Epic Meal Prep Extravaganza

 

 

 

 

As most of you know, I feel strongly about healthy eating and nourishing our bodies with the proper nutrients and extracting fats that are not good for you.  A few of my Herbalife Family members and I wanted to give back to all of our clients to help them all be successful in business and in the kitchen, so we decided to help everyone with the gift of food and meal prep.....

Last Sunday, we had our first meal prep party and it was a complete success.  To be successful with our meal plans, meal prepping is essential. Since this was such a great turn out, we decided to have them once a month.

 

 

Many of you learned things to watch out, some healthy alternatives, i.e. Walden Farms yummy goodness, liquid amino's, etc.

For meal prepping for yourself, this is what your Tupperware should look like with your 1/2 cup rice, 1 cup veggie and 4 oz protein.

Here are a few of the recipes from the meal prep party. Keep in mind, this was a healthy meal prep party, so all the recipes are not only delicious, but good for you as well.
 

Avocado Salad
Ingredients:

4 to 6 avocados (Depending on how.much salad you're making)

3 cucumbers

2 large tomatoes

1.5 cup real lemon juice

Salt or salt substitute 

Black pepper 

Directions:

Chop all veggies, put in bowl...add lemon.juice and seasonings to taste.

Serve chilled. 

Oven Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients:

•1 bundle of asparagus

•1 small bag of snow peas

•2 medium to small yellow squash

•1 zucchini

•1 small bag of baby carrots

•1 package of grape tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes)

•1 small bag of baby red potatoes (a.k.a. red bliss or you can use fingerling potatoes)

•EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

•2 tablespoons Rosemary (If you are using fresh, then it would be 3 tablespoons)

•2 1/2 tablespoons Basil (If you are using fresh, then it would be 1/3 cup basil)

•McCormick’s steak seasoning’s (pepper mix-it’s part of their Grinders series)

•Salt

•1 1/2 tablespoons Garlic Salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Cut squash and potatoes into chunks.  For the asparagus, snap at the appropriate areas for them.  This is usually about 1 to 1 1/2 inches from the bottom of the asparagus.  Then cut Asparagus in half.  Not down the middle in half, but across.  We want to leave the spears intact.

Next, you will want to mix the vegetables in one bowl.  Unless you have a really HUGE bowl, then do like me and use 2 separate bowls./ 

Once the vegetables are in the bowl, sprinkle your EVOO all around the top of them.  This will probably wind up being about 1/4 cup.

Add all of the seasonings on top.  Now, Use the salt and McCormick’s pepper mix to your own liking.  Everyone has their own salt and pepper threshold.  Some might even want to add more rosemary and less basil, but to each their own.  With a wooden spatula, fold all of the vegetables and seasoning together.  Keep mixing until you are sure that the ingredients are nice and spread out.

When done, place your vegetables into a deep baking dish.  I had to use two! lol..don’t judge me.  Cover the dishes with foil, and bake for 30 minutes.  Then, take off the foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.  If you like your vegetables more al dente, then lessen the covered cooking time.

Voila!  You’re all done!  Now just enjoy it!  This makes a great “anytime-of-the-year” dish or side dish to appeal to the masses

Low Carb Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients for Wraps:1 pound ground chicken or ground turkey
8 scallions, white and green part chopped
1 (8oz) can water chestnuts, drained, rinsed and chopped fine
1 red bell pepper, chopped fine
¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
2½ tablespoons hoisin sauce, see shopping tips
1 tablespoon ginger (from a jar) or fresh grated ginger
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 large head butter lettuce, wash, dried and leaves separated

Ingredients for Dipping Sauce:
¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
½ tablespoon ginger (from a jar) or fresh minced ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon garlic (from a jar) or fresh minced garlic

Instructions
In a large pan, brown the ground chicken over medium-high heat, breaking up the pieces.  Pour into a colander, in the sink and drain fat.  Return chicken to pan.  When cool enough to handle, break up the chicken pieces until minced.

Add the scallions, water chestnuts, red pepper, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, water and sesame oil.  Cook for a few minutes until the scallions and red pepper are soft.  Keep warm.

In a small bowl, add all the dipping sauce ingredients and mix well.

To assemble each chicken wrap: Spoon about ⅓ cup of chicken filling onto one lettuce leaf and roll it up, if desired. Serve with dipping sauce on the side.  This sauce is quite strong.  You’ll only need 1 teaspoon of sauce per wrap.  You can also set up the components on individual plates and serve family style.  Let everyone make their own wrap.
Makes about 16 lettuce wraps

Mini Turkey Meatloaf with Root Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. of ground turkey
1- 10 oz. package of baby spinach
1 medium onion, diced
1 slice whole wheat bread
1/2 cup of milk (I used almond)
1 large egg
2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp. of black pepper
1/8 tsp. of grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons of sugar free ketchup or tomato paste
2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of hot sauce
extra virgin olive oil
1 bag of little reds, fingerling or potato medley (whichever small potato you wish to use), cut larger pieces in half or fourths so that all the potatoes are roughly the same size
2-3 large carrots, peeled and cut into roughly 4 pieces
1 bunch asparagus, julienned

Directions;
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl, soak the bread in the milk.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the onions in a tablespoon of olive oil until soft and golden about 5 minutes.  Add in the spinach and wilt, about 2 minutes.  Put the onion mixture in the bowl with the bread crumbs and milk.  Add in the turkey, egg, cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Mix all together. This will be a wet mixture.  Using a 1 cup dry measuring cup, portion out the meatloaf mixture into little mounds on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
For the glaze:  Whisk together ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.  Brush on the loaves 10 minutes into baking.
For the veggies:  Toss the veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast along with the meatloaf for 40 minutes or until tender.

Healthy Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:

One dozen hard boiled eggs, halved and yolks extracted

2- 4oz cans light tuna in water, drained

1/4 cup minced jalepeno peppers

3 tbs. roasted red pepper hummus

2 tbs. fat free mustard (use spicy if you want spicier)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro, cilantro
1 tsp. siracha
tomatoes for garnish

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine tuna, peppers, hummus, mustard, cilantro and siracha. Using a melon baller or small spoon, scoop about 1/2 tbs. into each egg and garnish with chopped tomatoes or garnish of your choice.