WEEK 8 MEAL PLAN

Inspired by some warmer weather here in the Chicago suburbs – we’ve got some fun choices on the menu this week – looking forward to some new recipes for the rotation!

Monday
Asian Chicken Wings from Giada DeLaurentiis – baked, not fried. Easy marinade that we can prep ahead and then toss in the oven for 30 minutes or so. Sides TBD.

Tuesday
Alliums Fried Rice from Molly Yeh – we had all of this in the fridge, so we’re pulling it all together into this dish for Tuesday night – as the rain comes down.

Wednesday
Grilled Buffalo Shrimp bowl from Giada DeLaurentiis – easy grilled shrimp with a side of roasted broccolini. Can’t wait for this one!

Thursday
Grilled chicken with a salad or two. Simple, but can’t wait to be at the grill again! It’s been a long winter….

Friday
Turkey Meatballs with a side of pasta – new recipe and can’t wait to give it a try – so similar to our favorite turkey burgers, I’m counting on a family favorite!

Saturday & Sunday
Family day, with some friends too! Not sure what will be on the menu, but looking forward to catching up with everyone.

Be sure to follow our Instagram page for all of the meals we prepare and let us know if you add any of them to your own meal plans! As always, we are here to help you if you need any ideas for quicker, easier and special meal plans this week or in the future!

Alexis

WEEK 7 MEAL PLAN

Enjoying some new choices and old favorites this week – we’ll see how it goes!

Monday
We’ve got so many Valentine treats on tap with everything red, white and pinks! Check out a few of our favorites on Instagram!

Tuesday
Salmon and a side of green beans. Simple, so good and easy to get on the table in minutes. Not much of a recipe, we keep it simple with the Salmon seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper and brown sugar. The green beans are blanched in salt water and that was it!

Wednesday
Sausage roll-ups and roasted potatoes. Another easy assembly meal. Brown the bratwurst and chicken sausage in a skillet, roll it up in the crescent roll and bake duiring the last 12 minutes of the potatoes roasting. Potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika, roasted at 400 for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Thursday
Making some chicken wings for a quick and comforting meal – the weather is supposed to be tough, so we gotta keep it simple but warming all at the same time!

Friday
Baking up some frozen breaded chicken and making “to-order” “fast food” sandwiches, with a side of fresh vegetables. This is a busy day, so we’re keeping it SUPER SIMPLE.

Saturday & Sunday
Family day, with some friends too! Not sure what will be on the menu, but looking forward to catching up with everyone.

Be sure to follow our Instagram page for all of the meals we prepare and let us know if you add any of them to your own meal plans! As always, we are here to help you if you need any ideas for quicker, easier and special meal plans this week or in the future!

Alexis

WEEK 6 MEAL PLAN

Mixing it up a bit this week, to keep things fun and interesting around the dinner table – and keeping the fridge stocked with healthy options for when we’re all on the go:

Monday
Shrimp Scampi from What’s Gaby Cooking. This might be the simplest meal you will make in 2022. Literally 5 ingredients, so many options for side dishes, salads, and carbs…we’re serving it up with some crusty bread and a side salad.

Tuesday
Sheet Pan Chicken Sausage Fajita Bowls from Cooking for Keeps. Nothing is faster and easier than a one pan dinner in the oven. Less mess, easy clean-up and everyone can make their own wraps or bowls with the rice, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, avocado, beans (if you wish), tortillas and salsa. We’ve got rice bowl on the menu for this week’s dinner!

Wednesday
Grilled Chicken and Green Beans. This is a freezer pull mixed with a fresh batch of steamed and sautéed green beans. Two favorites in our house. We freeze grilled chicken if we have any left throughout the summer rand fall for an easy dinner during the winter that reminds us the grill will not be covered in snow forever. The chicken is seasoned with McCormick Brown Sugar and Bourbon spice mix and the green beans just have olive oil, salt, peppe rand some garlic on them!

Thursday
Sausage and Broccolini Pasta from What’s Gaby Cooking. A mix of my favorite vegetable and everyone’s favorite spicy protein. And, a bit of past a to round it out. Toward the end of the week, we all have different schedules and this is something we can have ready to go when not everyone can be at the table at the same time.

