As much as I LOVE vacation time it does present some challenges when it comes to putting together a menu plan. During the school year everything is so structured and I know where and when we are going to be eating. But once vacation hits it is a little all over the place – at least at first. So I am going to try my best to keep our meals planned out. I don’t anticipate lots of full blown dinners but more grab and go recipes along with salads and finger foods. Basically, I am going to keep the theme easy and healthy. Sound good?

I was not feeling to hot this past weekend so I did not do any cooking ahead of time. Therefore, most of my prepping will be done today and tomorrow after work.

**recipes with no links are new recipes that I am making and if all goes well will post them this week or next.

Breakfast

Peanut Butter and Jelly Steel Cut Oats

Strawberry Dream Smoothie – from The Everything Eating Clean Cookbook

Make ahead tips

Steel cut oats will be made ahead of time and store in refrigerator. PB & J will be stirred in the morning I eat it.

Smoothie will be made ahead of time and frozen into individual containers. This is the first time I am doing this so I will update you later on.

Lunch

Granola Parfaits

Mason Jar Salad – Smoked Turkey with Crumbly Blue and Raspberry Vinaigrette

Make ahead tips

Granola will be made ahead of time and stored in a mason jar.

Mason jar salads will be made ahead of time.

Snacks

Strawberries

Cheese and crackers

Homemade Granola Bars – still trying to find a good recipe

Make ahead tips

Strawberries, cheese, and granola bars will be prepped ahead of time

Dinner

Bistro Flank Steak Sandwich

Curried Chicken Salad

Five Spice Turkey and Lettuce Wraps

Tabbouleh Salad with Grilled Marinated Chicken

Homemade pizza

Make ahead tips

Steak and chicken will be marinated ahead of time.

Chicken will be made and shredded ahead of time.

Tabbouleh salad will be made ahead of time.

What’s on your menu plan this week?

SMK participates in Menu Plan Monday hosted by the Organizing Junkie.

In the last couple months I have posted 3 different steel cut oat recipes – blueberry lemon, apple pie, and coconut steel cut oats. Each one is delicious and so simple to make. I was contemplating posting another steel cut oat recipe. I did not want you to be burnt oat on oatmeal but as soon as I was going to put this next recipe on the shelf I no sooner get a couple emails from readers asking for more steel cut oatmeal recipes. Well you don’t have to ask me twice.

I love steel cut oats! In my opinion, they truly are the breakfast of champions. Seriously, whenever I eat a hearty bowl of steel cut oats I am ready to take on the day with a full and satisfied belly.

Besides being good for you, easy to make, and cheap to buy the flavor combinations for steel cut oats are endless. You can add in whatever spices, fruits, and other flavors you want to keep variety always going at breakfast time. Let’s be honest eating a bowl of plain oatmeal can get pretty boring after a while.

For this recipe I decided to stir in two of my favorite ingredients – peanut butter and jelly. I also spiced it up with a little cinnamon and a touch of nutmeg. It turned out delicious! I used raspberry preserves but I am sure you can flavor this oatmeal with any flavor jelly, jam, or preserves you like.  As with my other steel cut oat recipes I sweetened each serving with 2 teaspoons of maple syrup after it was cooked. I do not add any sugar to the base recipe because I do not feel it needs the extra sugar once you sweeten it with a little maple syrup. For me, this is the perfect amount of sweetness but if you need more then add a tablespoon or so of brown sugar to the oats as they cook. I encourage you to try it first without the sugar because I bet you will be surprise how much you like it.

I also like the added boost of protein the peanut butter gave this recipe. Between the fiber from the oats and protein from the peanut butter I was completely full until midmorning snack and even a little later.

This is such a delicious simple recipe. If you like PB & J and you like oatmeal then you will love this meal at breakfast time.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Steel Cut Oats

 

Save Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Author: Skinny Mom’s Kitchen

Recipe type: Breakfast

Serves: 5

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry steel cut oats
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 cups hot tap water
• 1 cup 1% milk
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons natural peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons raspberry fruit preserves
• 10 teaspoons pure maple syrup

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add steel cut oats and cook until toasted and fragrant, about 3 minutes.
2. Add hot water to toasted oats. Bring to a boil then reduce and simmer for 25 minutes.
3. Stir in milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Continue to simmer for about 20 -25 minutes, or until oats are tender but still firm.
4. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.The oats will still be a little “soupy” but after they stand for 5 minutes or so they will thicken up perfectly.
5. Divide into 5 servings then stir in 1 tablespoon peanut butter, 1 tablespoon fruit preserves, and 2 teaspoons maple syrup into each serving.

