Drive Through Meals In Your Kitchen

As a full time working, business owning, I need time for my workout single mom, life is literally a whirlwind, so cooking meals and taking care of myself came to a screeching halt when I got a divorce last year.  Suddenly, I had so much more in my life to handle and take care of, so putting myself on the back burner was the easy button.  As things began to settle somewhat after moving, starting a new job etc. I felt AWFUL!  I had let my bad eating habits creep back in and as I looked at what I was eating there was no wonder I was absolutely exhausted and feeling horrible. My fuel had become caffeine and sugar.

While getting back on track, I needed to find a plan that was simple and easy that would allow me to not have a lot of work effort.  Most meals in my house are "all about the kids".  I have a 2 year old and 4 year old and they are constantly pulling me in every which direction at meal time.  "Mom, can I have more strawberries?"…."Mom, I don't like that!"….. "Mom, can I have more to drink?"….. "Mom, can I have more ketchup (organic in my house!)?".  I would call meal time a "Battleground" in my house as I'm sure it is for most households with toddlers.  You better believe my brain cells are dead at dinner time!

So, as my Dad has always taught me in business I decided to apply the KISS principle to my meal planning.  KISS - Keep it Simple Stupid (ok, ok, I know stupid isn't a good word and not one I teach my kids, but you get the point!).

Keeping it simple for me is "grab and go", but fast food is not an option.  I literally need a drive through with my crazy life, so I decided to create the "grab and go drive through" in my kitchen!  A few weeks ago, I started the 21 Day Fix Extreme Breakdown to Bikini Competition Meal Plan and I have fallen in love with it!  (separate post).  It seemed overwhelming at first, but it actually made my life easier! I took the meal plan and made my ENTIRE WEEK of meals in ONE HOUR!  Yep, that's right!  The whole week!

Grab & Go Meals Shopping List

Ground Turkey (2 LBS)
Chicken Breasts (I cooked 4)
Favorite Mrs. Dash Seasoning (no salt)
Sweet Potatoes (I cooked 5)
Green Beans (1 bag)
Broccoli (2 heads)
Hard Boiled Eggs (1 dozen or more if you desire)

Step by Step:

• Heat Oven to 350 degrees
• Put the Eggs, Sweet Potatoes and Chicken in the Oven at the SAME TIME! PREP FIRST!

• EGGS

• Put (1) Egg in each muffin tin section - Once oven is heated, cook for 30 mins. Remove and put in Ice Water for 10 minutes!  Put in a freezer bag.
  

• CHICKEN

• Add 1 tsp coconut oil in the baking dish, melt in the oven if not melted, then add the chicken breasts and cover both sides of all breasts with the coconut oil in the pan then season with your favorite Mrs. Dash seasoning.  I used the Chicken Seasoning.
  

• SWEET POTATOES

• Put on the shelf in the oven and cook for 45 mins
• Put Eggs, Sweet Potatoes and Chicken in the preheated (350 degrees) oven.  Eggs, 30 minutes and everything else will be about 45 minutes depending on the size of the chicken and sweet potatoes.
  
• While those are cooking, steam the green beans and broccoli. I did the green beans first, then the broccoli in the same pan so I didn't have to dirty another pan.
• While the veggies are steaming, sauté the ground turkey and mushrooms.  I add in different Mrs. Dash seasonings, but you can add what works for you.  You can also add salsa as an option.
  
• Once everything is finished, I slice up the chicken and the sweet potatoes and portion out into my meal containers and refrigerate.  

This is missing some of my containers  - they were in the dishwasher! :-)

These are the basis of my meals.  I also eat Egg Whites and I use some of the leftover turkey and/or broccoli to put in with my egg whites for Breakfast.  I also have arugula salads with hard boiled egg, tomato, red onion and the leftover chicken.  There are plenty of meals and options you can make with ground turkey and chicken.  Some other options that I switch up is to use the chicken for lettuce wraps or chicken fajitas.  You can also do the same with the ground turkey!

Hope this gives you some options and maybe even some new ideas to make your own drive through meals in your kitchen!  If you have new ideas, I would love to hear them.  Post in the comments below!

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