Friday
Salmon + Ramen + Savory Sauce = the perfect Friday Night dinner from our favorite, What’s Gaby Cooking. Comes together quickly, but tastes like it’s been on the stove all day. What is your favorite ramen bowl?

Saturday
Family day, with some friends too! Not sure what will be on the menu, but looking forward to catching up with everyone.

Sunday
SUPER BOWL! Snacks, beverages and everyone around the TV. We’ve got a few different snacks ready to prepare – what will you be serving?

Be sure to follow our Instagram page for all of the meals we prepare and let us know if you add any of them to your own meal plans! As always, we are here to help you if you need any ideas for quicker, easier and special meal plans this week or in the future!

Alexis

WEEK 5 MEAL PLAN

February is already here – remember when we were celebrating the new year?? Can’t believe this was a month ago:

Monday
Chicken Tacos from What’s Gaby Cooking. We are big on make-your-own tacos, nachos, bowls, etc. And this is the perfect base to start with – we used chicken, but you can use turkey, beef, etc. Leftovers freeze so well and can be batch prepped one day for use thrughout the week or month!

Tuesday
Sesame Ginger Salad with Salmon from What’s Gaby Cooking. So fresh and filling. And – of course, great for leftovers throughout the week. Sometime we’ll swap out the salmon for shrimp when we need something different.

Wednesday
Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai from The Defined Dish Cookbook. We’re giving healthier versions of take out a try this week – and his one gives us a boost of vegetables, but still tastes like the original take-out option.

Thursday
Spicy Udon Noodles from Half Baked Harvest. 20 minutes and done! We found some udon noodles from a pantry stock-up last month that we’re putting to use! Not many ingredients or steps to make this meal taste like we were in the kitchen for hours. And, it’s a crowd favorite!

Friday
Calamari (and a side salad) from The Mediterranean Dish. When it’s Friday, we have Happy Hour. This calamari is so good on it’s own, on or with a salad, or as a starter for grilled chicken and a side or two. It comes together in minutes, and disappears within seconds!

Saturday
We’re ready for pizza night over here – this one was a random fridge clearing version – all the random deli meats and cheeses on a pizza – everyone enjoys!

Sunday
FAMILY DAY – as always, we’ll be getting together with the family – we’re starting with French Toast Muffins adapted from Cooking Classy – definitely the perfect Sunday brunch item!

Be sure to follow our Instagram page for all of the meals we prepare and let us know if you add any of them to your own meal plans! As always, we are here to help you if you need any ideas for quicker, easier and special meal plans this week or in the future!

Alexis

WEEK 3 MEAL PLAN

For many is a shorter work week – and I’m pretty sure everyone is ready for it. We are keeping up with meals at home this week, and we’re making progress to use all we have in our freezer and our refrigerator items – there will be space for new items soon enough! Here’s what we have on tap for Week 3 of 2022:

Monday
Butter Chicken from What’s Gaby Cooking Eat What You Want Cookbook. Comfort food with a fresh approach. We are expanding our horizons a bit with some more unique meals these cold and boring days. Homemade roti, warm chicken and rice, served with a side salad – can’t go wrong!

Tuesday
Skillet Chicken Fajitas from The Comfortable Kitchen Cookbook. Easy and so good! We are keeping it simple without all of the sides and toppings – but I support everyone adding cheese, sour cream, shredded lettuce and carbs! This is a great addition to lunches throughout the week.

Wednesday
Egg Lemon Soup from The Defined Dish Cookbook. Because soup season is only so long – and we like to keep things fresh and new around here. This is perfect for dinner – you can even add some chicken or garlic bread (we did not) and of course, lunches and quick dinners throughout the week.

Thursday
Pork Miso Ramen from The Comfortable Kitchen Cookbook. Every weeknight meal plan has to have a bowl – and tonight we’re bringing on a ramen dish for everyone to make their own. similar to many of our meal options, we like to make a base that can be adjusted to everyone’s liking, without too much extra work! Some of us enjoy a spicier ramen than others, and some of us like ALL THE TOPPINGS! What are some of your favorite “add-ons”?

