Meal Prep for the New Year

Hey y'all! I know that the start of the new year means many people are going to try to become better versions of themselves. Now that could mean many things to different people. For example, a "better" you may mean getting healthier, becoming more active, cultivating relationships with God/family/friends, etc. I have many things I would like to accomplish this year to better myself, and eating healthier is one of them. I have lost count on how many posts I have done where I have said I want to eat better. My version of healthy may not be your version. I consider not eating Taco Bell every other day living a healthy lifestyle LOL I want to plan my meals to prevent me from having the urge to eat fast food. I knew I really needed to make a change when I had tortilla chips and gummy worms for dinner at work last week.

I headed to Pinterest to get some inspiration. Here is a link to my Pinterest, and here is a link to a blog I found that is EVERYTHING, y'all. This lady is amazing. She gives detailed instructions on how to prepare everything (little to no pre-cooking is involved), and she also provides you with a grocery list! I don't really like leftovers for longer than a couple of days, so meal prepping for the week is hard for me. Also, I get tired of having the same thing over and over again. By freezing the meals, you get the convenience of meal prepping without the leftover taste.

I got home from work today and decided to bite the bullet and prepare the meals. I honestly had everything finished in less than an hour. The meals I prepped were chicken fajitas (2 freezer bags), spicy BBQ pulled pork (2 freezer bags), and crock pot chicken pot pie (1 freezer bag). The thought behind these meals is that you will have the main dish of the meal ready to go when you get home by cooking it in the crock pot. Then you can add any sides/extras to the meal when you're ready to eat. For example, with the chicken fajitas that I froze, I can make regular fajitas in tortillas with a side of refried beans. With the second bag I made I could do a burrito bowl with the chicken and peppers and add in Mexican cheese and rice.

Just some pointers for the whole process:
1) Get out everything you will need for each meal
2) Work on one meal at a time
3) Use ziplock freezer bags not just regular ziplock bags
4) Make sure you squeeze out as much air as possible before freezing
5) Thaw overnight in the fridge before putting food in the crockpot
6) Each freezer bag will last in the freezer for about 3 months
7) Date the freezer bags with a "use by" date

How cute are these measuring spoons?! I placed the spices next to the teaspoon amount that you will use in each recipe in the following pictures. 

Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie - This recipe calls for you to add frozen tater tots at the end.. yum! 

1/2 tsp of black pepper, salt, and celery seed

  1/4 tsp of poultry seasoning 

For this recipe, I had to make a sauce. This is the only recipe that required pre-cooking. Here is the finished product.

All of this made two freezer bags of chicken fajitas. I just cut up the chicken and peppers, sprinkled everything with juice from a lime, and added the spices. 

1 tbsp of honey and 1 tbsp of chili powder

2 tsp of ground cumin and 1 tsp paprika 

Chicken fajitas ready to go in the freezer.

Spicy Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork - For this recipe, you combine all of the ingredients then freeze. When you are ready to cook, add the contents of the freezer bag to a crock pot and a can of Dr. Pepper.

2 tbsp of brown sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of pepper

Pulled pork ready to go in the freezer.

As you can see, the recipes are very simple and straight forward. It is not complicated at all, and most of the ingredients I had on hand already. In less than an hour, I prepared five make ahead meals. I can't wait to make one and give y'all an update on if it is good or not. I don't plan on doing any more of the freezer meals until I test these out to make sure I like it. Let me know if any of you try these out! Again, these recipes are not mine. For the full recipe and grocery shopping list, click the link I listed above.

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For NYE, Tyler and I went to our friends' house. We loved getting to ring in the new year with some of our favorite people! I got to visit with my sorority sisters, friends from undergrad, Ashton's friends from law school that I came to love, and new friends from Charleston. We had a great time together! Evidently I was so consumed with hanging out with everyone that I didn't take a single picture the whole night. Okay, there is one picture on my phone from NYE that won't be making it on the blog. Tyler and I tried to take a selfie, and Lawdy was it bad! LOL Half of my face is cut out, and it is so blurry. Instead, I'll just end the blog with a picture that I stole from my friend Bree. Until next time.. Take care y'all! 

Auld Lang Syne, Y'all!

