Weekend Meal Prep 4/22 and 4/23
Rain came so all our ballgames were canceled. This gave us more time to get some things completed around the house that we have been putting off. I have cleaned (ok mostly) the house and caught up on laundry and my husband got the garden planted! Can't wait for those fresh tomatoes to come in from the garden!
I split the cooking across two days again so that I didn't have to do it all in one day.
Day 1 - I cooked two of the meals. They were the Paprika chicken and Rice bake and the Hamburger Steak.
Recipes needed:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/clairenolan/paprika-chicken-rice-bake?utm_term=.ac9kkWEox&bffbtasty&ref=bffbtasty#.vu5WWPOX5
I want to say, I am unsure if I will cook the paprika chicken again like this. It turned out more greasy than I would want. I am unsure if it is because I swapped out the white rice for brown rice but even then, do I want to eat rice that has soaked up grease? They chicken was flavorful and ohh so juicy! But I'm throwing the rice away. No matter how much I tried to drain it, it is still coated. Maybe boneless/skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts would be better? I was just trying to follow the recipe this time, maybe I can make some tweaks.
Anyways, back to it. I started with seasoning the chicken and then browning on both sides.
It does look delicious doesn't it? Once browned I removed it from the pan and sauteed the onions and garlic. I then added the rice and chicken broth.
Next you add back in the chicken and place it in the oven. Since I doubled or almost tripled the recipe (we eat a lot of meat) I had to cook this for a little over an hour. But it still looks good once it comes out of the oven!
I tried to portion it out (before I decided to ditch the rice). I'll cook a plain batch of brown rice and just serve this with a salad. I had picked some fresh lettuce, spinach, and quinoa (you can eat the leaves!), so I have my own lettuce blend waiting for me in the fridge!
Next we moved onto the hamburger steak! I fix this pretty simple. You just pat out each steak and place in your skillet. I then add salt and pepper. Yep, that simple.
I probably flip too much, but every 3-5 minutes I'll flip it over to make sure its not burning. Once cooked through I will remove it from the pan. I cook these in batches of 5 so I don't crowd the pan. While the hamburger steak is cooking I sliced up some onions and mushrooms. To add some flavor to these, I add a few splashes of balsamic vinegar. It gives it the nice caramelized look as well as a sweeter flavor.
I saute them in the pan until they are soft. After this was completed I moved onto the Brussels sprouts. I had bought them frozen, so I added water to a pan and boiled them per the package instructions.
Once cooked, I drained them and sauteed these in the pan with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder just to add a little flavor. I then portioned these out and once cooled, popped them in the fridge.
Day 2 - Lime Shrimp with Roasted Zucchini
Recipes needed:
https://whatscookingamerica.net/Seafood/LimeGrilledShrimp.htm
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/roasted_zucchini_with_garlic/
I started with prepping the zucchini. I sliced them into quarters and coated with the olive oil and spices. I then placed them on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
Zucchini is probably one of my favorite vegetables! I then placed them in the oven. I normally cook my zucchini more than the recipe calls for. I like mine well done! So I think I cooked it about 20 minutes more than suggested. But it still came out of the oven looking good!
While the zucchini was in the oven, I mixed up the marinade for the shrimp. I didn't want to coat it in all that oil, so I just put some lime juice and garlic powder in a bowl. I specifically left out the salt. I do not add salt to my shrimp until I am completely done cooking them. I then added the shrimp to this marinade and let it sit for 5 minutes.
I have a nice nonstick skillet, so I still didn't add any oil to the shrimp. I placed them in a skillet that had been preheated to med-high.
I also cooked this in 3 batches so I wouldn't overcrowd the pan. Once it was cooked (just a few minutes) I then removed it to the pan and added salt.
I had tried to keep it simple this week and think I succeeded. I am not happy with the chicken at all, but I think I will be ok. Hope everyone has a great week!!
I split the cooking across two days again so that I didn't have to do it all in one day.
Day 1 - I cooked two of the meals. They were the Paprika chicken and Rice bake and the Hamburger Steak.
Recipes needed:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/clairenolan/paprika-chicken-rice-bake?utm_term=.ac9kkWEox&bffbtasty&ref=bffbtasty#.vu5WWPOX5
I want to say, I am unsure if I will cook the paprika chicken again like this. It turned out more greasy than I would want. I am unsure if it is because I swapped out the white rice for brown rice but even then, do I want to eat rice that has soaked up grease? They chicken was flavorful and ohh so juicy! But I'm throwing the rice away. No matter how much I tried to drain it, it is still coated. Maybe boneless/skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts would be better? I was just trying to follow the recipe this time, maybe I can make some tweaks.
Anyways, back to it. I started with seasoning the chicken and then browning on both sides.
It does look delicious doesn't it? Once browned I removed it from the pan and sauteed the onions and garlic. I then added the rice and chicken broth.
Next you add back in the chicken and place it in the oven. Since I doubled or almost tripled the recipe (we eat a lot of meat) I had to cook this for a little over an hour. But it still looks good once it comes out of the oven!
I tried to portion it out (before I decided to ditch the rice). I'll cook a plain batch of brown rice and just serve this with a salad. I had picked some fresh lettuce, spinach, and quinoa (you can eat the leaves!), so I have my own lettuce blend waiting for me in the fridge!
Next we moved onto the hamburger steak! I fix this pretty simple. You just pat out each steak and place in your skillet. I then add salt and pepper. Yep, that simple.
I probably flip too much, but every 3-5 minutes I'll flip it over to make sure its not burning. Once cooked through I will remove it from the pan. I cook these in batches of 5 so I don't crowd the pan. While the hamburger steak is cooking I sliced up some onions and mushrooms. To add some flavor to these, I add a few splashes of balsamic vinegar. It gives it the nice caramelized look as well as a sweeter flavor.
I saute them in the pan until they are soft. After this was completed I moved onto the Brussels sprouts. I had bought them frozen, so I added water to a pan and boiled them per the package instructions.
Once cooked, I drained them and sauteed these in the pan with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder just to add a little flavor. I then portioned these out and once cooled, popped them in the fridge.
Recipes needed:
https://whatscookingamerica.net/Seafood/LimeGrilledShrimp.htm
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/roasted_zucchini_with_garlic/
I started with prepping the zucchini. I sliced them into quarters and coated with the olive oil and spices. I then placed them on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
Zucchini is probably one of my favorite vegetables! I then placed them in the oven. I normally cook my zucchini more than the recipe calls for. I like mine well done! So I think I cooked it about 20 minutes more than suggested. But it still came out of the oven looking good!
While the zucchini was in the oven, I mixed up the marinade for the shrimp. I didn't want to coat it in all that oil, so I just put some lime juice and garlic powder in a bowl. I specifically left out the salt. I do not add salt to my shrimp until I am completely done cooking them. I then added the shrimp to this marinade and let it sit for 5 minutes.
I have a nice nonstick skillet, so I still didn't add any oil to the shrimp. I placed them in a skillet that had been preheated to med-high.
I also cooked this in 3 batches so I wouldn't overcrowd the pan. Once it was cooked (just a few minutes) I then removed it to the pan and added salt.
I had tried to keep it simple this week and think I succeeded. I am not happy with the chicken at all, but I think I will be ok. Hope everyone has a great week!!
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