Friday
Veggie Pad See Ew from the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Cookbook. This is one of my favorite things to order from our local take-out place. And Fridays are meant for takeout – or takeout made at home. For a short week, this was a long one – so we are ready for a bowl of noodles and vegetables STAT.

Saturday
We’ve got some fun appetizer recipes we are going to give a try for the weekend – we’ll keep everyone posted on what we like, what we might make differently and what will be new to the rotation!

Sunday
FAMILY DAY – as always, we’ll be getting together with the family – try a few new board games, and likely serve something as test for a weeknight meal to share with all of you!

Be sure to follow our Instagram page for all of the meals we prepare and let us know if you add any of them to your own meal plans! As always, we are here to help you if you need any ideas for quicker, easier and special meal plans this week or in the future!

Alexis

WEEK 2 MEAL PLAN

Whether you’re still working at home or heading back to the office or the kids are heading back to in-person classes as winter breaks come to an end – we all need some warm, healthy meals ready for some time around the dinner table – or as we run out the door to practices, small social gatherings or curl up on the couch with a good book. So – here’s what we have on tape over here for Week 2 of 2022:

Monday
Chicken Tzatziki Bowls from What’s Gaby Cooking Cookbook. It’s something we make often around here – because there’s always a reason for a warm bowl of chicken rice and roasted vegetables! This is a great meal to prep ahead and create a “make your own bowl” kind of dinner for busy nights too.

Tuesday
Lemon Broccoli Pesto Pasta from the Eat What You Want Cookbook. Warming, but still bright with the lemon juice – and a fun way to use up all the Pesto packs in the freezer. We’ll be using broccolini because that’s what e have – but that’s why we love home cooked pasta dishes – customize however you want!

Wednesday
Sesame Crusted Salmon from the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Cookbook. Because we could eat salmon every day in this house! We may pair it with some roasted vegetables or a Pilaf of some kind – stay tuned to our Instagram to see what makes in on the plate!

Thursday
Crunchwrap Supremes from Half Baked Harvest. Some cravings can be met with homemade versions – will this one make the cut?? We haven’t been a big fast food family (historically), but sometimes, we have to try something new and see what the ype is about! We’ll keep you posted if this will stay on our meal rotation!

Friday
Corn Soup from the Eat What You Want Cookbook. We are loving homemade soups these days – they do say things come in waves – this year, we’re all about a hearty homemade soup – and we’ll be dreaming of summer with this one.

Saturday
Dinner with Friends – you’ll have to check out what we decide to serve as we have dinner with a few friends at home!

Sunday
FAMILY DAY – as always, we’ll be getting together with the family – try a few new board games, and likely serve something as test for a weeknight meal to share with all of you!

Be sure to follow our Instagram page for all of the meals we prepare and let us know if you add any of them to your own meal plans! As always, we are here to help you if you need any ideas for quicker, easier and special meal plans this week or in the future!

Alexis

It’s a New Year, I’m Ready

Welcome to 2022! I am happy to be back and shifting focus to making others’ lives easier, provide different perspective and have new conversations as we focus on all that this year can and will be. I don’t believe in resolutions for myself – but I make goals, and I focus on where I want to be at the end of a particular length of time. Last May I chose to make myself a focus, and quickly went back to what was comfortable for me – work, work and more work. But not building toward my personal or professional goals.

Like many, 2021 became my year of change and survival. I left what I thought was a safe place, and have focused on helping others streamline their lives, create consistency and have plans for reaching their goals. I learned a lot about myself, what I can and can’t tolerate and how to best communicate in positive and challenging client situations.

Despite my best efforts to make my goals, both personally and professionally, my priority, I spent more time focused on my client’s goals and needs over my own. Though important, it put my business goals on the back burner, and halted my plans for life outside of work. So – for 2022, my focus will continue to be my clients and events, but also my own plans and goals in life.

I have many goals, which I will continue to share with all of you as I navigate the year – my goals are building blocks to round out the next 12 months, so that each month, I’m implementing the skills/tasks that move me toward the overall goals, not just an overwhelming list of accomplishments to make. A few are simple – such as going to bed on time, drinking more water and trying new recipes; while others will require more time and energy – finishing all the knitting projects in the house, spend more time with friends and family, and creating my dream backyard. Do you make goals, resolutions or intentions each year? How do you keep them a focus?

