Shrimp and Asparagus Salad

This meal prep idea could not be any easier. Plus, it's delicious.  I cut up asparagus, season it with a Mediterranean seasoning blend, and stem it.  I use a bamboo basket that I just put over a pan of boiling water.  If you do it this way, you just have to check a couple things.

Tip 1: Make sure that the basket fits on top and won't slip down.
Tip 2: Make sure there is enough water that it won't dry out during the cooking process (I've made this mistake before, not pretty) and make sure the water is not so deep that it reaches the basket
Tip 3: Use parchment paper.  It's great for easy clean up.
Tip 4: Make sure the parchment paper does not cover the whole space.  There needs to be empty spaces so that the steam can rise up.

I steam the asparagus for 4 minutes.  While that is steaming, I get my shrimp ready and season it with Mediterranean seasoning as well.  Once the asparagus has steamed for 4 minutes, I add the shrimp and top and steam everything for two minutes.  Six minutes and it's done.

I add this to a salad mixture for a yummy easy salad.  I prefer it with kale.  Also I use a mustard dressing.  The mustard, Mediterranean seasoning and shrimp compliment each other so well.  Now if you are trying to use less dressing on your salads, just add more seasoning.

Happy Meal Prepping!

Get Together For Som's Birthday

We've been through quite a lot the last few months so I wanted to get some great food together and good friends together for Som's birthday.  Som loves the Baked Gouda Mac n Cheese that I make so he wanted that.  I decided to try to make them bite sized. They were a hit and people have been asking me for the recipe.

Find the recipe here.

I also made chicken lollipops.  I bought the wing party pack at Costco and wanted to use the wingette part too.  I watched YouTube videos on how to also make the wingette part into a lollipop.  It was a slow process and I'll never do it again.  I'll stick with the drummette part.  It was also a success.

The marinade for the chicken was simple.

Ingredients

½ cup ketchup

¼ cup hoisin

¼ cup low sodium soy sauce

¼ sugar

2 Tbsp. garlic powder

4 garlic cloves chopped

Mix it all together, pour over chicken, and let it marinate over night.

I also made crostinis.  One had goat cheese and prosciutto.  The other had goat cheese and caramelized mushrooms.

Below is salami, mozzarella and tomatoes on a toothpick.  So simple yet so delicious. 

I also made bacon wrapped dates and kielbasa but I didn't get a picture of either of those.  Usually I get pictures of everything!  I must have been running around so much that it slipped my mind.

The party was a huge success!

From the inspiring chef/party planner
~Sothea

Smoked Gouda Mac N Cheese

Ingredients

8 ounces of macaroni

½ lb. bacon – cooked and crumbled

2 cups half and half or milk

1 Tbsp. garlic herb butter

2 Tbsp. flour

8 ounces smoked Gouda

Olive Oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cook macaroni according to package
3. Set aside some bacon to top. Mix macaroni and remaining bacon together. 
4. In saucepan, add half and half or milk (whichever you chose) over medium low heat
5. Whisk in flour until smooth
6. Add butter
7. When hot add cheese.  Stir until cheese is melted
8. Add sauce to macaroni and bacon mixture.  Fold together
9. Oil ramekins
10. Add mixture to ramekins.  Top with reserved bacon
11. Bake for 15 minutes.

Printable Recipe

Meal Prep Ideas - Miso Salmon

The Ingredients

I am one of those people.  The one that stinks up the break room because I brought fish for lunch. But honestly, I don't care because fish is so delicious. One of my favorite things right now and Som's is Miso Salmon.  It is super easy and you can put it in anything.  Usually I will saute zucchini and mix it in some udon noodles.  Then when it's lunch time, I break up the salmon on top after I warm it up.  Oh and when warming up the fish less than a minute is enough.

Again, this is super easy.  It's only 4 ingredients!

Also I used white miso this time but red miso is just as good.

Ingredients

1 lb salmon

Marinating the Salmon

¼ cup soy sauce

1 ½ tbsp miso

2 tbsp water

Directions

1. Mix soy sauce, miso and water
2. Place salmon in plastic bag and pour in miso mix.
3. Marinate for 30 mins or longer
4. Preheat oven to 425°F
5. Bake salmon til cooked through about 15 minutes

XOXO,
Sothea

Miso Salmon

Meal Prep Ideas - Turkey Lettuce Wraps

This could possibly be one of my favorite things to eat.  It is easy and delicious!

