happy new year everyone! i hope you had amarvellous holiday season. if you're anything like me, maybe you did a little bit of indulgingbut that is totally fine because today, we are all going to get back on track together.i'm really excited to be launching my brand new meal prep made easy series. so every thursdaythis month, i'm going to be sharing a brand new meal prep menu. these are recipes thatcan all be prepared on sunday night to help you eat well all week long. i've also compiledall of these menus into my brand new meal prep made easy ebook. it contains all of therecipes, shopping lists and lots of tips and tricks for simplifying your sunday meal prep.so i hope you'll check it out, all of the details are in the description box below.now let's kick things off with today's menu.
most of the recipes in this menu are inspiredby the delicious flavours of the mediterranean. so today, i'm going to be making some heartyvegetable soup, a healthy chicken piccata, some roasted red skin potatoes with garlicand parsley, i'm also going to be making some beautiful steamed greens, some tuscan beansalads in a jar, some easy caprese frittatas and some really easy cottage cheese fruitcups that are perfect for that 2pm snack attack. we're kicking things off today with my heartyvegetable soup. i love this soup because it's loaded with veggies which means it's alsoloaded with nutrients. now i'm making this recipe in my slow cooker but if you don'thave a slow cooker, don't sweat it. you can definitely do this in a large soup pot instead.the best part about this recipe is that you
can throw all of your ingredients in, setit and forget it. so as with most great soups this recipe starts with the trifecta of flavour.we've got some beautiful onion, some carrot and some celery. to that i'm going to adda whole lot of greens. so i've got sliced green cabbage, some beautiful green beansthat i've just trimmed and chopped and some chopped zucchini. i'll also be adding somefrozen green peas but i won't add them until the very end of cooking because you don'twant them to get too mushy. and of course, what would any healthy soup be without someminced garlic? come on, garlic is really great for you. and we've got some gorgeous cannellinibeans. i'm using canned beans because i'm lazy. by all means, cook your beans if that'show you roll. next up, it's time to add our
liquid. i've got some diced tomatoes and somevegetable broth. you could also do this with chicken broth if you wanted to. finally, we'rejust going to season this up with some dried oregano, some fresh thyme leaves and a wholelot of salt and pepper. i'm going to set my slow cooker on high and let this simmer awayfor between 3 and 4 hours. about 15 minutes before your soup is done, all you're doingto do is add your frozen peas and a good handful of freshly chopped parsley. it's so rich andso hearty. perfect for the winter. we're just going to put this lid on, let those peas cookthrough, ten minutes and it is all good and ready to rock. you can store it in the refrigeratorfor between 4 and 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months. that's why i like to makea huge batch, it's great for those nights
where you don't feel like cooking. next upon today's menu, we've got our healthy chicken piccata. now, chicken piccata is traditionallymade with breaded chicken but today, we are going to leave breading out and just use someboneless, skinless chicken breast. so i've got a skillet heating up on the stove andto that, i'm just going to add a really good drizzle of olive oil. i've got some beautifulchicken breast standing by and i'm simply going to season them with some salt and somepepper and then i'm going to brown them on both sides. we're going to do them top downfirst. we're just trying to give them a quick brown on both sides. you'll know they're readyto flip when they release easily from the pan. trust me, do not try to flip them beforebecause you'll end up ruining your chicken
and it's just not pretty. alright, now thatthese are beautifully browned on both sides, we are just going to set them aside and thenwe're going to get to work on our beautiful sauce. to the same skillet, we are going toadd another drizzle of olive oil and some minced garlic and capers. capers have a tonof flavour so a little can go a long way. you're going to cook your garlic and capersfor about 30 seconds before it's time to add your white wine, your chicken broth and somefreshly squeezed lemon juice. now if you didn't want to cook with alcohol, you can definitelyleave the white wine out and just add a little more chicken broth, that is totally fine.i'm going to give this all a stir, get up all those beautiful brown bits, that's allthat chicken flavour that's been left behind
in the pan. you're going to let this tastymixture come to a boil and then we're going to return our chicken back into the pan, turnour heat down to medium-low, cover them and let them simmer for about 10 minutes or untilthey reach an internal temperature of 165â°f. once the chicken is cooked through, we canremove from our skillet and then create a really simple pan gravy using all the deliciousjuices left behind. all i'm going to do is whisk some cornstarch and some water togetherand then whisk it back into the juices. we're going to simmer it for about a minute, untilit thickens up, and it's really as simple as that. if you're eating this right away,you can drizzle it all over your chicken and if you're not, you can just store it for whenyou're ready to serve it. i'm going to finish
all of this chicken awesomeness off with alittle bit of freshly chopped parsley. i love this recipe because it's fresh and citrusyand oh so easy to make. it can be served immediately or stored in the refrigerator for up to 3days. i like it best when partnered with these beautiful roasted red potatoes i'm going toshow you now. so for this recipe i'm starting with some beautiful red potatoes that i'vescrubbed really well and then cut into cubes. i like leaving the skin on these potatoesbecause a) i think they look beautiful and b) they have a ton of nutrition. so, i'vegot these beautiful potatoes in a bowl and i'm going to season them simply with someolive oil, some garlic powder and some salt and pepper. when i'm roasting potatoes, iprefer to use powdered garlic as opposed to