Plan Prep Pack Plate was built to help people streamline and simplify food prep for themselves and their families. And, that will continue to be a service we offer – but please also stay tuned for more offerings we’ll be rolling out soon, including budgeting, preparing to buy/sell a house, planning for/preparing for a home move, party planning and more. We can’t wait to share all the tips and tricks we use every day – and be of greater service to anyone who needs more specialized plans.

Here’s to 2022 – we’re in this together.

Alexis

Three Ingredient Meals

We’ve covered 5 ingredient meals, 4 ingredient meals, and now we’re down to 3 ingredient meals…Here are a few to add to your rotation! They will help you get a meal on the table without many ingredients or extensive prep time!

Kitchen Staples

  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic Powder
  • Oregano
  • Lemon Pepper
  • Italian Seasoning
  • Olive Oil
  • Non-Stick spray

Cornflake Chicken Bites

  • 1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
  • 1/2c BBQ sauce
  • 3c cornflakes, crushed into coarse crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge in a bowl of bbq sauce and then in a bowl of the pulverized cornflakes. Place on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through and outer layer is crunchy. Serve with additional BBQ sauce.

French Bread Cheese Pizza

  • 1 loaf of French bread, cut in half lengthwise and in thirds widthwise
  • 1 jar pizza sauce
  • 1 bag shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prep a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Place each piece of French bread on the sheet. Spread with pizza sauce and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place 1/3-1/2c of shredded cheese on each piece of bread. Drizzle with 1t olive oil on each. Bake 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted and bread is warm and crunchy.

Steak Quesadilla

  • 1lb. flank steak, cut into strips
  • 4 flour burrito-size tortillas
  • 1 bag Monterrey Jack or Cheddar Cheese

Heat a skillet to medium heat. Place 2T olive oil to heat. season steak with salt, pepper, oregano and garlic powder. Cook in skillet to desired doneness. Let drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Wipe pan out and add non-stick spray. Place tortilla in skillet and add 1/4-1/3c cheese across tortilla. Add 1/4 of the steak and fold over until first side is golden. Flip and cook until cheese is melted and other side is golden. Cut into triangles and repeat with remaining tortillas.

Pasta with Shrimp and Peas

  • 1lb pasta, any shape
  • 1lb shrimp, shelled
  • 1.5c frozen peas

Boil water for pasta. In a skillet, heat 1/4c olive oil. Season shrimp with salt and pepper and add to skillet, cooking 2 minutes per side. If shrimp absorb the olive oil, add 1/4c more oil to create the sauce. In boiling water, cook pasta per box directions and add the peas during final 3 minutes of cooking. Drain pasta and peas and mix with shrimp and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper if needed and serve.

Chicken Soup with Vegetables –

  • 1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips or, 2c rotisserie chicken
  • 1 carton chicken broth or stock
  • 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables

Heat a stockpot to medium/high heat and pour in 1T olive oil. Season chicken with salt, oregano, garlic powder and pepper (skip this step if you have rotisserie chicken) and cook in stockpot for 5-6 minutes until seared on all sides, stirring often. Pour in chicken broth/stock and bring to a boil. Add vegetables (I recommend half the bag) and simmer until heated through. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve or freeze for future use.

Though it’s always fun to try new recipes and create multi-course meals. We don’t need that everyday. Some days, our best meals will have just a couple of staple items. Let me know how these work out on your family’s dinner table!

Need more ideas or help with creative but quick meals? Comment below!

Alexis

Four Ingredient Meals

Yesterday we tackled 5 Ingredient Meals…today we’re clocking in four ingredients per meal. All serving 4 ppl and generally take about 30-45 minutes to make. Some can be prepped ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen until ready to use. We’ll use the same list of staple kitchen ingredients, listed below:

Kitchen Staples

  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic Powder
  • Oregano
  • Lemon Pepper
  • Italian Seasoning
  • Olive Oil
  • Non-Stick spray

Toasted Ravioli

  • 1lb Frozen ravioli of choice
  • 2 eggs, whisked
  • 1c panko breadcrumbs, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder
  • Tomato sauce (jarred or homemade) for dipping

Let ravioli defrost in the refrigerator for the day. Preheat oven to 425-450 degrees. Whisk eggs in one bowl and stir panko with seasonings in another bowl. Dip ravioli in egg then in panko, and place on a baking sheet that is either coated with non-stick spray or has a sheet of parchment on it. Bake for 10-12 minutes until ravioli are slightly browned, and then serve with marinara sauce.

