Verde Chicken

This recipe is a part of a meal prepping post (original recipe from this website). If you're interested in meal prepping, you can find the grocery list and the full set of recipes using the link above.

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (I used chicken breast)
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• Juice from 1 large lime (or 1-2 Tbsp)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (or 1 Tbsp jarred minced garlic)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro (measured prior to chopping), chopped finely
• 12 oz. green tomatillo salsa

Instructions:

• Place chicken thighs/breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker.
• Add all other ingredients on top.
• Cook on high for 4 hours (or medium for 6, low for 8).
• Break apart chicken and serve however you'd like (in tortillas, over rice, with tortilla chips).

Zesty Orange Chicken

This recipe is a part of a meal prepping post (original recipe from this website). If you're interested in meal prepping, you can find the grocery list and the full set of recipes using the link above. This recipe is pretty delicious. So much so... that I forgot to take any pictures. So you're just going to have to trust me.

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed into 1" pieces
• 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (or 1 heaping tsp jarred garlic)

Day of Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp corn starch
• 1/4 cup water 
• Sesame seeds
• White rice

Crock Pot Instructions:

• Chop chicken into 1" cubed pieces.
• Place all ingredients in the slow cooker except the water and cornstarch.
• Cook on high for 4 hours.
• In a small sauce pan, mix water and cornstarch together until well blended.
• Add 1/2 cup of the liquid from the slow cooker and heat on medium, whisking often.
• Once it bubbles and thickens, add it back to the slow cooker and mix.
• Let it cook for another 15 minutes and serve over rice and top with sesame seeds.

Instant Pot Instructions:

• Place all ingredients in the Instant Pot except the water and cornstarch.
• Pressure cook for 20 minutes.
• Let the Instant Pot naturally depressurize for at least 5 minutes.
• In a small sauce pan, mix water and cornstarch together until well blended.
• Add the mixture to the slow cooker and mix.
• Set the Instant Pot to saute and cook for a couple minutes until it thickens.
• Serve over rice and top with sesame seeds.

Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls

This recipe is a part of a meal prepping post (original recipe from this website). If you're interested in meal prepping, you can find the grocery list and the full set of recipes using the link above.

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless and also the skinless chicken breast
5 diced tomatoes
4 tablespoons of chili powder
2 tablespoons of salt
1 tablespoon of cumin
2 cups of brown rice
1 can of black beans (drain and rinse)
1 cup of frozen corn
2 cups of chicken stock or chicken broth (add day of)

Instructions:

First, combine the chicken breast with the tomatoes, salt, cumin, and the chili powder into a gallon ziplock bag and freeze (make sure that the chicken is covered by the spices).

When ready to cook, remove from the freezer and add the frozen ingredients to crock pot with 1/2 cup of chicken stock (add additional stock if you want to). Cover with a lid and cook for three hours.

Remove the lid and add the brown rice, black beans, frozen corn, and the remainder of the chicken broth. Continue cooking for an hour. Check the rice periodically, stir it once or twice to make sure all of the rice cooked. Cook until the rice is tender and most of the liquid is gone.

Shred the chicken (or cut into chunks if you'd rather), and stir everything together. Add salt and the black pepper as needed, and serve with your favorite burrito toppings!

-->

Cilantro-Lime Fish Tacos

These fish tacos are a part of a meal prepping post (original recipe from this website). If you're interested in meal prepping, you can find the grocery list and the full set of recipes using the link above.

Ingredients:

• 6 fish fillets, frozen (Cod and Salmon are my favorite, originally I used Tilapia)
• 1 lg. can Rotel, drained
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 1/2 Tbsp dried cilantro or 1/4 c fresh chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• salt to taste
• Soft taco shells

Instructions:

• Place frozen fillets in the bottom of the Crock Pot.
• Cook on low for 4 hours. 
• Flake the fish with a fork and mix well with the other ingredients. 
• Spoon into soft taco shells.

Meal Prepping: Episode #2

If you haven't seen my first adventure in Meal Prepping, you can find it here. The After my first, mostly successful try, I've decided to put together my own list for the second try. The recipes in this batch includes 7 recipes that sound delicious to me (hopefully they sound tasty to you as well!). I will post the recipes as-is today, and update with pictures and notes as I make them! Enjoy!