regular garlic because i find that regulargarlic burns in the oven. so i've got my oven preheated to 400â°f, i'm going to pop my potatoesin and i'm going to flip them after about 15 minutes. after another 10 to 15 minutesthey should be golden and ready to rock. i like to finish them off with a little freshlychopped parsley because let's be honest, freshly chopped parsley makes everything better. mostthings better. breakfast cereal, probably not but most things better. it can servedimmediately or stored in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days. next up, it's time to talkabout steaming some green veggies. now, i'm going to be completely honest with you, thefact is there is never going to be a weeknight where i feel like cooking vegetables. so ilike to cook all of my veggies during my meal
prep and then i have them ready all week long.for these beautiful steamed veggies, i'm going to be steaming some broccoli, some green beansand some beautiful asparagus. so you have the option, when it comes to greens, to steamthem all separately or you can go rogue like i do and steam them all at once. we are goingto put our toughest vegetables on the bottom, in this case that's broccoli so those aregoing to cook the most slowly. and then we are going to add our green beans. and thenour asparagus. i've got a pot on the stove with about an inch of water heating up andto that i'm going to add my steamer pot. once my veggies are prepped, i'm simply going tosteam them for 5 to 7 minutes or until they become bright green. you'll want to give thema few shakes during cooking to make sure everything
in the steamer cooks evenly. to finish themoff, i'm just going to run them under cold water to stop the cooking process and thenwhat you have are these beautiful steamed veggies. these can be eaten on their own,or added to things like pastas, stir fries or salads. i can store them in my refrigeratorfor 3 or 4 days. now it's time to talk lunches, for me, that means salads in a jar. for today'smenu, i'm making my beautiful mediterranean inspired bean salad. i love this recipe becauseit's loaded with flavour, protein-packed and also happens to be completely vegan. so weare getting started with some cannelloni beans. i'm using canned beans that i've just rinsedand drained but by all means, if you feel like cooking your own beans go right ahead.to that i'm going to add some awesome meditteranean
flavours. so i've chopped up some marinatedartichokes, some sundried tomatoes, some roasted red peppers and i've got a good helping ofkalamata olives which pack a nice salty flavour. all of these items can either be found freshin your deli or jarred in the aisle with all of the pickles and the olives. then i'm goingto add some beautiful fresh parsley and then we are going to create the simplest dressingever. i'm going to add a good plug of olive oil, a couple tablespoons of white wine vinegar,some freshly squeezed lemon juice. we're going to season this with some salt and pepper andwe're going to toss it up my friends. and then i'm going to divide my bean mixture into5 jars. to each jar, i'm actually going to add some baby spinach. the concept here isvery simple, we're going to keep the spinach
on the top of the jars so that it doesn'tget wilty and overdressed and then when we're ready to eat the salads we're just going togive everything a really good shake and then everything will be evenly dressed. these babieswill last in the refrigerator for between 4 and 5 days. they really do make the perfectlunch on the go. now, it's time to talk breakfast for the week and for me, that means my beautifulcaprese frittatas. for these yummy frittatas i'm going to get started by whipping up myegg mixture. so all i'm going to do is whisk some eggs, some milk, some salt and some pepper.for this recipe i'm using a muffin tin lined with some silicon baking cups. if you don'thave silicon baking cups it's not a problem but you will want to grease your pan really,really well because these frittatas love to
stick. next, i'm going to build in all ofmy beautiful caprese flavours. we're simply going to add a handful of beautiful cherrytomatoes that i've cut in half, a little bit of mozzarella cheese and some freshly choppedbasil. we're going to finish off each cup with a little bit of our egg mixture. andthen into the oven these go at 375â°f for between 10 and 15 minutes. these lovely frittatascan be stored in the refrigerator for between 4 and 5 days. they can be eaten cold or reheatedin the microwave. for snack this week, we are making some cottage cheese fruit cups.i know there are some cottage cheese haters out there. if you're not loving the cottagecheese by all means, you can replace it in this recipe with some plain greek yogurt.so i've got 5 containers and all i'm going
to do is place about a third of a cup of cottagecheese in each one. next, i'm going to drizzle in a little bit of honey and add some beautifulfruit. in this case, i'm using some finely diced cantaloupe, some diced honeydew andsome red grapes that i've just cut in half but you can use any kind of fruit you like.you don't have to be as fussy as i am. you could just mix them all together; you don'thave to layer them but i've said it before and i'll say it again: you eat with your eyesfirst. reach for this during your 2 o'clock slump and you are off to the races my friend.these will last in the refrigerator for between 4 and 5 days. they are the perfect mid-afternoonsnack to help get you through to dinner. speaking of snacks, in my house i always like to havesome fresh veggies on hand for when i'm feeling
peckish. for today's menu, i've got some cherrytomatoes, celery sticks and some fresh red bell pepper. that is the single best way toensure you are getting enough veggies in your diet and you're making healthier choices.perfect for guilt-free munching on the go. i really hope you guys love today's menu asmuch as i do and if you give any of these recipes a try be sure to tweet or instagramme photo because you know i love seeing what you're coming up with in your very own kitchens.and don't forget that today's menu and a whole lot more can be found in my brand new mealprep made easy ebook. it's got all of the recipes, shopping lists and lots of tips andtricks for making sunday meal prep a total cinch. and if you haven't already be sureto subscribe because there is lots more meal
prep where this came from.
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