February 26, 2023

Meal Prep and Plan With Me | Easy Meal Ideas for March

It's so easy to fall into a food rut. You find a handful of recipes that just work for your family, and by the third month of the year, you couldn't possibly cook them again. But it's kind of like cleaning someone else's house - it's always more fun and easy to pitch in at a friend's house than it is to tackle your own mess! So here are some of my old faithful recipes to light a spark this Monday. Let's meal plan together!

MONDAY: CHICKEN PARMESAN

This crowd pleaser is easy to put together fast without any ingredients that I wouldn't normally have stocked in our pantry and fridge. It's a good Monday meal to soothe the soul after a busy first day of the week.

2 lbs thinly sliced chicken breasts in 8 inch pieces
2 cups of flour
2 cups of Italian breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1 cup olive oil
1 (16 oz) jar of tomato sauce
1 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
fresh chopped basil to taste

Put 2 cups of flour on one plate and season well with salt and pepper.
Put 2 cups of Italian breadcrumbs on another plate.
Whisk together eggs and milk in a wide dish.
Wash chicken breasts thoroughly.
Dredge in flour, then dip in egg mixture, then dredge in breadcrumbs.
On medium, heat olive oil in saute pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side.
Add browned chicken to a greased baking dish. Top with a spoonful of tomato sauce (don't add too much or it will make your chicken breading soggy), then sprinkle chicken with cheeses.
Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

I like to put mine on broil for 1-2 minutes to make the cheese a tiny bit browned. Heat the remaining pasta sauce on the stove and serve with your favorite pasta. Garnish with freshly chopped basil.

TUESDAY: PERFECTLY TENDER INSTANT POT ROAST

Tuesdays are the day of the week that I try to take it easy. I do what I can make time for self care and try to avoid making appointments or running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I can have this roast marinating in the fridge in the morning and put a delicious meal on the table while I'm doing a little laundry.

3 lb chuck roast
salt and pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 small (6 oz) can of tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine (I use Apothic Red, still not sponsored)
3 cups beef stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 1/2 lbs baby potatoes
1 lb package baby carrots
1/3 cup of flour
2 tbsp cornstarch

Set pressure cooker to the high saute setting.
Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Instant Pot. Add seasoned beef and cook until evenly browned, about 2-3 minutes per side, and set beef aside.
Add chopped onion, and cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently to not burn at the bottom of the pot. Stir in minced garlic and tomato paste, and cook for about 1 minute, still stirring frequently.
Stir in red wine, scraping any bits from the bottom of the Instant Pot. Stir in beef stock, Worcestershire, and thyme.
Add in potatoes and carrots. Top with beef. Select pressure cook setting and cook on high for 60 minutes.
Remove beef, potatoes, and carrots from the Instant Pot, and shred beef using two forks.
Select high saute setting. Bring to a boil; stir in flour and cornstarch and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more beef stock as needed until desired consistency is reached.

I like my gravy a little thicker - how my mom always made it!

WEDNESDAY: TAKEOUT NIGHT

THURSDAY: SHEET PAN DINNER

Make a few servings of rice in the Instant Pot to serve with a sheet pan dinner filled with everyone's no-brainer veggies and a protein. I love andouille sausage, and if you want to keep it super budget friendly, stick with in-season produce. If you've never tried this topped with a dash of leftover Chic-fil-a sauce or Medium sauce packets from Taco Bell, you really haven't lived!

FRIDAY: MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN

I feel my best when I'm eating a mediterranean diet. It's not something I stick to all the time (a diet without Taco Bell is simply not going to work for me!) but it's a great way to fill my body with healthy fats and energy sustaining protein, especially before I travel.

This recipe and all the others are straight out of my cookbook, and I got the sweetest message from a subscriber that she had purchased my cook book on Kindle so she could have all the recipes on her phone! I thought that was such a good idea, especially for meal prepping on the go. You can whip out your phone in the grocery store, open the Kindle app, and have all of these recipes at your fingertips.

For my Mediterranean Chicken recipe and more, download the Kindle App on your iPhone to get the Bits of Bri Cookbook on your phone for $15.95 ($10 less than buying the hard copy, and no waiting for deliver!)