Planning ahead

Who else is like me in that you don't plan your meals ahead of time for the week so every time you want to cook something you have to go to the store? I am usually just missing something like chicken or ground turkey (aka the main ingredient) so it is quite annoying. No one else does this? Sweet, I'm jealous of you.  But if there are any of you out there that are reading this and are just as stupid as me, read on!

I have been saying I will plan meals ahead of time for a looooong time. I am finally doing it. Yesterday I planned four dinners for this upcoming week. I braved Wal-Mart (eeek, I know) to be even cheaper than usual. If you don't look at any of the mullets in the eye, you'll be fine. I found that buying the meat ahead of time in bulk is a) way cheaper and b) saves me multiple trips to the grocery store. Score times two. Next, I bought a bunch of fresh veggies that I will be able to use in multiple recipes.

I thought it would be fun to share my meal plan for this upcoming week. If the recipes turn out well, I will share pics and tips from them later.


Last night I made Veggie Lasagna. With a vegetarian roommate (cough --who eats meat when inebriated-- cough), I thought I would appease her just this once. Jk, I actually like vegetarian stuff and didn't mind making this healthier version at all. I added a few more veggies to the recipe. I also made this broccoli recipe found on my friend's blog, "J Lipp's Hip Tips". Both of these recipes turned out to be amazing so I suggest you make them! They were also super easy to make.

Note: This is what it should look like.

Ingredients:

3 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 (8-oz.) package sliced fresh mushrooms

2 garlic cloves, minced (I buy the minced stuff in a jar -- your hands will never smell like garlic again!)

1 medium-size red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium-size yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

1 yellow onion, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups fat-free ricotta cheese

1 large egg

2 cups (8 oz.) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1 jar marinara sauce of your choosing (I used a chunky veggie one)

1 (8-oz.) package no-boil lasagna noodles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven temperature to 350°. Chop up all veggies (I sliced the zucchini pretty thin) and put them in a deep pot with some olive oil. Add the minced garlic to the pot. Cook all the veggies with the top on (stirring frequently) until they are almost tender but still a little crisp. Add the salt to the veggies when they are done.

2. Stir together ricotta, egg, 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

3. Spread 1 cup Basic Marinara Sauce in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with 3 noodles, 1 cup sauce, one-third of ricotta mixture, and one-third of vegetable mixture; repeat layers twice, beginning with 3 noodles. Top with remaining noodles and 1 cup sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan.

4. Bake, covered, at 350° for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until cheese is melted and golden. Let stand 10 minutes.

*Recipe adapted from myrecipes.com

Before the oven. Sorry, I always forget to take pics during the cooking process.

Healthy Veggie Lasagna!

For the rest of the week I have planned: healthy chicken enchiladas and rice, pad thai, quinoa with peas and honey mustard chicken with brussel sprouts. I think this planning meals ahead of time thing will really help during intern year when I don't have to take any extra trips to the store or even think about what to make for dinner that night. I hope this inspires you to plan ahead too!

Happy meals!
-Germs