Weeky Lunch Prep and Roasted Vegetable Quinoa

I've mentioned before that I'm a big believer in lunch-time food prep whether you are eating at home or out with friends. I tend to get into food cycles for lunch where I eat the same thing for a few weeks just because it tastes good or the fresh vegetables in the recipe are in season. Better get them while you can, right? After a few weeks I move onto the next thing that sounds good. I know it sounds boring, but I don't look at it that way.

For a longtime lunch was the most stressful meal of the day for me.  My workouts usually end right at lunchtime and by the time we get home my kids want to eat and they want to eat RIGHT NOW. I would find myself making their sandwiches and stuffing the crust of their PB&J in my mouth because I had no idea what I was going to eat or when I was going to get the the chance to sit down and eat it.

With my meals prepared and waiting in the fridge, I can walk in the door, stick my food in the microwave to warm up while I make the girl's sandwiches and then we all get to sit down at the table together...I won't say we eat together since lately most of our meals consist of me tying to eat while trying to convince  begging the older kid to "just eat three bites" and picking up all the food the little one is joyously and repeatedly throwing off her tray.

I've been asked several times if I prep for the whole week or just a few days. The answer is all week. I've never had a food safety "incident" that being said, if you aren't comfortable eating something you cooked on Sunday for lunch on Friday, I can understand. Just plan to prep on both Sunday and Wednesday.

For the most part my protein is always either 3-4oz of baked chicken breasts (1lb chicken breasts drizzled with olive oil, seasoning, bake 400 degrees 35-40 minutes) or two spicy turkey meatballs. (See mini meatloaf/ meatball post. Reduce recipe by half to make 10 meatballs/ 2 per meal.)

For side dishes I've been having either brown rice and broccoli, half a sweet potato and green beans or Roasted Vegetable Quinoa salad. The quinoa has been my staple for about 3 weeks now because I've been able to get awesome broccoli, peas, asparagus and onions at our local farmer's market. To those veggies I add whatever looks good at the store that week. Its usually zucchini and bell pepper...occasionally carrots.

The quinoa salad is easy to make and a great source of protein and fiber, plus its really filling. You can also easily modify this recipe into a main dish by coarsely chopping 2-3 baked chicken breasts and one 15oz can of rinsed black beans to the quinoa and veggies. You may also want to add an additional 1-2tbsp of olive oil or a splash of chicken broth to moisten the salad as well as some additional seasoning blend.

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa 

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Roasted Vegetables
4 to 5 cups of the vegetables of your choice. My suggestions are:
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 zucchini, cut into strips 3in long and 1/2in wide
1-2 cup fresh broccoli. broken into florets
6-8 asparagus spears, in 2in pieces
1 red bell pepper, chopped into strips 3in long, 1/2in wide
1/4 cup olive oil
salt
1 tbsp garlic-based seasoning powder such as Mrs. Dash or McCormick Italian seasoning grinder-- really, it can be whatever seasoning blend you enjoy.

Place all your chopped veggies to a gallon-size ziploc bag and pour the 1/4c olive oil over the top. Next add half your seasoning to the bag, close it and shake it. After all the veggies seem to be coated, open the bag and add the rest of the seasoning. Close the bag and give it one more good shake.

Next, spread the vegetables out in a single layer on a large foil-lined baking sheet.

Place your veggies in oven and bake for 5 minutes, stir and bake for an additional 7 minutes.  It is tempting to continue to cook your vegetables, but remember you will be microwaving this meal to reheat it which will continue to cook them. Unless you like your vegetables very soft, you don't want to overcook them off the bat. If you are making this as a side dish for dinner or main course to serve right away, roast the vegetables an additional 3 minutes.

Quinoa
1/2 c organic quinoa
1/2 c 100% natural chicken broth
1/2 c water
1/4 tsp sea salt

Bring water, chicken broth and quinoa to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Continue cooking for 10-15 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Don't add the salt to your pan yet.

When your quinoa is done pour it into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with salt.

When vegetables are done roasting, move them from the baking sheet into your bowl of quinoa and toss. Taste and add additional seasoning if you think it needs more.

