Meal Prep Can Save You!

You know that saying, "Failure to plan is planning to fail."? Yah, well as cheesy as it is, it is TRUE! Especially when you're trying to eat healthy and lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.  I've mentioned before that I've struggled with  my weight and I have my whole life. Starting in third grade I became the fat kid and the struggle continues! After having three children I have finally learned that I can never just eat whatever I want.  I just can't. I've decided to be okay with that.  Someone told me I should write some tips out to help other people, so that's what this post is all about. 

My normal is to eat as healthy as possible, lots of fresh veggies and fruit and tons of water throughout the week, along with a good hour-long cardio and weights session or class at least four times a week.  On the weekends I loosen up on my diet a little bit and give myself a meal or two off to eat the food that I love, but that I know isn't helping my waistline! (Pasta, pizza, burgers, etc.) I can't just take the whole weekend off and make it a hayday. Disappointing, but true. Honestly, when I have done that I just feel so terrible I can't enjoy it anyway.

Prepping my healthy food ahead of time helps so much. If I have to chop lettuce and wash it, dry it and chop all of my veggies just to make a salad at lunch time when I've worked out and am already hungry, it is really tempting to eat something else! (AKA leftover pizza from said weekend splurge.)

Every Monday morning I chop all of the veggies I plan to use in my egg whites for the week.  The photo above is a small yellow onion, a small head of broccoli, and a bunch of spinach.  I washed all of it and chopped it small to use in my eggs.  That way in the morning when we are rushing to get out the door and to school on time I am not tempted to eat carbs instead of egg whites, which I know will fill me up and keep me full.  (Some other veggies I like to use in my eggs are zucchini or yellow squash, bell pepper, asparagus,  mushrooms...)

At the beginning of the week I also make a big salad that I can eat off of for lunch.  If it's in the fridge then I'm prepared. If I know that I'm going to be running errands after bible study and won't make it home for lunch I can quickly pack myself a salad, some carrots, and hummus and I am not tempted to drive through fast food to eat something that I will really regret!  I have found that I do not make rational food decisions when I feel hungry. I'll also pack myself a snack like a Lara bar and an apple if I know that I'm going to run some errands after a workout.  Too many times I have spoiled the hard work I've done at the gym on popcorn at Target or a frappuccino because I'm so hungry I don't care!

A typical day of eating for me:
Breakfast: sauteed veggies with 4 egg whites and iced coffee with cream
Snack: apple, orange, Lara or Luna bar, EAS shake, or slice of turkey (it all depends on my activity)
Lunch: salad with grilled chicken and vinaigrette OR flat out wrap with veggies and turkey OR leftovers (depending on what we had for dinner the night before)
Snack: baby carrots, cucumber & bell pepper slices with hummus
Dinner: healthy homemade meal...the options here are endless!
Snack: I usually have something after dinner, fresh fruit or an apple with peanut butter are my "good choices".

With just a small amount of prep it takes almost no time to throw together a healthy, filling meal or snack when I am rushed.  Without the prep I find that I eat whatever I can get my hands on when I'm "starving" and then my skinny jeans pay the price!

Iced Coffee, the Easy At-Home way!

We love coffee.  Actually, we are kind of snobs about our coffee.  There's  no Folgers up in here.  HAS to be Starbucks, Seattle's Best, Tully's or Peet's coffee...sometimes Gevalia if it's on sale and I have a coupon.  I know, I know, "Dunkin' Donuts won in the blind taste test against Starbucks." BUT I could blind taste test tell you which one was Dunkin' Donuts...not a fan (their donuts...another story).  As soon as it gets warm-ish, which is right now for Phoenicians, we go straight to iced coffee for the duration of the summer.  I just can't drink hot coffee when it's hot out.  But I also can't live without coffee...so it's been a problem.

We have tried so many ways to make iced coffee in bulk so I'm not brewing coffee in the morning and freezing it for an hour so it's cold so I can add ice to it so it isn't watered down.  Because we are picky about our coffee, I can't do the "I made regular coffee yesterday and after several hours put the leftover in the fridge so now I'll make an iced coffee out of it" version.  It doesn't taste right,  and we can't have that.  Then, I found it.  The perfect iced coffee recipe that is: delicious AND can be made frugally AND lasts a long time in the fridge!

