Coach G - Fit Family Fun!

Establishing a meal prepping routine takes some getting used to. Once you do establish that routine the time it takes for meal prepping gets shorter and shorter as you develop tricks, habits and shortcuts of your own. You come to rely on meal prepping for your day to day life as it reduces the stress of the week ahead. Now what happens when this routine gets disrupted? Whenever my routine got disrupted,for example if we went away for a weekend, I'd feel so discombobulated. We'd get back home late Sunday night and have to be back at work early Monday morning so there's no time to go grocery shopping. What do we eat? Is it going to be healthy? When are we going to eat? These questions would run through my mind starting Monday morning until I picked up the kids from school. This repeated itself every day of the week. It's also very easy to fall back into old habits when you disrupt your routine. One week you can't do it then the next week you say we'll go ou...

With the weather beginning to change, I was inspired to make fall comfort foods. I made those crazy soups again for lunch and updated the pasta e fagioli recipe. My husband and I have ranked the soups as follows: Italian wedding soup first, followed by the Pho Ga, then the Thai coconut and curry, and finally the pasta e fagioli. I will have to tweak the Morrocan chickpea soup for it to make a comeback. The spaghetti sauce recipe yields about 3 full meals. I freeze two thirds of it in 2 separate containers and pop it in the microwave when we are ready to eat it. I always buy spaghetti boxes in threes since my sauce will last for 3 meals so I always have both on hand. Dinner prep: Chicken pot pie Beef and vegetable stew Spaghetti sauce Zucchini lasagna Lunch prep: Soup in a Jar - Italian Wedding Soup in a Jar - Pasta e Fagioli Soup in a Jar - Pho Ga Soup in a Jar - Thai Coconut Shrimp The bread as always is a delicious Ezekiel bread. The machine bread recipe c...

This is my mother's very special spaghetti sauce. The kids ABSOLUTELY adore it and ask to eat it every week and fight over the left overs.  The spaghetti sauce recipe yields about 3 full meals. I freeze two thirds of it in 2 separate containers and pop it in the microwave when we are ready to eat it. I always buy spaghetti boxes in threes since my sauce will last for 3 meals so I always have both on hand.  Ingredients 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 lb lean ground beef 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp allspice 1/4 tsp pepper 1 tsp salt 1 medium onion, chopped 1 29oz can crushed tomatoes 2 bay leaves 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 C ketchup Instructions Heat oil in a medium pot. Add beef and break up into small pieces. Add the spices, salt, and pepper, and brown beef. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the crushed tomatoes and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium low and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat...

This is quite a hearty and complete meal. It has proteins, vegetables, and starches. It's quite flavorful and great for fall or winter nights! Ingredients 2-2.5lb stewing beef cut into bite-size pieces 1/4C flour 1 tsp dry thyme 1 tsp dry basil 1 tsp garlic salt 2 tbsp olive oil 1 package onion soup mix 5 medium potatoes, diced 16 oz baby carrots 4 oz pearled onions 1 (10 oz.) can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup 1 C beef broth 2 tbsp tomato paste 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper Instructions Add flour, thyme, basil, and garlic salt to a Ziploc bag and mix. In batches, add the beef. Heat olive oil in a large pan and brown beef pieces in batches. Once they are brown add the to the crock-pot. Add the remainder of the Ziploc bag ingredients to the crock-pot. Add the remainder of the ingredients to the crock-pot and mix.  Cover crock pot with lid. Cook on low heat for 8 hours or 4 hours on high, until meat is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Stir t...

Always a family favorite. I like to cut down on time by using a rotisserie chicken and frozen veggies. Ingredients 2 tbsp olive oil 1 white medium onion, diced 4 large celery stalks, diced 3 garlic cloves 6 tbsp whole wheat flour 2 C chicken broth 10 oz frozen peas and carrots 3 C cooked chicken, chopped 1 9in pie crust salt and pepper Instructions Preheat oven to 420 F. Heat the oil in a medium pot. Add onions and celery and cook until translucent. Add garlic, cook for 1 minute. Add flour and stir for 2 minutes. Add the broth a little at a time, scraping any flour off the sides and bottom. Let simmer until sauce has thickened. Stir in the peas and carrots and chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Spray pie pan with cooking spray. Add mixture to pie pan. Cover with pie dough, crimping edges. Bake for 20 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

My husband is a big fan of anything lemon. These little tartelettes are rather easy to make and are always a big hit. I use store-bought pie crust to cut down on time and they always turn out great. 1 pie crust usually gives me about 12-15 tartelettes. This recipe makes about 60 so about 4 to 5 pie crusts needed. Ingredients Lemon Curd: 8 large egg yolks 1¼ cups + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 4 freshly squeezed large lemon juice lemon zest of 1 lemon ½ cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter 1/4C powdered sugar to decorate. Crust: 4-5 pie crusts vegetable oil spray for baking flour for your work surface Instructions Preheat oven at 350F. In a medium sized metal bowl beat yolks and sugar vigorously with a whisk until smooth and well blended, about 1 minute. Add lemon juice and whisk until smooth. Add an inch or so of water to a medium saucepan and bring water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once the water reaches a simmer, reduce hea...

As much as I love cooking, one of my least favorite things to do is to go to the grocery store. I therefore try to make the process as quick and painless as possible. How? The quick: To make it quick, you have to be prepared. Prepared means that you have a list ready. I had once purchased the handy-dandy pad you see in the picture above, it makes it easier to remember what you need. Lately though I've been using the Harris Teeter Express Lane app. I have it on me all the time since it's on my phone. Whenever I find a recipe that tickles my fancy and I decide to make in my meal prep, I add the ingredients to it right away. It also makes it easier whenever I run out of something at home as I just add it to the list. With these apps you don't have to go through and make an online purchase, you can just bring it to the store with you and use it as your list and delete the items as you get them. You can also print it out and use it as a list that way. Here is where I...