit.com/6826/blog/2012/06/12/make-your-own-simple-protein-bars/
http://everydaypaleo.com/natural-homemade-paleo-sports-drink-recipe/
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-21/features/chi-sports-drinks-how-to-make-your-own-20110721_1_sports-drink-coconut-water-hot-water
http://everydaypaleo.com/natural-homemade-paleo-sportss-drink-recipe/
http://www.nomeatathlete.com/thrive-sportss-drink/
http://www.youbars.com/buildabar/
http://www.elementbars.com0 -
^^SLURP! These sound amazing!0
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I keep most of my family's favorite recipes on pinterest, now (along w tons of other recipes to try!). Let me know if you'd like to follow!0
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I keep most of my family's favorite recipes on pinterest, now (along w tons of other recipes to try!). Let me know if you'd like to follow!
post it girl!!! : )0 -
Nearly orgasmic Ratatoulle...(no lie!)
1 eggplant
1 zucchini
1 onion
3 lrg cloves garlic
1/4 cup (or so) evoo
5-6 tomatoes
1/2-1 cup grated parmigiana
Saute onions in evoo
Cube eggplant and zucchini--throw in with onion
mince garlic--throw it in!
cube tomatoes--throw it into the pot too!
Let simmer for about 25-30 minutes on low heat. Transfer into baking dish, cover with grated parmigiana, bake on 350 for about 30 minutes. Serve and fall in love! I just ate half a pan!!!! And I don't even like eggplant or zucchini!!0 -
Made this day before yesterday. Cant believe how good and simple it is!!
1 Eggplant
1 can organic Muir Glenn diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1Tbsp garlic powder
1tsp oregano
1tsp basil
1tsp salt
1tsp
(or any other spices you love, also fee free to be as generous as you want with the spices. I usually add enough garlic to kill a vampire)
Cube eggplant and boil until tender. Drain. Allow to cool. Place eggplant and all other ingredients in food processor. Puree until smooth.
I pour this over grilled chicken and other veggies. Also good over quinoa or whole grain pasta
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