Meal Prep - Week #2

Week 2!  Can you believe that already?!  Let's get to it.

Friday evening I took meat out of the freezer to thaw.  A package of Italian pork sausage and some steak.

Sausage & pasta sauce set aside for later in the week

Finished pasta sauce

Saturday morning we shopped.  I meal prepped on Saturday by browning the sausage.  I removed 1/3 of it and set it aside to freezer for pizza topping, then added sliced mushrooms to the rest of it and cooked that until they were tender.  I put a can of pasta sauce and 2 cans of Italian style diced tomatoes into my medium slow cooker.  I added a large spoonful of minced garlic and a tablespoon of dried basil.  Once that was stirred together I removed a 1/2 cup of the sauce to use for pizza sauce.  I then added the meat and mushroom and allowed it to simmer on low for 4 hours.  .  I cooked up a pound of spaghetti, drained it, and put it into a bag.  The sausage and pizza sauce went into the freezer.  I also put half of the finished pasta meat sauce into a 4 cup container and put it in the freezer.  The rest was put in the refrigerator with the pasta.

Cooking the pasta

That was pretty much it for the meal prepping for the weekend.  Not too bad, huh?

Steak seasoned with fajita seasoning, fresh cilantro & lime juice

For fun I bought the street size

These were soooooo good!

Sunday - I pan fried the steaks which came already seasoned for Carne Asada and finished them off with a handful of chopped cilantro and a lime.  I heated the corn tortillas in a dry pan, sliced up the steak and served it with grated cheddar, sour cream and salsa.  Delicious!

Monday - We heated up the pasta meat sauce in the microwave and I warmed up the cooked spaghetti in a pan of hot water.  My youngest made a quick Caesar salad with romaine, croutons and dressing.  Dinner was on the table in 15 minutes.

Freshly made pico de gallo or fresh salsa

Inside each burrito

Tuesday - In the morning I cooked up a cup of rice, transferred it to a dish and placed it in the refrigerator.  That evening I made a quick fresh salsa of diced onion, diced tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, salt & pepper.   I used the leftover steak, some rice, leftover cheese and leftover flour tortillas to make Carne Asada burritos.  I served those with the fresh salsa, sour cream and some guacamole.  Dinner was on the table in 10 minutes.

Wednesday - While a pan of french fries cooked in the toaster oven I pan fried salmon burgers.  I also boiled up a couple ears of corn.  The burgers were served on whole wheat buns with lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced pickles and leftover homemade tartar sauce.  Dinner was on the table in 20 minutes.

Spicy goodness

Thursday - As soon as I got home from work at 3:45 I put all of the ingredients for Thai curry soup into my slow cooker - coconut milk, shredded cabbage, water chestnuts, some Asian seasoning sauce, and a large spoonful of red curry paste.  I let that cook on high.  By the time I picked up the girls from their schools and made it home the soup was ready.  All I had to do was soak the mung bean noodles in hot water for five minutes.  I put half of the soup into a container to freeze for a future meal.  I added the noodles to the remaining soup.  It made for a super easy one pot meal.  Total prep time was less than 10 minutes.

Friday - In the morning I removed the sausage and pizza sauce from the freezer to thaw.  That evening I made a batch of pizza dough in the bread machine.  I prepared a pizza and put a crust into the freezer for another meal down the line in less than 30 minutes.  I served the pizza with a simple salad and the last of the spaghetti and meat sauce.

Rice finishing, chicken cooking & veggies - sauce included!

Saturday - I had picked up some stir fry veggies that were on markdown when I had shopped and used those to make a quick chicken stir fry.  Quick and easy.

We had plenty of leftovers each day for lunches.  Once again everything flowed smoothly.  I found that planning out and prepping 5 meals is more than enough for us.  It leaves Saturday free to use up any leftovers, prepare something else entirely or go out to eat.  I like having that flexibility.

Getting dinner on the table each night is, without a doubt, super quick and easy, with minimal dishes and clean up.  Stress free for sure and I definitely didn't feel like I was spending a ton of time in the kitchen over the weekend getting everything ready with only one meal to actually prep.  I'd say it was a success, once again!