I spend a lot of my days out on spontaneous outings with the gf.
We really don't want to be eating fast food anymore.
I'm looking for foods that we can keep at home for times like these.
They need to be able to stay out of the refrigerator for hours and need no microwave to be pleasantly edible.
I do have access to a dehydrator.
I generally eat a balanced diet as far as suppers go, but my packed lunches could use some variety. At the moment, I usually pack a deli meat sandwich and and greek yogurt.
I am flexible and open to suggestions. My workplace has a refrigerator available, but I would prefer to prepare lunch the evening before.
(No known allergies)
This delicious Sesame Wasabi Chicken took a total of 15 minutes to prepare, cook and serve (or pack) at a cost-per-serving of roughly $3.50 (less if you already have soy sauce +wasabi).
Ingredients: + 4 tbsp Wasabi + 1/3 cup sesame seeds + 1/3 cup gluten free soy sauce + 12 boneless chicken thighs + 2 tbsp garlic powder + 2 tbsp onion powder + 24 oz kale + ~1/4 cup olive or avocado oil
Instructions: In a medium bowl, combine garlic powder, onion powder, wasabi, sesame seeds, soy sauce and chicken. Mix with your hands until chicken is evenly covered.
Add oil to large pan. There should be enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Heat oil on medium-high. Once small bubbles appear in the oil, add chicken. Cook on medium-high until chicken is brown on one side, and then flip. Both sides should be golden brown, and cooked all the way through.
On medium-high heat, the outside of the chicken browns, and some of the fat renders into the bottom of the pan. These drippings+the oil, make a delicious dressing for the kale. Remove chicken from pan. In excess oil and drippings, saute the kale.
If you have too much kale for the pain, drain some of the drippings and saute in stages.
Serving Instructions: Divide chicken and kale into individual containers. I invested in Pyrex rectangular glass containers with no-leak lid. Store in refrigerator. Reheat in microwave, employ common sense for power level and length of time.
Allergen Notes: This blogger is very allergic to wheat and corn and developed this recipe to accommodate for that. If you are allergic to any of these ingredients, find viable substitutes.
Soy sauce is often fermented with wheat. If you have a wheat allergy, be sure to read all of the ingredients.
Also, remember that soy is often grown in rotation with wheat crops, vastly increasing your risk of cross contamination. In fact in this 2010 study, one sample of soy flour contained 2,925 parts per million of gluten.
This blogger has not had a specific problem with gluten free soy sauce, however, you know your tolerance. If that level of cross contamination is a concern, look for substitutes.
Wasabi is a root, similar to horseradish. You can buy pure powdered Wasabi on Amazon and mix it in batches, because the stuff you can find at the store often contains food starch or other additives. And anyone with a severe corn allergy will tell you, any additive of dubious origin puts you at risk for contamination. Food starch and vegetable oil both often contain corn.
Link to original blog post here
Anyone have ideas for what I can do for a meal plan for this upcoming semester? I want a high protein diet (I eat tons of chicken), but realistically I'm going to be on campus every day from 10 am - 7pm. Anything I can bring with me, without access to a refrigerator? Anyone been in this situation before?
I might be traveling for work and staying in a short term rent apartment which only has a microwave and refrigerator.
I want to continue eating healthy. My diet has been chicken/brown rice/broccoli/eggs for the past month.
WTF do I do?
I took this really good recipe and improvised with what I had in the house...and I kid you not, it ended up tasting just a little bit better than Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup (which I love, but can't eat anymore).
So. Here we go.
First, order a Veggetti from Amazon. Wait two days, because you paid for Amazon Prime thinking you would watch shows on it, but your kid hogs it watching friggin' Fireman Sam before naptime every day.
Ingredients:
8 cups low-salt chicken broth. (Because using the six cups the other recipe recommends means I would have half a box of chicken stock that will age in the back of my refrigerator until it develops its own rhetoric.)
One bunch green onions, sliced relatively thin. (Use some of the green parts, not just the white. I don't know why I did this, but it friggin' worked a treat.)
