dinner – A Dame's Life

balance, breakfast, brunch, dinner, easy, health, quick, recipe, tips

How to Meal Prep Like a Boss

July 27, 2017 Ivy

Summer has finally arrived in Seattle, which means we are busier than ever, and staying on track and eating healthy can be difficult. I get it – you’ve got parks to visits, kayaks to float in and microbrews to drink in the sun. That’s where a little planning and prepping one day a week can make a big difference in your life. If you are busy, want to lose weight, eat healthier or just like to get all your cooking done at once, this is the way to go.

It can seem daunting at first to plan that far ahead (I know it was for me) but hopefully these tips will help make it easier and get you going towards successful meal prepping.

Start Simple
This isn’t really the time to start eating crazy foods you aren’t used to, at least for the first few weeks. Think about putting together foods you already like and know how to prepare, this will save you time to begin with.

Master Breakfast
If you already eat oatmeal, try doing overnight oats. I love oats because they are high in fiber, and can be super nutritious for a filling and healthy breakfast. If you’re more of an egg person, you can prep the veggies for a scramble or omelette ahead of time and throw them in the pan in the morning with some already beaten eggs and whip up a breakfast in just a few minutes. Better yet, bake egg muffins all at once and have breakfast all week.

Shop Smart
Don’t head to the store without a plan, you run the risk of roaming the aisles and buying foods that don’t really go together. Plan out what you’re going to have for the week and make a list to take to the store, you’ll save time, money and sanity.

Be Snack Savvy
Pre-packaged minimally processed bars like Kind and RX make great snacks that take absolutely no work. If you’re looking for more whole food options, buying things in bulk like string cheese and hard boiling a bunch of eggs ahead of time are great to grab on the go.

Get Freezin’
Making large batches of food ahead of time and freezing them is a great way to save time. You can throw tomorrow’s dinner in the fridge to thaw before you head to work and come home to a dinner that will require a few minutes in the microwave. Or, if you’re into smoothies, try making homemade smoothie kits of frozen fruit and veggies and then after a workout or whenever, throw it in a blender with your milk or water of choice and you’re good to go.

Choose Grains Wisely
Pick grains you can use for multiple meals and cook a big batch on Sunday. Quinoa is great for breakfast in place of oatmeal, or you can throw it into salads for extra protein, or serve your fish or chicken for dinner on top of it.

Spread Your Food Out
On a sheet pan that is. Roasting veggies and protein in big batches in the oven is a super easy way to prepare a lot of food at once. You can throw these in salads, or use them for low maintenance dinner ideas.

Slow It Down
If you have a slow cooker- bust that thing out! You can make all sorts of food in your slow cooker, and it doesn’t just have to be soup. You can make quiches, oatmeal bakes, lasagna, enchiladas, roasts, the sky’s the limit. Set it to go before you leave work, come home to a delicious meal you can reheat all week.

What are you waiting for? Get out there and prep yourself for a week of healthy eating and spend less time in the kitchen. If you are looking for or in the need of some awesome meal prep ideas then make sure to check out my pinterest board.

dinner, gluten free, risotto, vegan, vegetarian

Spring Risotto with Vegetables

April 10, 2015April 10, 2015 Ivy

We all have a dish that we’ve mastered and love to make. Maybe, this dish also happens to be something people love and are easily impressed with. In my case this is risotto.

I know we’ve talked about risotto before, but I love it so much and it’s really become the thing I make for dinner when I don’t want to think about cooking. The good thing about risotto is that you can really add anything to it and make it delicious. Once you master the basics of cooking the rice, the possibilities are endless for what you can make.

My hope is that I’ll inundate you with enough risotto recipes over time that one of them will really spark your interest to try it. Then, as time goes on, you’ll try another and another until it too is your go to dinner option when you want something delicious, easy and comforting.

Since I’m starting to feel springy I decided to throw together a risotto with some green veggies to help get those much needed daily vitamins and antioxidants in the most delicious way possible. This recipe is vegan (without the fried egg) and offers great protein from the edamame even if you choose to forgo the egg option. It’s creamy, comforting and feels decadent without a lot of empty calories.

I encourage you to try this one, but if it’s not this risotto, then hopefully the next, or the one after that 🙂

Spring Risotto with Asparagus, Zucchini and Edamame

Prep Time : 10 minutes | Cook Time : 40 minutes | Serves 4

Ingredients :

1 cup arborio rice

1 32 ounce vegetable broth

1/4 cup house white wine

1 small yellow onion

2 cloves garlic

2 medium zucchini

1 large bunch asparagus

1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame

2 eggs (optional)

1 tablespoon vegan margarine

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons avocado oil

salt & pepper

Instructions :

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Add broth to a medium saucepan and warm over low heat.

