Meal Prep 101

Starting Over

It’s been about 3 months since I have done meal prep for breakfast and lunches. I kind of let it flow freely, and got creative with foods I already had in the house. My nectarines were aging, and not gracefully. Saturday morning I thought “stone fruit butter”, but then I got lazy about peeling all of the fruit, so I quartered them, took the stones out, of course, and placed them in my slow cooker with a little Splenda Brown Sugar, vanilla, and Chinese Five Spice (a great secret ingredient for sweet dishes, especially chocolate). I then added the rest of my canister of old fashioned oats to the mix, which was barely a half cup, now thinking “nectarine crisp”. I didn’t measure anything. Also, this wasn’t planned and I didn’t know how it would come out, so I didn’t even take any pics of the prep. It did turn out well! Today I topped my yogurt with it after I mixed ground flax seeds, chia seeds, and cinnamon into it. I also heated the bowl in the microwave for about 20 seconds to loosen up the mixture. It was delicious!

**Breakfast Prep: Nectarine “crisp” over plain non-fat Greek yogurt that was mixed with cinnamon, ground flax seeds, and chia seeds. all slightly warmed in the microwave**

Now for lunch prep: The previous week, I had bought Trader Joe’s Sesame Crunch Chopped Salad Kit and teriyaki baked tofu to go with it for the house. The salad kit was great, and was gone quickly. I had a little over half of the tofu left over. I also had 2 small chicken breasts in the freezer. I went back to Trader Joe’s and bought that delicious salad kit again, and broccoli slaw. Yesterday I marinated the defrosted chicken breasts in my husband’s famous teriyaki marinade, but I substituted the soy sauce with coconut aminos for less sodium. Here is the original recipe, which was actually invented by my husband’s best friend’s mother. It was his favorite as a kid, and we’re talking back in the 1960’s!

1/2 cup soy sauce (I used coconut aminos)

2 tablespoons oil (I used 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil)

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon ginger

2 cloves garlic

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Added later by my husband, and used by me for my recipe: about a teaspoon of Sriracha Sauce.

I marinated my chicken overnight, but I would say it really needs 2-4 hours to work.

*Remember – recipes are made to be experimented with. Add and subtract ingredients as it suits you. The measurements can also be adjusted to your taste.