Notes

Make Ahead Instructions
The base recipe can be made ahead of time and refrigerated and/or frozen. Heat up in microwave then stir in maple syrup, peanut butter, and jelly.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 280 Fat: 12 Carbohydrates: 37 Fiber: 7 Protein: 21

3.2.1753

This post is by SMK contributor Danielle. Click here to see her other posts.

A couple of months ago, my daughter was incredibly constipated (I know…too much information, but stick with me!).  She had horrible back pain and leg cramping. It broke my heart to see her in pain like that. I had the sense it had a lot to do with her diet because during that time I feel like she was surviving on the typical “All American” 4 year old diet –  pizza, mac & cheese and of course chicken nuggets. You know all of the things I swore I would never give her.  Well I will be the first to admit that sometimes I chose the easy route to avoid tantrums and debates about what she would and wouldn’t eat for dinner.  Anyway, after seeing her struggle with constipation I decided it was time to pick the food battle. I realized that there is no reason why she could not start enjoying the same dinner as us.  Besides who in the world has time to prepare two different meals??  Not this girl!  If I allowed this to continue, soon enough, she would have theoretically determined all the rules in our house.  Uh uh.  No way.  Time to get tough and put my mommy thinking cap on.  At that moment I decided to start focusing my cooking efforts on increasing our veggie intake and reducing the amount of processed foods we all eat as a family. I know this is a process and will take time…but I have a 4 year old…so I know I am up for the challenge!

The research I did on farm shares inspired me and taught me that there is a whole new world of vegetables other than the basics.  I decided to use that inspiration and get a little creative.  I am realistic in my expectations and knew there was no way I could present a plate of kale or beet greens to my daughter and expect her to eat it with a smile on her face.  Don’t tell my parents, but when I was younger, we had to finish what was on our dinner plate.  And there was always a vegetable on our plate.  Nine times out of ten, I plugged my nose and threw it down the hatch or I excused myself and spit my mouthful of peas into the toilet.  Sorry mom.

After my own childhood experiences with veggies I decided to take a different approach as I begin to introduce more veggies into our diet. I researched a bunch of recipes and found a couple that worked quite well.  One of my greatest successes was Cauliflower Mac & Cheese.   It called for the cauliflower to be pureed as the basis for the creami-ness.  As I have made many variations of mac & cheese, my husband swears that this one was by far, the best.  And my daughter, she cleaned her plate!   She had no idea she was eating a full serving of mac & cheese and her vegetables.

Another recipe I made, this one to specifically target the constipation, was chocolate chip cookies with prunes.  I was pretty skeptical if these cookies would fly.   I found this easy recipe and it piqued my interest.  The recipe called for minimal preparation and the prunes replaced some of the butter therefore making it lower in fat content.   Instead of pureeing and pitting the prunes myself, I headed to the baby food section and found pureed prunes.  Genius!  I hit it out of the park with these!  The prunes made these so moist that I don’t think I would make chocolate chip cookies any other way.  I made a double batch so that I could freeze them and pull one out every morning to sneak into her lunch bag.  I should probably note, please don’t be turned off by the fact the prunes are the basis for this recipe.  I swear it is just the tiniest hint of a prune taste.

Lastly, in a continued effort to sneak veggies into Fiona’s diet, I made muffins.  I used a banana bread recipe but I tossed in shredded carrots and pumpkin puree.  For almost two years, she would have a package of those mini-muffins that practically has the shelf life of 10 years!  For some reason, these did not have the same appeal as the mini muffins do, so they were not as big of a hit as I had hoped.  Bummer.

