My weekend was less than eventful and I am really happy about it! Donny was out of town (boo) and I didn’t have any plans (yay). Saturday morning I hung out at the house and my sister came over for coffee. I made it to the grocery store and to the gym then had zero plans the rest of the day. My mom & I ended up going on a walk and I spoiled the pups all evening long! A perfectly relaxing day.
I went to Safeway for all my groceries this week. My list consisted of mostly vegetables and a couple other items for recipes I wanted to try. I’ve been trying to incorporate new recipes into my meal prep so that I don’t get bored eating and you don’t get bored reading about my eating!
Grocery Shopping & Meal Prep posts are intended to help you find clean eating friendly foods at the grocery store and then show how I use those to make meals for the week. I hope they are helpful in showing how simple it can be to prepare a few foods each week for a week of healthy eating.
If you have any questions about what I bought or how I made something then please reach out. Email me at eatliftplayrepeat@gmail.com, send me a Facebook message or comment below! I would also love any suggestions for new foods or new recipes to try.
Grocery Shopping:
- Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, zucchini, yellow onion, green onion and cilantro
- bananas, avocado, lemons and a lime
- 93% ground beef and boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- eggs and 2% cottage cheese
- 505 Green Chile, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, dried thyme and red pepper spread
- one bottle of Soleil sparkling water (it is similar to La Croix)
Meal Prep:
Saturday night I decided to make cauliflower rice. I chopped the raw cauliflower into small pieces, placed it in a food processor in small batches and pulsed until it was “riced”. Then I sautéed the riced cauliflower over medium heat for about 5 minutes. See the full tutorial is my post earlier this week How to Make Cauliflower Rice.
Sunday morning I woke up fairly early and wanted to get a pork loin cooking. I found a recipe via Pinterest for Slow Cooker Pork Loin (from the blog Chew Out Loud) and decided to try it out.
First, I combined all the spices listed in the recipe and then heated a saute pan over medium heat. The recipe said to cut large slits on the top of the pork so I did that. I rubbed the seasonings on to the pork and browned it on top and bottom.
After it was browned, I put the pork in the slow cooker and poured chicken broth and soy sauce (measurements according to the recipe) on top. I allowed that to cook for several hours.
The recipe said 7-8 hours on low, but I checked the temperature of the pork after 5 hours on low and it was done. I took the pork out of the slow cooker and let it rest before slicing.
Another recipe that I found was Huevos Rancheros Savory Quinoa from September’s issue of Clean Eating magazine. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly. Instead of quinoa I wanted to use amaranth. I cooked the amaranth with water while I prepared the rest of the mixture.
First I sautéed 1/2 yellow onion, then added garlic, diced mini bell peppers and most of the seasonings from the recipe (I couldn’t find our smoked paprika so I omitted it).
After that cooked for a few minutes, I added a can of drained reduced-sodium black beans. Once the amaranth was done cooking I added it to the mixture. It does not look appetizing at all, but it is really good! I am also tempted to eat a serving of the leftovers for breakfast with a fried egg and avocado. Yum! The recipe made 3 1/2 cups, which I considered 7 servings at 1/2 cup each. Each serving was abut 150 calories.
Lean ground beef was on sale and I have been craving meatloaf lately. I found one of Paula Deen’s meatloaf recipes online, which looks amazing but is not exactly clean eating friendly! Instead of hunting for a new recipe I used her recipe as a guideline for my own healthier version.
I mixed 1.5 lbs 93% ground beef, 1 large egg, 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 1/2 cup quick oats and salt & pepper. Rather than making an entire loaf, I decided to make individual meatloaf cups using a muffin pan. Hello portion control!
P.S. The recipe called for Dijon mustard and Worcestershire, but I completely forgot to add that. Both would add great flavor to the meatloaf.
I baked the meatloaf cups at 350° for 25 minutes. The recipe made 12 individual meatloaf cups at 118 calories each.
The oven was already on (I left it at 350°), so I decided to roast all my vegetables this week. I roasted Brussels sprouts with carrots (took 25 minutes), then asparagus with broccoli (took 18 minutes). Last but not least, I roasted zucchini all by itself (took 15 minutes).
I brushed a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil over all the vegetables. I’d guess between 1 & 1 1/2 Tbsp total for all the veggies.
Chicken was on sale at Safeway so I picked a package that was one pound. I sprinkled salt and pepper on each side and baked it for 15 minutes at 350°.
***This chicken is from a few weeks prior (this is more than one pound)***
Preparing my mid-morning meal was the last step. I mixed 2% Greek yogurt with vanilla protein powder and cinnamon. I cut one Cashew Coconut Quest Bar into tiny pieces and divided it among each yogurt container.
While I was mixing the yogurt I toasted cashew pieces over medium heat. After the pieces became browned and fragrant, I sprinkled them on the yogurt as well. It is my first time using a Quest bar as a yogurt topping. I was afraid that sitting in the fridge the bar would be rock hard, however it did the opposite! The moisture from the yogurt must have softened the Quest bar. It is delicious!
Well that was everything I bought grocery shopping and all the food I prepared during meal prep. I’ve been trying to mix up my routine and finding new recipe to try or adapt. If you have any suggestions then let me know! I’d love to try something. Check out past Grocery Shopping & Meal Prep posts for ideas!
What healthy foods or meals did you prepare this week?
