This Week In The Kitchen: Meal Prep + Recipes

 I like to make cooking easier for myself where I can, so these are the things I prepped today for this week's meals.

I've received a lot of positive response from sharing my weekly meal prep a couple of weeks ago, so I will continue sharing from time-to-time.  

While many people meal prep different things, I choose what I make/prep ahead based on what I find makes it easier for me.  Pre-chopping vegetables for the week, for instance, isn't a priority.  It's easy for me to fit into my daily cooking routine, so I don't spend time prepping them ahead.

Because I cook 2 completely different meals for my husband and myself every day for lunches and dinners, I find that focusing my prep time on my meals makes it easier for me.  Our meals are very different mostly because he eats meat and dairy and I don't, and he prefers a different meal each day for both lunch and dinner whereas I have no issues eating the same thing for multiple meals.  Having my meals pre-cooked means that I can simply reheat mine and then put my focus on what I need to make for him.

Here's what I did today:

Washing Fruit & Veg

I washed and dried all of the fresh fruit and veggies that we purchased with some exceptions.  I don't, for instance, wash brussels sprouts, cabbage, mushrooms, beets, or greens until I'm ready to use them.  

I wash almost everything in an apple cider vinegar-water mixture, rinse, and then let it all dry on towels.  Once they are dried, berries go in canning jars that have a thin cloth or paper towel in the bottom.  I take any that are mushy or soft and set those aside for use first.  The others will last up to 2-3 weeks, if needed.  All other fruit is stored in the refrigerator and veggies are put into glass containers.

The keys to storing washed fruit and veg for long-term are:  let the fruit/veg dry completely before putting in the containers and store any that are overripe/mushy/soft in a separate container than those that are not.

Freezing Bananas

I had quite a few overripe bananas ready for freezing.  I can use these for smoothies or baking.  I peel them, place them on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet, and then freeze.  Once frozen I transfer them to a freezer bag.  

I keep the peels to put in a jar, top with water, let sit at room temp for a few days and the liquid is then used as fertilizer for my houseplants.  The peels are then chopped and added to my compost.

Eggplant White Bean Stew

I had an eggplant on the verge of going bad as well as a red pepper.  I found a new recipe for eggplant and white bean stew to make.  I won't share the recipe because it was just ok, but I froze the cooked and cooled stew to use as an easy meal when I need one.  I'll just add some flavoring (spices, etc.) when I reheat it.

Chunky Bar Cups

I had some raisins that have been around for a while plus a few packets of peanuts.  My husband likes to keep Trader Joe's Kung Pao Chicken on hand as an easy meal if needed but he doesn't like adding the peanuts, so I keep the little packages for another use.  

I melted some non-dairy chocolate chips and stirred in the chopped peanuts and raisins, then put the mixture into a silicone mold to make chocolate cups that are reminiscent of chunky bars.  Do you remember those?  I'd forgotten all about them until I decided to make this.  I can keep these in the freezer for a quick snack if we need something sweet.

Cooked Rice

I cooked a batch of both Jasmine rice and brown rice.  The Jasmine rice was for the bean burgers (although you can certainly use brown rice instead) and the brown rice was for meals this week.  

I like to add amaranth to my rice because I'm not a fan of eating it on its own, but it is a complete protein and a great source of antioxidants.  I like to do this with quinoa too.  I let the rice-amaranth mixture cool so I can store it in the refrigerator.  Another bonus of cooking rice and then storing it in the refrigerator is that this increases its resistant starch content - great for the gut microbiome.

Hummus

I mixed up a batch of hummus using chickpeas I'd previously made in my instant pot and stored in the freezer.  I usually use hummus as my salad dressing.  I shared my recipe in a previous meal prep post here.

Vegetable Lasagna

I made up a batch of vegan lasagna for my dinner this week.  I froze half of the lasagna, cutting it into one serving pieces first (after cooled) and then placing on a silicone lined baking sheet.  I transfer the frozen lasagna wedges to a freezer container or bag.