Handful of baby carrots, sliced pretty thin. I used eight. Which is more than a handful. But that's one mini-carrot per cup of stock because: symmetry.
2 cloves minced garlic.
Salt - to taste. (Unfortunately, soup without salt tastes like hot water with limp vegetables. Did you know sea salt is no healthier than table salt? I didn't. But it's all just salt. Also, there were salt wars more than once. Bad ones. Roman soldiers got paid with salt, sometimes. Cray.)
Black Pepper Corns. (From a pepper grinder that gets used twice a year. I did two turns of the wheel, over the already simmering soup. Because the steam made the wheel slippery, so frig it. Two turns is all you get, bro.)
Old Parsley Flakes. (These have been in my cupboard since before when Comic-Con was still fun to go to and you could get into Hall H without waiting in the blistering sun for 17 hours. As for the amount: I poured these into the hollowed out part on the business end of an old wooden spoon. Probably about a tablespoon.)
Half a small rotisserie chicken that would otherwise not have gotten eaten, because I can't deal with meat on the bone. It's like Anatomy Class that you put in your face. Cut the meat off the bones. Throw the bones away. If you're dumb enough to put bones in your soup, how did you live long enough to learn to read? You're a miracle. Give the skin to your dog. Bury it in his bowl under his regular dry food to make it more "fun" for him to find. And if you have a cat, don't give him anything. If you die at home with no one around, your cat will probably eat your face and hands pretty fast. Just so you know.
One medium yellow zucchini, one small green zucchini. I did buy these at the store for this recipe, because I otherwise relatively despise zucchini unless it's in bread with sugar and nuts and oh gawd I can't eat that crap anymore. Sad. I did not use the green zucchini, by the way. I'm going to save it, and use it when I reheat the leftover soup. I think it will have a better consistency.
Instructions:
Pour two boxes of chicken stock into big metal pot. Don't use a plastic pot. Trust me.
Turn on medium heat under chicken stock.
Cut up green onions, mini-carrots. Throw them in the pot. Cover. Simmah.
Mince two large-ish garlic bulbs. Throw them in the pot. Also: take off the cover before you throw them in.
Simmer stock and veggies for 35 minutes.
Sprinkle in salt and pepper and parsley flakes. Feel like Linguini screwing up the soup in Ratatouille. Realize you are actually more like Remy in Ratatouille. Do Smarty Pants Dance. Don't scald yourself while flailing.
Put your zucchini through the Veggetti, while trying to not laugh about how precisely much that does not sound like a kitchen gadget, especially if there was just an a where the first e is. I used the "Thin" side. Next time, I think I'll use the "Thick" side because the noodles will be more robust.
Add chicken and zucchini to the broth and cook for about 15 minutes, but check the zoodles to make sure they're not too firm, and not too mushy. Turn off heat when zoodles feel right.
Turn off heat, grab ladle, fill bowl, nom. I had mine with one pint of water with one half-cap of lemon juice because soda is the devil. A devil I know far too well. Begone, sugary fizzery Satan.
Couldn't believe how easy this was. And how deliciouso.
I was sure zoodles were going to be a big heap of stupid baloney (like cauliflower "rice"...that ain't no substitute for a right-thinking carb addict). But this really works. I'm so glad I have leftovers.
Chow down!
I'm aware many vegetables should not be eaten raw but many of them I don't wan to eat hot ( swiss chard,kale) if I cook them and then cool them in the refrigerator to make them cool for a salad will they keep the benefits I gained from cooking them.
Ok guys, I'm in a new town for 2 months and need a breakfast plan and I think you all can help me immensely. Here's my criteria: I have: -No oven/ stove -no bbq -no toaster oven -DO have a microwave, but fuck that -DO have a refrigerator/ cabinets -no freezer
I want: - high in protein - high in carb (the good kind) - affordable - preferably no microwave needed
I am: 6'4, 190 lbs, and I work out everyday- body weight sets, and cardio.
Thanks guys!
