I love organization! Yes, maybe a little too much. But remember, I don’t just cook for me, I cook so that Ed knows exactly what’s in the fridge, and also he has at least three or four options to mix up for the week. Yes, we can both eat the same thing all week but we like variety.
This week is exceptionally pretty so I wanted to share. Took about 2 hours today – plus I started a batch of sourdough last night so I putzed around with that on and off today. Made two loaves and froze one so I don’t have to bake next week. (again…planning!). And yes, we eat bread.
BREAKFASTS
Breakfast is our biggest meal. We hit the morning hard at the gym so we’re most active after this meal – smart planning.
- Eggs – I slow cooked 24 eggs in a skillet over really low heat, stirring gently so as to not break the yolks. I slide the eggs into a glass storage container and we side out 2 or 3 each morning alongside some other breakfast proteins. We consider eggs a fat and a protein, about equally (6-7 grams of each per egg).
- Aidells chicken and apple sausage and Amylu breakfast links – a package of each sautéed in the skillet – also stored in a glass container (easy to see what’s what). These are also about equal fat and protein. 2 eggs and one sausage link is about 24 grams of protein – not enough. So we’ll scoop out some of that lean ground beef ( about 304 ounces) into the eggs to top it off.
- Fruit – we have blackberries, kiwi and bananas.
- Oatmeal – added some raisins and dried mangoes in this weeks batch.
- Sourdough bread – Ed will usually do one or the other. I stick with oatmeal for brekky.
We’ll run out of food by Friday night – perfect for Saturday brunch out and rinse and repeat meal prep on Sunday.
Some may feel this is overkill…but we don’t have any excuses all week for not having 100% whole, one-ingredient foods, ample protein, quality starch and fruits and veggies for a little added nutrients.
You have to start to figure out what works for you…it’s not too hard, too complicated, not too much work if it provides a week of quality nutrition to fuel health and activity.
So, just what’s in there and how did I prep 5 or 6 days of food in 2 hours? PLANNING! That’s how.
Our proteins are:
- Pulled pork I cooked in a large batch a few weeks ago (in the InstantPot on the porch because it smells up the house). I pulled it out of the freezer Friday and thawed it there to be ready for tomorrow (today is Sunday)
- Ground beef. I bought 3 pounds at the grocery and cooked it today while prepping other things. I use two baking sheets with a grate over them and bake it at 350 for 30 minutes, after seasoning with salt, pepper and garlic (think I may have added some fennel too). It’s in the oven doing it’s thing while I’m on the stovetop with eggs, oatmeal, pasta and things listed below. Ground beef by itself as a protein for meals this week because we’re both feeling a little anemic – we realized we haven’t had red meat in several weeks (not for any particular reason – just missing it).
- Bolognese sauce (as a protein) – it’s super meaty. Probably has three pounds of ground beef in the pot of sauce.
- Rummo Penne Pasta – and here’s how we play this. Ed needs to keep weight on and I need to manage mine – weighing large penne dry – 15 little pasta tubies are 56 grams – 1 serving – 41 grams of carbs. I’ll use that as my post workout meal with a heaping serving of bolognese. Ed will have it for dinners. The PM starch helps support a good nights sleep.
- 2 big salads – romaine lettuce, arugula, onion, cherry tomatoes, black olives and for added starch because we’ve had some really active weekdays, I added a can of chick peas (normally don’t, but what the heck).