HOW TO MEAL PREP LIKE A BOSS
Our daughter and son-in-law are living with us until they find a home. One of the benefits is my daughter introduces me to products, dupes, and most recently, how to meal prep.
I am curious about the idea of buying a zillion ingredients to make four to five homemade meals in the same week.
There is a lot of chopping and dicing in the kitchen on Sunday afternoons.
This best-selling lookbook inspired her.
My daughter’s meal prep starts with a list of ingredients that resembles a spreadsheet.
I lost my list of ingredients on a 3×3 sticky in the produce section.
I found Bobby Flay’s Pomegranate Carnitas tacos in the celebrity recipe section in People magazin.e ( the one with Sheryl Lee Ralph on the cover.
Sidenote: I love Sheryl Lee in the show Abbott Elementary.
If Bobby Flay’s name had not been next to the pomegranate carnitas tacos recipe photo, I would have guessed he was a race car driver.
Sidenote: My mother-in-law signed us up for a People Magazine subscription 25 + years ago. I think of Ardie with every issue. She loved her soap operas and Hollywood gossip.
BOBBY FLAY POMEGRANATE CARNITAS
. He had me at Pomegranate.
QUESTION: What is the difference between carnitas, tacos, and street tacos?
My daughter’s grandmothers meal planning strategy took place the hour before dinner. My momn’s go-to -chicken dish was Lazy Woman’s Casserole.
My mother-in-law’s go-to snack after her boys finished a day of skiing was store-bought frosting sandwiched between two graham cracker squares.
It is no wonder our mothers were close friends for decades.
The cooking gene in our family is the type of recessive gene that only skips some of us.
My sister is an amazing baker and is meticulous with her attention to detail. She calls it “following the recipe.”
My daughter’s meals belong in a cookbook.
If Bobby Flay were in my kitchen, I would be more interested in celebrity gossip than the difference between carnitas, tacos, and street tacos.
MY MEAL PREparations
My first pass on any new recipe is to scroll through the list of ingredients.
At first look, the list of ingredients in this Carnita recipe was extensive.
However, I don’t count salt and pepper because I have them on my spice rack along with coriander.
I have no idea what Coriander does to a recipe, but I have it in my spice rack.
I continued to scroll through Bobby Flay’s (the celebrity chef) recipe. Here is my internal dialogue when I try a new recipe. .
BOBBY FLAY’S POMEGRANATE & SMOKED CHILI CARNITAS TACOS
- 1 cup Pomegranate juice– check
- 2 TBSP pomegranate molasses? Um, is honey a cousin to molasses? Who will know>
3 . 2 TBS{ pureed canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (7-ounce can). (I know what this is, and more importantly, I know what aisle to find it.
4.. 1/2teaspoon Kosher salt (divided) check moving right along
5. 1 TBSP ancho chile powder (hmm)
6. 1/2 tsp Ground Coriander Boom, I have this spice.
7 1/4 tsp black pepper black pepper – on a recipe roll
8. pork tenderloin…
9. 2 TB neutral oil (avocado or canola oil). Who knew neutral cooking oil was a thing?
11. 8 six-inch corn tortillas
12. 1/2 cup pomegranate arils. On my first read-through of this recipe, I had no idea f what “arils” were, but my best guess (before I phoned a friend) would be the “seeds” that you can buy in the produce section. Can I get confirmation on this?
13. 1/4 cup of cilantro leaves
14. Pickled red onions. I remember seeing them in an aisle and mentally noting their location. And now I cannot remember what aisle I found the pickled red onions.Maybe pickled is my clue to where I will find them.
15. Guacamole– wait I have to make carnitas and guacamole?
The irony is guacamole is my thing!
Maybe I just make the guacamole and serve it with a side of tortilla chips?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (
Laura has been known to follow a recipe like Rachel Green and her Thanksgiving English Trifle. Laura wants to be friends with the writer who wrote that Thanksgiving storyline because it does not just happen. It is an experience someone lived through.
Just in case I messed up the ingredient list from the People magazine, you can grab the recipe here.
I have made a few easy and yummy recipes.
Do you have a favorite recipe that has shelf-stable ingredients?
Please pin for others who may be new to the concept of meal prep or kindly want to share their suggestions with me.
Also this one
https://ourlifeinaclick.blogspot.com/2024/01/easy-peanut-noodles-pantryfreezer-meal.html
Heather I inspire to have your meal prep skills! xo laura
Did you make them? You lost me at pomegranate molasses! I do know the arils are the seeds. Coriander is dried Cilantro so it’s very common in Mexican recipes. Pickled red onions are super easy to make and keep for a long time in the fridge. I love that your daughter is such a meal prepper! My favorite shelf stable ingredient meals are black bean tacos, pasta, ramen, fried rice and lentil soup.
The mystery of Coriander is solved. yes, ashley grew up in a past and sauce household so she is big into meal prep. ha! thank you Heather