Recipes

• Cilantro-Lime Fish Tacos
• Smoky Corn Chowder with Shrimp
• Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
• Zesty Orange Chicken
• Verde Chicken
• Pork Carnitas
• Shredded Chicken Tacos

Shopping List
Protein
6 fish fillets, frozen (I used Tilapia)

6 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

2 slices bacon

1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

3-4 lb pork roast (shoulder, butt or loin)

Canned/Boxed

rotel (1 lg. can )
chicken stock (32 oz)

half and half OR cream (1/2 c)

brown rice (2 cups)

black beans (1 can)
green tomatillo salsa (12oz)

Fresh

fresh cilantro (1/2 c fresh chopped or 3 Tbsp dried cilantro)
lime (juice of 3)
medium yellow onion (1 1/2)

tomatoes (5)

garlic (13 cloves or 7t)

Frozen

corn (3 1/4 c)

orange juice concentrate (1 can)

Pantry Items

smoked paprika

crushed red pepper

chili powder

cumin

oregano

ground ginger

sesame seeds

salt

pepper

sugar

soy sauce

rice wine vinegar

sesame oil

corn starch

chicken bouillon cubes (2)

Day of

Soft taco shells
basil (optional)

--> --> --> --> --> -->

Pork Carnitas

This recipe is a part of a meal prepping post (original recipe from this website). If you're interested in meal prepping, you can find the grocery list and the full set of recipes using the link above.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 lb pork roast (shoulder, butt or loin)
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 onion, diced
• juice from one lime
• 1/2 cup orange juice (or 2 Tbsp orange juice concentrate + 3/8 cup water)

Instructions: 

• Place all ingredients in the slow cooker.
• Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
• Pull pork apart, removing any excess fat.
• Serve either as a rice bowl or in tortillas, and top with cilantro and sour cream.

More coming... 

-->

Chicken Fajitas

This recipe is from my meal prepping a few weeks ago (originally from this website). In a pinch, this would be a recipe I would do again. It was tasty. However, I just don't like peppers when they've been frozen or overcooked (which can easily happen in a crockpot. While the peppers were fine, I'd rather make fajitas the traditional way.

Yields: Four servings

Ingredients
1 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat trimmed
1 red pepper, sliced
1 yellow pepper, sliced
1 small yellow onion, peeled and sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Materials (if made as freezer meal)
1 gallon-sized plastic freezer bag

Prep
1. Label your freezer bag with the name of the recipe, cooking instructions, and “use-by” date.
2. Add all ingredients.
3. Remove as much air from the bag as possible, seal, and lay flat in your freezer for up to three months.

Cook
1. The night before cooking, move the frozen bag to your refrigerator to thaw.
2. The morning of cooking, pour contents of freezer bag into your crockpot and cook on “low” setting for 6 hours or until chicken is tender.
3. Shred chicken and serve with cooked onions and peppers.

Serve on tortillas with lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole.

Crockpot Chicken Philly Cheesesteak

This recipe is from my meal prepping several weeks ago (originally from this website). I made it, and have eaten some of it. It was not my favorite, but I don't know exactly how it was meant to be served. On bread? By itself? That was not specified, so I had a hard time figuring out the best way to eat it. The flavor is not bad, but the peppers were not my favorite (I'm not a huge fan of frozen peppers - we'll see how this goes with the chicken fajitas next week!).

Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients
3 tablespoons corn starch
1 cup chicken broth
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
3 medium-sized bell peppers, cut into strips (I used two green and one red pepper)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 clove of garlic, minced
6 slices of provolone cheese *not needed until day of cooking

Materials (if prepping as freezer meal)
1 gallon-sized plastic freezer bag

Prep
1. Label your freezer bag.
2. To your freezer bag, add all ingredients except cheese.
3. Remove as much air from the freezer bag as possible, seal, and lay flat in your freezer.

Cook
1. The night before cooking, move frozen bag to your refrigerator to thaw.
2. The morning of cooking, pour contents of freezer bag into your slow cooker and cook on “low” setting for 3-6 hours, or until chicken is cooked through and tender.
3. Add sliced cheese and cook additional 10 minutes or until melted.

Serve on rolls.