Everything Bagel Seasoning Salmon

  • 1lb. salmon with skin on – either one large filet, or cut into 4-5oz filets
  • 2-3T Everything Bagel Seasoning (any brand, or homemade, I prefer the one from Aldi)
  • 1T Brown Sugar
  • 1-2 Lemons, for juicing

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Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken

  • 1lb. chicken breast cut into strips or 1.5″ pieces
  • 1/4c honey
  • 1/3c yellow or Dijon mustard
  • 2c crushed pretzels

Heat oven to 425-450 degrees. Place a cooling rack on a cookie sheet and spray with non-stick spray. In a shallow bowl, mix together the honey and mustard. In another shallow bowl, place the crushed pretzels. Dredge the chicken pieces through the honey mustard mixture and then coat with the crushed pretzels. Place coated chicken on cooling rack and bake for 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through and cotating is crispy.

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

  • 1-2lbs. Pork Tenderloin, cut into medallions
  • 2 onions sliced in 1/4″ thick rounds
  • 1lb bacon, cut in half
  • 2 large tomatoes sliced in1/4″ thick rounds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a cooling rack on a baking sheet, and coat with non-stick spray. Lay bacon pieces on the rack, 2 pieces (1 slice) for every medallion you’ve cut. Bake bacon for 10 minutes. Take out of oven, and make an “X” with two parcooked pieces of bacon. Top with a piece of onion, then the pork (season pork with salt and pepper), then the tomato. Fold the ends of the bacon over and secure with a couple of toothpicks. This makes your individual packets of meat/vegetables. Bake for 30-40 minutes more, until pork is cooked to desired doneness and bacon has crisped around the meat and vegetables. Serve!

Lasagna Rolls –

  • 12 Lasagna noodles
  • 1 jar pasta sauce
  • 1lb. ground meat of choice
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 bags of Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Cook lasagna noodles until 1-2 minutes from done. Cook ground meat and onion until cooked through. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Drain fat and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 casserole dish with non-stick spray. Place drained and slightly cooled noodles on a clean counter. Spread 1/3c of meat on 3/4 of each noodle Sprinkle meat with 1/4c cheese. Roll-up, careful not to have the filling pus out the sides of the roll-ups and place seam side down in the casserole dish. Pour sauce over all rolls and top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered for 20 minutes until cheese is bubbling and melted.

Let me know how these work out for you and your family! If you need more ideas of quick minimal ingredient meals, please don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments below or via email. Stay tuned for 3 Ingredient Meals next!

Alexis

5 Ingredient Meals

Schools are getting back in session; sports practices and games are filling in afternoons and evenings; work schedules are getting more hectic as summer winds down and yet, everyone still expects dinner on the table.

So – to keep things simple and easy while we all adjust to this new busy, we have a week of recipes that have 5-4-3-2 ingredients this week. These recipes all include a few ingredients that you likely already have and always have in your kitchen (see “Kitchen Staples List” below).

Let me know how these ideas work for you and your family – and hopefully they give you a few new ideas to incorporate into your meal plans, and keep things interesting for all!

Kitchen Staples

  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic Powder
  • Oregano
  • Lemon Pepper
  • Italian Seasoning
  • Olive Oil
  • Non-Stick spray

Spaghetti and Meatballs (serves 4) –

  • 1lb pasta, any shape, macaroni or larger
  • 1 – 28oz can of tomato puree, sauce or crushed tomatoes
  • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced in garlic press
  • 1 – 12-16oz bag of frozen meatballs (any meat you prefer
  • 1t Stevia or White Sugar

Boil pasta in salted, boiling water. Meanwhile, in a deep skillet, use 1T olive oil and heat over medium/high heat. Put meatballs in to brown on all sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. When you turn the meatballs for the final time (3-4 sides), add garlic, 1/2t of the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste and let warm through, approximately 2 minutes. Turn heat down to low/medium and pour in canned tomatoes of choice and stir until starting to bubble. Once it starts to bubble, turn heat to lowest heat setting and let simmer until meatballs are warmed completely through. Once warmed through and simmered, approximately 7-10 minutes, stir in the stevia/sugar and taste to adjust seasoning. Place cooked pasta into warm tomato sauce and toss to coat.