I think one of the biggest things I have taken away from this experience, is that I was not giving my daughter enough credit.  I just assumed because she would not eat stand-alone veggies then she would never eat any type of vegetable dish. I never even considered trying recipes like these a year ago.  So she never even really had the chance to begin cultivating her taste buds. I know once she becomes  accustomed to more of these dishes I will be able to introduce even more vegetables. Baby steps.

I am sure there will be many recipe successes and probably even more failures, but you never know til you try, right? And I believe that is all we can do as parents is just keep trying.

What are your tips for getting more vegetables into your families diet?

Here are my official stats then I will share some more thoughts.

SW: 177

GW: 135

LWW: 141

CW: 139.5

PL: – 1.5

I think what excites me more than being below 140 pounds is the overwhelming support I get from all of you on the SMK facebook page. I posted my weight this morning around 5:30am and by 9:00am I had almost 400 likes and 38 comments – this was the most activity I have ever seen on one of my weigh in pictures. Thank you so much for your continued support. Honestly – I know I have said this hundreds of times – but the community that has formed from this blog has been one of the greatest weight loss motivators a girl could ask for. Seriously! I only hope that I am motivating you as much as you are motivating me. Wow we are like motivating machines!

Each week I like to answer a question or two that one of my readers email me or post on my facebook page. Last week I got an email asking how I stay motivated. Well I already stated that this blog motivates me but beyond that there is one major factor that helps me stay motivated. Want to know what it is? RESULTS! I love seeing the results of my hard work. I love fitting into smaller clothes. I love the energy I have. I love the way my eyes looks now that they are not hidden by my cheeks. I love feeling confident and not self-conscious. Results keep me going.

Now it is important to recognize that most results do not happen overnight. Some results, like having more energy or confidence, you may feel sooner than fitting into a smaller pant size. You must have patience and stay persistent. I promise  if you keep at you will see the results of your hard work. It will happen.

Also, keep in mind you will always have set backs. If you take a look back on my weigh ins you will see that I am not always on a downward slope with my weight. There have been many weeks – and I am sure there will be more – where I see a weight gain. Hey it happens. Have I told you about my cheezit addiction that I always fighting? Sometimes I win other times the cheezits win. But like I always say as long as we keeping up with our healthy habits most of the time then the times where we just want to sit on the couch and eat pizza won’t have as much of an effect over us.

Another reader asked me “how did I do it”. Well pretty much I write a whole blog on how I do it But to sum it up, I just keep to the basics. No fad diets for this mama! This is what I do:

• Eat no more than 1500 – 1600 calories a day. I use My Fitness Pal to track.
• 95% of my meals are made at home and planned ahead of time. I rarely eat takeout. Need help with planning? Check out my 4 week make ahead and freeze menu plan.
• I try to eat clean 75 – 80% of the time. Ideally I try for better but if not I don’t beat myself up over it.
• I drink lots of water.
• I exercise 4-5 times a week for 45 minutes on the treadmill and 15 minutes of strength training using resistance bands. I also do 100 crunches 4 times a week.
• I don’t eat after 7:00pm.

That is what I have done – and continue to do – to lose weight and keep it off.

What about you? How are you doing with your weight loss progress?

If you have any questions you would like me to answer you can post them here, on my FB page, or email me at tammy@skinnymomskitchen.com.

For many people when they hear the term freezer cooking right away their minds drift to spending 1-2 days cooking 30 + casseroles. Those thoughts – and the head spinning that follows – usually pushes freezer cooking out of reach and something “other moms” do. Because really how in the world can we find time to cook that much when many days a 10 minute undisturbed shower is a luxury.

Good thing freezer cooking goes way beyond the 30 meals in one day mentality.  Sure, this is one way you can stock your freezer but it is certainly not the only option. If it were I would have left freezer cooking a long time ago. For one, I rarely make or eat casseroles and second I really don’t have 1 -2 full days to dedicate – or the physical stamina – to make a month of complete meals.

One of my favorite ways to prepare foods for the freezer is to put together freezer meal starters. If you have been turned off by freezer cooking because you did not want to commit to 30 already prepared meals then I think you will enjoy the flexibility and freedom of freezer meal starters. Typically, they take a much shorter time to put together which also makes it a nice option for us busy people that don’t want to spend our entire weekend cooking.

