We were away in NY visiting family last week and so our eating and prep routine was a little off. Ok it was A LOT off. While it is possible to travel 3000 miles across the country and eat clean I will admit that I did not eat clean 100% of the time. There were a few things that I made the decision to indulge in. These were things I would literally only get once all year-a NY salt bagel and my mom’s famous homemade rainbow cookies. There was also a family wedding and a few meals out at restaurants that I chose to eat “off the reservation” as my Dad likes to call it.
While some choices were to stray off the reservation there were also many choices to stay clean! While at home in NY with my Mom and Dad my Mom always made sure we had a ton of clean food around and did some grocery shopping before we arrived stocking the house up with some clean favorites! THANKS MOM YOU ARE THE BEST!
While in Poughkeepsie NY for a wedding we found a local place, All Shook Up Cafe, that specialized in “healthy meals”. This translated into many gluten free options and even a grass fed burger. This place was great and an amazing find in the middle of a few days were menus and meals were prearranged by other people.
After a week in NY we arrived back in Portland around 5pm on Sunday. With unpacking and getting ready for work on Monday this left little time for my usual Sunday prep.
Also after a week on and off the reservation it left me not craving more bagels and cookies, but rather I was craving real food!
We were lucky enough to have enough clean food that we brought home with us on the plane to get through breakfast and lunch for Monday. AGAIN-THANKS MOM-YOU ARE THE BEST.
I made the decision to skip the WOD on Monday night in favor of getting home earlier to catch up on meal prep. I felt clean meals for the week would be better for my body then going to the gym for a WOD and then being stressed all week about having enough clean food etc.
Tonight’s prep was nothing spectacular and we called on a few solid standby favorites to get through. I will look to get more creative and find new recipes next week.
We planned out the menu on the plane ride home and my husband was wonderful and went food shopping as soon as we got home on Sunday so we would have food for prep, etc.
3…2…1.. go!
Sunday night I set up the crock pot for the world’s easiest meal! The fabulous Sara Mulroy found this a long time ago (I forget the site where we first got the idea...sorry!!!) and it has been a classic in our house ever since.
Crock Pot Chicken Salsa (we will use this for lunch)
Take 2 packages of chicken (I used Trader Joes organic dark meat) and empty into crock pot.
Take 2 jars or salsa (I used different varieties from Trader Joes, read the label. Make sure no sugar or other items added..keep it clean!) and add on top of the chicken.
Place crock pot on low for 6-7 hours.
I plugged the crock pot in Monday morning before work and when I came home it was ready.
I left the setting on "keep warm" (and to get some veg into this meal easily) and added 2 chopped green peppers and a large chopped yellow onion. I added these for about 1 hour (on keep warm) and then dished it all up to take to work during the week.
We will also add an avocado to this meal each time we serve it up to get a good balance of fat with the protein and veg.
Total prep time: 10 min. Total meals: 4
Sausage, onions, and cabbage (we will eat this for breakfast)
I took 2 pounds of Pacific Village pork sausage from New Seasons (New Seasons has a lot of nice sausage and meat choices! Just always ask for the ingredients in the sausage before you buy. Some have honey in them in case you are being strict with sugar or on Whole 30.) and started to cook it up in a large pan.
While cooking I chopped 1 large yellow onion and 1 head of cabbage.
When the sausage was just about done I added the onion and cabbage and left everything on the stove, stirring occasionally, until it was all cooked down.
We are going to re-heat this all week in the microwave so if the veg is a little under cooked it will have a chance to get cooked a bit more when it is re-heated.
Total prep time: 15 min. Total meals: 7.5
Ground beef with tomato sauce and veg (we will take this for lunch)
I took 1.5 pounds of grass fed ground beef and cooked it on the stove until it was just about done.
While cooking I chopped up mushrooms, yellow onion, and black olives.
When the meat was just about done I added the veggies, ½ of a jar of Trader Joes Puttanesca Sauce (clean!), and 1 - 11oz can of tomato puree. I don’t like the taste of just the Puttanesca sauce so I stared only using ½ of the jar and adding some Hunts Tomato Puree or Tomato Paste to make it have more of a “tomato” flavor and make the consistency thicker. The Puttanesca tends to get watery and has a strong garlic and clove flavor.
I let that simmer on the stove until the veggies were cooked enough.
Total prep time: 15 min. Total meals: 2.5 (usually we do 2 lbs of beef and get 4-5 meals out of it)
Also, while all of this was cooking, I had tonight’s dinner in the oven. I posted this before and since I had to be in the kitchen anyway and had some Trader Joes Organic Drumsticks in the freezer I figured I would make this, Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Bake. I followed the recipe as is but doubled the cook time since I was starting with frozen chicken. Also since I used 2 packages of chicken I will get more than just 1 dinner out of this-bonus!
Total prep time: 5 min Total meals: 4.5
My prep time might seem a little low to some people just staring out. Trust me I first spent hours and hours in the kitchen chopping and reading recipes over and over. As time went on (over a 1.5 years now!) I got faster at everything!!!!
I generally follow a recipe the first time I make a meal but after that I just use it for a guide, mostly for cook time and temperature. I have gotten better about throwing items together based on what we have, or what is seasonal, etc.
I also don’t worry about how something looks when I prep. I don’t worry if all the pieces of onion are not the same or the pieces of cabbage are a little big. My slices of onion are large because then there is less chopping, same with my cabbage, etc. Sometimes I just dump the can of black olives in the tomato sauce and don’t slice them in half first. As long as I can cook it and fit it in the pan I am good to go!
Sunday (or for this week Monday!) prep is not my favorite thing to do, but it makes a huge difference when you want to eat each meal clean and you also work or have other commitments that take you away from your house or kitchen for long periods of time.
We also divide and conquer in our house. We usually set the menu together but my husband does all of the grocery shopping and then I usually do all of the prep. Brian jumps in to help if prep includes a lot of chopping one week and sometimes I can convince him to do clean up also!
It takes practice and time but now we have a system that is pretty much flawless and maximizes good clean food and minimizes prep time and hours spent in the kitchen. It was hard in the beginning but just like anything with Crossfit, you get better and more efficient the more you do it!
Next week I will try and post a menu of all new/Whole 30 approved meals in honor of the group of us at Crossfit Lake Oswego who are going to do the Whole 30 challenge August 1! I am so excited for this group to experience this! They are going to crush it!
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