Chicken and Vegetable Skewers (serves 4) –

  • 1lb. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast or Chicken Thighs
  • 2 Bell Peppers (any color)
  • 1 Large Red onion
  • Italian Dressing Packet
  • 1c Grains – rice, farro, quinoa

Cut chicken into 1.5″ pieces and put into a gallon zip top bag, add 2T olive oil and the Italian Dressing packet and let marinate in fridge for 30 minutes up to 24 hours. Cut peppers and onion into 1.5″ pieces.

Preheat grill or oven to 400 degrees. Using skewers (soaked if they are the wood skewers), thread a piece onion, then pepper, then chicken, then repeat this two more times (3 of every item), ending then with an additional onion and bell pepper. Place skewers on sheet pan and place in the oven for approximately 6 minutes per side or on the grill for 4-5 minutes per side until chicken is cooked through and vegetable are slightly charred.

While the skewers cook, steam your grain of choice. Plate the grain and top with a skewer of chicken/vegetables.

Sheet Pan Shrimp “Boil” (serves 4) –

  • 1lb Shrimp (41-50ct, 16-20ct work best)
  • 2lbs red potatoes, cut into quarters
  • 1 pkg Gilbert’s Andouille Chicken Sausage, cut in thirds
  • 1 Large Red Pepper, cut into 1.5″ pieces
  • 1-2T Old Bay Seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Defrost shrimp, you can peel or leave the shells on, up to your preference, if you leave the shells on, it will be more like a peel and eat shrimp situation. Sprinkle with 1T of Old Bay seasoning

Spray a large sheet pan with non-stick spray, and place potatoes on the sheet pan. Drizzle with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes, until potatoes are just getting tender. Take the pan out of the oven, and place the sausage and pepper pieces on the sheet pan and drizzle more olive oil (on potatoes as well if they look dry), salt and pepper on the new additions. Bake for 8-10 more minutes. Add shrimp and bake 6-8 more minutes until shrimp is cooked through and pink, potatoes are fork tender, sausage are browned on all sizes and peppers are a bit charred/soft.

Sheet Pan Nachos (serves 4)-

  • 1lb ground beef or ground turkey
  • 1 packet taco seasoning
  • 1 bag of shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
  • 1 container Pico de Gallo (fresh made from store or kitchen is best for this one)
  • 1 bag of tortilla chips or tortilla strips

Turn on the broiler. Cook ground meat in a skillet, remove fat from pan. Add taco seasoning and 1/4c water and simmer. Lay the tortilla chips on the cookie sheet. Top with cooked meat and shredded cheese. Broil for 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted and chips are warm. Take out of the oven and top with pico de gallo and some crushed tortilla chips. (If you’re feeling ambitious, you can add a few more toppings, but we’re keeping things simple here!)

Chicken Parmesan Zucchini Boats (serves 4) –

  • 4 zucchini
  • 1lb ground chicken breast
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 jar (or homemade) tomato sauce
  • 1 bag of shredded Mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Cut zucchini in half and scoop out seeds. Bake, cut side up, for 10-12 minutes until softened. In a skillet, heat 1T of olive oil, and sauté the onion for 4-5 minutes until softened. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add ground chicken and cook until chicken is cooked through. Season again with some salt, pepper and garlic powder. Stir in tomato sauce (enough to stir and cover, do not over-sauce) an simmer for 2-3 minutes to heat through. Pull zucchini out of oven, and place chicken mixture in the well of the zucchini (it’s ok if it overflows a little bit) and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

What are your favorite meals on crazy weekdays? How to you keep food on the table that isn’t from a drive-thru? We’ll be sharing recipes with fewer and fewer ingredients all week – stay tuned for more! If you need any additional ideas or have any questions – please comment below or reach out to me via email.

Alexis

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