Recipe Rewind: Cleaning Out my Freezer

So I’m moving.  And not down the street.  To a different state- therefore I really won’t be taking a lot of groceries with me.  And because I’ve paid for these things – I’ll be eating them.

Last week was my last big (well sort of big) grocery shop was last weekend.  So from here on out I will be pulling proteins from my freezer, and trying to only buy fresh fruits/perishable items.

I do have some frozen vegetables and frozen meats and fish that I’ll be using up versus throwing them away.  Spent $55 at Mariano’s, and I got a lot of stuff for my money.  So much so that (thankfully) I won’t need to get groceries this coming weekend.  I say “thankfully” because I’ll be in Michigan this weekend, and won’t be in the mood to swing by the store when I get back.

My loot:

-Two salad bar containers stuffed with chopped kale

-1 Salad bar container with bell peppers

-1 gallon of Kalona Whole Milk

-1, 16 oz container of Fage Plain Greek 2% Yogurt

-Mozzarella Pearls

-2 packets of Hidden Valley “dips”

-Blueberries

-blocks of cheese (one mild cheddar, and one sriracha cheddar)

-Al Fresco chicken sausages

-Siggi’s Yogurt (3)

-~ 3/4 lb cherries

-2 bags of frozen vegetables

-1 loaf of bread

-1 pack of chicken sausages (pineapple bacon)

 

So I did a lot with this stuff!  I was really really pleased with how everything came out – I had a weeks worth of breakfasts and lunches, and even one or two dinners.

Backing up just a bit – I have two races this weekend – a half marathon on Saturday, and a 5k on Sunday.  I have not been feeling so hot as of recent, and thought “no time like now to be really careful with my diet”.  So I put together what I hoped were some really regimented and minimally processed meals.  Ideally to feel in tip top shape over the wekend, and to have minimal bathroom issues.

I already had frozen kale, and eggs in the refrigerator at home – so I used those and the chicken sausages for breakfasts.

Then I tossed the kale in some oil and vinegar (in retrospect this was a huge mistake), and added some of the chicken sausage.

Snacks were: 1 oz cheese, fruit, and peppers or carrots with 2 tbsp of greek yogurt “dip”.

 

This was really helpful this week, and I did note improvements with overall how I felt and energy levels. And everything turned out really well with the exception of the kale- so I will do that differently next time.

I love summer, because all of my favorite fruits (cherries, berries) are all finally in season!!  So I can get them fresh (and they taste so much better than way), and they are cheaper!  Double win!!!!

Additionally you may have noticed the Whole Milk….

Yep a reason for that too.  I am trying to increase my protein, and fat intake a bit, and keep my carb intake from whole grains, potatoes, beans, fruits, and dairy.  I have switched back to milk and whole milk nonetheless due to the fact I feel (in my own professional opinion of myself).  I likely do not take in enough calcium daily – and additionally I am probably also under the RDA for most fat soluble vitamins too.  8 oz of whole milk is a good one stop shop way to help me out with all of these things.

I’ll address more of these reasons in a later post.

But some things I noticed: having more protein in the morning, helped so much.  My breakfasts were:

coffee with  8 oz Kalona whole milk

2 eggs scrambled with kale and 2 chicken sausages

Came to 418 calories, 35 g protein, 25 g fat, and 14 g of carb.  It was so filling, and it allowed me to kind of break up the rest of foods throughout the day, instead of feeling like I needed to eat everything at once…it allowed me to be able kind of ‘snack’ throughout the day.