Bonz Blogz

March 20, 2016

Pregnant Pepper.....

I had a bunch of peppers that I washed and chopped up for meal prep. I like having fresh peppers to add to dishes.

I noticed while cutting up one of my red peppers, that it had a pepper growing inside of it. It was a pregnant pepper. It something that really happens.

Kinda weird right? You can eat it. It’s still a pepper.

I think it's cool. You get a pepper for free. haha :)

Here’s all my peppers prepped and ready to be thrown in any meal. I love bell peppers.

Meal Prepping.....

On the weekends one thing I try to do is meal prep. It saves you so much time and energy during the week.

Here’s everything. Took an hour and that's about average. Of course the more you have to prep the longer it will take. Also if you are a beginner meal prepper it will take longer until you get the hang of it. I have chicken, rice, quinoa, veggies, hard boiled eggs, peanut butter oatmeal balls and fruit ready to go.

After a busy day at work, it’s nice to come home and just heat up dinner instead of having to come up with something to make.

My fridge is plenty stocked.

I can’t wait for the Farmers Market to open back up so I can buy local produce and for the first time this year my husband and I joined a CSA where for 24 weeks we will get a farm fresh box of goodies every week.

I can't wait to see what I get and blog about it each week.

Freezer Crock-pot Meal Prep Party #1

At the end of February, I hosted my first ‘Freezer Crock-pot Meal Prep Party’. I got the idea from Pinterest. The hardest part is deciding what you want to make.

Basically, you choose 1 recipe to assemble. We had 5 people participating so each person makes 5 batches of their recipe during the party. This means at the end of the day everyone goes home with 5 meals ready to throw in the freezer for the crock pot.

Each person brings their own groceries for their recipe, a cutting board, knife, and measuring cups/spoons for their recipe. The hostess provides a light lunch/brunch and the counter and table space for guests to work on. Assign one person to be in charge of freezer bags and sharpies. Also make sure to send some things to your guests that you just don’t like to eat. Example: I don’t eat any type of seafood so by letting your guests know ahead of time, what you like or don’t like then you know no one will make a dish with food that you won’t eat.

Easy enough right? It’s a good idea to let each other know what you’re making too so you don’t end up duplicates. Make sense?

Here’s the light lunch I prepared. We had fruit, veggies, veggie chips, chicken salad, avocado chicken salad, mini whole grain pitas, cheese, crackers, pepperoni, m&m’s and cream puffs.

After we ate we started by labeling our 5 bags.

Here’s the prep stations…..

I put together a pork loin with green beans, cranberry sauce and a homemade onion soup mix. Only items I needed to buy were: 5 pork loins, 5 bags of frozen green beans, 5 cans of cranberry sauce and I made a homemade onion soup mix. I put 5 tbsp of the onion soup mix in each bag. When you’re ready to make this, just thaw in fridge the night before. Spray your crock-pot with non-stick spray and dump in the contents of the bag. Cook on low for 8 hours. That’s it!

Now my freezer is packed with meals that I can’t wait to try. My girlfriends, and I are already planning another freezer meal prep party for next month. It was a lot of fun and these meals are perfect for busy days when you just don’t feel like cooking.

It’s a win, win and you get to try new things too.

Here’s ‘8 healthy crock-pot recipes‘ that you and your friends can make.

I've already finished off all of these crock pot meals. They were all delicious. We loved everything we had and it was nice to come home from work with dinner ready. And the house smells great too. :)

Healthy Banana Pancakes

Sometimes, when you make something it doesn't always work out and here's proof.

One morning, I decided to make some healthy banana pancakes. Why not right?

I gathered all the ingredients I needed:

2 eggs

banana (mashed)

1/2 cup quick oats (I did not blend the oats)

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla (I used my homemade extract)

Mix everything together with a fork or whisk until combined.

I heated up my skillet and made 3…..but as I was flipping…..it was a complete disaster.

NAILED IT!!!!! (NOT)

I tried again with the rest of the ‘batter’. But I sorta burnt them.

You can’t win them all right? My husband and I still ate them anyway. They tasted good and that’s all that matters. So, it wasn’t a complete fail because they were good and flavorful. I will try to make them again.

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies

I made some homemade oatmeal cream pies months ago. I don't even remember the recipe I used. I'm pretty sure it was from something I saw on Pinterest. I think it might have been this one.

Whatever recipe it was these came out great. That's what I get for not blogging right away after I made these. The filling in the middle wasn't my favorite. It was way to sweet for me and I love sweet things so that's telling you a lot. haha

Chicken, Broccoli, and Brown Rice Casserole

I came across a post on the Cooking light facebook page about a Chicken, Broccoli, and Brown Rice Casserole. I checked out the recipe here and figured I could make this but in my own style.

For mine you will need:

2 Chicken breasts (cooked and cut)

broccoli (washed, cut)

1 1/2 cups almond milk (unsweetened)

3 tbsp flour

small onion (chopped)

brown rice (cooked, I did just a cup)

shredded cheese (3/4 cup)

salt

pepper

Since I meal prep on weekends I have most items ready to go if I need to assemble a dish last minute. For example, I have my chicken and rice already cooked. And my broccoli or other veggies are washed and chopped up. This makes it easier when you come home from work from a long and busy day and you don't feel like cooking. You can just grab what you want and heat it up.

But sometimes you want a delicious dish that doesn't take long to make either. And this is that dish. I have made it several times now. It's one of our favorites. :)

To make this dish:

In a big pan, on medium heat combine the flour and milk and stir until smooth. Add the onion and cook until everything becomes thick and bubbly. Then add in your chicken, and broccoli. Let cook up for a few minutes then add your rice last since it's already cooked. Sprinkle in the cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let cook for a few for minutes until cheese is melted and everything is combined and hot. You could put in the oven if you want. I don't.

You could use quinoa instead of rice if you'd like or different veggies. Make it your own to what flavors you love. :)

Garden 2015 Clean-up

I've been busy the last few months so I'm finally able to sit down and catch up on some blog posts. I have a huge list so I'm hoping to get them all done. Here we go.

I finally cleaned up all my dead plants I had in my green house. I didn't have much.

This succulent was okay for a while.

But then.... :(

My blueberry brush is dead but my palm was doing okay.

And then within a few days of harsh winter it died. :(

My hibiscus was pretty much dead here but still had some green leaves.

It turned all brown and could not be saved.

This is the only succulent that survived. More on this little guy later.

I had a good 2015 season. We had a very cold winter with lots of snow at once. I wasn't able to get into my green house to water plants for some days when the piles of snow had my door blocked. I need to think of a better winter plan for this year.