A freezer meal starter is exactly what it sounds like. They are components of a meal that are prepped and frozen to be used in future recipes. These components can be cooked or uncooked. When you have meal starters prepared then you are able to pull together a recipe in less time than if you didn’t. For example, if a recipe calls for pounded out chicken breast cut into strips and you did not prep this ahead of time, then you can plan on adding 20 -25 minutes to dinner time prep along with a chicken juice mess. Now if you prep that chicken ahead of time you would just need to take the chicken out the night before or morning of to thaw by dinner time. Then all you would need to do is put the recipe together. This saves you both prep and clean up time. I don’t know about you but I would much rather deal with prepping raw chicken on the weekends rather than after work when everyone is screaming for food.

I have listed out some of my favorite freezer meal starters that I like to have available. I also include links to some different recipe ideas. Most of these freezer meal starters are very easy to prepare and some require no cooking ahead of time. If you have never tried freezer cooking before or don’t have a lot of extra time then try putting some freezer meal starters together and see if it works for you.

Taco meat

Taco meat can be cooked fully ahead of time and frozen. This way whenever you are ready to eat all you need is warm it up on the stove or microwave. Whenever I have time to freezer cook you can bet I am making at least 1-2 pounds of taco meat – sometimes more. I use taco meat in tacos, stuffed peppers, taco pizza, taco salad, quesadillas, tostadas, and even taco macaroni and cheese.

Seasoned beef

Seasoned beef can be made completely ahead of time and frozen. The two recipes I have used my season beef in is hamburger macaroni and cheese and cheeseburger wraps. However, you can use seasoned beef in any recipe that calls for it (soup, wraps, casseroles, etc)

Shredded chicken (plain and mexican)

Shredded chicken can be cooked completely ahead of time and frozen. I absolutely love having packages of shredded chicken prepared ahead of time. I have used it in salads, sandwiches, soups, wraps, and recipes that called for cooked shredded chicken.

Here are some recipes I can throw together super-fast when I have shredded cooked and ready

Buffalo chicken wraps

Buffalo chicken subs

Tortellini Chicken soup

Chicken alfredo pizza

Chicken salad

Cut up raw chicken

You all know I hate raw chicken. The last thing I want to do ever – but definitely during the week – is handle and cut up raw chicken. YUCK! But having raw chicken prepped ahead of time solves this problem. You can cut up and prep chicken however you want or need then just stick in the freezer. It is so nice to have a bag of cut up chicken breast recipe ready. Use this chicken in any recipe that calls for chopped or cut chicken. I have prepared many stir fry’s or skillet meals very quickly having this chicken prepped ahead of time.

There are many ways you prep chicken ahead of time. Check out this post I did on “What to do with a bulk package of chicken” for lots of ideas.

Rice

Many of my readers are often surprised that you can cook and freeze rice ahead of time. But I assure you I have done it many times and it always reheats perfectly each time. Just remove from bag or container, heat in microwave, and use in whatever recipe you like. I wrote a post a couple years ago on prepping rice ahead of time. So simple yet so incredibly helpful on busy weekday nights.

Meatballs

Meatballs can be rolled and frozen raw or cooked completely then frozen – it is totally up to you. I have done both but I actually prefer cooking them ahead of time. This way I can just heat and serve when we want to eat them. I use meatballs in sauce, meatball subs, and on pizza.

Spaghetti Sauce

Sauce (meat, marinara, pizza) is one of the easiest freezer starters to make. You can prepare a large batch on the stove or crockpot then portion it out into 2-3 cup servings to use in a variety of recipes. Whenever I have sauce in my freezer I know my recipe possibilities are endless. I use sauce for spaghetti (of course), lasagna, ravioli, any pasta dish, pizza, calzones, skillet dishes, or any recipe that calls for sauce.

Pizza dough

Whenever I don’t feel like freezer cooking I always prepare a couple batches of pizza dough. It is so easy – all I need to do is place ingredients in the bread machine and turn on. We eat pizza a lot and like many families it is one of our go to meals. Here are a few of my favorite pizza recipes I can quickly whip together when I have pizza dough recipe ready in the freezer.

