Super Soups

When you think of soup, you probably think of cozy sweaters, fireplaces and winter. But soup can be a light and easy meal for summertime too, and I don't just mean gazpacho. For all of these soups, you can easily make them vegetarian by omitting the meat and switching the broth to vegetable stock or water. My favorite vegetarian stock is this brand: Imagine. Soup is so satisfying and good for you and it's a great way to use up all the fresh herbs you have in your garden. You can choose any kind as a garnish for these soups. The idea is to pack as much nutrients and flavor into one little bowl of happiness. 

How do you know you're eating rabbit soup?

When there's a hare in it.

My advice would be to take a rainy day this summer and make a bunch of soups. Most of the ingredients above can be used for multiple soups and they last 6 months in the freezer. Allow the soup to cool until room temp and store in a mason jar or other air tight container. When you're ready to eat, just thaw and heat and voila, soup's on!

Split Pea with Ham Soup

Creamy Tomato Soup

Minestrone Soup

Lentil Stew 

Perfect for summer. The flavors are amazing and the stew is the color of sunshine.

Vibrant Immune Boosting Soup

This soup makes a ton but I love to freeze half the batch and have it on hand for when I'm feeling frumpy and want to glow from the inside out! I will do another round of soup recipes closer to fall.....creamy vegetable soups that warm the soul. 

Next week, Poultry Party!

You gotta be kiddin' me

This week we are going to share some tricks to amp up the healthy in family friendly meals. I like to play hide and seek with vegetables. I put them in everything but I don’t make it super obvious. I get my kiddos to eat kale, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, even onions. These recipes are versatile and you can easily switch up the ingredients to use what you have on hand.

Family Friendly Grocery list 

“Where do hamburger patties like to dance? at a meatBALL.”

Spaghetti and Bolognese (Sauce or Meatballs)...whatever form your kiddos prefer

spicy glazed Turkey Meatloaf 

Protein Pancakes

Oatmeal Power Bowls/Muffins

Next week....SUPER summer soups! 

Kale yeah!

Fresh, healthy, beautiful salads. Summertime makes me crave foods on the grill but it also makes me want to eat light. Salads don't have to be boring! My formula is simple - add veggies, greens, something crunchy and something sweet to make the perfect party in your mouth.

What did the salad say to the peach?

Lettuce be friends.

(I can't help myself)

Grill Week Grocery list

Peach salad

grilled Tuna steaks with salad nicoise

everything salad

“This is my favorite salad/grain bowl recipe. The point to an everything salad is that there are NO RULES. You basically just throw any extra vegetables you have in your fridge together in a bowl with some greens, something crunchy, and something sweet. I always like to add a boiled egg, some legumes, quinoa, or grilled chicken. I make my salad extra big so I can keep it in my fridge and hope I reach for that over American cheese slices and potato chips.”

I don't have a clue what next week's recipes will be, so hit me up, I'm taking requests!

All Up In My Grill

I cannot believe June has already come and gone! We have a couple fun things planned for this upcoming week starting with surprising Ruby with a trip to the Dells. Her best friend is in town from California and she has no idea that we are going to a waterpark sleepover together. She literally talks about her BFF every single day. I can't wait to see the smile on her face and hear her say...."Oh My Gosh!!!"

We are opting out of the long parade and late night fireworks this year to go to our first Brewers game of the season. We are taking the kiddos for the first time and we can't wait to see what they think. I'm sure we will throw in a few firework sightings out on the lake and eat some BBQ because...duh.

Did i invite you to my barbeque?

Then why are you all up in my grill???

Grill Week Grocery list

Chimichurri steak

Grilled Vegetables

Spanish pork skewers (kabobs)

Grilled Caesar Salad and Egg Free / Dairy Free Dressing

Next week will be salads, salads, salads - See you then!

Spice Up Your Summer!

I'm writing this on the first day of Summer, my favorite time of year! This past week, we've settled into our new home, adjusted to our new commutes and are just focusing on getting to know our new neighborhood. I'm so pumped to try out the Farmer's Market that's only a mile from our house. I plan on throwing the kids in a wagon and walking there on the trail behind our house. (http://www.brookfieldfarmersmarket.com/)

I set up my happy place. Isn't it beautiful??? It all starts in the kitchen and I needed to have everything in its place to feel at home. 

