COMPETITION FOOD PREP WHEN YOU STILL HAVE A FAMILY TO FEED!

I get asked time and time again about how I prep my food for competition dieting. I will give you a glimpse of what I am currently doing. It changes depending on where I am at but at 5 weeks away from my competition this is what I am eating:)

Prepping your food is a must when dieting because as far as I am concerned eating anything other than my specific food is NOT an option. If you see me at a restaurant I will have my container of food with me...no trying to get them to make my food. This way I know exactly what I am eating and don't run the risk of getting special ingredients added to my food:)

I cook my food every 4 days since I feel like that is about the safe zone for my food. It usually takes me about 1.5 hrs from start to finish. The first thing I do is turn my oven on and get my rice boiling. As I am doing this I am getting my tilapia defrosted by putting it in cold water for about 15 minutes. While it is defrosting I start cooking my ground sirloin.

By the time I am done cooking my sirloin my fish is ready to put in the oven. I don't season any of my food until I eat it.



I put my fish in the oven and bake it at 350 for about 45 minutes...I cook it!!! While it is baking I am measuring out my ground sirloin and putting it in its designated containers.




I measure out every oz of my food using this nifty gadget! Super easy and very inexpensive to buy. By the time I am done measuring out my sirloin, my rice is done and I measure out my rice and put it in the designated containers also. As I continue to wait for my fish, I will steam some green veggies and have them ready to add to my food as needed for the day. I do my veggies fresh everyday but if you don't have the time to do that, you can cook them ahead of time and add them to your designated containers. My fish is done and I measure out my oz's and add it to containers and I am done!








As a mom I still have to cook for my family so I always make a casserole with my extra food. I intentionally make extra so I can do this every time. I took the extra ground sirloin, rice and green beans and made this casserole for dinner tonight. I sauteed onion, celery, and carrots and added it to the casserole. I also used pacific organic cream of mushroom soup and put some cheese on top. I will throw it in the oven tonight and bake it to warm it back up and have meals for 2 days out of this.

This is my food for the next 4 days in its designated containers. The white container has green beans in it for the day. I tend to pick one green veggie and eat it for the entire day. Today it is green beans:)

When it is time to eat, I open my container and warm it up in a fry pan. Super yummy and easy. If you are on the go, throw it in the microwave or sometimes you just have to eat it cold!

Some of the seasonings I love. Starting from the left is cinnamon I add to my oatmeal. Organic hot sauce with garlic and onion powder with parsley is delicious on my chicken and fish. Montreal steak low sodium is awesome on your beef but as you get closer to your comp this may not be an option as the sodium content is high and it also contains sunflower oil...check with your coach on this one. Sea salt and pepper make everything taste good and last is a poultry seasoning that is salt free and delicious on your chicken.

My current meals are

1. 1/2 cup oats, 6 egg whites and spinach

2. 4 oz ground sirloin and green veggie

3. 5oz tilapia and 1/2 cup rice

4. High Five Protein Shake and 1TBSP nut butter

5. 6oz of tilapia or chicken (I rotate them every 4 days to keep it exciting) and green veggie

6. 6 egg whites and spinach

Meals 1 and 6 I cook fresh every day. If I am home I make my shake into icecream and pretend I am eating cold stone...HA! If I am on the go I use a shaker cup and mix my powder with water and bring my tbsp of PB already measured out. I always measure out my PB since I am super anal and will make sure I have no more than a TBSP. I know it would be easy to pretend extra wouldn't hurt but it's all based on a formula that works so DON'T DO IT!!

When your mind is IN IT doing anything other than following your diet should be like smoking a ciggarette...NOT AN OPTION.

When it comes to show time I know without a doubt I never cheated on any of my meals. I know that I never added anything I wasn't suppose to that wasn't on my meal plan even if I think it's healthy. I'm in this to win it and if I get 10th I know that I did exactly what was required of me and I am ok with that:) Following your meal plan is critical if you want results. When your body is use to eating the same thing everyday at the same time, when a change is made your body responds and it's an amazing feeling! If this is a struggle for you let me know because I am crazy passionate about this!! I actually love my food and would love to help you if I can!!! As Victoria would say..."Eat clean train dirty!"

Other meal ideas with your extra food for your family...

a. Add your ground sirloin and veggies to a speghetti sauce and make speghetti. If you saw my post on the veggie snack container I tend you open it up and use these veggies to add to all my meals I make for my family.

b. Take extra chicken and make a chicken, rice, and brocolli casserole. Add mushrooms, onions and celery and any other veggies. Add a soup base such as cream of chicken, celery, or mushroom.

c. Take extra chicken and make a chicken curry. Take your chicken and rice and add veggies and stir fry them all together. Add curry paste of choice and can of cocount milk and chili paste and you have an awesome curry.

d. The easiest meal is always a meat, veggie, and rice and you can make a special sauce to add to it!

e. Take extra ground sirloin and make tacos!

