HolmeSkillet

Pineapple, Mango, Ginger and Blueberry, Strawberry

Start by completing your 1^st step of making your Kombucha 7+ day process. Once the kombucha is ready to bottle, prepare your flavorings. I always keep bags of frozen mixed fruit (usually with strawberry, mango, pineapple and blueberries) that I use to make protein shakes in the morning. Since I already have them in the freezer, it’s convenient to start the 2^nd fermentation for kombucha.  I also make sure to buy fresh ginger root at least a day before I’m ready to bottle.

Using spoon, peel ginger root. Then chop ginger into bite size pieces and put in a blender. Add ¼ cup frozen mango and pineapple. Fill about halfway up the fruit with water (approx. ¼ cup), add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2 Tbsp of organic sugar then blend together. If you have a ninja or nutria-bullet style smaller blender, I find those work best.

For the next flavor take ¼ cup frozen strawberries and ¼ cup blueberry and put in a blender. Add cold water until about halfway up the side of the fruit to help blend with 2 Tbsp of organic sugar. Blend well and taste if the sweetness is to your liking then adjust if necessary.

Spoon each mix about 1 inch in each of the bottles. This should yield about 3 bottles of each flavor in 18oz bottles. Or if you have larger grolsch style bottles, do 1 each. Fill the bottles with your kombucha and let ferment 2-3 days burping the air each day so you do not have any explosions or loss of product when you are ready to drink.

You can drink as is, or strain. I prefer to strain because it is easier to drink and the flavor for me is just better. Enjoy…

When I do meal prep I try to plan on having at least one different protein in the mix to change it up. Although the sides are the same in this prep, having a different flavored protein keeps things interesting enough that I typically won’t get tired of eating the same thing as quickly. That being said, I did eventually get bored of eating the same thing after day 4. Unfortunately, I will be back to the drawing board to make the meal prep more diverse. I suggest freezing some of the ingredients for later, which I regret I didn’t do. I try to avoid freezing what I cook because I think the food becomes bland when it’s frozen then re-heated. I think this is one of the reasons you see such high sodium content in frozen foods. If you are cooking for 2 people, this is probably the perfect amount.

The key to putting this large prep together requires timing and having all your “mise en place” ready to go. The order in which you prep and cook everything will save you time and energy so you’ll feel like cooking every week is not such a chore. Plan ahead and think about what takes longest to cook and start there and work your way down to the quick cooking ingredients. I began cooking  the potatoes, rice and vegetables, then finished the proteins.

Altogether with prep and cleanup, the total cook time took me about 3 hours. Don’t feel discouraged if it takes you longer, with practice you will get faster.

Ingredients

5 ea. 4 oz Pork Chops

2 ea. 8oz Chicken Breasts

8oz. Shrimp

2 ea. Cauliflower heads

3 ea. Bell Peppers (1 Red, 1 Yellow and 1 Orange)

1 ea. Yellow Onion

1 Large bag Kale chopped

2 cups Brown Rice

3 ea. Sweet Potatoes

1 ea. Head of Garlic

2 Tbsp Red Chili Flakes

1/4 cp White wine

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp un-salted butter

Directions

Brown Rice

Rinse brown rice under water until the water rinses mostly clear.

Add cold water until it covers the knuckles on your hand when it’s placed on top of the rice.

Start rice in cooker and turn on to cook.

Once the rice is done, let it cool till room temp or put in fridge to cool quickly.

Tip: Start cooking the rice early in the morning or mid-day so you can come back to it when it’s ready.

Sweet Potatoes

Pre-heat your oven to 425°

Scrub clean sweet potatoes in cold water (3 ea. For this prep).

Dry then rub potatoes with olive oil and season with S&P.

Wrap the potatoes in foil and cook in oven 45 minutes or until tender.

When done, cool to room temp then roll-cut into bite size pieces.

Roasted Cauliflower

While sweet potatoes are cooking, chop 5 cloves of garlic and put in large bowl.

Rinse and chop cauliflower into bite size pieces.

Add cauliflower to bowl and season with red pepper flakes, S&P then toss with olive oil.

Place on cooking sheet in an even layer and cook for 15-20 minutes. Flip and cook an additional 10 minutes until golden brown.

Let cool till room temp.

Pork Chops

Take 5 ea. 4oz Pork chops put on a plate and seasoned with S&P.

In a pan on med-high heat, drizzle 1 TBSP olive oil and sear all sides of the pork chops until browned.

Place seared chops in a baking pan.

