breakfast potatoes

While shopping last week, I asked Matt to get the potatoes for the Balsamic Pot Roast. He came back with 5 pounds of red potatoes, because I'm pretty sure he would eat potatoes for every meal for the rest of his life happily.

Since Saturdays are for making breakfast, potatoes we had.

I'm certain that if Pioneer Woman made something it's the most delicious version there is. So this is her's, but here (with my modifications) so I can reference quickly in the future.


Best Breakfast Potatoes Ever
4 servings | 504 calories | 26g fat/60g carbs/7g protein
2.5 lbs red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 whole onion, roughly chopped
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 stick butter, melted

1 tbsp rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
In a large bowl, toss together  all ingredients.
Pour potatoes onto baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, shaking the pan twice.
Raise the heat to 500 degrees and bake until crisp and brown, 15 to 20 minutes, tossing twice.
Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper.

Serve with over easy eggs.

Matt Rating:
9 // "so delicious, i love them, i want them for every meal"

coke shakes

For dessert tonight, like true Atlantans, we're having Coke Shakes.

Ingredients:
15 ice cubes
1 can of Coca~Cola
4 generous scoops of vanilla ice cream

Directions:
Blend in blender (Vitamix) until smooth.

I'm not counting calories or macros for this one, because I don't feel like crying. ;)

Matt Rating:
9 // "so yummy"

crockpot recipes // lots of cilantro and ginger

We didn't even get to the beef and broccoli from last week, but I'm eager to make more. Since I put these all in the freezer ahead of time, we'll have up to 3 months to eat them. This week I tried to choose recipes with similar ingredients, so there's a lot of cilantro and ginger going on.

Moroccan Chicken
8 servings | 262 calories | 8g fat/18g carbs/32g protein
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins
1 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
1 lb carrots cut into bite-sized pieces
sauce mixture:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 medium onion, sliced into half rounds
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 and 1/2 tsp sea salt
---------------
fresh cilantro
brown basmati rice

Directions:
This one takes two freezer bags, one for the sauce and chicken, the other for the apricots and carrots.
Combine cumin, turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, minced garlic, and cayenne in a small bowl. Set aside.
Melt coconut oil on medium heat in a large skillet add onions to pan and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add spice mixture and saute another 30 seconds to bring out the flavors. Add broth, ginger, and sea salt to the sauce, set aside to cool off.
Once cooled off, place sauce in freezer bag with chicken, freeze.
In the morning, put in crockpot on low for 4 hours.
Add the dried apricots and chopped carrots, cook on low for at least another 4 hours.
Serve with chopped fresh cilantro and brown basmati rice, as desired.

Matt Rating:
7.5 // "yum"


Honey Ginger Apple Shredded Pork
6 servings | 282 calories | 11g fat/14g carbs/30g protein
2 pounds pork loin
1 sweet onion, chopped
2 apples, cored and sliced
⅔ cup beef broth
1 tbsp raw honey
2 tbsps freshly grated ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp pepper
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 bay leaf

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a freezer bag, freeze.
In the morning, put in crockpot, cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve with green beans and mashed potatoes.


Barbacoa Tacos
12 servings | 223 calories | 8g fat/6g carbs/30g protein
3 lbs chuck roast (fat trimmed)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can chipotles in adobo sauce
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tbsps apple cider vinegar
3 bay leaves
1 tbsps ground cumin
1 tbsps dried oregano
2 tsps salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup beef broth or water
---------------
garnishes:
fresh cilantro
chopped onions
shredded cheese
corn tortillas

Directions:
Trim fat from chuck roast.
Combine all ingredients except fresh garnishes and tortillas in a freezer bag, freeze.
In the morning, put in crockpot, cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve in warmed corn tortillas with other garnishes.

Matt Rating:
9 // "so good! this is the best yet!"

Chili Verde Con Cerdo
6 servings | 352 calories | 22g fat/18g carbs/47g protein
2 lbs. tomatillos, husks removed, chopped
2 poblano or anaheim peppers, chopped
2 tbsps olive oil
2 lbs pork loin
2 sweet onions, cut into thick chunks
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp cumin
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp chili pepper
2 tsp sea salt
1 bunch cilantro
1 4 oz. can of chopped green chiles
2½ cups of chicken broth
---------------
garnishes:
lime wedges
avocado

Combine all ingredients except fresh garnishes in a freezer bag, freeze.
In the morning, put in crockpot, cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve with lime wedges and avocado.

