Meal Prep - 2/9/14

Hey Guys and Gals! We're starting a new blog post series here. Rachael and I have both been busy meal prepping on a weekly basis and it's working so well to keep us on track with our nutrition and calorie intake. :) Hopefully this will help you with some ideas if you're meal prepping or maybe we'll inspire you to start.

If you have any questions or need suggestions, please let us know. We're pretty passionate about our meal prepping, so we would love to help you!

Rachael's Meal Prep this week:

Snack: Carrots and Olive Hummus

17 Baby Carrots

2 Tbsp 3 Olive Hummus

119 calories, 15 carbs, 6 fat, 3 protein, 206 sodium, 35 sugars

Breakfast: Egg Muffins

3 servings:

3 egg whites, 3 whole eggs, 1/2 scallion, chpd, 1/4 C mushrooms, chpd, 1 c Turkey Sausage crumbles

3 servings:

3 egg whites, 3 whole eggs, 1/2 scallion, chpd, 1/4 C mushrooms, chpd, 1 C Turkey Lunchmeat, diced

Layer all non-egg ingredients in muffin tin. Beat eggs and whites, divide evenly over ingredients.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

113 calories, 1 carb, 6 fat, 14 protein, 286 sodium, 1 sugar

Lunch: Sausage, Quinoa and Veggies

5 servings:

14 oz Turkey Smoked Sausage, 1 1/4 Cup Dry Quinoa (cooked according to pkg), 1 med zucchini,

12 oz frozen steamable California Medley veggies, 1/4 cup mushrooms, 1/2 cup spinach

Cut sausage into chunks and pan sear. Shred zucchini. Saute mushrooms and spinach.

Divide into 5 containers. Quinoa, sausage, shredded zucchini, frozen veggies, mushrooms and spinach.

341 calories, 44 carb, 10 fat, 18 protein, 837 sodium, 7 sugar

 Snack: Emerald Natural Almonds

100 Calorie Packs

Melissa's Meal Prep this week:

Snack: Carrots and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

6 Baby Carrots

2 Tbsp Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

88 calories, 8 carbs, 5 fat, 3 protein, 3 fiber, 3 sugar

Snack: Cubed Fresh Mango

1/2 cup serving size

45 calories, 13 carbs, 1 fiber, 12 sugars

Breakfast: Apple/Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats

6 servings

Bring 2 1/2 Cups water & 3 cups unsweetened almond milk to a boil. Add 1 3/4 cups steel cut oats, pinch of salt, 1 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/4 cup ground flax seed, 2 Tbsp whole flax seeds & 1/2 cup dried apples. Reduce to low. Simmer UNcovered for 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. When creamy & tender, remove from heat & stir in 1 Tbsp cinnamon, 1 Tbsp vanilla, sweetener of your choice (I used 2 scoops NuNaturals Stevia and 2 squirts of Skinny Girl Liquid Stevia) & 2 scps vanilla whey protein powder.

292 calories, 44 carbs, 7 fat, 14 protein, 8 fiber, 8 sugars

Lunch: Spaghetti Squash with Ground Turkey, Baby Bella Spaghetti Sauce

5 servings

Cook spaghetti squash in crockpot. I used this method from Stacy Makes Cents. I put mine in when I got up and it was ready to be taken out of the crockpot to cool when I got home from church. I got exactly 5 cups of spaghetti squash from mine. Made perfect 1 cup servings for my week's lunches. Brown 1 pound ground turkey, pour 1 jar of sugar free spaghetti sauce into pot, add 8 ozs baby bellas and 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning. Pour 1 cup spaghetti sauce over 1 cup spaghetti squash.

221 calories, 19 carbs, 7 fat, 22 protein, 5 fiber, 10 sugars

We hope you enjoyed our meal prepping pictures and info. We really LOVE meal prepping and hope we can help you get started or give you the boost to love it. :)

God Bless,

Melissa

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

First, let me just say, these are the best cupcakes I've ever eaten in my whole life. Second, I don't normally pat myself on the back, but they are SERIOUSLY THE BEST CUPCAKES I'VE EVER HAD IN MY WHOLE LIFE. 

Sunrise Sausage Bake

Hello, I am Kakie, Rachael and Melissa's mommy.  I have always enjoyed cooking and recently have found a new interest in experimenting with recipes.  I'm even canning!  I made this recipe for my hubby and the guys at his work, it went over so well that they even offered to pay me to make it!  Rachael asked us to babysit her Nugget, the boy wonder, last night and I offered to make it for breakfast today.  She liked it enough that she asked me to post it here.  The recipe falls under my family legacy on recipes......looks difficult, but in fact?  Easy, easy, easy!  Enjoy! Oh, FYI, this freezes and reheats extremely well.

Cauliflower Rice

FINALLY, healthy rice!!

Now don't read the title and think this is anything like rice. It's not. The first time I made it, I was super duper disappointed. Basically, it's a loose interpretation of rice. It's spanish flavored, it's a little close to the same size and it compliments mexican style food well.

Dill Chicken

I made this not too long ago and got A LOT of questions on how to make it. So ... here goes! 

Perfect Chicken

Last night, I made chicken. I stuffed 4 large chicken breasts with sauteed onions, mushrooms, garlic, spinach and scallions. It was AWFUL. The flavors should have been good, but the chicken was SO dry! It was so awful that I threw my leftovers, meant for lunch, away. I never throw out food. So, for redemption, today I made perfect chicken.