Coach G - Fit Family Fun!

I'm back! After taking the summer off from blogging it's back to business this week. The kids are back in school and we are easing into a new routine. Both kids now go to the same school! This means one drop off and one pick up and a huge amount of time saved. On Saturday I went out to my garden and picked some beautiful veggies. This was the first year that I tried my hand at growing sweet potatoes and it was a resounding success! I also got a lot of carrots and they were huge. I was so happy that I was able to find a recipe that incorporated both those ingredients into a delicious soup.  We had a very busy weekend so I wanted some easy and quick recipes. On Sunday I my daughter went to a party that ended at 5:30 in the afternoon so I wouldn't start prepping until 6pm at the earliest. Using the slow cooker was therefore out of the question at that point. I ended up making lasagna, blackened tilapia with pesto orzo, cilantro lime chicken, and roasted pork t...

After a two-week hiatus, it's back to meal prepping. I had to dig into my freezer and use up some of my reserves due to not meal prepping. Although Monday is Memorial Day here and, therefore a holiday, I'm still meal prepping on Sunday. It's been raining all week and weekend and I haven't had much time to work on my garden. Tomorrow's forecast calls for a nice day so I wanted to take advantage of it. I love love love my summer garden! So far we have been able to pick about half a pound of strawberries per day for the past week. My lettuces, which came back from last year on their own, are growing well and we can start to eat some of them. A lot of my summer prepping will be dependent on what I can pick from the garden. This also encourages the kids to eat fruits and veggies since they see where their food is coming from and they can help me tend to them and pick them.  This week's meal prep took less than two hours (if you don't count the slow...

Today I realized that there are three things that I ALWAYS do before starting my meal prep. It's become such a habit that I never noticed it! It's a pre-prep prep of sorts!  Clean out the fridge - Get rid of the leftovers from the previous week. By now they've been sitting there for 1 week and for me that's the limit on keeping food. You make room in the fridge and you make sure that someone doesn't grab something that's on the verge of going bad by mistake. Do the dishes - I always make sure that my sink is empty when I start my prep. I start off by washing my veggies in there so I need the room and I'm constantly putting things to wash as I'm working. If you don't do this you will end up with a massive amount of dishes at the end and it will seems so overwhelming and might turn you off from prepping. Another way to avoid this is to clean as you go as well. Take out the trash - Again, I like to start out with an empty trash can. You don...

This is the easiest recipe it has 5 ingredients and it's a set it and forget it type recipe. Ingredients 2 lbs stewing meat cubed 4 large carrots 2 tbsp red wine vinegar 2 tbs lemon and herb seasoning salt and pepper to taste Instructions Add all ingredients to the slow cooker and cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Serve over rice.

This recipe is delicious and protein rich. The kids, big and small, really like it. I like to top it off with some fresh tomatoes and avocado. Ingredients: 1 rotisserie chicken, deboned and diced 1 cup quinoa 1 (10oz) can mild enchilada sauce 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted 1 (14oz) cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp chili powder salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 2 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese, divided 1 avocado, diced (optional) 1 Roma tomato, diced (optional) Instructions: In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions; set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8x8 or 2 quart baking dish or coat with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, combine chicken, quinoa, enchilada sauce, corn, black beans, cilantro, cumin, garlic, and chili powder; season with salt and pepper, to taste.  S...

This weekend has been quite hectic with lots of running around. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get to work on my garden and I'm getting antsy that I haven't planted much yet. Meal prep also took a little longer than it had in the past few weeks but that's because there was some marinating and slow cooking involved. It all got done in about four and half hours. That all paid off in the end because everything came out so delicious! There have been times where I've prepped and honestly haven't been too enthused by all dishes. This time is not one of those times.  I first started working on the Grilled Thai Curry Chicken Skewers with Coconut-Peanut Sauce and   left it to marinate in the fridge as I prepared my other meals. Next came the Slow Cooker Carnitas. Nothing better than that for taco Tuesday. I grilled some bell peppers and got some avocados to add to those tacos. I found another one pot chicken meal, the One Pot Italian Chicken And Ri...

Back to the grind after spring break! There is no better way to get back into the groove than starting the week off with a good meal prep session. I also did some prep for my Ezekiel bread which I'll cover in my Tuesday's Tip in two days. The prep took around two hours which left me a lot of time to work in my garden! Gardening makes meal prep even more fun as my menus are based on what I pick. It also encourages the kids to eat more fruits and veggies because they get so involved in the growing process. The first dish I made was a One-Pan Chicken Thighs with Cilantro-Lime Black Bean Rice dish. I decided to take the skin off the chicken before cooking it so as to reduce the amount of fat. The rice came out nice and tangy. I'm really looking forward to eating this. After this all my inspiration went out the window so I went with some quick favorites. The Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf Muffins are great and we usually have them with some steam veggies. Then I made some ki...

Another week over and I beat the bread once more! 4 dinners and lunches done in 2.5 hrs. I had quite a busy weekend so I'm glad that meal prep didn't fall through the cracks. Next week there will be no meal prep because it's my son's spring break. I try to use my time as efficiently as possible. I've written in past about ordering my groceries online and how it has saved me time, sanity, and even money. I try to get my menu done on Friday or Saturday so that I pick up my groceries Sunday morning after taking the kids to their swimming class. Saturday my daughter has a 45 minute ballet class and parents are not allowed to sit in on the class. Since she's very young I sit in the hall during her class and wait until it's over. Just in case there is a potty emergency! I decided this week, instead of just sitting there like a bump on a log, I would use that time to make my menu. I went through my Pintrest boards and found new recipes and gradually ad...

I always start my meal prep by getting the bread maker going and my goal is always to try to "beat the bread". By that I mean that I try to finish cooking before the bread is done baking. Ezekiel bread takes 3 hours 25 minutes from start to finish in the bread machine. Today I was done with about 50 minutes left on the clock! The secret was that I made two recipes that requires cooked chicken and for that I use rotisserie chicken. It's easy and delicious. I made some zucchini enchiladas where I used thinly sliced zucchini in lieu of tortillas. The recipe required me to roll the zucchini around the filling. Well, let me tell you, it didn't quite work out that way. The zucchini kept breaking so, to make my life easier, I laid it out like I would a lasagna. My taste will never know the difference. Using more rotisserie chicken, I made a cold fighting chicken soup. None of have a cold but I love the soup and I decide what we eat so there you have it! It's...

Whoa! It's been over 3 months since I last posted! I'm sorry to those that were following the posts but life seems to have gotten in the way. Really that's the whole reason I meal prep, to reduce the hectic pace of the day as lunch and dinner are two things I don't have to worry about. One things I've been doing these past few weeks is to  buy 4 bags of steam-in-a-bag veggies and, as I'm putting the groceries away, I pop a bag in the microwave and let it cook. Then I empty it in a container and keep steaming and adding to it. Then I have a container full of veggies ready to use as a side for lunch or dinner. For lunch my husband and I have been eating grilled chicken and steamed vegetables. We mix it up from time to time by adding a bit of sauce to the chicken. For dinner I've prepared some spaghetti sauce, crockpot Thai pork, chicken cacciatore, and pesto Caprese chicken. I just noticed, in typing all this out that my menu is very Italian excep...