Mega Meal Prep: Moroccan Spice Chickpea Bowls

Hello!  Welcome to the last mega meal prep blog in the series.

I am finishing up on a really flexible, really delicious (if not really spicy) dish, that can be served any number of ways.

For this one, we simply prepped the chickpea section as per the below instructions & then did everything else to order.  You can serve anything with it at all, but we have suggested one really yummy option for you here.

Enjoy!

Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Bowl | Serves 12

Ingredients to meal prep ahead of time:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp chilli powder
2 tsp tumeric
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp sea salt
Cinnamon & cayenne pepper to taste
4 cans chickpeas
4 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes

Ingredients to serve later:
Cucumbers
Couscous
Mint, parsley, coriander
Yoghurt or hummus
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Toasted pita wedges

Method:
Step one: heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.
Step two: add the onion; sauté until soft.
Step three: add the garlic, spices, salt, and chickpeas – stir until very fragrant, then add the tomatoes (undrained) and simmer for 20 minutes
Step four: cool before portioning & freeze

With the above ingredients, you would then need to cook the couscous, chop the cucumbers & herbs before arranging all of the ingredients in a bowl to eat.

_______________________________________________

That's it!

Another meal prepping series over.  We are anticipating August for the next big cook so watch this space.

Also check out our NEW meal prepping venture - Shitload of Food.

With so many people asking us to help them do what we do, we thought the best way to do that would be to start a little business - so definitely keep your eye out for that as we start to roll that out.

In the meantime, you can follow us on socials to keep updated!
Facebook @shitloadoffood
Insta @shitloadof_food
Twitter @shitloadofood
Pintrest

See you soon!
Hx

Mega Meal Prep: Chicken Spring Rolls

Hellooo!

I hope you all had a great week.

We're getting close to the end of the recipes for this meal prep series!  Today, we tackle how to make your own spring rolls.

We opted to make quite large chicken spring rolls this time, which are perfect as a lunch, but you can go for any filling & size you like when you make these.

This is definitely one to get creative with your fillings - there are so many great spring rolls recipes out there.

Chicken Spring Rolls | Makes 24

Ingredients
2 tbsp. crushed garlic
4 tsp. minced fresh ginger
2 tsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. olive oil
1kg chicken mince
2 cup finely shredded green cabbage
4 spring onions
2 cups enoki mushrooms
4 tbsp. hoisin sauce
24 square spring roll wrappers

Method

Step one: put the garlic & ginger in the sesame & olive oils in large fry pan & cook over set a medium ­low heat.
Step two: add the chicken mince to the pan & fully cook. Add the mushrooms to the pan & cook until just wilted.
Step three: remove the pan from the heat & drain out any liquid. Stir in the green cabbage, spring onions & hoisin sauce until thoroughly combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl & let it cool.
Step four: this is where we assemble the spring rolls!  We found it easiest to take one spring roll pastry sheet at a time, keeping the others under a damp tea towel to stop them drying out.
Place 3 to 4 tablespoons of the chicken mixture in the centre of the pastry. Fold the 2 opposite corners into the middle, then roll the wrapper around the mixture.. Wet the last corner before finishing the roll, so the corner seals the spring roll shut.
Step five: freeze the spring rolls at this stage & then cook (either in an oven or deep fryer) when you are ready to eat them!

If you're like me, a visual of what you are supposed to do is sometimes helpful - writing the assembly of these spring rolls was hard!  We tackled video for the first time with this one - hopefully this helps!

Little pro tip: we actually weighed our spring rolls out, so they were all the same size.  Obviously, not required, but super helpful when portioning out meals.  For guidance, ours were 65 - 75g each.

How do we feel about video instructions? :)

See you next week!
Hx

Mega Meal Prep: Apple Pie Bites

Hellooo!

We're taking a break from the huge dinner recipes for a little dessert we have made a couple of times now - apple pie bites.

So simple & so delicious!

Apple pie bites

¼ cup packed light brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
3 tbsp butter
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & sliced into 8
4 sheets frozen puff pastry

Method

Step one: in a small bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg. Set aside.
Step two: melt butter and toss apple slices in butter.  Set aside.
Step three: cut your puff pastry sheets into 4 pieces (I recommend doing this one at a time)
Step four: put a teaspoon of the sugar mixture onto each puff pastry square.
Step five: place 1 apple slice on the sugar & fold into a triangle
Step six: freeze at this stage, or bake for 10 - 12 minutes until golden brown to enjoy immediately.

Such an easy, delightful snack, or dessert!
Hx

Mega Meal Prep: Mongolian Beef

Hellooo!

