Weekly Food Round 2

Well last week's challenge turned out pretty good. The only food I didn't end up eating was the green curry soup. Something a little off about it...maybe the tofu chunks were too big. Oh well. On to the next week!

Since the food prep was relatively successful, I am empowered to try it again. Here's what's on tap:

Cilantro jalapeno hummus. Pretty tasty, though I couldn't find the tahini at the store so I skipped it in the recipe. Hoping this will make a good savory snack with chopped veggies.

Green curry quinoa with veggies. No surprise here -- I have the green curry hanging out in my fridge so might as well. I made the sauce and added broccoli, peppers, onion and sugar snap peas. Took a little taste and it's pretty yummers, so I'm excited.

Egg Friends. These were a huge hit for myself and T. I fill half a cupcake pan with liquid egg whites and fill with tasty stuff from there (cilantro, basil, ground chicken, jalapeno, cheese, etc). Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, add cheese on top to bake for another 5. T is to be credited for the new nickname, though I think I might prefer "Egg Pals."

Enchiladas. Haven't made them yet, but got some corn tortillas, reduced fat cheese and Macayo's enchilada sauce. I'm toying with the idea of adding some pumpkin puree to give it a little more nutritional value, and I will include onion, jalapeno and ground chicken.

This week I am queen of: Making food ahead of time

I had a rare Monday off, so I decided I would try something I never have time to do: prepare meals for the WEEK.

Totally novel concept -- making food on a day you do not plan to eat it. Sounds crazy, I know. And it might just be.

Here's my trouble with making a bunch of food ahead of time: we don't really like frozen food that has been reheated. Well, one of us doesn't. And so I never make food in bulk with plans to freeze it.

However, this week's plan does not involve freezing. I actually hope to eat most of this stuff by week's end. I'm also hoping it will save me time in the mornings. Well, if I actually spent time to make my breakfast or lunch and then bring to work, this would save me time. It WILL make me more motivated to bring my own food to work, since this is already prepared and packaged.

Le menu for this week includes:

• 2 containers of green curry tofu soup. Smells really good. Hoping soup will travel well. Note: recipe calls for red curry but I chose green.
• 4 stuffed peppers with ground turkey and quinoa. I picture this as a dinner meal. Two dinners even? Note: I added taco seasoning and waited to mix in the cilantro until after the meat was cooked. Cilantro, like many fresh herbs, taste better if they are not cooked too much.
• 2 burritos made with left over turkey/quinoa mixture. (Aside: What is up with parchment paper and why can I never figure it out? I wrapped two burritos in parchment paper and tried to tape the ends. Turns out, tape does not stick to parchment paper. I ended up putting so much tape on these damn burritos it will take a sword to bust into them.)
• 6 egg mcmuffins. I made mine out of liquid egg whites with various assortments of deli ham, mozzarella cheese, basil, cilantro and ground turkey. I plan to pack these for breakfast. Note: I did not add the English muffins. I plan to toast those as I go.

Crossing my fingers that most of this will not end up in the trash in a week and a half. Optimistic that this will help us eat more of our groceries and less of the menu at Big Boy's pizza and subs. (Actual place nearby.)

Looking for best practices that help other, more organized friends out there.