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

12 ounces ground turkey

1 Tbsp olive oil

8 ounces mushroom, chopped

½ onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

3 Tbsp McCormick Asian Seasoning

Ingredients For Serving

8 - 10 butter lettuce leaves

2 ounces Japanese Somen Noodles

Sriracha

Directions

1. Cook the Somen Noodles as per package directions
2. Brown the turkey in the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until no longer pink.
3. Add the mushrooms, onions, and garlic and cook until the mushrooms soften.
4. Add the soy sauce and Asian Seasoning and cook 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
5. To serve: add a small amount of noodles into each lettuce leaf, top with the turkey mixture, and drizzle with Sriracha, if desired. Wrap the lettuce leaf to enclose the filling.

Printable Recipe

Meal Prep Ideas - Salmon Cakes

We are meal preppers.  Every Sunday is meal prep Sunday.  Doing this helps us stay on track.  We try to apply the 80/20 rule.  80 percent of our meals for the week are healthy.  Having meals already ready makes it so we won't reach for something easy and highly processed.

One of the meals for the week included Salmon Cakes.  It is a very simple recipe.

Ingredients

½ cup diced red onion

1 cup diced celery

2 cans salmon (about 6 ounces per can)

½ cup coconut flour

2 eggs beaten

3 tbsp light mayonnaise

2 tbsp mustard

2 tsp paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Drain salmon
3. Mix all ingredients
4. Brush 12 cup muffin pan with olive oil
5. Add mixture to fill each cup, pat down with spoon
6. Bake for 20 minutes

Printable Recipe

We had this with asparagus and Royal Blends Rice.  This one had a combination of light brown rice, red quinoa and freekeh. We love this blend because it cooks a lot faster then regular brown rice.

Happy Meal Prepping!

Meal Prep Ideas - Pancake Muffins

I love pancakes but hate to make them in the morning.  I'm not a morning person.  I'm rather grumpy until I have my morning coffee.  Since I love pancakes and I hate making them in the morning, I've tried baking them with my weekly meal prep.  They are actually pretty good.  

I use Birch Benders Gluten Free Pancake Mix.  We buy ours at Sprouts Market but you can order from Birch Bender's website as well. We've tried other gluten free mixes and we've found that this is the best one.  Their regular pancake mixes are also excellent.

To start off, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.  Mix the ingredients according to your pancake mix.  I found that whatever it has to make 6-7 pancakes will make 6 pancake muffins.  Put in liners and back for 20 minutes.

Also you can add other things to the muffins.  For the picture to the right, I added peanut butter chips after I put the mix in the liners.


For the Strawberry Pancakes Muffins, I cut the top off a strawberry and put one in the center of each pancake muffin.

The Bacon Pancake Muffins were inspired by Adventure Time.  Our niece and nephew used to sing the bacon pancake song all the time.  For this one, I cut and cooked the bacon.  I only cooked it for a couple minutes.  I didn't want it to get crispy.   I added the bacon and chopped green onions to the mix.  

For the Almond Butter Pancake Muffins, I melted almond butter in a bowl in the microwave.  Then I added it to the mix.  This one was a more subtle taste. So when you serve it, spread a little almond butter on top for a little added flavor.

Enjoy,

Sothea

Meal Prep Ideas - Turkey Chili with Great Northern Beans

I cook all the time.  I've enjoyed turning recipes into a healthier version and trying to perfect it. One of my favorite recipes is for Turkey Chili.  I love chili and because of health issues I no longer eat red meat.  This has become a staple at our house. Usually I don't follow a recipe but for the blog, I am starting to write down what I use.

Turkey Chili with Great Northern Beans

Ingredients

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground turkey

1 Serrano pepper, diced

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ cup less sodium chicken broth

2 cans of tomatoes – no salt added

2 can Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Avocado or Cheese (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the turkey and brown it, breaking it apart as you go, for about 4 minutes
3. Add serrano pepper. Chili powder, cayenne pepper and stir.
4. Add chicken broth, canned tomatoes, and beans; bring to a low boil
5. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stir occasionally
6. Remove from heat, season with black pepper to taste.  Top with avocados or cheese.

Printable Recipe

Enjoy,

Sothea