Of course, Pioneer Woman led me to the right way of doing things.  Once again.  I thought it couldn't really work and I'd be sad when my coffee flunked, but when my Aunt Michelle came last summer she and my cousin made the first batch...and-- It. Works.  I adapted Pioneer Woman's method ever so slightly just because I'm cheap and didn't want to fork over loads of cash for a food service container and cheese cloth (whatever that is) and a beautiful drink dispenser that would never fit in my normal-sized fridge.  Two gallons of this coffee costs $6 or less, depending on the type of coffee you choose. Add in the cost of your own coffee syrup and half and half, and you just CAN'T beat it.

All you have to do is buy an inexpensive Rubbermaid container that will hold 2 gallons of liquid.  I got mine at Walmart for less than $5.00.  Stir one 12-16 oz bag of strong coffee (sometimes I used espresso blend) into 2 gallons of cold water.  Let it sit 24-48 hours.  The longer, the stronger.  We like it strong!

Then, set a mesh strainer on top of a clean soup pot, layer napkins in both directions and slowly pour the coffee over the strainer.

Iced Coffee
recipe from Pioneer Woman

a 2-gallon container with a lid
2 gallons water
1 12-16 oz bag strong, high-quality coffee (If you like DD, go for it.)
mesh strainer
paper towels

half and half
coffee syrup, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, whatever you like in it

Rinse out your container and fill with 2 gallons of cold water.  Stir in the coffee thoroughly, making sure it is all soaked.  Cover tightly and let sit on your kitchen counter for 24-36 hours.  I usually use a 12 oz bag of coffee so I let it sit 36-48 hours. When you're ready to strain the coffee, place the strainer over a large pot or container and line the strainer with paper towels.  Slowly pour the coffee over the strainer and let the grounds collect.  Discard the coffee grounds and pour the strained coffee into dispensers or pitchers to store in the fridge.  I use a glass iced-tea jar with a spout to store mine.

To make a glass of iced coffee, fill a glass with ice (we buy the ice from the store because it stays cold longer!), pour the coffee over and prepare as you like with half and half, vanilla syrup, sugar...or sweetened condensed milk!  My favorite "Saturday coffee" is a glass of iced coffee with a couple tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk, a splash of half and half and cinnamon.

Cheese Danish

Since I've had a sweets week, I thought I'd end it off with some more sweets.  My family and I adore this recipe, it is super simple to make and kinda impressive at a brunch or morning meeting. It is absolutely not too late to wake up and have homemade cheese danish for breakfast tomorrow! 

Cheese Danish 

recipe from The Adventures of Kitchen Girl

2 blocks cream cheese, softened

1 c. sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cans crescent rolls

1/2 c. powdered sugar 

2-3 Tb milk

dash vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Using a hand mixer blend together the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla.  Open a can of the crescent rolls and lay them on the bottom of the 9x13 pan, pinching the seas together.  Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crescent layer.  Open the second can of crescents and lay it over the cream cheese layer.  Bake uncovered 40-45 minutes, crescent rolls should be golden brown.  Let the danish cool 20 minutes before spreading the glaze over the top.  To make the glaze whisk together powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and spread over danish.  Enjoy warm, room temperature, or my favorite, cold!

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup

This is not my best photography.  Stating the obvious.  However, this recipe could change your life so if you make it you'll be able to forgive the not so awesome photo!  I found this recipe on Pinterest and I've made it many times...most recently I made a triple batch because we seem to be going through it rather quickly.  It's great in hot or iced coffee (it's still ridiculously warm here) with a splash of cream and almost makes you think you never need to wait in the Starbucks drive-thru line again. 

I realize that you can buy a bottle of Torani pumpkin pie syrup at World Market pretty affordably, but this recipe tastes even better than the bottled stuff and ends up being way cheaper than that.  I live an inconvenient drive from World Market and it is very fast to whip up a batch of this so this frugal foodie is sold!

I make this with Splenda, which I realize is probably the equivalent of drinking cancer, but I just can't stop.  And I'm allergic to stevia.  And every other non-calorie sweetener is cancer-causing too so I'll just stick with the Splenda.  (I don't give it to my kids EVER though...if that makes you feel better.)  Anyway, that whole rant to say...the recipe works with sugar substitutes!  The syrup is thick and the pumpkin settles, so always shake well before using. 

