Cooking for the Week!

I used to make a giant salad and just scoop out portions for the week. I would also take in leftovers for lunch. Crock pot meals are good too. My favorite is pulled chicken (or pork) over rice. Toss meat into the crock pot, dump a bottle of Bone Suckin' Sauce over it, cook on low all day, pull the meat with forks and serve over rice. I made that a few months ago and we had leftovers pretty much all week. You can make soup, stew, chilli in the crock pot. For breakfast I'd just crack eggs in a tupperware container and scramble them in the microwave at work. And again, left overs work well for meals during the week.

I work second shift: I come in some time between noon and 2 pm and work until 11 five days per week. So I also do all my cooking on the weekends...the last thing I want to do at 11 pm at night is cook dinner!

Here's a great simple and very cheap chili recipe:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Vegetarian-Black-Bean-Chili-230632

This is wonderful in the summertime:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/baked-penne-with-roasted-vegetables-recipe.html

I don't use the butter and parmesan, use part-skim mozzarella (sprinkling some of it over the top) and whole wheat penne, omit the peas, and cut the recipe in half, and it still makes a TON of food.

And it's great weather for split pea soup in the wintertime:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/split-pea-soup-with-ham-hocks-recipe.html

If you'd like a delicious crockpot recipe, here's one:

http://www.food.com/recipe/joleans-crock-pot-spanish-chicken-130308

Personally I prefer it over rice instead of noodles, or it's also great by itself.

Cooked spaghetti, chicken thighs, onions, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, and a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables will make a good facsimile of lo mein that actually improves in the fridge overnight and reheats beautifully in the microwave.

I will often pan roast 3 or 4 chicken breasts on the weekend and use them in green salads. You can pre-chop all your salad vegetables except the lettuce so all you have to do in the morning is scoop out some salad mixture and toss it with the lettuce. I like grape tomatoes, cucumbers, and red bell peppers, personally. I also like to boil half a dozen eggs and use them as snacks throughout the week or sometimes make egg salad. And sometimes I just keep it super simple and have carrots and rice cakes dipped in hummus for lunch.

Individually frozen salmon (or other fish) fillets can be "poached" in their plastic pouch and refrigerated. Cut open the pouch and use it cold, or throw it in the microwave for a minute. Microwave some steam in bag vegetables and you have dinner.

I am a huge fan of cooking at the beginning of the week and freezing for the rest of the week for easy breakfast & lunches. Here are 3 of my favorite make in advance meals

Breakfast
I make egg & sausage sandwiches
- egg whites
- morning star veggie sausage
- sargento ultra thin cheddar cheese slices
- low calorie, high fiber english muffins.
I make up the whole bag of English muffins (8 sandwiches), wrap them in plastic wrap, place them in a gallon freezer bag & keep them frozen. Then I can just pop it in the microwave to 2-3 minutes and I have a healthy mcmuffin for breakfast

I also make mini-crust less quiches
- egg whites
- spinach/kale
- sun dried tomatoes
- onion
I saute up the veggies, place an equal amount in muffin tins, then fill with the egg whites (3tbsp). Bake them in the oven 350 for approx 15 minutes (or until cooked through and set). I then let them cool, and place in a freezer bag and I can microwave as needed for breakfast.

Lunch:
I make black bean & veggie burritos
- Low Sodium, canned black beans
- Veggies of your choice (i use kale, peppers, onions)
- Mexican cheese
- 100 calorie tortillas
Saute up the veggies with the black beans, measure out equal amounts, form burritos with bean,veggie mixture & cheese. Wrap final product in plastic wrap, keep in a freezer bag then microwave for 2-3 minutes as needed.

Amitysk wrote: »

Some great suggestions! Also check out the blog Organize yourself skinny. She has a ton of methods for meal prep and freezer cooking!

Looks like a great site! I smiled when I saw this on her site:

http://www.organizeyourselfskinny.com/2012/09/11/getting-the-most-out-of-my-fitness-pal/

Loving all these great tips and ideas folks, thanks so much for posting!

Kudos! I'm lucky if I cook for the current meal.