Meals We Prepped #6

Saturday morning I went to Fred Meyer and picked up fresh produce, cheese, sour cream and tortillas for the week ahead.  I didn't do any prepping on Saturday and I got a bit of a late start on Sunday, in fact, I didn't get started until suppertime.  But it still worked out just fine.

 

I'm trying to not use canned cream soups in my recipes anymore.  Last week I made my own cream of mushroom soup for the stroganoff and this week I made a cream of chicken.  It worked out beautifully.

This was very tasty!

Meal prepping was super simple last week.  First thing, I started a pot of rice cooking.  I chopped up mushrooms and onions to sauté in olive oil.  Then I added two heaping tablespoons of flour and cooked that for a couple minutes.  I used some sodium free chicken bouillon and a cup of warm water for my broth and a cup of whole milk and stirred it well so it wouldn't be lumpy.  Salt and pepper to taste.  While that simmered I cooked up some diced chicken I had pulled from the freezer and thawed and chopped up some broccoli.  I added that to the creamy sauce and simmered for about ten minutes.

Next I moved onto the Sopa Seca.  My youngest cooked up the ground pork and onions, then added the canned tomatoes, water, spices and two diced chipotle peppers.  I cooked up a 7oz. package of fideo pasta and drained it.  She stirred that in and then we transferred it to a casserole dish.  We cleaned up the kitchen, ate supper and cleaned up the kitchen again.

Sunday - The freshly made Chicken Broccoli & Rice and a simple salad really fit the bill.  I put the leftovers into the refrigerator to serve again on Tuesday.

Monday - I was very happy to have supper in the refrigerator and ready to go, especially as cheerleader practice ran an hour longer.  I was even happier about it when I got a text from my youngest asking what was for dinner.  Followed by I'M HUNGRY!!!  The moment she got in the car she asked how long until we eat.  Before I left the house I put some grated cheese on top of the Sopa Seca and then into the microwave on high to heat through for ten minutes.  I also left the oldest to make a salad while I was gone.  Dinner hit the table as soon as we walked through the door.

Simple fresh salad

Tuesday - Very simple.  I reheated leftover Broccoli Chicken and leftover rice.  While that warmed in the microwave I set out salad dressing and leftover salad.  Dinner was on the table in 10 minutes!

Wednesday - Same as the day before.  I reheated the Sopa Seca in the microwave and made a quick green salad.  Dinner was on the table in 10 minutes!

Thursday - In the morning I cooked up half a package of leftover macaroni that had been sitting in the pantry for a bit.  Time to use it up.  When I got home I dumped all the ingredients for my pantry style minestrone soup into a pan.  Once heated through I added the pasta.  Instead of serving in with rolls I decided to use some of the hoagie buns I had picked up at Franz.  I put some butter, garlic and dried basil on them and placed them under the broiler for a quick garlic bread.  The girls loved that!

Friday - While fries cooked in the convection oven I put together the tuna schooners and got them ready.  Then popped them in under the broiler leaving the fries in there to stay warm while the schooners finished up.  I hadn't made these in quite some time and the girls were thrilled to have them again.

Saturday - My oldest had to march at the football game for homecoming.  As usual, by the time we got home she was starving.  Chicken quesadillas were quick and easy.  I cooked up some chicken breast while she was at the game and then put the quesadillas together, heating them up in a dry skillet.  The youngest made a salad and dinner was served.

My girls make some beautiful salads

To say I love meal prepping would be a complete understatement.  I feel like it saves me a ton of time, I don't stress at all about what's for dinner, I feel like we have a better handle on curbing food waste and I think in the long run it will also save on my grocery bill each month.  Another thing I've noticed is that I am using up lots of odds and ends of things in the refrigerator and pantry.  We've finished up all kinds of things like cocktail sauce, artichoke hearts, partial packages of pasta, marinades, leftover veggies, etc.  It has been fantastic!