I'm going to be staying in a hotel, and probably a crappy one with no kitchen for awhile. I'll go home on my days off to cook and prep my meals. I'm wondering if I can Shake Prep. For breakfast, I'm planning on doing http://ift.tt/1Q52FF0
Can I make a week's worth of these and put it in the refrigerator? I'm basically wondering if it'll go bad or not.
Could I just take a jar of PB2 powder, mix it up with water and just leave it in a jar on the counter for whenever? Having to mix up a batch each time becomes kind of a hassle after a while, but I'm worried the PB2 could somehow...go...bad...?
EDIT: I contacted the company, here is their reply: "We recommend that you only mix what you plan to use in a day. Our PB2 is preservative free. If you should mix a little more it should definitely be put in the refrigerator tightly covered and used within 48 hours. It could go bad if mixed and left out unrefrigerated."
I want to cook ~10 chicken breasts to last me from Monday-Friday. What's the best method for keeping these fresh?
My plan is to leave four breasts out for Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday, pull a few more out and put them into the refrigerator. By Wednesday, they'll be ready to eat and I can pull the last of the chicken out for Friday night.
Is this a safe method, or am I going to end up getting sick?
Hey Guys, I posted a picture of my meal prep last night and was pleasantly surprised to see how many of you took an interest in it! A lot of people have been asking for various details about meal prepping, containers, recipes etc. so I thought I would cover it all in this post.
HOW DO I MEAL PREP!? For obvious reasons, planning is key when it comes to meal prepping. Keeping things organized will make for the quickest and easiest prep. First things first, decide on what your nutritional goals are. Your meal prep is going to be significantly different if you're an 18 year old girl trying to get healthy vs. a 32 year old guy trying to get in those gains.
Decide on your meals for the week before you hit the grocery store so that you know exactly what you need. Things can start to taste 'bleh' if you're eating the same meal every single day of the week. A good way to start is to create a combination of 1 Carb + 1 Protein + 1 Green. You can obviously alter this if you're on a low carb kick and whatnot. Here's some general ideas:
Where do I start? Once you've decided on your meals for the week and have bought all the necessary ingredients, it's time to cook. I cook in the following order: meats, carbs, veggies.
Meats I like to get all the meat out of the way first. Your oven is your best friend. It's the cleanest and quickest way to get your meat cooked. It's going to get super time consuming and messy if you cook everything on the stove. For the meal prep in the photo that I posted, I roasted two whole chickens (also ate some for dinner that night) and made mini meatballs out of lean ground beef (also baked). The meat takes a while to cook which leaves you with time to get other things done.
Carbs If you're going with quinoa, brown rice, pasta, or any other carb that needs to be boiled then that should be step 2. Set timers or write down times so you know how long everything has been cooking. Try to keep this chaos as organized as possible! If you're cooking up some sweet potato, now is the time to clean, peel, and chop. Get it chopped, seasoned and on a baking tray so that you can pop it in the oven once the meat is done.
Veggies Clean, cut, and season your veggies. If you're going to cook them on the stove, do it now! If you're going to roast them, prep them so that they're ready to go in the oven once the meat is out. FYI - I prep ALL my veggies for the week on Sunday night. That's why there's containers of carrots and whatnot. If you keep everything washed and cut, it literally takes a few minutes to put a meal together. A salad or stirfry will be quick, easy, and best of all.... you'll have ZERO mess. It's also great for when you're looking for something to munch on. If your veggies are clean and cut, you're more likely to eat them.
How many people is this for? This is 3 days worth of lunches for 4 people + 1 week worth of granola bars for 4 + 1 week worth of washed and cut veggies for salads, stir frys, and munching. The cut veggies are primarily used for dinners and salads. It's quick and easy to prepare meals when all your ingredients are prepped and it's just a matter of tossing them in.
How much do you spend? I haven't calculated exact costs in the past but I would say that all of the food pictured probably cost around $40.00. That's in Canadian dollars. I would assume US grocery stores are cheaper. Veggies obviously have to be bought fresh but I buy quinoa, oats, and other non-perishable goods in bulk and on sale.