Matt Rating:
8 // "awesome, needs to be halved though"

crockpot recipes // new tastes

Here's what I"m making this week. I tried to pick a wide variety this week, to test out the different types of meals we like. Matt's rating is at the bottom of the recipe. :)

Mexican Chili with Cornbread Topping
4 servings | 512 calories | 15g Fat/64g Carbs/30g Protein
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium-sized sweet onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper
1 cup of frozen corn
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 15oz can of tomato sauce
1 box of Jiffy corn muffin mix + the necessary ingredients listed on the box (Jiffy calls for one egg and 1/3 cup milk)
1 beer

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except corn muffin mix in a freezer bag, freeze.
In the morning, put in crockpot, add the beer, cook on low for 8 hours.
Top chili with cornbread batter. Replace lid and cook for one hour on high.
Serve with shredded cheese, as desired.

Matt Rating:
8 // "i liked the cornbread, really good"


Balsamic Pot Roast
12 servings | 305 calories | 6g Fat/32g Carbs/29g Protein
5 lbs beef chuck roast
2 cups of beef broth
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes
3 cloves of minced fresh garlic
1lb carrots
8 medium-sized red potatoes

Directions:
This is for two meals, so it takes two bags.
Put each chuck roast in each bag.
Then wisk the beef broth, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, and garlic together and pour half in each bag.
Add 1/2 lb of chopped carrots and 4 chopped potatoes to each bag.
This recipe will last in the freezer for about 3 months.
In the morning, put in crockpot, cook on low for 8 hours.
** can use the potatoes to make mashed potatoes and mix broth with some cornstarch for gravy

Matt Rating:
7.5 // "my least favorite so far, but the veggies were good"

Cranberry Chicken
6 servings | 385 calories | 3g Fat/64g Carbs/22g Protein
1 bag of frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 breasts)
2 15oz cans whole berry cranberry sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped

Directions:
Combine all ingredients, put in freezer bag, freeze.
In the morning, put in crockpot, cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve with green beans and potentially left over potatoes from the balsamic pot roast.

(I think this recipe would be better with pork, but I already had a bag of chicken in the freezer and Matt isn't a huge fan of pork)

Matt Rating:
8 // "pretty good"

Beef and Broccoli
8 servings | 280 calories | 8g Fat/24g Carbs/25g Protein
2 lb flank steak, thinly sliced
1 can beef broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 cups fresh broccoli

Directions:
This one takes two bags, one for the meat and sauce (make the sauce first, obvi), and one for the broccoli.
In the morning, put the meat and sauce bag in crockpot, cook on low for 8 hours.
Add broccoli and mix in, cook for an additional 1/2 hour before serving.

experimenting with slow cookers

We finally bought a crockpot! Since I'm regularly away from home for 10-12 hours at a time, it was really important that we got one with a timer. We ended up finding a steal at Target -- we picked up this one, which is normally $50, for $25.

I'm super intrigued by the idea of meal prep. I've been practicing it with more or less success for the past year. The problem is that life happens, and more often than I'd like I end up throwing away too much of it.

I've seen tons of recipes on Pinterest that involve freezing the meals before they're cooked but had never tried it because I didn't own a slow cooker. Welp, no excuses now. The problem with Pinterest, though, is that there all these crockpot recipes but they come in a list of 100 or so, and it all becomes very overwhelming very quickly. Matt is a bit of a picky eater so it's just not a good idea to follow those.

For our first try, we picked 3 recipes from this site.


White Chicken Chili
4 servings | 213 calories | 5g fat/9g carbs/26g protein
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1 4oz can chopped green chilis, drained
2 cans white beans (drained)
2 tbsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Directions:
Place all ingredients in large freezer bag, toss to coat, freeze.
In the morning, place ingredients in slow cooker, cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve with sour cream and shredded cheese, as desired.

Matt Rating:
8.5 // "really good"




Honey Sesame Chicken
4 servings | 510 calories | 15g fat/73g carbs/27g protein
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup honey
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Directions:
Place all ingredients in freezer bag, toss to coat and freeze.
In the morning, place in crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve with steamed broccoli.

Matt Rating:
8 // "pretty good'

Southwestern Skirt Steak
4 servings | 420 calories | 15g fat/28g carbs/44g protein
1 1/2 lbs skirt steak
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
16 oz jar chunky salsa
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

1 tbsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

Directions: 

Trim excess fat from steak. Place onions and garlic in bottom of freezer bag and top with steak. Mix salsa, peppers, cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt, and pepper in small bowl and pour over meat. Top with drained black beans.
In the morning, place in crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve with rice or quinoa.

Matt Rating:
9/10 // "awesome, a home run"