In a small bowl pour 1 can of cream of mushroom soup with ½ can of water and whisk together. Once combined, spoon the soup over each pork chop then poor the rest in the pan.

Place pan in the same 425° oven and cook for 20-30 minutes or until cooked through. Cook time depends on the thickness of your chops. If you want to play it safe use a thermometer until their temp reaches 145°.

Nutrition Info: Per Serving: 210 calories; 8.5 g fat; 9.6 g carbohydrates; 23.6 g protein; 65 mg cholesterol; 924 mg sodium

Peppers and Onions

Cut 1 ea. Yellow onion into slices and begin sautéing slowly on med heat.

Slice 1 ea. Red, Yellow and Orange peppers and de-seed.

Once onions are beginning to become translucent, add peppers to pan,

Continue to cook until onions and peppers become slightly carmelized, then you can remove them from the pan and put them on plate or any other container to cool.

Kale

Place a large pan or preferably a wok on medium heat.

Prepare one bag of wash and rinsed chopped kale by removing the stems. If you prefer the extra fiber, then you can leave the stems on… Extra fiber never heart anybody (don’t quote me on that) I don’t like the taste and you have to cook the kale longer.

Drizzle 1-2 TBSP olive oil in pan then add the kale. Sauté until wilted and stems are cooked through then season with S&P.

Tip: Add a couple TBSP of water to steam especially if you keep the stems on.

Once cooked through about 5-10 minutes, remove kale from pan and let cool room temp.

Chicken Breast

Butterfly 2 large 8oz ea. chicken breasts and season with S&P.

(You can use the same pan used for the onions and peppers after making sure it is wiped clean)

Place a pan on med-high heat, drizzle 1 Tbsp olive oil and sear both sides of the chicken breast until browned then place in the same 425° oven

Cook for 4-5 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Check temp is reaches 160-165° or until juices are clear.

Set aside on plate to let cool.

Shrimp

I used about 8oz frozen shrimp, thawed and peeled.

Set another pan on med-low heat and add 3 cloves of chopped garlic and red chili flake.

Immediately when fragrant, turn pan to med-high add shrimp then season with S&P.

Add tsp lemon juice, ¼ cup white wine then reduce by half.

Once shrimp are in a slight “C” shape and look opaque, then they’re done.

Remove the pan from heat and add 1 Tbsp room temp diced butter then stir or monté to bring sauce together.

Place in another container to cool.

Assembly

Put out 10 large containers and then when food is cooled to at least room temp get ready to distribute.

Place 1 cup of brown rice into 5 of the containers and 1 cup sweet potatoes in the other 5.

Distribute the sautéed kale, roasted cauliflower, peppers and onions into each of the containers.

Slice and distribute the chicken breast into 4 of the containers then place one pork chop into another 4 containers with mushroom sauce spooned over each chop.

Distribute the garlic shrimp in the remaining 2 containers.

Optional* Sprinkle sliced scallions on top of each dish if you like for a garnish.

I know I know… Balls am I right? Nothing funnier than offering a family member or friends to try your balls. Who can forget the NPR skit on Saturday Night Live about Schweddy balls? Anyway, I’ll try to spare you some of my child-like humor and tell you about my balls. They are a great snack and if you eat protein bars and stuff like that, it’s a great alternative. I just store them in the fridge or take them with me for a quick snack. People will envy your balls in public as they should. This recipe makes about 15-20 balls depending on size and will typically last for a couple days. You don’t want your balls hanging around more than a week, keep your balls fresh.

Ingredients

1 ½ cp Oats

½ cp vanilla protein powder

1 TBSP Chia Seeds

½ tsp cinnamon

½ cup smooth peanut butter (Natural/Organic just about any nut butter will work)

3 TBSP Honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup chocolate chips cut in half (or try dried fruit cut in small pieces easy to roll into balls)

4 TBSP almond milk (Add more if mix is too dry)

Instructions

1. Add dry ingredients, oats, protein powder, chia seeds, cinnamon, chocolate chips to mixing bowl.
2. Add “wet” ingredients, peanut butter, honey, vanilla extract, almond milk.
3. Mix together with spoon or dampen your hands with water to keep your hands from getting sticky.
4. Use a small scoop or two tablespoons to measure out balls onto a parchment paper or plate (parchment paper works best because these balls are sticky).

5. Using your hands, roll balls to uniform ball shape and store in the fridge in an air tight container.

6. The balls can be eaten immediately for all to enjoy.