3. Wash and clean asparagus and zucchini if desired. Slice zucchini lengthwise twice and chop into medium size pieces shown above. Cut off ends of asparagus and slice stalks into bite size pieces. Toss with avocado oil and salt and pepper and place on baking sheet and place in oven once preheated. Cook for 15 minutes stirring once and check doneness. You want them to be cooked but still a bit firm since you will add them to the risotto and cook further.

4. While you’re waiting for the oven to preheat, dice onion and garlic. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil and melt margarine over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and saute to soften and release aroma, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add rice to pan and saute for about 3-4 minutes until rice is a bit toasty. Add wine to pan and cook until absorbed.

5. Once all the wine has been absorbed, start adding broth a bit at a time. I honestly never measure this because I always end up using all the broth so just pour some in and use your best judgement. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring often until liquid is absorbed. Repeat until broth is gone.

6. When vegetables are done, remove from oven and set aside. Remove edamame from freezer and cook according to instructions and set aside.

7. Taste risotto to test doneness-best part of the process 😉 and when it’s almost done add your vegetables. A good way to know this is that you have 1/4-1/2 cup of broth left and its a BIT crunchier than you would normally like. We want to it to stay a bit al dente but not fight back.

8. Continue to cook with vegetables and until all broth is gone. Season with salt and pepper to your liking, in my experience this and a good broth with the roasted veggies will add enough flavor but I think nutritional yeast could be good or even garlic powder.

9. When it’s done, scoop it into your bowls and get ready to feast and enjoy! If you want to add a fried egg, see below.

10. You decided you wanted a little something extra did you? No shame in that friend! I’m going to assume you’ve fried an egg before but for the sake of explanation I’ll continue. Get yourself a small skillet, spray with non stick spray and heat over medium heat. Crack your egg into pan and cook just until the white is opaque and flip, about 1-2 minutes. Flip over and cook for about another minute, you don’t want to overcook because you want the yolk to be runny. Something like this.

11. After you flip that sucker over and it’s done, throw it on your risotto, break open that yolk, stir and get to enjoying!

Happy feasting!

dinner, easy, quick, shrimp

Simple Lemon Pasta With Shrimp

April 1, 2015April 1, 2015 Ivy

Sometimes you just want a super simple dinner, no frills, nothing crazy, just some delicious eats. While I love meal planning most of the time, there is a wonderful freedom about looking in your fridge and pantry and throwing together something with what you have already. In my case it led to this really simple pasta that we loved!

We’ve previously established a shrimp passion in our house and it had been a while since I pulled these babies out of the freezer. Not only are they super delish but they are also a powerhouse of awesome stuff you need! They are super low in calories, high in protein and a great source of iron and omegas, who doesn’t want that?

I love the bite of the arugula in this dish works really well with the lemon and shrimp, its light, refreshing and filling without weighing you down.This comes together super quick so if you’re feeling extra lazy or running late, it’s the perfect dish.

Simple Lemon Pasta with Shrimp, Tomatoes and Arugula

Prep Time : 5 minutes | Cook time : 15 minutes | Serves 2

Ingredients :

4 oz whole wheat spaghetti

20 large shrimp (we like to use a lot)

2 lemons

15 grape tomatoes

1 large handful or arugula

4 tablespoons olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Lemon pepper

Instructions :

1. To assemble lemon sauce, squeeze juice of lemons into a mason jar or bowl.Zest one lemon and add with 2 tablespoons olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Shake or stir to combine, taste and set aside.

2. Use 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss with shrimp, add salt and lemon pepper to taste. Set aside.

3. Bring water to boil on stove, salt the water, add pasta and cook to al dente.

4. While pasta is cooking, halve your tomatoes and set aside with arugula.

5. When pasta is done, drain pasta and reserve 1/4 cup pasta water and add back to pasta. Heat skillet with remaining olive oil and add shrimp to cook on medium high until pink, approximately 4-5 minutes.

6. When shrimp are done cooking, add to cooked pasta. Throw in your chopped tomatoes, a big handful of arugula and pour in your lemon olive oil sauce. Toss all ingredients to combine and enjoy! I threw some lemon zest on top to make it extra lemony and it was great.

This was so good we went back for seconds but it was even better the next day for leftovers. Eat up!

dinner, vegan

Creamy Asparagus Soup (Vegan)

March 27, 2015March 27, 2015 Ivy

My beautiful and wonderful mother came to visit us this week from the magical land of Idaho. It’s about a 9 hour drive from her door to ours so I end up chatting with her during the drive to make it go faster, mostly for me since I can’t wait to see her. While chatting this time she mentioned since this trip over will be a bit longer than normal she had cleaned out the items in her fridge before leaving, and she was bringing a bunch of asparagus.

I love asparagus, it smells like summer to me, putting it on the grill and eating it with your hands while the sunlight fades. Unfortunately on this day it was rather rainy and chilly in Seattle so I decided to go another route this time. Manfriend had also been fighting off a cold so I thought some warm comforting soup would hit the spot for everyone.