Greek Pizza

Taco Pizza

Barbecue Pulled Pork Pizza

Sausage, Peppers, and Onion Pizza

Those are some of my favorite meal starters. What are you favorite meal starters? How do they make your life easier?

Shredded beef is something I never really thought to put on my menu plan. Mostly because all shredded beef recipes almost always call for a 2-3lb hunk of beef and I was not sure what the heck I would do with that much meat. I mean we are meat eaters but seriously that is even more than my hubs can handle. Also, awhile ago, I did try preparing shredded beef in the slow cooker a couple times and failed miserably. After that I could not bring myself to spend that much money on food no one would eat and ultimately I would have to throw out. You know how I feel about wasted food.

Anyway, I had a light bulb moment and realized I was going about it all wrong. First of all, the best cut of meat to use is chuck roast – at least from my experience. I tried using leaner cuts of meat but ended up with tough rubbery non shreddable pieces of beef. Everybody hated it. Except my dog of course. She loves my failed attempts in the kitchen. Chuck roast works best because it has a bunch of connective tissue in it that melts away as it cooks and makes the beef super tender. Sounds gross I know but this is what makes the beef pull apart and shred easily when done cooking.

Second, making a large amount of shredded beef should not be a problem because…hello… it can be frozen. Duh. Why is this just occurring to me? So it is not like we need to eat 3lbs of shredded beef at one dinner. Nope it can easily be portioned out to be used in a variety of different recipes. With this batch of shredded beef I made and froze about 15 beef burritos. I filled a tortilla with 1/3 cup beef, tablespoon refried beans, a little cheese, and salsa. I took one out in the morning and it was somewhat thawed by lunch. Then I either warmed it up in the microwave or on my indoor grill. They were delicious.

I did not have any other recipes in mind for the rest so I just portioned it out into 1 cup servings and froze. I figured I can use it in tacos, enchiladas, sandwiches, pizza, or whatever tickles my fancy.

The recipe I have below is more of Mexican style shredded beef as it uses chili powder and cumin. I adapted it from the cookbook Slow Cooker Revolution. Shredded beef is the perfect recipe for the slow cooker because it does best cooked slow and low. Now that I know how to successfully make shredded beef and freeze it I will experiment in the future with different shredded beef recipes.

If you like recipes that call for shredded beef but don’t always have it on hand and don’t like purchasing the premade stuff from the store then I highly recommend making a batch of this once in a while to keep in the freezer. Like I said, it makes a lot so depending on the size of your family it can last you a few months easily.

Do you make shredded beef? What are your favorite ways to use it?

Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef Freezer Meal Starter

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

10 hours

Total time

10 hours 15 mins

 

Author: Skinny Mom’s Kitchen

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 2 onions, chopped
• ⅓ cup chili powder
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 (3 pound) boneless beef chuck roast, fat trimmed off and cut in half
• Juice of 1 lime

Instructions

1. Stir together in a microwave safe bowl onions, garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper, and olive oil. Microwave on high for 5 minutes then pour into the slow cooker. Stir in tomato sauce and sugar.
2. Season beef with salt and pepper then add to the slow cooker. Coat roast evenly with the sauce.
3. Place slow cooker lid on and cook for 9-11 hours on low. Mine cooked perfectly at 10 hours using a 6 quart slow cooker.
4. Transfer beef to large bowl and let cool for 5 minutes then shred. Discard any pieces of fat.
5. Toss with 1 cup or more of the braising liquid left over in the slow cooker. This will add lots of flavor in addition to keeping the meat moist. Stir in lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

Make Ahead Instructions
Cook shredded beef completely and shredded, portion out, and freeze. Thaw completely before using in recipes. You can also prepare in recipes (such as burritos) before freezing. Thaw in refrigerator then reheat in microwave, on stove, in oven, or according to recipe instructions.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: ⅓ cup Calories: 204 Fat: 9 Carbohydrates: 5 Fiber: 2 Protein: 25

3.2.1753

Have you guys heard of “farm shares”? And do you know what a farm share is? Up until recently I had some knowledge of farm sharing but nothing real in-depth. However, after hearing others talk about it I became much more interested.

What is a Farm Share?

