Easy, "In-Spiralational" Meal Prep

Meal prepping is a cornerstone to healthy eating and anyone who does it knows this is the best way to stay on track with a healthy diet and lifestyle.  We're all too busy to make every single healthy meal from scratch at the time we want to eat the meal.  So planning is essential, as well as choosing not only a wide variety of meal prep options to keep our taste buds interested, but meals that are mobile and good when reheating or are meant to be eaten cold.  In this post, I aimed at 1) using my new spiralizer tool and 2) keeping my meals very low-carb, and in this case, gluten free for those looking for GF ideas.  I have loved the idea of using veggies in place of pasta ever since I started using spaghetti squash for my Ultimate Veggie Spaghetti, and with the new craze on spiralizing, we can use the technique for many of our favorite veggies.  The below recipes make 2 servings per dish.

On The Menu

Chile-Lime Shrimp Over Guacamole Zoodles, Corn & Tomatoes

Turkey Marinara Over Yoodles

Pesto Chicken & Zoodles with Diced Tomatoes

Steak Gorgonzola with Beet Chips

Chile-Lime Shrimp Over Guacamole Zoodles, Corn & Tomatoes - (can be eaten cold as a salad or warmed up)

Ingredients:

10-12 shrimp, detailed, de-veined, cooked

juice of 1/2 of lime

1 tsp. Chile powder

1 large zucchini, spiralized
1 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup guacamole (I use Wholly Guacamole)

1/4 cup corn, frozen
2 tsp. red pepper flakes or preferred dashes of hot sauce (optional)

1/4 tomato, diced
Salt & Pepper to taste (optional)

1. Spread shrimp out on a plate and sprinkle with Chile powder and lime juice evenly. Cover with plastic and refrigerate to allow for slight marination. 
2. In a medium pot, boil water, and add spiralized zuchinni and corn.  Allow to boil for about 10 minutes or until zoodles are a desired softness.
3. Drain zoodles and corn, and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
4. Mix zoodles, corn and guacamole well until everything is well coated.
5. This dish is very mild (bland) at this point, add red pepper flakes, or hot sauce to spice it up if so desired.  And/ or add in salt and pepper to taste as well if preferred.
6. Divide into servings, divide shrimp and add to each serving.
7. Sprinkle with diced fresh tomatoes...Enjoy!

Turkey Marinara Over Yoodles

Ingredients:

1 lbs ground turkey, Italian seasoned (Jennie-O)

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 cup marinara sauce

1 large yellow squash, spiralized
1 1/2 cup water

grated Parmesan & Romano cheese (optional)

1. In a medium pot, boil water, and add spiralized yellow squash.  Allow to boil for about 10 minutes or until yoodles are a desired softness.
2. Brown ground turkey in a large skillet over medium to high heat.  (If not already seasoned, add spices like oregano and sweet basil)
3. Once turkey is cooked, drain any excess liquid.  Add seasonings - garlic powder, onion powder and red pepper flakes - mix well until meat is evenly coated.
4. Add in marinara sauce.  Mix well with turkey and reduce heat to low.
5. Drain yoodles and divide into servings.
6. Pour turkey marinara over the yoodles.  Sprinkle with grated Parmesan & Romano cheese as desired...Enjoy!

Pesto Chicken & Zoodles with Diced Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1 large chicken breast, chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste

1 tbsp, extra virgin olive oil

1 large zucchini, spiralized
1 1/2 cup water

2 tbsp. Pesto

1/4 tomato, diced

1. In a medium pot, boil water, and add spiralized zucchini.  Allow to boil for about 10 minutes or until zoodles are a desired softness.
2. In a large skillet, heat extra virgin olive oil and add in chicken.
3. As chicken cooks, season lightly with salt and pepper.
4. Cook chicken for about 10-12 minutes, or until no longer pink inside.
5. Drain zoodles, add in chicken and Pesto.  Mix well until chicken and zoodles are evenly coated.  
6. Divide into servings and sprinkle fresh diced tomatoes on top...Enjoy!

Steak Gorgonzola with Beet Chips
I had difficulties actually spiralizing beets with my tool because it's not big enough to accommodate most beet bulbs.  So in this case, I used a mandolin to grate the beets into chips.  This is purely for aesthetic preference and can simply be chopped or the below method can be used for spiralized beets as well.

Ingredients:

2 cube steaks

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

2 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 beet bulbs, leaves & roots removed, peeled and spiralized or grated to chips

2-3 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp. minced green onion 

2 tbsp. crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Spread out beet chips or spiralized beets over a baking sheet.
3. Drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with 1 tsp. of the garlic powder, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Roast beets in oven for about 30 minutes or until beets soften and turn a darker shade of red.
5. In a large skillet over medium to high heat, heat 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.
6. Season each cube steak with the remaining garlic powder, red pepper flakes and onion powder.
7. Place steaks on skillets, drizzle one side of each steak with half of the of the balsamic vinegar.
8. Cook one one side for about 3-5 minutes or until seared.  Flip steaks over and cook other side until equally seared.
9. Remove beets from oven, and divide into servings.
10. Add steak to each serving.  Sprinkle the beets and steak with Gorgonzola cheese crumbles and green onion...Enjoy!