Oh gosh, you guys! It has been so long since I have
blogged. So long that I
even forgot my password. April
of 2013 to be exact … which happens to be when I found out I was pregnant with
Brooklynn and had horrible “morning” sickness for 21 weeks. This then began my hatred toward food
throughout my entire pregnancy, which was very bizarre for me. Luckily my love for food came back and after
my pregnancy I developed different eating habits and did really well on weight
watchers. I posted a ton of
my weight watchers creations on Instagram. You can follow me @ktribenga and see some
recipes under the hashtag #ktwwrecipe ! So I have still been posting my love of
food, just on a different forum … well that is going to change now!
I am always a ridiculous food
planner. I make meal
plans for the week or even two weeks at a time. This includes very organized grocery lists …
which makes my grocery shopping very fast (and enjoyable, too). This past week, I decided to make some meals that
I could prep or make ahead and freeze so life will be easier further along in
my pregnancy or once baby number two arrives (only had sickness for 13 weeks
this time and no food aversions to date!!!). I offered to email my meal plan, grocery list,
and meal directions to anyone interested and over 65 people asked. I have to admit, I was very flattered and
happy to send each and every email. Well,
I figured if I was going to keep sharing my meal plans and lists, I might as
well save myself time and do it on here! This
way I can post new blog entries online to be viewed for anyone who is
interested. Also, if you
subscribe to my blog – each new blog post will be emailed to you! Whatever works best for you! Just know that I work really hard on these plans,
lists and directions … so a simple thank you would totally make my day!!
Well here is the plan I
emailed to everyone … I hope you like the meals as much as I do. Just an FYI, my meals follow a “semi-homemade”
sort of fashion (thanks for that description, Pooja) to cut on time but you can
tweek any of the ingredients as you wish, swapping fresh for canned, etc.
Menu:
Stuffed Pepper Soup (4 gallon bags)
Pulled Pork (4 quart bags)
Italian Sausage & White
Bean Soup (2 gallon bags)
Cilantro Lime Chicken (2
gallon bags)
Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken (2
gallon bags)
Beef Stew (2 gallon bags)
Total Cost 132.69
Costs of food may vary
depending on coupons and where you shopped. Most meat and produce items I bought at Costco
and canned or shelf items I bought at Aldi or Walmart. Also, if you choose organic items or fresh
items, prices will vary. You
can leave out any ingredients you do not like or change seasonings to your
taste preference.
Grocery List
Bell Pepper (5)
Red Onion (5)
Cilantro (bunch)
Limes (4)
Garlic (small jar minced)
Baby Carrots (3 lb bag)
Celery (1 lb bag)
Sweet Potato (1)
Pork Roast (3 sm-med size
roasts or one large roast)
Ground Turkey (3 lb)
Italian Sausage (hot or mild –
10 links)
Chicken Breast (12)
Beef Roast (1 large)
Beef gravy jar (1 large or 2
small)
Teriyaki Sauce Marinade (2)
Canned Pineapple Chunks (2
20oz)
Ground Cumin
Salt
Garlic Powder
Brown Rice (2 ready to boil
bags)
Tomato Soup (3 large 26 oz
cans)
BBQ Sauce (2)
Canned Cannellini Beans (2
15oz)
Canned Diced Tomato (2 15 oz)
Beef Broth (1 large)
Canned Black Beans (2 15 oz)
Canned Tomato Sauce (1 small
can 10oz)
Dry Onion Soup Packet (1)
Frozen Creamed Spinach (2)
Frozen Corn (2)
Gallon & Quart Freezer
Bags
Recipes
Stuffed Pepper Soup – Brown /
crumble ground turkey in a large pot. Drain
fat. Add 5 chopped
bell peppers and 1 chopped red onion. Allow
vegetables to soften. Season
with garlic powder and salt to taste. Add
in 3 large cans of condensed tomato soup and 2 cans of water. Prepare 2 bags of ready to boil brown rice in
separate pot. Once
cooked, add in bags of brown rice. Stir
to combine. Label 4 gallon
freezer bags with the date, “Stuffed Pepper Soup”, and directions to thaw, heat
and serve. Divide soup
between freezer bags. Seal bag, removing any air, and lay flat to freeze.
Pulled Pork – In a crock pot,
add 1 chopped onion to the bottom. Top
with pork roasts and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours. Remove pork and shred with a fork into a large
mixing bowl. Remove
onions from crock pot and drain, add into bowl. Season with salt and garlic powder to taste. Mix in bbq sauce jars. Label 4 quart freezer bags with the
date, “Pulled Pork”, and directions to thaw, heat and serve. Divide pork between freezer bags. Seal bag,
removing any air, and lay flat to freeze.
Italian Sausage and White Bean
Soup – Remove Italian sausage from casings and brown / crumble in a large
pot. Drain Fat. Add 2 cans of diced tomatoes (do not drain)
and stir. Add in 1 can of
drained white beans and 1 can of un-drained white beans (thickens soup). Add 2 containers of frozen creamed spinach
(you can add it frozen) and 1 large container of beef broth. Heat until spinach is thawed and warmed
through. Label 2 gallon
freezer bags with the date, “Sausage & White Bean Soup”, and directions to
thaw, heat and serve. Divide
soup between freezer bags. Seal
bag, removing any air, and lay flat to freeze.
Cilantro Lime Chicken - Label 2 gallon freezer bags with the date,
“Cilantro Lime Chicken”, and directions to thaw, cook in crock pot for 4 hours
on low, shred chicken and serve on tortillas. In each bag, add 3 chicken breasts, juice from
2 limes, ½ bunch of chopped cilantro, 1 16 oz bag frozen corn, 1 heaping
teaspoon minced garlic, ½ chopped red onion, 1 can drained and rinsed black
beans, 1 tbsp cumin, salt and pepper (to your liking). Seal bag, removing any air, and lay flat to
freeze.
Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken -
Label 2 gallon freezer bags with the date, “Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken”, and
directions to thaw, cook in crock pot for 4 hours on low, and serve over rice. In each bag, add 1 lb baby carrots, ½ red
onion chopped, 1 can pineapple chunks with juice, 1 heaping tablespoon minced
garlic, 3 chicken breasts, and container of teriyaki sauce. Seal bag, removing any air, and lay flat to
freeze.
Beef Stew – In crock pot, add
1 lb carrots, 1 lb chopped celery, 1 chopped red onion, and 1 chopped and
peeled sweet potato. Season
vegetables with salt and garlic powder. Stir
to mix vegetable. Add
small can of tomato sauce and 1 large or 2 small jars of beef gravy (no need to
stir). Add beef roast
on top of vegetables. Top beef roast with 1 packet onion soup mix. Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred beef (beef will fall apart) and mix into
vegetables and liquid. Label
2 gallon freezer bags with the date, “Beef Stew”, and directions to thaw, heat
and serve. Divide stew
between freezer bags. Seal
bag, removing any air, and lay flat to freeze.
I just have to say that I was
very pleased to get on my blog after all this time and see how many times my
posts have been pinned and how often the site has been viewed, even while I
wasn’t an active blogger. It
is all very exciting to me!! If
you want to check out older recipes on here, please do … Yinzer Stew is my
favorite (and Alyssa’s too). Like
always, if you have any questions, please just ask me! I am always happy to help, I promise!