I hope everyone had a very Happy New Year! Tyler and I spent the evening in with takeout. We originally had plans to go to Cole's, a local restaurant in Lexington. I had my outfit picked out and was ready for a fun night. Unfortunately, I've been sick the last week or so, and I just didn't feel up to it. When I woke up on NYE, I felt a little better than I had been feeling the last few days. I cooked a hash brown casserole for brunch, did my Bible study, went to get my nails done, and picked up a few things at the grocery store. I think going from not getting out of the bed for 3 days to being out and about for 4 hours put me down for the count. When I got home, I was nauseous, exhausted, and just didn't feel like squeezing into my fringe skirt and sky high heels LOL Tyler picked up some food, and we watched football until it was almost midnight. It wasn't what we had initially planned, but it was still a great way to ring in the new year! 

When Tyler and I stayed at The Biltmore, we had a delicious hash brown casserole there, and I have been trying to find the recipe ever since. I stumbled upon this on Pinterest, and it seemed pretty similar to what we had there. I made it, and it was awesome! Super easy too! Click here for the link to the recipe I used.

My new journal from my grandmother that I've been using for the Seamless Bible Study

My nails for New Year's Eve

My adorable parents sent me this selfie before their NYE celebrations, so...

...I sent this one back to them of me on the couch LOL

Today I cooked a "good fortune" meal for Ty and his parents. My family always makes cabbage rolls on New Year's Day, but Tyler and I don't really like cabbage rolls. I decided I would start a new tradition for us and make Hoppin' John - a southern dish prepared to ring in the new year. I found several variations of this recipe on Pinterest, but I tweaked it to be something Ty and I would enjoy.

The dish is a combination of bacon, kielbasa, green pepper, jalapeños, cajun seasoning, black eyed peas, and rice cooked in chicken stock. It was so good! Ty added some tabasco sauce to his to kick it up a notch. I also made some greens and corn bread muffins. I had a time finding a can of black eyed peas in Lexington. Our local Kroger was completely sold out, and Tyler went this morning to Meijer and bought the last two cans they had. It was our lucky day! I looked up the tradition of having this meal on New Year's Day, and I found that black eyed peas are consumed for luck, the greens represent money, and the golden cornbread represents gold. We covered all the bases with our meal LOL The bowls I have the food in were a gift from my little Ashton. They are Kate Spade, and I LOVE them! 

Hoppin' John

Greens

Corn Bread Muffins

After we ate, we relaxed for awhile. Then Tyler wanted to go to the gym. That's fine and all, but the problem was he wanted me to go with him. We compromised and took a walk in our neighborhood. We jogged on the way back, and Tyler said I can now say I have gone for a run every day this year LOL

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2015 was a truly spectacular year for me. So many wonderful memories were made. At the top of that list is becoming Mrs. Courtney Adkins! Here are a few of my favorite moments of 2015. I can't wait to see what 2016 has in store!

Valentines Day at Castle Post

Kentucky Basketball Game for Ty's Birthday

Seeing my sister perform as an Alpha Xi at Greek Sing 

Pinning ceremony at MUSOP

Annual trip to The Omni Homestead

Celebrating Bree and Heath's wedding

Bachelorette party at Glade Springs and Daniel Vineyards

Bridal Shower

Wedding Rehearsal

Walking down the aisle 

My bunch on our wedding day.

Private dinner on our honeymoon in Jamaica 

Go Herd!

Labor Day cookout with family and friends

Celebrating my 26th birthday

Lauren's Bridal Shower

Lauren's Wedding

New car!

Tyler being recognized as a "Rising Star"

Dinner at Tony's

Wine and Design with my favorite girls

First married Christmas!

I became an aunt! Meet the adorable Bo Duncan.

As you can see, I had an awesome year. I'm going to wrap this post up with the absolutely precious picture of baby Bo. I will always remember he was in Taylor's tummy at my wedding. I can't get over that jaw line, and I am so glad he has dimples! I love him so much, and I haven't even met him yet (stupid cold!) I'll be going home soon to visit with family and friends and to finally meet that sweet boy! I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, and I pray for peace and blessings for you all in the upcoming year! Until next time.. Take care y'all!