Chunky Monkey Overnight Oats

Looking for an easy meal make a head meal for breakfast? Overnight Oats are my thing. I will make a few of them at a time put them in the fridge and I have easy, health, delicious grab and go breakfast for a few days. My 4 year old daughter also loves them. (minus the coconut)

Chunky Monkey Overnight Oats

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 cup uncooked quick oats

1/2 banana

2 Tbsp coconut

1 Tbsp nut butter (almond, cashew, peanut, or whatever you have on hand)

1 tsp honey

1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1- Combine all ingredients in bowl.

2- Mix together ingredients, squishing banana and nut butter.

3- Put in jar. 

5- Refrigerate overnight, or at least 2-3 hours. 

6- Enjoy.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

1 bag of brussel sprouts

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Adobo

Directions: 

1- Preheat oven to 400degrees

2- Slice brussel sprouts in half, Place in large bowl. 

3- Add EVOO and Adobo, stir to evenly coat brussel sprouts

4- Place in single layer on baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Flip. Bake another 10 minutes.

5- Serve.

How I determine my weekly menu right now

I have been getting so many questions lately about food prepping, meal prepping, and how I determine my weekly menu. Everyone does do it a little different. Here is the basics of what I do.

Food Prepping-

It is a proven fact that you are more likely to snack on something that is easy to grab. Hence why a bag of chips is so convenient, but not healthy. Sometimes you have to take the time to make healthy choices and have healthy snack easy to grab. Once a week, normally right after I go grocery shopping I food prep my fruit.

What do I mean by food prepping my fruit? I wash them, separate them, cut them up, and store them in clear easy to find containers in the fridge. I also will do this with vegetables to make them easy to snack on, like celery, peppers, carrots, etc.

So when I go in the kitchen to look for a quick snack I have fresh fruit and veggies ready to grab and go.

Meal Prep-

Depending on what I am making for the week depends on what I meal prep. If I am having stir fry. I will cut up the veggies and have them in a bag ready to cook in the fridge so I don't take that extra time on that nights dinner to have to sit there and chop them all up.

Also right when I get home from the grocery store when I buy meats, I separate them into meals. Instead of having 2 pounds of ground turkey frozen in a ball, I will separate it into two 1 pounds balls and freeze it that way. I do the same with pork chops, chicken, etc. 

Menu Planning-
Having your meals planned out is a huge deal. When you know what your going to eat and when, it leaves you not wandering around "Oh I'm hungry, what should I make? I'll just order a pizza" As of right now I only plan dinners each week. We do play it by ear for lunch. Breakfast is always the same for me of either eggs or oatmeal. I don't normally stray far from that.
When I am menu planning I first see what I have on had. I want to use up the veggies in my fridge before they go bad. I also have limited space in my freezer, so I have to use what I have also before I go buy more.

I also will look at the sale ads

Dinner Menu and meal prepping

I have decided to try things a little different this week. Instead of just having out weekly menu posted in the kitchen on the dry erase board, I have also added it to our google keep app. Brian and I share notes, grocery list, etc on the app to make our lives a little easier. 

I made my menu and grocery list and went shopping. All the juices are for Ella and Brian, I am not a juice fan. 

For breakfast for the week I decided to try making cupcake pancakes put them in the freezer and reheat for the kids. 

For Brian and myself I made egg burritos. They are easy to make, freeze, toss in the microwave and eat on the go. Having breakfast already prepared and ready to go makes my morning feel like stressed and rushed. 

Meal Plan 22 Minutes Hard Corps

Did my meal plan for week of 22 Minute Hard Corps. I love that it uses the color coded portion control containers. It makes it so much easier to not have to weigh foods, figure out points, or count calories. You get so many of each color coded containers a day and most is however much you can fit in the coordinating container. Such as Green is veggies. however much spinach I can fit in the green container I can eat. 22 Minutes Hard Corps also has it listed as what colored containers to eat at each meal. Makes it so much easier, but you can always modify some. 

I made my menu on Exel on my computer, then screenshot it with my phone (hence why it is so blurry) and saved it for myself and sent it to Brian. That way there is no question, "Whats for dinner?
 and is easily accessible at anytime for reminders what to eat. I need to figure out an easier clearer way to do it still. 

I made the menu based on what we already had in the house and what was on sale this week. Then went grocery shopping. I was able to get everything I needed for our menu. WIN!!!!

We have decided on easier meals, repeats for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Once we get the hang of things we can mix it up. 

Fried Rice

~Fried Rice~

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 small onion chopped

1 cup frozen peas 

10 small carrots diced

2 TBSP low sodium soy sauce

3 eggs lightly beaten

Directions:

1- Preheat large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, peas, and carrots. Cooked until tender.

2- Slide veggies to the side and add eggs. Scramble the eggs with spatula. Once cooked mix veggies and egg together. 

3- Add rice to egg and veggie mix. Stir in soy sauce. Fry until heated thoroughly.

4- Serve.

21 Day Fix
1 Yellow- brown rice

1/2 Red- eggs
1 Green- veggies
1 Orange- soy sauce

I made with a chicken stir fry.