Meal Prep #2

Hey everyone!  It's time for another meal prep post!!  I did this meal prep for a full week of eating and created four entrees with three servings each for a total of twelve meals.  It took me two hours to complete, including clean up, and made for a very easy week of eating, especially as my schedule was very full and time for cooking that week was at a premium.

Thick cut pork loin chops

I began the evening before by pulling the meats I planned to use out of the freezer to defrost overnight in the refrigerator.  A pound of pork sausage, a package of three large thick cut pork chops and two boneless skinless chicken breast halves.  Then I started cooking by placing bacon fat in my cast iron skillet to cook the three thick cut pork chops seasoned simply with salt and pepper.  While those cooked I cut up the two chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and diced up half of a small onion.  

Chicken curry with onion, asparagus & cream

I got that cooking in another pan with some olive oil.  Once the chicken started to cook I added in two tablespoons of yellow curry powder and a heaping teaspoon of onion powder, some salt and pepper.  I finished cooking the chops removing them to three 2 cup rectangular Pyrex containers to cool.  I deglazed the pan with a half cup of water and scraped up all the yummy bits and let it reduce a bit before pouring it over each of the chops.

Pork chops with zucchini & yellow squash

Then I returned to my Chicken Curry and added in a cup of chicken broth to the pan and allowed it to come up to a simmer.  Meanwhile I sliced up a zucchini and a yellow squash, added some bacon fat and olive oil back to the cast iron pan and sautéed the squash.  I seasoned it with a heaping teaspoon of minced garlic and a teaspoon of dried basil, salt and pepper.  The squash was added to the dish with the pork chops as a side.

The finished chicken curry

I turned off the heat under the chicken and added a cup of heavy whipping cream to the pan along with some asparagus I'd cut into bite sized pieces allowing it to finish on the hot burner.  Once the asparagus was crisp tender I divided the chicken curry among three 2 cup Pyrex containers.

  

Country breakfast sausage, sliced mushroom, snow peas

A quick scrub of the pan and I was back in business browning up a pound of country breakfast sausage.  Once that was cooked through I removed about a half cup of the meat and set it aside.  

I love this dish so much!

Then I added a bag of coleslaw mix, a heaping teaspoon of chopped garlic and some wheat free soy sauce to make some Egg Roll In A Bowl.  I divided it among three of my 2 cup rectangular Pyrex containers, drizzled each one with a little bit of toasted sesame oil and allowed them to cool.

Lastly I put the half cup of sausage back into the pan, added about a dozen pepperoni slices, two strips of leftover bacon I chopped, some sliced mushroom, sliced olives, some chopped onion and half of a chopped bell pepper and sautéed that all together in a tablespoon of olive oil.  

I added an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce, a heaping tablespoon of chopped garlic and a heaping teaspoon of dried basil and let it simmer.  

Two tablespoons of ricotta cheese in each of my individual baking dishes

Into three Corning Ware baking dishes I have I placed two tablespoons of ricotta cheese into each one, then divided the meat mixture among the three dishes on top of the ricotta.  

The finished pizza bakes

I allowed these to cool, then sprinkled each one with two tablespoons of grated mozzarella cheese to finish off my individual Pizza Bakes.

This was more than enough food to feed me for 7 days and I ended up putting a couple of these dishes into the freezer to enjoy later.  I often find I make a bit more than I actually end up needing but most of these meals freeze well so after a while I end up with enough in the freezer that eventually I don't need to meal prep and can take a week off.  Pretty handy.