Here is the link to the recipe for vegan lasagna that I use as a guide.  I make changes, working with what I have or what I want to use each time.  Here are a few of my recipe notes:

• If you use the gluten-free Jovial brown rice lasagna noodles, cover and bake for 50 minutes instead of the 25 noted in the recipe.
• If you have a favorite vegan (or regular) cheese sauce or cheese shreds, you can use that in place of the cashew cream.
• Sometimes I add cooked white beans or red lentils with the first layer of veggies for extra protein.

Black Bean Burgers

I use a basic black bean burger recipe that I change up with different add-ins.  I like to freeze the burgers, so after cooled I lay them on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet and put in the freezer.  Once frozen I can transfer them to a freezer container or bag.  They freeze and reheat well.

The mushrooms can be omitted but they do add flavor (they absorb all of the flavors added to the skillet), moisture, and texture.  The walnuts can be omitted if you prefer not to have the texture from them.

This burger can be cooked on a skillet, in the oven on a baking sheet, in an air fryer, or on a grill.  Like almost all bean burgers, they are still somewhat soft so if grilling you should flip them carefully.

Black Bean Burger Recipe

makes 6 burger patties

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms (button, shiitake, portobello, or a combination)

1 Tablespoon soy sauce or tamari

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 can (or 1 1/2 cups) cooked black beans, rinsed and well drained

1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts (optional)

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

2 cups cooked rice (freshly cooked and cooled slightly so that it's still sticky)

1 cup breadcrumbs

In a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 Tablespoon oil, broth, or water.  Add the chopped onions and mushrooms.  Cook until soft, 1 minute.  Reduce heat to medium-low and allow to cook until browned, 3-5 minutes, adding additional oil/water/broth if needed.

Stir in the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and garlic.  Remove pan from the heat and stir in the paprika.  Allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl or food processor, mash black beans, leaving them chunky.  Add the onion mixture, walnuts, and flaxseed.  Mix with a spoon.  Stir in the breadcrumbs and then the rice, using your hands as needed to fully blend all ingredients.

Form the mixture into 6 patties, place on a plate, and refrigerate 1 hour or more.

Cook in an oiled skillet heated to medium-high or on a preheated grill.  Once the first side is browned, approximately 5-7 minutes, flip and cook the second side for the same amount of time.  Serve.

Store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator up to 4 days or freeze in a freezer-safe bag or container for longer storage. 

How I'll use everything this week:

Lunches for me:

-Veggie & Tofu Stir Fry (I'll just have to cook the veg and tofu once and make enough for 2-3 days which I'll store in the refrigerator and then use the refrigerated rice-amaranth mixture with it)    -or- 

- Black Bean Burger with Baked Sweet Potato Fries and Greens/Broccoli (I can dry-fry a defrosted burger in a pan with no oil while the sweet potato fries are baking and steam broccoli or greens)

Dinners for me:

- Large Salad with a piece of lasagna  -or-

- Large Salad with a side of Eggplant White Bean Stew

Meals for my husband:

Lunches for my husband are usually not determined until that day.  He's not a plan ahead kind of guy.  They good news is he's pretty good at eating leftovers, so I keep that in mind when cooking his dinners.

Tonight, I'll be roasting a turkey for him and serving it with mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, and cranberry sauce.  At Thanksgiving we'd received 1 turkey for free and purchased 2 additional at 49 and 69 cents/pound.  We froze 2 for future meals.  He'll have turkey tonight and then I'll take all of the meat off the bones, use some for a few meals this week (Turkey & Cheese Quesadillas, Turkey ala King, and Turkey Cajun Pasta) and boil the carcass with any remaining bits of meat attached to make turkey broth.  

The leftover meat will be portioned into single serving portions and frozen.  The stock will be portioned into 1 cup portions and frozen as well.  This will help pull together future meals quite quickly.

Other dinners this week for him include:  Pork Gyro with Homemade Fries, Slow-Cooker Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, and Salisbury Steak with Gravy and Rice.

That's meal prep for this week!  Do you spend time prepping ingredients or meals to make the rest of the week go smoother?

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