I started this soup with no real plan and it somehow came together incredibly. This is one of the easiest things I’ve done and is so healthy and fulfilling. Since the soup is creamy I decided to make some homemade croutons to contribute some crunch on top and they were the perfect addition. Give this a try the next time you want an easy weeknight meal, enjoy!

Creamy Vegan Asparagus Soup with Homemade Croutons

Prep Time : 10 minutes | Cook Time : 30 minutes | Serves : 4

Ingredients :

Soup

1 large bunch fresh asparagus

1/2 yellow onion

3 large cloves of garlic

Avocado Oil

Salt & Pepper

Thyme

3/4 cup Vegetable Stock

1/2 cup Garlic Cashew Cream Sauce (See recipe here)

Ingredients :

2 large slices of french or other bread

Avocado Oil

Salt & Pepper

Thyme

Instructions :

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop asparagus into medium size pieces. Chop onion into large pieces. Toss asparagus with onion and garlic (in skin) in drizzle of avocado oil and toss with salt and pepper and thyme and place in oven. Roast for 15-20 minutes until cooked.

2. Remove vegetables from oven and let sit for 5 minutes to cool. Remove garlic from skin and place with asparagus and onion in blender. Add vegetable stock and cashew cream and blend to combine all ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can add less stock if you like a creamier soup, but this works out really well.

3. When you remove vegetables from oven, turn heat down to 350 degrees. Cut bread into large cubes and toss with oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook in oven for 10 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy.

4. Remove soup from blender (my vitamix heats the soup if you leave it in there, otherwise, microwave if necessary to warm up) and pour into bowls to serve.

5. Add toasted croutons on top and enjoy! I added a dollop of cashew cream sauce on top and it rocked!

dinner, gluten free, weeknight

Spicy Shrimp Tacos

March 20, 2015March 20, 2015 Ivy

We love shrimp. We buy the massive packages at Costco that should probably take normal people months to go through and devour them in weeks. They are so delicious and easy to cook, they’re a great option to turn to for protein and iron. I tend to put our shrimp with polenta or pasta but last night I wanted to do something different.

Last weekend we were down in California visiting some good friends and they took us to a super delicious restaurant featuring all sorts of yummy vegan options. We ended up sharing a spicy tomato pizza with a creamy cashew sauce that was incredible. I seriously could not tell it wasn’t dairy and it just added this extra level of deliciousness to the pizza.

I’ve been wanting to try getting into non-dairy creamy sauces for a while and thought I’d give it a try with this cashew based sauce. It was intimidating at first, and admittedly you do have to do some groundwork, and incorporate time to soak the cashews for a while but with a bit of planning it comes together super easy. It’s so delicious and full of good fat, protein and magnesium- you won’t even miss the dairy.

Making your own pico de gallo is also crazy easy and only takes a few ingredients. I made my ahead of time so the flavors could marry and develop. This recipes just takes a bit of prep work, let your ingredients sit and then take a few minutes to pull it all together. Great for a weeknight dinner or even for a group of friends.

Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Pico de Gallo and Garlic Cashew Cream Sauce

Prep Time : 2 hours | Cook Time : 10 minutes | Serves 2

Ingredients :

Pico de Gallo

4 roma tomatoes

1/2 red onion

2 limes juiced

1 large clove garlic

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Salt

Shrimp

20 large shrimp

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt & Pepper

1 teaspoon Paprika

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Cayenne Powder

Other Ingredients :

Corn Tortillas

Avocado

Instructions :

1. For the pico de gallo, chop all ingredients for salsa and stir together with lime juice in a bowl. Add salt to taste. Let sit in fridge for at least half hour before serving.

2. Toss the shrimp with a olive oil and coat. Sprinkle with spices, add more or less cayenne depending on your spice preference. I let this sit in the fridge too for a few hours to let the flavors marinate but you can definitely do this right before and cook.

3. When ready to put tacos together, cook shrimp over medium high heat for about 5 minutes until opaque throughout. Assemble tacos with shrimp, pico de gallo, avocado slices and cream sauce.

Garlic Cashew Cream Sauce

Ingredients :

1 1/2 cups raw cashews

1/2 cup cold water

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

Instructions :

1. To prep the cashews, soak them in a bowl with water covering at least an inch. You want to let them sit at least a half hour but I let mine sit for a couple hours.

2. When they are done soaking, throw them in the blender with 1/2 cup water and vinegar and let it blend. It will take a while but you want to let this go until it gets to a smooth consistency.

3. Add salt and garlic powder, I think fresh garlic would also be super great in this or roasted garlic, I just was feeling lazy. In the end you get a super creamy, rich sauce that compliments the freshness of the pico de gallo and the spiciness of the shrimp.

Try these tacos out on your next taco Tuesday for something a bit different and dairy free. Make the time to prep the stuff ahead of time and then go have yourself a nice glass of wine and enjoy some netflix, when it’s time to eat throw it all together and enjoy! Have a fantastic weekend!

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