A farm share means that a member (me and you) purchases a share of the farmer’s harvest at the beginning of the growing season and when it is ready the member goes to the farm or a designated delivery spot to pick up their share for the week. A farm share can be fruits, vegetables, and/or meats. Depending on the farm there are different options.

A farm share is also referred to as Community Supported Agriculture. So essentially, it is a partnership between you, the consumer, and the farmer. Neat, huh?

This sounded like something I wanted to try so I hopped on the computer to see if and what types of shares are available in my area; how much it costs to participate; and ultimately if it is worthwhile for my family. Please don’t judge me but I am not the best at getting my recommended servings of vegetables for the day so I was hesitant to think that a farm share would make sense for me. As I started my research on the computer I quickly became pleasantly surprised! Farm shares are not as obscure as I thought. This definitely looked like something that would work for my family. And the good news for me, farm shares are not exclusive to vegetables as I had originally thought. Many farms offer fruit shares and a couple of them even offer meat shares!

If you are interested in finding a farm share in your area check out the website localharvest.org. All you need to do is pop in your zip code and you will get a list of all the farm shares in your local area.

Benefits of a Farm Share

I was attracted to the idea of a fruit share immediately. And here is why. I spend well over $25 a week just on fruit from my local grocery store. After researching farm shares I settled on two reasons it would work for me, cost effective and organic. In my local area, to participate in a fruit share, which is a 21 week program, it costs approximately $350-$375, which equals $16-$18/week. Right there, it is a savings in my pocket.

Another benefit to farm shares is purchasing local and I really like the idea of supporting farmers in my community. I feel good about my purchase when I know it’s coming from right here in my own backyard. How many times do our grocery stores offer produce from Mexico…I can assure you, Mexico is not in my backyard!

One of my concerns with a farm share was the distance I would need to drive to pick up my share. If I had to drive an hour out of my way each week to pick up my share then count me out. Turns out that the farm share is only about 20 minutes from my house and my husband was willing to pick up our share. It turns out that farm shares are a lot more accessible that what I originally thought.

Participating in farm shares will actually allow me to feed my family organic produce, save money, and support my local community. And it is easily accessible! Win for everyone!

Challenges With a Farm Share

Farm shares are not without challenges. Turns out, the farm share that best suited my needs was sold out. That’s right sold out. After I filled out and submitted the online registration form to become a farm share member “sold out” popped up. Uh oh. I called to check and see what this “sold out” was all about? Apparently, in the midst of my fruit share ignorance, I did not realize that you need to sign up mid-winter to make sure that the particular farm has enough to offer each member. I filed that little tid-bit away and I will be prepared with my completed application next winter! Next year, I will be a member of a fruit share! I will also be researching ahead of time the fruit and vegetable shares I can participate in for the fall and when those applications are due. I am also looking into my options for organic meat shares. As I learn more I will share my experiences with all of you.

Another challenge to farm sharing (veggies, fruits, or meats) is you might be intimidated by the thought of jumping into a farm share and not really knowing what to expect. My plan all along was to “share” my share with my mom & dad and split the cost. I suggest trying this approach first so that you don’t feel guilty if you choose to supplement from the grocery store every so often.

Now, I know the other challenge you are probably thinking might surface is…what in the world do I do with a bushel of vegetables I have never even heard of. Or better yet how the heck do I prepare and serve them? Well don’t worry these farm share websites got you covered. Most of the ones I looked at, showed a picture of the produce they harvest along with a few recipes that you can prepare with that particular vegetable and/or fruit. Genius! Even though I am not a member just yet, I still plan to take advantage of some of these recipes so I can take myself out of this comfort zone of traditional vegetables.

Stay tuned my friends because I am about to take my family on a culinary adventure with farm shares, new recipes, and whatever else happens along the way. I can’t wait to share all my share experiences with all of you

So tell me. Have any of you tried farm shares before? Did you like them? What has your experience been?

photo credit

Is it really June already? It does not seem like June should be here yet. Don’t get me wrong I am looking forward to summer and all that summer offers but I just don’t know where the last few months have gone. Honestly, since I got back from Florida in February it has been nonstop action and all days are starting to blur together.

