Monday, October 3, 2011

Tortilla Basa and some clean tips

I do most of my meal prep on Sundays. When I tell people this, I think that they picture me in the kitchen for hours and hours making 7 days worth of meals. In reality, this process takes about 2 hours. Here is how to do it;

1. Make your grocery list and stick to it. Most of your shopping should take place around the perimeter of the store and not down the aisles, which saves lots of time!

2. Part of my prep process is cleaning and chopping veggies for the week. Label your storage bags and keep in the refrigerator what you will use for the next 2 days. Freeze the rest. Most vegetables freeze very nicely.

3. Cook enough meat (protein) to last you 2-3 days. Keep single or double servings of protein in freezer bags readily accessible for the remainder of the week. An electric grill (like the George Foreman) is great for cooking meat quickly.

4. Like oatmeal? Skip the processed/flavored crap and go for the Steel Cut Oats. Make enough for a few days in the crock pot on Sunday. Add fresh or frozen fruit and a package of Truvia to each serving before you heat it up.

5. I usually make one tray of protein bars to last for the week. Keep them refrigerated!

6. Pick 1 or 2 starches for the week and make enough on Sunday. I cook quinoa in bulk and also cook 1 pound of pasta at a time. Divide it into single servings to quickly grab and go.

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Tortilla Basa

Preheat oven to 400
4oz basa fillet
1/2 tsp Williams-Sonoma Chili Lime seasoning (Or Mrs. Dash of your choice)

Cook basa for 10 minutes or until it flakes. Cube it and add it to the following;

In a fry pan;
1/4 cup red onion
1/4 cup of cooked black beans
1 tbs of lime juice
1/4 cup red salsa
1 tsp of Cholula hot sauce
1/4 cup of sweet peppers (I use a frozen, prechopped tri color blend from Trader joes)
1/8 cup chopped jalepenos
1 corn tortilla, cut into strips

Cook on stove top over medium heat for about 7 minutes. Plate and eat.

I should mention that the veggies were prepped on Sunday and the fish was cooked on Sunday. All I needed to do today was throw it in the pan and heat it through for 7 minutes. Quick, healthy lunch!