Today we turn our attention to a new recipe - Mongolian Beef.

For this one, we made the decision to try out the fast slow cooker, made by Breville.  I do not regret this decision!  Gorgeous, tender beef in a delicious sauce, in under 1 hour - yes please!

I don't appear to have a photo of this dish, so here's a picture of our meal prep at the end haha.

We might be getting better at documenting our cooking, but we are still not 100%!

Mongolian Beef | serves 12

Ingredients
2kg flank steak
¾ cup corn starch
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 tsp crushed garlic
2 cups soy sauce
2 cups water
2 cups brown sugar
3 cup grated carrots

Method
Step one: cut flank steak into thin strips. Coat steak in corn starch.
Step two: add olive oil, minced garlic, soy sauce, water, brown sugar & carrots to slow cooker. Stir ingredients. Add coated flank steak & stir again until coated in the sauce.
Step three: cook for high 2-3 hours or on low 4-5 hours until beef is tender.

This recipe is for a slow cooker; if you want to give the fast slow cooker a try, follow the same steps as above, but put the ingredients in the fast slow cooker & set to the correct setting as per the instructions.  The cycle goes for about 45 minutes, plus 10 minutes to depressurise at the end.

Serve over rice with spring onions - so good!
Hx

Mega Meal Prep: Beef Ragu

Hellooo!

This Sunday, we turn to an old faithful: our beef ragu.

I don't even use a recipe for this one anymore - definitely one of my intuitive cooks, where I just kinda add whatever feels right.

This is such a rich beef dish, so good for a warm, hearty meal.

It actually interests me how Tara & I eat this one.

I see it as an Italian dish & serve with pasta, parmesan & garlic bread.

Tara eats hers with rice.

Works both ways & is so yummy!

This photo actually doesn't do the ragu justice - it is in the pot bottom left... which is a 16L pot.  That's not a normal size pot to have lying around the house hahaha.

Ragu | Serves 32… ish

Ingredients
4kg chuck steak, cut into cubes
Olive oil
Rosemary & thyme
4 brown onions
16 garlic cloves
8 carrots
6 celery sticks
1 bottle red wine
12 cans chopped tomatoes
1L beef stock
1 tsp salt & freshly ground black pepper

Method
Step one: heat oil in your large pot of choice.  Add in the onions & garlic.
Step two: add in the steak & brown
Step three: use the wine to deglaze the pan, then add in all other ingredients
Step four: bring to the boil, then reduce heat to the lowest option & leave to simmer for 8 - 12 hours (the longer the better).  Be sure to stir occasionally.

This is definitely a recipe to put on at the start of the day & leave to develop for as long as possible.  Which is actually a great tip for any rich. tomato based sauce :)

Which do you prefer for this recipe - pasta or rice?
Hx

Mega Meal Prep: Tortellini Two Ways

Hellooo!

How are you guys doing?

This week, you are being treated to 2 different recipes in 1!

We have used fresh tortellini in meal prep recipes before & it has worked quite well, so we thought we would do 2 recipes using this time around.

One thing I will say before I begin.  The flavours of these recipes are great, but we made a critical error in cooking the pasta too much before freezing them.

The texture when we reheat these dishes is all wrong (Mack doesn't like them at all because of the texture & Tim has taken to frying the pasta off to make them less soggy haha).  I think we either need to not add the pasta until we serve, or throw the pasta in & immediately take the dish off the heat to cool so the pasta doesn't overcook.

Regardless, these two recipes have delicious flavours - enjoy!

RECIPE 1

Tortellini Primavera | Serves 16

Ingredients
8 cups filled tortellini (we used beef this time)
4 zucchini, diced
4 yellow squash, diced
4 cup of diced carrots
2 broccoli head, cut into pieces
2 large jars pasta sauce (yes we cheated for this one)
4 cups water
8 tablespoons dried basil & thyme

Method

Step one: add all ingredients except pasta to a pot.
Step two: cover & cook over medium heat for 20 minutes or until veggies are soft. Stir occasionally.
Step three: add the tortellini to the pot & take immediately off the heat.

To serve, defrost & heat, then sprinkle with parmesan.  Also tastes great with a salad or garlic bread.


RECIPE 2

Garlic, Chicken & Veggie Pasta | Serves 16

Ingredients
Olive oil
1.5kg chicken breast, diced
8 carrots, sliced
4 zucchini, sliced
4 yellow squash, sliced
6 cups kale, chopped (*note: we totally forgot to put this into ours!)
8 cloves garlic, crushed
600g pasta (we used filled tortellini)
Oregano, salt, pepper

Method

Step one: heat a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high heat.
Step two: add in diced chicken breast, followed salt, pepper & oregano. Cook until no longer pink. Remove chicken from pan.
Step three: add carrots & sauté for 2-3 minutes until tender.
Step four: add in zucchini & yellow squash, & sauté until they become slightly translucent.
Step five: add in the kale & some more olive oil, salt & pepper.  Sauté until kale begins to wilt then add the garlic.
Step six: put the tortellini & chicken into the pan & mix.