ENJOY!

OUR NEW SNACK CONTAINER!

Tired of your kids asking for snacks constantly? I am;) Here is a great idea that I just came across from a good friend Dr. Ida Bergman! Every time the boys ask for a snack, I can send them to the snack container in the fridge! Have fun with it. My boys are SO excited that they have their very own snack container. If you can, always buy organic veggies.
Costco sells single hummus containers the boys can also help themselves to. This is a huge hit in our home. This container contains broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper, orange pepper, celery, radishes, and carrots. I took the boys with me to Whole Foods and let them pick out what they wanted in their special container. As soon as I got home, I cleaned them and cut them up. Only took me about 15 minutes. I can't even tell you how excited this makes me! Thanks for a great idea Ida...Genius!!!

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Meat, Veggie, and healthy carb choice! With summer here, take advantage of the grill. Chop of some veggies, spray with coconut oil or olive oil and wrap them up in foil and put them on the grill!
Make rice, cous cous, quinoa, into a flavorful masterpiece by adding celery, red pepper, green onion or leek, and carrot!

Saute veggies and cook rice or grains accordingly and toss it together for a flavorful creation.

Meat of choice (Halibut in picture), grilled veggies and colorful quinoa!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Ingredients: Celery, Onion, Pasta of choice (I used spinach spaghetti), Tuna, Cream of Mushroom Soup
Mix tuna and cream of mushroom soup in dish you will bake hot dish in.

Saute onion and celery in oil of choice (grape seed oil)

4 celery sticks, 1/2 red onion

When tender, add to tuna mixture.

Boil or steam and drain peas. Add to mixture.

Cook spaghetti and drain. Add to mixture.

Mix it all together and throw it in the oven covered until hot.

I tend to do everything at 350. About 30 minutes.

Another quick and easy meal!

Taco Salad

This is an easy inexpensive way to make healthy tacos!

Fixings include: Brown rice, black beans, avocado, salsa, chopped fresh spinach, tomatoes, black olives, cheese, sour cream.
Veggie and meat mixture:
1lb of ground turkey breast
2 zucchini sliced and quartered.
1 red pepper chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1 pkg of taco seasoning
In fry pan, cook 1lb of ground turkey breast. When turkey is cooked add above veggies and sautee with the turkey until veggies are tender and to your liking:). Add taco seasoning and water (follow directions on package) and simmer until ready to use.

Even pirates will eat this yummy meal!

Putting it all together is up to you! I took veggie meat mixture and added all the fixings to it and mixed it all up!

Great healthy meal and the kids will love putting it all together and making it their own!

Ginger Sesame Cabbage Salad

The dressing I used. Newmans Own makes another similar dressing. Ingredients: Red cabbage, white cabbage, tomatoes, chicken, and nut mixture. Shredded carrots would also make a great addition to this salad. Directions. Chop up red and white cabbage and place in a bowl. Cut up baked chicken and slice tomatoes and toss them in the bowl. Take a mixture of almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and chop them together and sprinkle on top. Put about a TBSP of dressing on and mix together! Super crunchy, filling, and tasty.

My absolute favorite weekly dish!

These 3 ingredients make any vegetable and chicken/seafood combination taste heavenly!! Saute up some veggies of your liking in coconut oil (Tbsp). Above ingredients are broccoli, red pepper, mushrooms, leek, chicken (already cooked). If your chicken is not prepped, cut chicken into pieces and saute in coconut oil until cooked and then add to veggie mixture.

Add can of coconut milk, and a heaping tablespoon of green curry paste and roasted red chili paste and mix together in a glass measuring cup and pour on top of vegetables and simmer until you are ready to eat! Put on top of brown rice!

Other options. Make this with scallops instead of chicken...wash and soak scallops really well and saute them in coconut oil until cooked and then add to veggie mixture.

Other veggie options: pea pods, carrots, spinach, zucchini, squash, fresh green beans

If you prep your veggies ahead of time (after getting home from the grocery store) this meal is so quick and easy. If you have a rice cooker, easier yet. If you don't have a rice cooker, you will have to plan for the time it will take to make rice. You can always make the rice ahead of time and refridgerate it until you are ready to use it.

Delicious!!