This week in particular is going to be exceptional busy. My girls are finishing up dance for the year and have two rehearsals this week and the big show on Saturday. It is very exciting…busy…but exciting. Then after the craziness ends Matt and I are celebrating our 12 year wedding anniversary. 12 years!! So crazy. Let’s just say I am not cooking a fancy dinner. Nope this momma wants to be taken out. I told Matt to make reservations somewhere that DOES NOT have a kids menu. We will see where we end up.

Needless to say, we will not be sitting down at the dinner table to eat for a majority of this week. Therefore dinners are going to be easy to throw together and if needed grab and go meals.

Here is our menu. I did not have any time to grocery shop or make ahead anything this past weekend. We were busy with dance pictures. So I went into this week with nada. I am not going to lie I am twitching a bit but I will manage.  Some items I already have in my freezer and others I will try my best to make ahead of time tomorrow or Wednesday.

Breakfast

Sausage and cheese breakfast burritos

Steel cut oats

Make ahead tips

• I have about 4 burritos left in the freezer that I made a few weeks ago. Tomorrow morning I will make a basic batch of steel cut oats then keep in the refrigerator for breakfast throughout the week.

Lunch

Vanilla greek yogurt with strawberries and homemade coconut almond granola

Peppers and hummus

Cheese and crackers

PB & Js

Shredded beef or chipotle turkey burritos

Make ahead tips

• Granola will be made tomorrow night
• Peppers and cheese were cut last Monday. I put the peppers in mason jars and believe it or not but they are still nice and crisp. Oh how I love mason jars. They are fabulous!
• PB & J’s will be made night before.
• Burritos are in my freezer. I made them a few weeks ago.

Dinner

Hamburger macaroni and cheese

Chicken quesadillas

Deli Subs, Salads (fruit and pasta), and other picnic food for rehearsals and dance recital

Make ahead tips

• I am going to make the hamburger macaroni and cheese tomorrow night. I have nothing prepared but my daughter has been begging for it so I decided to just make it – I am such a good mommy
• Quesadillas will be made with rotisserie chicken. Yep easy.
• The subs and salads will be made Wednesday night and Friday afternoon.

There is my menu for the week. Nothing complicated. Some weeks you just need easy and this is one of those weeks.

SMK participates in Menu Plan Monday hosted by The Organizing Junkie.

What about you? How is everything going? Are your weeks just as crazy as mine? How have you been handling menu planning during this busy time?

If haven’t already check out my 4 week make ahead and freeze menu plan – I did all the work for ya and even through in some weight loss tips

Preparing meals at home is an important step in moving towards a healthier lifestyle. In fact, I would venture to say it is essential. Cooking at home helps you control the ingredients that go into the foods you eat. It also makes it easier to keep portions in check. By cooking your own meals you start to move away from processed foods and towards a more nutritious wholesome diet. This nourishes your body with the vitamins and nutrients needed to be healthy and satisfied.

One struggle people have with cooking recipes from scratch is figuring out the nutritional information. When you purchase boxed meals all that information is right on the package making it easier to keep track of calories, portions, and other nutritional information.  But you know what else is on that box? A bunch of ingredients, preservatives, and additives our bodies do not need.

As you start to prepare more recipes at home you may not be sure of the nutritional information. Clearly, this is important to know, especially if you are trying to lose weight. To help I want to show you how I use My Fitness Pal to easily figure out nutritional information in recipes. This is exactly what I do for all the recipes I post on Skinny Mom’s Kitchen.

Let’s get started.

Log in to your My Fitness Pal account. If you don’t have one then sign up for free.

After you log in you will be brought to your main page. This page shows you the amount of calories you have left for the day in the middle, main tools on the top navigation bar, and other diet tools over on the left. You want to click on the food tab which is located on the top navigation bar.

After you click on the food tab you will be brought to your daily food diary page. You want to click on the tab in the second top navigation bar that says recipes.

Once you click the recipe tab you will be brought to your recipe box page. This page will house all the recipes you add. To figure out the nutritional information for a new recipe click on the “enter new recipe” button over on the right.