This recipe should portion out perfectly as the side dish for 5 lunches. Enjoy!

Mini Meatloafs or Meatballs

One of the things I haven't been willing to give up for the sake of a healthy diet is comfort food. I still want to eat mac n' cheese and brownies and basically any and all kinds of fried goodness. While it would be wonderful to do that everyday, I have to rein it in and look at the bigger picture. Those thing are fine for an occasional meal, but for your run of the mill dinner a few healthy substitutions can take the classics you love right into health-ville with just a few changes. Enter meatloaf...I didn't serve it with the mac n' cheese I would have loved, but the baked maple cinnamon sweet potato fries and roasted asparagus weren't anything to complain about. I'll post those recipes soon!

So here we go with the meatloaf recipe. This makes a lot...like twelve mini loafs. It is usually enough for two dinners and a lunch or two, which I like but you could cut the recipe in half if it just seems like an overwhelming amount for you. This week I got a little more creative with my meal planning and knocked out two dinners with this one batch by baking up half the recipe as mini meatloafs and half as meatballs for my favorite zucchini noodle pasta instead of using ground beef.

Also, I really like these meatloafs kind of spicy. I'll give you two variations on the recipe in case you aren't a fan of "hot". The way I like them tends to be too spicy for my kids. The second variation uses more spices I would consider to be "Italian" flavors, but you can mix and match any spices your like. You really can't mess it up. My husband likes these REALLY spicy so he dips them in Siracha. It's good, but just a warning...if you do that, a little goes a long way.

This recipe couldn't be easier. I prefer to use a stand mixer, but if you don't have one you can just mix well with your hands. So, in the bowl of the stand mixer add...everything. I told you it was easy.

Once you have it all in there, turn on the mixer on but go slow. The bowl will be pretty full and you don't want to send raw turkey flying everywhere. Yuck, lesson learned.

Next line a baking sheet with foil to keep clean up easy. To make mini meatloafs roll the mixture into 12 baseball sized loaves. To make a meat loaf dinner and a meatball dinner, roll the mixture into six baseball sized loaves and use the remaining mixture to make 16 meatballs, approximately the size of a golf ball. You can put them pretty much side by side. These are just very spread out since I was only making six of them. I was able to fit all 16 meatballs on one baking sheet.

Now pop those guys in the oven and bake at 375. It takes 40 minutes for the meatloafs and 30 minutes to bake the meatballs. I baked them at the same time by just waiting 10 minutes to put in the meatballs. They are come out nice and brown. Yum!

Meatloaf

Meatballs

 

I really wish I had thought to take a picture of the plates when we had the meatloaf. The kids were screaming. You know, like they wanted to be fed or something and I forgot. Anyway, here are the meatballs in the zucchini noodle pasta before I stirred it up.

Preheat oven to 375

Cook time Meatloaf: 40min 

Cook time Meatballs: 30min

 Spicy Meatloafs:

2 lbs ground lean turkey

3 egg whites or 2 whole eggs (I prefer egg whites only)

1 cup quick oats

1 medium zucchini, grated

1 tsp sea salt (Optional)

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp dry thyme

1.5 tbsp dry mustard

2 tbsp ground black pepper

2 tsp dry chipotle pepper or chili powder

2 tbsp garlic powder

1 small onion, about a cup

1 6oz can 100% natural tomato paste

Italian Meatloafs:

2 lbs ground lean turkey

3 egg whites or 2 whole eggs (I prefer egg whites only)

1 cup quick oats

1 medium zucchini, grated

1 tsp sea salt (Optional)

1/2 tsp cumin

1.5 tbsp dry mustard

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp dry parsley

1 tbsp dry oregano

1 tbsp dry basil

2 tbsp garlic powder

1 small onion, about a cup

1 6oz can 100% natural tomato paste

Zucchini "Noodle" Spaghetti

I love pasta. I mean, really love it. Unfortunately your run-of-the-mill white pasta is about as nutritionally void as food comes. It falls right in there with other things I love, but do my best to avoid like white potatoes and Texas toast. The next best substitution would be whole wheat pasta, but you can do better than that. Enter...The Zucchini "Noodle."