We added a splash of chicken stock into this one for a bit more sauce.

This one also is great served with garlic bread.

Which one is your favourite?
Hx

Mega Meal Prep: Vegan Chilli

Hellooo!

Another week, another meal prep recipe.

This week, we head to a vegan recipe I found when I was meal prepping for my then pregnant sister last year.  It's healthy, it's delicious, it's vegan... & if you add as much chilli as we did, it's really spicy!

This one is so good to eat in so many different ways.

Use it as a nacho mix.  Wrap it up to make a burrito.  Top with avocado & sour cream & eat it as a burrito bowl.  You can also top it with chicken if you don't want to have a vegan meal.  Super flexible!

And these are just the options I have tried so far.

Vegan Chilli | Serves 12

Ingredients
2 cup quinoa, uncooked
2 cans black beans
2 cans whole kernel corn
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
2 large sweet potato, peeled & diced
4 cups vegetable stock
1 large red onion, finely diced
6 tablespoons chilli powder
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika

Method
Step one: place all the ingredients in a slow cooker & give it a good stir.
Step two: cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 - 8 hours (until quinoa & sweet potatoes are cooked).

Optional toppings to serve this one with include:
Fresh coriander
Greek yoghurt
Avocado
Sour cream
Chicken
Paprika

How do you eat yours?

See you next week.
Hx

Mega Meal Prep: Chicken & Chorizo Risotto

Hellooo!

Another beautiful Sunday morning, another crazy meal prep day recipe!

This week, we have another delight for your oven.

Tara found this recipe on Pintrest; original is here.

Aside from doubling the recipe to make more of it, I actually followed this one almost to the letter.  I wasn't sure how much I trusted the oven to cook a risotto nicely; usually a risotto needs a lot of love & a lot of stirring.

But this works!  & it's really yummy!

Oven Baked Chicken & Chorizo Risotto | Serves 12

Ingredients
4 teaspoons olive oil
1kg chicken thigh fillets, cut into chunks
4 chorizo sausages, sliced
2 large onions, finely chopped
3 cups Arborio rice
6 cloves garlic, crushed
750g Napoletana Sauce
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups white wine
ground black pepper
2 cups frozen peas
200g marinated char-grilled capsicum, cut into strips
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve

Method

Step one: heat oil in a large flameproof casserole dish (we cooked in a frypan & added to 2 casserole dishes) over a high heat. Add chicken & brown.  Remove chicken.

Step two: add chorizo to pan. Cook, then remove.  Add onion & cook until translucent, then add the rice & garlic.

Step three: stir in the sauce, stock, wine, seasoning, chicken & chorizo, then bring to the boil.

Step four: transfer to a casserole dish (if you weren't already cooking in one) then cover & bake for 15 minutes.

Step five: stir, then bake for 10 minutes more

Step six: Stir again, adding in the peas & capsicum, then bake for 5 minutes (*note: we did not add the capsicum here; we topped with this later, because Mack doesn't like them).

Step seven: allow to cool, then stir through parmesan to finish

Another absolutely delicious meal to come home to!

Until next week.

Hx

Mega Meal Prep: An Intro

Hellooo!

How is everyone going?

Last year, you might remember the giant meal prepping Tara & I did?  If not, check out the blog here.  Essentially, for the last 3 years, Tara & I have meal prepped together, to save time & money, whilst also ensuring we eat a healthy meal for lunch or dinner each day.  Even when Tara moved to Melbourne, we still kept it up!  Which is insane, I know.  But it is so good!

Our last cooking day was in January of this year so, yep, that's right, another meal prepping series is coming your way.

This cook was actually the biggest one to date!

Last time, we made 312 portions of food - so 78 days worth of food for 4 people... which actually fed Mack & I for 6 months (factoring in eating out, takeaway, camping & other days we were out of the house).  I literally didn't cook between March & September 2018!

This time...  well... perhaps we went a little overboard...  Haha.  We made 93 days worth of food for 4 people.  That's 372 portions of food.  If we were cooking for 1, we would not have to cook for more than 1 year.  Outrageous!!!

This cook almost found max capacity of my freezer!