How do you store everything? / Where did you get your containers? I use food containers that I bought from a local restaurant supply shop. They are reusable, microwavable, and dishwasher safe. I bought 150 containers for $30.00 and currently have 120 or so sitting in a box... They should last me a long while.
What do I do on Wednesday? Good question. This meals in the picture will last M-W. On Wednesday, I'll prep meals for T-F but because the majority of the prep was done on Sunday, it's much faster with minimal clean up. I'll usually cook up some more meat and roast some of the veggies that I washed and cut on Sunday. Quinoa and brown rice will stay good in the fridge until Friday so if you cook up a big batch on Sunday, it's just a matter of portioning it in containers on Wednesday. Alternately, you could also cook up a new batch on Wednesday. Quinoa is my carb of choice and only takes 15 minutes to cook. I prefer to cook a new batch but there's no harm in cooking a larger batch on Sunday.
Macros I didn't calculate exact macros but these meals are probably around 300 calories per container.
RECIPES So a bit of a disclaimer: I don't really use recipes. I look at recipes to get ideas and then just work with what I have. I've done by best to get them in recipe form!
CHICKEN
GARLIC GREEN BEANS
SPICY SWEET POTATO
BROCCOLI
QUINOA SALAD
CHOCOLATE CHIP GRANOLA BARS
Leave any other questions you have in the comments section. Sorry if this isn't super clear. I'm happy to provide clarification on anything - just leave me a comment!
I am preparing to start preparing meals every few days and storing them in my refrigerator. Each day will consist of 6 meals.
I was thinking about getting 18 plastic containers like this but was told that they leach chemicals into the food. Would hard plastic containers do the same thing? Or, are stainless steel bowls or stainless steel containers the solution?
Thank you for the advice
This is an ideal meal for running lifters (or lifting runners), and it's delicious on top of that! Makes 11 servings, ~520cal/serving.
Ingredients
4.5 lbs chicken breast, 1"x1" cubed
3 28oz cans Goya black beans
1.5 lbs mushrooms, sliced (your choice of variety)
1 lb tomatillos, roughly chopped
2 large onions, roughly chopped
3 T olive oil
0.25 cup canola oil
4 cups fat-free beef broth
4 T chili powder
2 T garlic powder
4 T cumin
2 t black pepper
1 t salt
1 6oz can chipotles in adobo sauce
1 6oz can tomato paste
1) Combine canola oil, 2 T each garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder, pepper and salt, and 3 oz chipotles in adobo sauce; mix well, then toss with raw cubed chicken and place in sealed container in refrigerator.
2) Preheat large pot (5-6 qt, ideally a dutch oven) to medium heat, then add olive oil and remaining spices; toast for 30 seconds (stirring constantly), then add onions, tomatillos, and mushrooms, stirring to combine. Cover for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
3) Add remaining chipotles in adobo sauce and tomato paste, stirring well to combine; saute, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
4) Drain and rinse beans, then add to pot with beef broth, stirring well to combine. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
5) Half an hour before the veggies are finished, remove chicken cubes from refrigerator and saute in hot pan (ideally cast iron) until cooked; add cubes to veggie mixture as they finish cooking (it usually takes 2-3 batches since there's so much chicken).
6) Simmer for half an hour longer to combine flavors, stirring occasionally.
7) Eat!
Shamelessly lifted from http://ift.tt/1j9cfVc, which is a vegetarian recipe with less protein.
I'm moving into a barracks room where I'll have a small microwave and mini refrigerator in my room with access to sub-par cafeteria food. I don't have access to anything more than a bathroom sink and I am not allowed an electric burner.
I'm a big fan of Mongolian BBQ and was thinking of making a "salad" to go, adding some protein like tofu or temph and fresh cabbage, minced garlic and lemon juice that I can store in my refrigerator, and then somehow cooking it and seasoning it after with sesame seeds and freshly ground pepper.
I know I won't be able to recreate the Mongolian BBQ meal but I'm trying to add some variety and anything close to it would be awesome.
Are there any special containers I could use for cooking vegetables in the microwave?
