Meal Prep - Week #4

Week 4 and it is working!  Whoo hooooo!  I am loving this!

Saturday morning I did my shopping for the week ahead, but because of the long holiday weekend I didn't meal prep until Sunday.  I did, however, take a big pot roast and a package of ground turkey out of the deep freezer to thaw.

Sunday morning I put coated both sides of the pot roast with a packet of Au Jus seasoning mix.  Then I placed it in my large slow cooker and set it to cook for 6 hours on high.  When the time was up I added four good sized red potatoes cut into quarters, about two thirds of a bag of baby carrots and a roughly chopped onion.  I let that cook an additional two hours.

  

On Labor Day I finished meal prepping, simply because I could.  If it had been a regular work day I'd have finished on Sunday instead.  I browned the turkey burger and seasoned it with taco seasoning.  Half of the leftover pot roast was divided.  I placed part of it in a casserole dish with the leftover vegetables or an additional supper.  The remaining roast went into the freezer to use next week in stroganoff.

 

Ready for crab cakes

Cheeses for mac & cheese

Easy béchamel sauce

I boiled up a box of mini penne pasta.  I made my easy béchamel recipe and added some sharp cheddar and a package of bacon cheddar cheese to make a creamy sauce.  After mixing the cooked and cooled pasta with the cheese sauce I put it all into a casserole dish and into the refrigerator to wait its turn.  Then I chopped up the veggies I needed for the crab cakes.

Sunday - After removing the pot roast from the slow cooker I poured those delicious juices into a saucepan, added a cup of water and thickened it with a little cornstarch.  I sautéed some green beans too.  We enjoyed a delicious Sunday supper.

Monday - Despite that it was Labor Day, which usually calls for barbeque, we stuck to the menu.  I reheated the taco meat and served it with cheddar, shredded lettuce, refried beans (from our freezer) sour cream, salsa and some street-size flour tortillas.

Tuesday - Leftover pot roast and vegetables took a spin in the microwave for about 8 minutes.  In the meantime I reheated the leftover gravy in a saucepan.  It was ready by the time the microwave shut off.  Dinner was on the table in 10 minutes.

Wednesday - I placed the macaroni & cheese in the microwave to heat thru about 5 minutes.  I splashed a touch of milk in it and gave it a good stir then back into the microwave for another 3 minutes.  Once the macaroni was done I put a dish of peas & carrots in for a few minutes.  When they were done I stirred them with a little butter and dinner was served.

Thursday - The oldest and I pulled out the crab and the chopped veggies in the refrigerator to make up the crab cakes.  I decided not to make the drop biscuits or the salad because we had a lot of leftovers.  Instead I served the crab cakes with the leftover macaroni & cheese and some steamed green beans.

Friday - Friday I heated up chili from the freezer that had been thawing in the refrigerator the night before.  While it heated in the microwave I cooked hot dogs in a skillet and put together a quick salad out of leftover veggies.  By the time the chili was hot everything else was ready.  Another dinner on the table in 10 minutes.

Saturday - We had so many leftovers in the refrigerator so we decided to have a mini buffet.  It doesn't get much easier than that!

I still can't get over how much less time I spend in the kitchen cooking and yet we seem to have more food and plenty of variety too.  Putting our lunches together has been a snap.  Keeping the kitchen tidy throughout the week is much easier too.

So dang cool!