How I prep food for the week.

Sunday is always a busy day at Chez Nikki. It's a day that begins with a nice cup of decaf coffee, a nice hearty low carb breakfast, maybe a little exercise or reading, and then it's cooking and prep time for the week. I just don't have time during the week to cook healthy meals. I end up taking short cuts and eating easy processed food because it's handy and ready. This sunday, I did a lot more cooking than normal, because I had some ingredients that needed to be used up or else risk having to toss them. And I HATE throwing out food. It's like taking dollar bills and throwing them right into the garbage. So, I prefer to cook everything up and if needed, freeze it for later use.

You'll see a theme of bell peppers in all of the main dishes, as I had 6 to use up.

I started with a 3 lb log of ground turkey, and make it into two different dishes: chili in the crockpot (2 lbs) and turkey cranberry burgers (1 lb).

Here are the turkey burgers, with mixed in dried cranberries and chopped red pepper. I always weigh my food, as it helps with calorie and carb counting.



It made enough for the whole week plus enough to freeze for later.



With the chili, I was able to use up a ton of fresh tomatoes that were coming to the end of their life, along with a few bell peppers that I was concerned would be too soft to use for dipping in hummus this week. I didn't take a picture because I've made it several times and have previously posted pictures of it. You probably don't want to see weekly chili pictures. :)

Next, I made a quinoa salad, for a nice vegetarian/vegan option during the week. I threw in more bell peppers, green beans, a can of mushrooms and walnuts with a dressing made out of olive oil + fresh lemon juice + salt and pepper.



After making 3 main entrees, I made sides.

First I baked up a few sweet potatoes in the oven. Then I chopped up veggies for dipping in hummus- carrots, celery and radishes. I buy organic, since these are veggies where you essentially eat everything and there is nothing to really peel away. It is one place in your diet you can buy organic and not have it break the bank.



Next, I chopped up a head of cabbage and fried it in a teeny amount of Earth Balance butter with black pepper and apple cider vinegar. It's a great food to eat if you want to feel full without excess calories and carbs. And I really like it!


Not pictured, I cut up salad fixings for the week for easy, throw-together salads for lunch. I highly recommend throwing some walnuts on your salad. They are so nutritious and delicious! I buy the organic walnut pieces from Trader Joe's. I keep them in a Ball jar to keep them fresh after opening.


Lastly, I picked up some organic raspberries, which I love to throw in some lite whip cream for dessert or maybe throw in a smoothie this week. It satisfies my sweet tooth!


This is what my fridge looked like afterwards


I also spent the day cleaning and enjoying the sunshine come through my windows, which as you can see, the dog really enjoyed, too


Hope I've inspired you to do some cooking this week. Whether you are cooking for one, two or five, it will save you money and calories. I hear a lot of single peeps say that they don't like to cook because it goes to waste or is too much work for one person. But I say just freeze it. Also, with home cooking, you will have the benefit of knowing exactly what's in your food and where it came from.