Meal Prep #4

 

Meal prepping is a good way to prepare for the week ahead, fill our freezer with some made ahead meal (aka Keto fast food), and use up odds and ends we have sitting around in our refrigerator and freezer that we want to make sure get eaten so they don't go to waste.

 

You can do a meal prep marathon and do it all in one day, or just spend a few hours or even stretch it out over a period of a few days like I did recently.  Another great way to meal prep is to cook two meals at the same time by doubling the recipe, eat one and freeze the other.  However you choose to meal prep is up to you, but I strongly recommend doing it as a way to help maintain this lifestyle, keep you out of the fast food drive thru, plus it saves a lot of time and money too.  Who doesn't like that idea?

 

Like I said my latest meal prep extended over the course of four days.  I thawed items that had been in my freezer awhile and I wanted to make sure I used them up before freezer burn could set in.  I also had a bunch of odds and ends in the refrigerator that needed to be used up as well.  I began by thawing two thick cut pork chops.  I took the largest one and cut it into bite sized pieces and placed it into a large mixing bowl with some frozen vegetables I needed to use up and half of a thinly sliced carrot.  I added 2 Tbs. of minced garlic, drizzled a little olive oil and some soy sauce over everything and stirred it until all of the meat and veggies were coated.  I spread it out in a baking dish and roasted it in a 375° oven for 20 minutes, stirred it and continued baking for another 20 minutes.  I divided into four portions, placed each portion in containers and into the freezer.  The other pork chop had a big bone in the middle so I pan fried it and that was my dinner that day along with a salad.

 

Next up was to use up two leftover hot Italian sausages to make a pizza bake.  I sliced the sausages, added a can of Italian style diced tomatoes, some chopped onion and a chopped green bell pepper.  I simmered that on the stove then sliced up a handful of black olives and some mushrooms.  I added that to the pot along with a package of pepperoni slices I cut in half.  Once everything was heated through I divided the mixture into four portions.  After placing each portion into a container I let them cool and topped each one with grated mozzarella, then into the freezer.

 

My next meal to make was to take a pound of ground turkey, brown it with some diced onion, add a small can of red enchilada sauce and simmer it for about 15 minutes.  I stirred in a cup and a half of riced cauliflower, divided the mixture into four portions and placed in containers.  Once cooled I topped each one with grated cheddar cheese and a little chopped onion and placed in the freezer.  When I eat these I plan to top them with a good dollop of sour cream.

 

The last meal I prepared was a lasagna bake.  I browned half a pound of pork sausage with some diced onion, added a 15 ounce can of tomato sauce, 2 Tbs. minced garlic, 2 tsp. dried basil, 1 tsp. dried oregano and let that simmer.  I stirred in one and a half cups of riced cauliflower then divided the mixture into four portions and let it cool.  In containers I did a layer of the sauce, a layer of cottage cheese and a layer of mozzarella, then repeated again.  These also ended up in my freezer.

 

Now I have several healthy, quick and easy meals ready to heat up and eat on a busy day or if I'm just feeling a bit lazy.  I used up a lot of things I had in my freezer and refrigerator that needed to be used up in the process too.  I always feel good after a meal prepping session knowing I have these healthy and delicious meals waiting for me.