This week's recipes all have a little kick to them. Black bean burgers, Sweet and Spicy cauliflower, Chipotle Salmon Cakes and Stuffed Peppers. We really try to eat vegetarian as much as possible because I want my kids to love and crave veggies so we figure just give them no option!

In the theme of spicing things up, the kid's rooms are starting to come to life, beginning with the closets. Decorating a new house is a little like seasoning a meal, since it's all about accents. As we get more settled, we'll show more of the house. 

Spicy Week Grocery list

Black Bean Burgers

DON'T YOU JUST WANNA TAKE A BITE???

The black bean burgers are super versatile and they freeze well. I always double the recipe when I make them and freeze half. I like to crumble them into tacos, make lettuce wraps when I'm feeling like I need to lighten my load, or have them with sriracha on a salty pretzel bun when I need a reward.  

BLACK BEAN BURGER 

SWEET AND SPICY CAULIFLOWER

STUFFED PEPPERS

The stuffed peppers are a client favorite. Even people that think they don't like stuffed peppers like these and they ask for them on repeat. Pete and repeat were on a boat and Pete jumped off. Who was left? Repeat. Pete and repeat were on a boat and Pete jumped off. Who was left? Repeat.Pete and repeat were on a boat and Pete jumped off. Who was left? Repeat.

what do you call a fish with a tie? sofishticated.

CHIPOTLE Salmon cakes

Next week will be the weekend before the 4th of July, so we'll have a special grilling focused menu. See you then!

Moving into Asian Week

Move into summer with these Asian Inspired recipes: Spring Rolls, Asian Slaw & Ginger Soy Stir Fry. 

Signing the papers to our Home Sweet Home! ps. that's a huge bottle of celebratory Tito's in that bag. 

Last week was nuts with the move into our new dream home. But after a few days of nonstop unpacking, hanging, drilling and rearranging, we’re basically settled. I don’t know about you, but I can’t live out of boxes so I took the kids to grandma’s house and just focused on unpacking and decorating. The last time I moved was six years ago pre-kids so this time was a lot more stressful. But here’s what I learned:

The top 4 things I learned moving my family across town:

Number 1. Hire movers. Do it. Whatever it costs. It took professionals 12 hours to take our 3 bedroom home and bring it to the new place. I can’t imagine what it would have taken if it was us and some reluctant friends. 

Number 2. Get rid of the kids for a couple of days. We took them to my parents house and I focused on making their new home comfortable for them. I worked on their rooms first and made sure everything looked as it had before. I was worried that it would be stressful or confusing for them, but of course they already forgot about the old house and love the new house and especially their rooms. 

People were surprised that I already had decorations up on the wall but what’s the sense in procrastinating?? Decide where you want the stuff to go and drill a hole. I delegated. Chris drilled. Plus we worked on getting the place ready ALL DAY. For several days. 

Number 3. DO NOT wait until the night before to start packing. I know this seems obvious but we didn't want to disrupt our lives and didn't start until the night before and well, let's just say the movers were not happy with us the next day when they saw things thrown into garbage bags. The move took so much longer and we ended up having to tip them extra and threw in a bunch of beer and booze because we felt so bad.  

Number 4. Plan a housewarming party. There’s nothing that gets you to finish unpacking and decorating a new home like an impending, grand unveiling in front of all your friends and family. 

and now onto the recipes...

ASIAN SLAW SALAD

ASIAN SLAW SALAD - before

I use a handheld mandolin to thinly slice vegetables because I am no professional chef (self taught) and I don’t want to waste my time doing something a kitchen tool does better. Plus they look so pretty when they’re the same size. 

ASIAN SLAW SALAD - after

Spring rolls

These fresh Spring Rolls are even better than you'd find at a restaurant, and they're incredibly easy and healthy! Served with a delicious homemade peanut sauce, these rolls are perfect for a fresh, light lunch, dinner or appetizer. And the rice paper wraps are really easy to find at any grocery store. They sell them at our Pick n' Save and Sendik's.