You will need a mandolin with a julienne attachment to make your noodles. Well, a mandolin or incredible knife skills and hours of spare time, both of which I don't have and I'm willing to bet you don't either.

Start by adding your oil to a large pan and add onions. Everything for this recipe goes in this pan, so start with a big one. Cook the onions for 3-4 minutes and add garlic. Cook the two together for a minute or two more, until onions are soft and translucent and then add your meat. This can either be extra lean ground beef or ground turkey. Tonight Matt wanted beef, so that's what he got. When the meat is thoroughly browned add your basil, oregano, and parsley.

I would love to make marinara from fresh farmer's market tomatoes, but that time just isn't quite here yet...come on summer! So tonight I'm taking a little marinara shortcut with a can of 100% Natural Hunts crushed tomatoes. I just like that brand the best because it has the right consistency to make a sauce and hardly ever has weird pieces of tomato skin like some brands, but hey--- feel free to use what you like.  I will post a great marinara recipe when tomato season rolls around but for now, pour in the crushed tomatoes and stir well. Now, put a lid on the sauce and turn your heat down to let the sauce simmer while you prep your veggies.

For this recipe I add lots of extra veggies. All that extra veg makes you feel like you are getting to eat a great big plate of food...which you are and it's all good you! And bonus...those veggies are full of fiber which keeps you feeling full. When I'm using a lot of different veggies in one meal I often opt for a frozen vegetable mix. My favorite brand is pictured below. It is the most generic looking packaging ever, but it is a great blend and it is already cut into bite size pieces. Most importantly, there is nothing in this blend except vegetables- zucchini, squash, onions, broccoli, red bell pepper, and carrots with no added salt, flavors or sauces.

Put your veggies in a microwave safe bowl and cover with press n' seal or cling wrap.and microwave for 4 minutes. Ordinarily there is not a lot of water released from the vegetables, but if you see water in the bottom of your bowl after microwaving, pour it out before you add it to your pan. Stir in your vegetables and continue to simmer your sauce, stirring occasionally, for at least 20 minutes. You want those flavors to all cook together.

 Ok, you are in the home stretch. Get out your mandolin and add the smallest julianne attachment. Wash your zucchini and get to work. Watch your fingers! I would rather waste a little zucchini by not julianning the entire vegetable than risk raking your fingers over a very sharp blade. In this picture I've cut about three small zucchini. Those big pieces laying under the mandolin are what was left of each zucchini after I felt like my fingers were getting too close to the blade.

After you've simmered your sauce for a good 20 or 30 minutes, it should be nice and thick and rich. Add your zucchini "noodles" and stir them in. I hope you started with a big pan...can't say I didn't warn you! Now, put the lid back on your pan and let it hang out there over medium-low'ish heat for another 10 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Hurray! You are done! Serve it up topped with a few shavings of a good Parmesan cheese.

For those of you counting calories, I calculated this recipe based on four servings. It came out to 358 calories per serving. That number may vary depending on the brands you choose, but it should be very close. This is roughly in the same calorie range as your typical frozen meal "diet" meal, but let me tell you, this is so much better for you. The sodium level alone in those things should be enough to make you stuff it back in the freezer. Not to mention this one tastes a whole lot better.

This recipe is easily adaptable...not loving meat? Leave it out. Like your marinara spicy? Add a teaspoon or so of red chili flake. Need a quick meal? Double your recipe and freeze half for later or freeze in single servings to take to work. Yum!

Hope you guys love it. Feel free to leave me comments. Think you can improve this recipe? Let me know how you did it. I'm always open to new ideas. 

Recipe Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb extra-lean ground beef or ground turkey (omit for a vegetarian meal)
1/2 cup diced onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
1 28oz can of 100% natural Hunt's crushed tomatoes or organic crushed tomatoes of your choice
3 cups of frozen vegetable blend or three cups of mixed fresh vegetables like squash, broccoli, carrots, bell pepper, etc.
3 small ripe zucchini
Parmesan cheese (optional)