I didn’t actually set up a meal plan last week. Between work and school things just got a little crazy and I wound up flying by the seat of my pants more than I’d like to admit. I still got in a few good Crockpot meals though, and I did some experimenting for lunches when the kids were napping. All in all we kept this week pretty healthy! 🙂

This week I tried to make cauliflower rice in the Crockpot, and I’d say it was kind of a success, but not completely. For anyone who’s never made cauliflower rice, it involves a ton of chopping and food processing, and it’s a pain (not to mention that it gets those tiny pieces of cauliflower EVERYWHERE). I found a recipe that basically involved chopping off the stems and throwing the cauliflower in the Crockpot and it was so simple I just had to try it. I think the recipe I had used too much liquid, because it came out a little more like mashed potatoes than rice, and I wasn’t super happy with the flavor. It wasn’t a total loss though, because I was able to use it as a base in several recipes, and I found that as long as it spent some time in the frying pan to crisp up a little bit (and got some additional seasoning) it worked really well. I’ll try this a few different ways before I give out a recipe on it, but it was definitely worth having a pre-cooked recipe starter even if it wasn’t great on its own.

It went great mixed with eggs, onions and goat cheese on Sunday…

And then reappeared yesterday with onions, goat cheese, and a Portobello mushroom burger. I think the goat cheese really made a huge difference, but it was best with the eggs. I also used it instead of rice with Catalina chicken (one of my super simple standby meals) and it was really good. Micah even ate some with the eggs, although he and Jonah both spit it out when it was plain. Such picky little kiddos! 😛

This was one of my favorite Crockpot meals, and probably the easiest thing I made all week. I put some chicken, pasta sauce, and spices in a Crockpot, then cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and threw them in the Crockpot (cut side up) with a little olive oil and spices, and let it cook all day. I used this recipe as inspiration but made some changes to the spices and didn’t use the balsamic vinegar. I also didn’t throw the chicken in the broiler at the end, I just topped everything with cheese for the last hour and let it get all melty without the extra effort. Simplicity trumps gourmet for me and no one seemed to complain.

Of course there were a couple of days where I kept it simple and made burgers, but a few bags of veggies from Winco made it super easy to have a healthy side dish. Roasted Brussels sprouts are amazing!

I’m hoping to have time to try making my own black bean burgers this week. If I’m successful, that’s just one more healthy option I can freeze in bulk. 🙂

It feels so good to be getting in the healthy eating groove again. It hasn’t been this easy to make good food choices on a consistent basis since before I got pregnant the first time, and I’m loving it!

What have you been eating this week? 

What is your favorite Crockpot or simple standby meal?