Ginger Soy Stir Fry

Ginger soy stir fry….perfect for the end of the week when you are trying to control food waste. You can literally use any vegetables or protein you have on hand. This recipe is all about the sauce. I serve over brown rice but you could use rice noodles, whole wheat spaghetti, white rice, quinoa, riced cauliflower, sunshine rice…(I don’t think that’s a thing but if it was, you could use it).

I'm telling you, this stir fry is always a hit. Sometimes when I don't know what to make, I just throw in any vegetables in the fridge and add this sauce. It's the sauce that makes it so, so good.

Next week, I'm going to spice up your week with Cajun Salmon Cakes, Black Bean Burgers, Stuffed Peppers and Sweet and Spicy Roasted Cauliflower. See you next Friday!

It's Greek Week!

Welcome to Simple Eats Meal Prep 101. Meal prep is easy. It's about taking the time once a week to prepare all your meals so you aren't bothered after a long day and you have the time to watch The Bachelorette, guilt-free.

I love Mediterranean food because it's fresh, simple AND healthy. If you follow my grocery list, you'll be able to make all these recipes using up all of your ingredients. No more throwing out vegetables because you'll be throwing them into the Mediterranean Bake! You'll have dinner for a few nights and time leftover to be able to sit with your family over an easy, delicious home-cooked meal. 

You don't need to stick with the vegetables on my list either, you can add what you have in your fridge into the mix. 

So take this grocery list with you to the supermarket, grab the items, allow a couple of hours to prepare these tasty meals and then you're all set! Go watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding if you need to get into the Greek Week spirit.

Click on the list for a printable pdf or save to your Pinterest page!

CUCUMBER BASIL GAZPACHO

If you've ever waited tables like me, you probably heard "This soup is cold." So this soup is the perfect solution to avoid that because it's served cold. 

I don't have a picture of the chicken but you know what chicken looks like ;)

GREEK CHOPPED SALAD

Turkey meatballs. What can you serve but never eat?

A volleyball. Get it???

Step 1: Mix everything in a bowl

Step 2: Roll into balls

Step 3: Bake and enjoy!

One of my favorite families that I meal prep for has a vegan daughter, so that’s how I landed on the Mediterranean vegetable bake. I needed a tasty alternative and this is so easy to make, too. 

I love this sauce drizzled on everything from vegetable skewers to chicken breast and even to dip fresh pita bread in. Side note - just click on the recipes above to get a printable pdf. 

Let me know what you think and stay tuned for next week's grocery list and menus, posted every Friday! 

Meet Krysta

You guys, I’m starting a blog! My goal is to have every family in the Midwest eating real meals together again. And since I can’t make food for everyone that wants our service, I can at least teach them how to meal prep for themselves. I’m going to be posting weekly grocery lists with easy recipes so you can make them with your families and not go bonkers during the week. The lists will help ensure that all of the food you purchase is being eaten. Food waste drives me bananas!! We spend so much money on food....grocery stores, Costco, dining out and take out because we don’t feel like cooking the food we purchased or we don’t have the time. We end up tossing half the food we bought because it goes bad or nobody wants to eat leftovers. It’s a vicious cycle that is easy to break with planning. I want to post live videos of meal prep sessions and cleaning out your fridge to make sure there’s less food waste. It will save families time and money. 

"Food waste drives me bananas!!"

We meal prep every Sunday at my house and we make it a family event. My husband makes pancakes and marinades for the meats while I prep all the the vegetables and starches. The meals come together fairly quickly and the kids love to help. It’s one less thing to worry about during the week when our schedules are crazy.

This week's recipe is for Protein Balls. They're the most requested recipe and they're a healthy, raw, sugar-free cookie ball that fills you up and tastes great. My kids love them! Plus they're simple to make. 

Stay tuned for next week's first grocery list and recipes: 

Greek Meatballs made with Ground Turkey, Cucumber Basil Gazpacho, and Mediterranean Vegetable Bake with Grilled Chicken.

Have a great weekend!