Now, last time, I went through how the weekend looked for us & our processes, so I'm not going to talk about that again, because we have a pretty good routine & we did it basically the same again!

Below is the list I curated last time, of the things we have learnt from our time meal prepping:

- set timers for each of your slow cookers!
- use ziplock bags (or vacuum bags) where possible to save space in the freezer
- clean as you go
- make some kind of plan at the beginning of the day of what order you will make the recipes in
- have labels ready to go for the Tupperware/bags - you think you will remember what everything is, but I promise you you won't always be able to tell what it is once it's frozen.
- MAKE SURE YOU ACTUALLY EAT FOOD!

What is interesting to me is that, this time, we didn't set timers & we didn't have a plan at the start of the day of what to do first.  But everything went super smoothly.  I can only put this down to experience!  Tara & I have such a great rhythm when we meal prep together & I think a lot of the processes are second nature now.  That being said, I would still recommend doing these things haha.

A few new things for this time around.

1. Why on earth were we spending money buying label tape for a label maker when we could have been using a roll of masking tape & a Sharpie this whole time.  Seriously.  Haha.

2. I curated our shopping list on a Google doc for Tara to take shopping before our weekend began (when we go to Melbourne, she shops, when we cook in Sydney, I do it).  Turns out a consolidated list is much easier than 16 different recipes & adding things up on the fly.  Who knew.  #amateurs hahaha

3. We dabbled in the idea of filming our cooking days.  Now.  I am no video editor.  But I do think that vlogging our meal prepping & starting a YouTube channel could be a thing for us.  We filmed a couple of things this time around just to test the water... I didn't hate it, but we definitely need practice haha.  Also... this was our tripod...

4. A fast slow cooker (Choice review) is a game changer.  I bought one of these for Mack's parents for Christmas last year & I borrowed it for the weekend.  So impressed.  We whipped up some Mongolian beef in one hour. ONE.  A recipe that took upwards of 4 hours to make previously.  I am aware that pressure cooking is different & results in different food qualities than slow cooking, but the difference with this was so minimal, I don't think it matters at all.

So.

What did we make this time around?

We made 16 different recipes.

Some of them we have made before, some were new to us.  I have linked the ones you have seen before below; the rest will follow, every week Sunday 9am (AEST) :)

Lamb Rogan Josh
Butter chicken
Mongolian beef
Vegan chilli
Minestrone soup (note: we put the pasta in before freezing this time... it might have been a mistake)
Chicken & mushroom rice
Chicken & chorizo risotto
Roast veggie bowls
Chicken spring rolls
Garlic, chicken & veggie pasta
Tortellini primavera
Beef ragu
Moroccan spiced chickpea bowl
Chicken schnitzel (was also supposed to be veal but I forgot to add veal to the shopping list...)
Marinated chickens
Pulled pork
Apple pie bites (such a delicious snack!)

_______________________________________

And that's it!  Welcome to another little insight into the crazy that is our meal prepping system.

Before I go.

Something that comes up every time we cook like this is people asking us to teach them how to do it.  I love that.  But I think that is hard to grasp just how much of a system we have in place.  This isn't normal cooking, it's a lifestyle.  One which I love to share with other people because it literally changed my life.

This outrageous cook sparked a conversation of just how we would like to share our prepping world with everyone.

We have narrowed it down to a few things (that's not really narrowing it down is it...):

- a YouTube channel (which I already talked about)

- A meal prepping app (there are already lots of these, but none do what we do...)

- A website (this is probably the pre-cursor to an app if I'm honest, based on the tech skills Tara & I have)

- Sessions & workshops (wouldn't it be cool if we could make a business doing this?)

I think all of them are awesome ideas.  They all just require a lot of time & energy & patience to set up.  So keep your eyes peeled for some of these ventures!

In the meantime, Sunday 9am, Sydney time.  Recipes from this year's first meal prep.

See you there!

Hx

Random Inspiration

Today an e-newsletter landed in my inbox from a lady I saw speak at a conference earlier in the year.  She was inspiring to me then, with her thoughtful stories, and intriguing way of speaking to an audience.  She told us a story that day to make a point about marketing techniques (a story I won't recount now, but it is probably in her blog somewhere), and it stuck with me - I have told many people the same story over and over.

Usually, I scan over these emails, and then delete them, or file them away for reading at a later date, but this one caught my eye and I read it right away.

Her latest story resonated with me, not because I have had a health scare, but because life is short.  Get better at saying yes, and get much better at saying no.

Read it here.

This lady's name is Amanda Stevens, who I believe won the 2018 keynote speaker of the year award here in Australia.

And she's amazing.

Check her, and her latest blog, out :)

Hx