Once a week cooking and prepping ideas

Mizzl52386

I like to make ground turkey sausage and eat that during the week. Thia is what my breakfast usually consists of:
Mini whole wheat bagel toasted
1-2 tbs of Chive and onion cream cheese on the bagel
reheated turkey sausage patty
(eat these 3 ingredients as a sandwich)
paired with greek vanilla yogurt and a couple of strawberries and some blue berries (fresh or frozen but if using frozen put in a bowl the night before)

I am a classic last min person and this is quick for me

Here's the basic recipe I follow, i have changed it to suit my moods:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/sage-turkey-sausage-patties

Skye_NS

We make quesadillas in the batches.
Thinly slice and marindade the meat as per your tastes. We marinade for 1-2 days. We use a different meat each time we make these for variety.
Saute sliced onions, mushrooms, peppers, pickled jalapenos, olives with salt, pepper and garlic. This is the minimum base. We've added other veggies as desired and available (cooked asparagus or broccoli...anything that can take a spicy touch).
Saute the meat.
Mix the meat & veggie mixes together.
Sprinkle some grated cheese around the edges of half a tortilla wrap, add some of the meat/veggie mix to center of that half & sprinkle a bit more cheese around the meat edges. Fold over the tortilla wrap and press flat. In a dry pan, saute the quesadilla until the cheese melts (1-2 minutes per side) and holds the halves together. Remove from heat and cool.
These can be kept frozen for a long time. We usually make about 24 quesadillas, using a variety of tortilla wrap flavours.

Pea or Lentil soups freeze well. And I always make chili in the largest pot we have when I make it.

Another thing I'll do is make up about a large batch of meatball mix and bake the meatballs in the oven on cookie pans, then freeze them in bags of 10-12. Four to five lbs of meat makes about 100 or more meatballs. Good for spaghetti sauce, soups and stir-fries.

Once a week, I throw any "old" veggies (those left from last week, lettuce that's getting a bit wilty, etc) into a juicer and freeze the juice in ice cube trays (later put them into a freezer bag) to use for soups, sauces and/or gravies.

@Plexgut, your quesadillas sound fantastic. What kind of meat do you use? We haven't branched out beyond chicken. :laugh:

lindseyas1

I am on the road a lot and eat in my car, so almost everything I do is cold or room temp. I love salads. One of my favorites is whole wheat pasta with salsa verde, avocado, celery, tomatoes, pinto beans, and cucumber. It's filling and fresh, and a little spicy. I make four to six servings on sunday and portion. I also make one with cous cous, roasted beets, and feta cheese with olive oil and lemon. I love bean salads too. Basically anything to keep me from getting bored! I try to make sure it all has a good mix of carbs, fat, and protein so I stay satisfied. One of my favorite make ahead snacks is two plain rice cakes sandwiched with a tablespoon of almond or peanut butter.

PaytraB

@Plexgut, your quesadillas sound fantastic. What kind of meat do you use? We haven't branched out beyond chicken. :laugh:

We usually use either chicken or beef. For beef, flank steak, cut thinly against the grain is really tasty. It picks up the marinade well.

One day, I'd like to try pork and/or lamb.

I forgot to mention that we colour-code the tortilla wraps, too. I like slices of fresh tomato in my quesadillas and my husband doesn't. So, the red tortilla wraps are the code for "these quesadillas have tomato slices in them", the garlic/pesto ones are "these have more meat" (hubby likes these best) and the green ones are "these could be a mixture of whatever is left-over...that includes a possible tomato slice".

40DayFit

bump for inspiration

MelodyandBarbells

Breakfast prep involves slicing up all three pounds of sausage bought at once and storing in a freezer bag. Then I grab a couple first thing in the morning, weigh them and throw them in the pan (add an egg or two as I go). It's usually cooking in between me getting ready for work.

I also cook a pound of beans at once. Used to be a half pound then I started having to make them too often. These have been my lunch of recent. Portion of beans with a potato microwaved in the morning. I prefer to cook my starches right before a meal because these require little watching , cook fast and help me separate the I'm hungry and it's meal time vs. the "I wants." This lunch is starting to be "meh" enough that I could ignore it all day, though (full prep safe)

Chicken or ground turkey I just make enough for multiple meals and store in the fridge. The ground turkey is great for burritos that just need cheese, refried beans, and sour cream added.

corinneselene

Totally felt the need to pipe in again...some of the things I do to stay organized:
1. Make rice for the week with a rice maker: perfect sidedish, or you can make a fried rice, crack a poached egg on top with grilled veggies, make a south of the border wrap using lettuce leaves as the wrap (this way it isn't too carby)
2. Make a pot of stock (veggie or chicken): you can make a million in 1 soups (tonight i just sauteed some broccoli, garlic, and cauliflower, added the stock i made this afternoon, added ginger powder, curry powder, mustard seeds, and s&P, emulsified and called it a day!) or throw it in the crockpot for whatever you may have

chrisdavey

big old rice dish

6 eggs
1L egg whites
make into omelettes

1kg chicken and 750g bacon
pan fry

2kg of frozen veggies (microwave)

2kg cooked rice (about 600g uncooked)

combine all and then I will add different sauces/spices each day for variety (salsas, marinades, chilli sauce etc.)

615 cals 60P/66C/9F per meal and makes 10. These are actual meals not snack sizes

You will need big pots/pans.

edit: tips for reheating fridge or freezer rice peeps?

Sarahnade42x

Mm mm mm, bump to read later!

hstnljean

On Sundays, I cook a huge batch of eggs/veggies. Super easy and yummy for any meal.

Just heat up a little olive oil, add chopped baby bella mushrooms, onions, peppers, or whatever you like. Sautee them, then add the eggs. I usually make my skillet with about 7-8 eggs. Lasts me the whole week. I usually just grab a low carb/high fiber tortilla and wrap up the heated egg mixture in it. Maybe add a little sour cream and hot sauce. Delicious breakfast!

Sounds good you could use some fat free plain greek yogurt - extra protein

melissamartinez96930

I love beans, all kinds of beans. I actually cook them once a week, but after reading this I need to branch out into more kinds of beans. They freeze well and can be tossed into soups, over a salad, or into a burrito. I'm loving the salad combo mentioned. I might do salads in a jar next week with different beans and meat. Protein fills me up, I really need to watch my carb intake, they are the things I crave when I'm bored.