Back-To-School, Back to Meal Prep!

It’s mid-August and, in my world, this means Back to School! Last week, I met my new class of wee-ones and I am already in love with them all. Of course, school means back to a regular work schedule after (more or less) two months of vacation. Although I am not too good at sticking to my plans, I actually really enjoy meal planning.

Here is a look at some of the dishes I recently made…

Lasagna roll-ups

Lasagna roll-ups are my go-to easy lunch to prepare and freeze. I portion it and then I can quickly grab a container and leave for work. I used BudgetBytes’s Garden Vegetable Lasagna Roll Ups recipe. 

Spicy Raspberry- Balsamic Chicken with Orange-Broccoli Bulgur

This recipe would have been perfect…if I didn’t burn the sauce. We ate it anyway and it was fine but I really could have gone without the burnt smell and flavor. I used the recipe from CleanEating Australia.

Chinese Chop Suey

The other night, I remembered a dish my mom used to make called “chop suey”…all I could remember was that it involved bean sprouts, ground beef and soy sauce. Since my mom wasn’t online on Skype to answer all my questions, I went to Pinterest for inspiration. I found a recipe that was nothing like my childhood recipe but still very tasty. I used Brooklyn Farm Girls’ recipe. The main modification I made was to forgo the cabbage and mushroom and add shredded carrots and broccoli instead.

Last but not least, my Saturday night half-assed dinner

You know when you don’t really feel like cooking and you don’t really know what you want? Well that’s when I come up with my laziest dishes. Originally, my husband was going to make curry but when he changed his mind at the last minute, I had to come up with something. Although I felt lazy, I still wanted to be creative. So I grabbed random items from the pantry and the fridge: half-full container of whole-wheat shells, beef hot-dogs, the bottom of a marinara sauce jar, a ripe tomato, garlic and basil paste. The result was not bad. Better than I expected, in all honesty. But certainly not my proudest achievement.

So all in all, I think I am doing fairly well…of course, this doesn’t take into account my weekly temptation to have dinner out with my wonderful colleagues. But how can I possibly resist yummy food and fun conversations? 😉