This will bring you to the recipe nutrition calculator. On this page you fill in the name of the new recipe. For this example I just wrote in “Sample recipe”. Then list the number of servings. You can always change this later on.  I find the number of servings to be really helpful because if the calories or fat are too high you can always play around with the servings to reduce or increase the portions. For example, if you add in the ingredients for a chili, put 5 servings, and each serving comes out to over 600 calories you can try to reduce the servings to decrease the calories. Or you can play around with different ingredients till you get the calories and fat per serving you are looking for. Of course this all depends on the recipe.

Okay once you have the servings set start adding the ingredients. Click the button that says “add ingredient”. Type in the food database box the ingredient you are looking for and hit search. Depending on what you are searching for you will get a bunch of options in the matching foods box. For this example I put whole wheat bread. You can see all the options below that came up. Now you may or may not find an exact match to what you are looking for. That is fine. Just pick the one that closest matches the ingredient you are using.  Continue to do this with the rest of the ingredients.  After you are done click save. You can choose to submit your recipe to the My Fitness Pal database. This just means your recipe will come up on the public food/ingredient searches.

After you enter all your ingredients click “save your recipe” . This will save the new recipe yo your recipe box. If you ever need to make changes just click on the recipe, edit, and save again.

Once your recipe is saved it can be used in your food diary. Click on the food diary tab. Then click the meal you want to add that recipe to. For this example, I clicked add to breakfast. You will see 5 tabs. The most recent tab is the one that is usually highlighted. To add your recipe click on the recipes tab. This will bring you to all your submitted recipes. Check the one you want and click the add checked button. It will then be added to your food diary.

My Fitness Pal automatically tracks certain nutrients. If you want to change that up then click on the home tab and then on the settings.

There are other recipe builders on the internet but this is the one I have always used – and it’s free. If you follow weight watchers you can use their recipe builder to figure out the points. Or I found this tool online to help with points – not sure if it is 100% accurate but it is free.

I hope you find this tool helpful as you prepare more recipes at home. Let me know if you have any questions. As always, if you have other tips to share please do so below.

A common question I get from readers is “how do I get more vegetables in my diet?” Great question and one I have often struggled with myself. You see, I would not call myself a vegetable person. I like vegetables and feel good when I eat them but they often find their place as a side dish and not the main recipe. I am trying to change that.

One way I am doing this is by preparing a batch of roasted vegetables to use in recipes throughout the week. Again, it is easier to eat healthy when food is prepared ahead of time.  Roasted vegetables are amazing and easily my favorite way to eat them. They are also simple to prepare. You just toss them in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, put them on a pan and cook at a higher temp for about 25-30 minutes. The texture stays slightly crunchy and the flavor of the vegetables is sweetened a bit. Certain pieces will even caramelize and those are pure heaven. Delish! I usually marinate them in balsamic vinegar dressing before roasting and this just brings them to whole new level.

My favorite vegetables to roast are asparagus, red onion, mushrooms, and tomatoes. You can roast almost any vegetable but those are the ones I prefer. I then use the roasted vegetables in a variety of ways. I put them in wraps, on pizza, in risotto, toss with pasta, or I just eat straight out of the container. You can eat them cold or hot – either way they are delicious. Balsamic roasted vegetables are so versatile and can be used in many recipes.

So I guess my advice for getting more vegetables in your diet is to prepare them in a way you will enjoy and of course ahead of time.

4.0 from 1 reviews

Roasted Balsamic Vegetable Meal Starter

 

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Prep time

2 hours

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

2 hours 25 mins

 

Author: Skinny Mom’s Kitchen

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 bunch asparagus, rough ends cut off
• 10 ounce package baby portobella mushrooms, quartered
• 1 large red onion, sliced into thick pieces
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar dressing

Instructions

1. In a large container mix together vegetables and dressing. Let marinate for 2 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Place marinated vegetables on a baking pan and cook for 25 – 30 minutes or until vegetables are slightly caramelized. For firmer vegetables cook less time, softer vegetables cook longer.

Notes

Make Ahead Instructions
These vegetables can be made up to 5 days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: ¼ of recipe Calories: 121 Fat: 9 Carbohydrates: 9 Fiber: 2 Protein: 3

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