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup
recipe adapted from Cook Like a Champion

1 1/2 c. water
1 1/2 c. sugar (or substitute)
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tb. pure pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix!)

Mix water and sugar together in a large sauce pan over medium heat.  Cook until the sugar or sweetener is dissolved in the water.  Whisk in the spices and pumpkin puree and cook over medium heat about five minutes.  You don't want this to boil.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Pour the syrup into jars and refrigerate.  To make a coffee, shake the syrup and stir 2-3 tb. of the syrup into strong iced or hot coffee and add desired about of cream (not cream-er).  Enjoy with whipped cream!

Breakfast Tacos

We love breakfast over here.  I usually make pancakes or waffles on Saturday mornings for the family and I don't eat them myself because of obvious calories in/calories out purposes.  Sometimes I  make something like this recipe that isn't necessarily low-cal, but seems like a better/healthier option for me than pancakes covered in butter and syrup.  This was a "throw it all together" morning and it worked great.  Everyone liked this.  Rob prefers flour tortillas so he made himself a giant taco in a burrito tortilla...I stuck to the corn and I really liked it! (Note--excuse the weird picture, we had gotten a new camera and had it on the wrong setting.)

 

Breakfast Tacos

 

1 tsp. oil

3 Tb. bell pepper, minced (any color would be great)

3 Tb. onion, minced (any color)

1/3 c. cooked potatoes, chopped (leftover oven fries or baked potatoes, or hash browns)

8 eggs, cracked and beaten

1/4 c. milk

salt, pepper and granulated garlic for seasoning

 

Toppings:

corn or flour tortillas, chopped tomatoes, chopped cilantro, chopped avocado, shredded cheddar cheese, hot sauce or taco sauce

 

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and saute peppers and onions for a minute or two, until soft.  Stir in potatoes and mix together.  Add the milk to the beaten eggs and pour egg mixture over the veggies.  Cook on medium-low, seasoning well with salt, pepper and granulated garlic, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula.  Serve on warm tortillas and top with cheese, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado and your favorite sauce.  Enjoy!

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Mix

I found this...ahem, on Pinterest. I'm kind of obsessed as I'm sure you've noticed. I found this recipe as a gift idea and after I pinned it, my friend told me she had made it and loved it. Of course that's all the encouragement I needed.

My family has now gone through 3 full batches, my friend demolished her jar and my son's teacher enjoyed it also. I highly recommend this as a last-minute neighbor/mailman/paper boy gift. OR just make some Christmas morning for your family.

The original recipe called for powdered milk and to stir themix into hot water but I really prefer milk so I skipped the powdered stuff and mix mine into hot milk. And then top it off with strong coffee and...well, sometimes whipped cream.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Mix

adapted from my recipes

1 c. cocoa powder
1 c. sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. miniature chocolate chips
1/2 c. crushed candy canes or peppermint discs

Layer ingredients in a jar and tie with a ribbon to gift to a friend. Or stir it all together in an air-tight container and keep on hand for personal use.

To serve--Stir 3 Tb. mix into 1 c. hot milk.

Egg & Potato Breakfast Bake

I posted this recipe last Easter and I made it again and it turned out even better AND the picture was better so ....here we are again.

I think any combination of 1 1/2lbs of breakfast meat would work great--chorizo, sausage, ham, bacon, turkey bacon--whatever you like.

Breakfast Bake

1.5 lbs breakfast meat--I used 3/4 lb bacon and 3/4 lb turkey sausage links sliced

4-6 russet potatoes OR 1 lb bag frozen hashbrowns or diced potatoes

seasoning salt and granulated garlic

1/2 onion, minced

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

8 eggs, beaten

2 1/2 c. milk

1/2 tsp seasoning salt or sea salt and black pepper

If you're using whole potatoes, cook them until just fork-tender but not cooked all the way through.  Chop the potatoes and spread them on the bottom of a 9x13 pan and sprinkle with seasoned salt and granulated garlic.  If you're using frozen...put 'em in the pan. Top with onions, then meat (in my case crisply cooked crumbled bacon and sliced sausage).  Sprinkle on the shredded cheese.  In a separate bowl mix together eggs, salt, pepper and milk.  Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and meat and bake at 350 one hour.  If you're making this ahead of time don't pour the eggs over until the last minute.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I adapted this recipe from my favorite banana bread recipe that I found in Cooking Light. I don't care for bananas...at all. In fact they are the one food that gives me the gag reflex, but somehow I do like banana bread...go figure, but whatever. I just like it. I wanted something a little more dessert-y so I added chocolate chips and changed a couple other ingredients from the original recipe. It was super yummy, really moist, and also doubled as a sweet breakfast for my kids.







Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

2 c. flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
1/3 c. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Cream the sugar and butter together with an electric mixter for a minute until well combine. Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Add banana sour cream and vanilla, mix until just combined. Add flour mixture and mix until moist. Stir in chocolate chips. Spray a loaf pan generously with cooking spray and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan and let cool completely on a rack.

Cheesy Egg & Potato Breakfast Bake

We had company over Easter and I wanted to make a hearty breakfast before all of the festivities began but I didn't want to be cooking all morning so after some searching, I found the basis of this recipe on a blog I read and it looked good so I did it. It was good and most of us ate two helpings. The recipe suggested making it the morning of, but instead I prepped everything, including beating the eggs with the milk and seasoning and just threw it all together in the morning and baked it. It worked great. I served it with homemade salsa on the side and fresh fruit.


Cheesy Egg & Potato Breakfast Bake

adapted from Deep South Dish

4-6 medium baking potatoes (depending on how big--you decide how many)

seasoned salt & granulated garlic

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 lb pork chorizo sausage, cooked & drained (feel free to sub 1 1/2 lb of your favorite breakfast meat instead of sausage)

1 14 oz package pre-cooked sausage links, sliced

1/4 cup minced onion

8 eggs

2 1/2 c. milk

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

pepper

The night before--bake or microwave the potatoes until they are still firm, but almost cooked. Chop the potatoes and season with seasoning salt and granulated garlic. The morning of: preheat oven to 350. Layer potatoes, cheese, sausages and onions in a 9x13'' pan. In a bowl beat eggs, milk and other seasoning together and pour over the top of the pan. Bake one hour or until well set.

Publish Post

Baked Potato Scramble

We've been gone for a week and came home yesterday. This morning I opened up the fridge to make breakfast and it was pretty much empty. I had a ziploc bag of leftover cooked bacon from Christmas morning, a few eggs and a couple wrinkly potatoes. So I decided to get creative and it turned out really well. This is the cheapest way to use up leftovers for a meal. My family scarfed this down like homeless people and I think it would make a great dinner too. Overall it probably cost less than $2 and most of the ingredients would've gone bad if I hadn't used them this morning. (Forgive the pics, my camera battery is dead so the blackberry had to do.)

Loaded Baked Potato Scramble

6-8 eggs

2 T. sour cream

2 green onions sliced thinly

4 strips bacon crisply cooked & crumbled

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 large baked potato, peeled & cubed

Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Cooking spray

While the potato is baking in the microwave crack the eggs into a bowl, add the sour cream and scramble. Cut the green onions and separate the greens and whites. Peel the potato and dice it. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high and spray generously with cooking spray. Toss in the green onion whites, crumbled bacon and the potato and heat through. Pour in the eggs and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook the eggs, stirring constantly until dry to your liking. Turn off heat, sprinkle on cheese and green onions.

Caramel Rolls

I took a picture of these rolls...but I'm not at home so I'll upload it later. (Sorry, the only picture I took was the morning-after picture of the raised rolls before they were baked!) Just. Trust. Me. They are so good. And easy. I got this recipe from my mom and never made it because it sounded so wierd to let it sit out all night long. Then one weekend my mom made them and I realized it was the most amazing breakfast ever. So now it is a new family tradition for me to make these for Christmas Eve morning and Christmas morning for the whole fam. I promise you will be a hero if you make these for your next overnight guests or brunch or baby shower or midnight snack. Whatever. Just make them.


Caramel Rolls



18 frozen dough balls (I use the Rhodes rolls)

1 cup chopped pecans

1 stick butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 large box cook and serve vanilla or butterscotch pudding

Sprinkle the nuts on the bottom of a bundt pan. Place the rolls in the pan. In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle that over the top of the rolls. Pour melted butter on top of the brown sugar mixture and sprinkle the entire box of pudding on top of everything. Cover with a kitchen towel and let sit on your counter top overnight. In the morning preheat your oven to 350. Remove the towel and bake the rolls 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and invert the pan upside down onto a plate or serving platter. Enjoy!

Biscuits & Gravy

This post is really just the recipe for the gravy part. The biscuits are bought in a can in the refrigerated dough department at your local grocer. I do know how to make homemade buttermilk biscuits...I just don't do it. Every once in a while I get a little Martha-Stewart on myself and whip out the box of Bisquik and whip some of those "homemade" biscuits.

Whichever way you make the biscuits, the gravy is what really makes this breakfast. My husband was out of town for two weeks and came home late Friday night so Saturday morning I whipped up some of these sausage wonders. It's his favorite breakfast. I like it too. My kids act like starving homeless children when you plop a plate of biscuits and gravy in front of them so the whole family was happy.

I have never measured the ingredients when making this so I tried to pay attention to what I was doing. This is the greatest recipe because you can make more gravy by just adding more flour and then milk. Or you can make less gravy by doing the opposite. You can use the whole pound of sausage...or not. Make it how you want there's really no "rules" besides to cook the flour into the sausage and drippings before adding the milk. If it thickens up too much, add a splash of milk. If it seems too runny add a sprinkle of flour. It all works out in the end.

Also--do not use cheap breakfast sausage. I have used the $1 sale roll of sausage before and when I opened it up it was mostly white....meaning it was mostly fat. Gross. If you just compare Farmer John's cheapie roll to the Jimmy Dean roll's nutrition ingredients you'll see--it's a lot healthier to pay $.50 more.

Biscuits and Gravy

3/4 lb breakfast sausage (I cooked the whole pound and just pulled some out to use later on a pizza)

2-3 heaping Tb flour

2-3 cups milk (I have used any kind ranging from 1%-whole, whatever you have works)

salt & pepper to taste (careful with the salt, the sausage is salty)

Brown the sausage in a heavy skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low. Without draining any fat, sprinkle the flour over the sausage and cook for a couple minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in the milk and stir occasionally, cooking until thickened to your liking. Taste and adjust salt/pepper. Serve over warm biscuits.

Steak & Feta Scramble

Somehow we had some leftover steak. I realize this is pretty much an oxymoron but it happened. In which case I was NOT going to throw the leftovers away! So I made this scramble the other morning before we took Rob to the airport for another two weeks in China (sniff). It turned out great. My kids love eggs so I scramble up pretty much anything to get rid of leftovers.

Steak & Feta Scramble

8 eggs

3 Tb. milk or cream

2 Tb. diced red onion

1/3 cup diced steak (cooked)

2 Tb. feta cheese crumbled

salt, pepper, garlic

Crack the eggs into a bowl and add the milk or cream. Scramble them up. Over medium heat saute the onion for a couple minutes in a large skillet. I used cooking spray but butter would be delicous. Add in the steak and just heat through. Pour the eggs in, add the cheese and season with salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. (I added a little drizzle of truffle oil....yum.) Scramble until the eggs are done.

Breakfast Sandwich

Lately I've been taking my diet a little more seriously. Elise is almost a year old and I still have 10 pounds to go. The thought of getting pregnant again while still chubby makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit because I remember all too clearly how difficult it is to lose the weight after the baby. SO I'm going to be posting healthier recipes than I probably would normally. BUT I promise to only post recipes that are delicious.

This sandwich is healthy, low in calories but tastes reeeaaalllly good. AND it is less expensive than McDonalds. AAAND it takes less time to make than sitting in the drive-thru. It took me five minutes to make this sandwich, so YOU can make this for breakfast....you do have time!

Bacon Egg and Cheese Sandwich

1 English Muffin (use light or double fiber if you're watching your waistline)

1 strip bacon, cooked crisply (I used turkey bacon which doesn't really taste like real bacon, but it's good)

1/2 cup egg beaters OR 2-3 egg whites

1 slice 2%milk American Cheese

1 tsp. mayo (I use the olive oil low-fat mayo it tastes good)

salt, pepper, garlic powder

Stick the muffin in the toaster while you scramble your eggs with a little salt, pepper, and garlic. When the eggs are done, place your cheese on top and let it melt. When the muffin is toasted add mayo, bacon and carefully put the eggs and cheese on. You seriously don't even need a recipe for this---it's sooo easy.