Meal Prepping - Ground Turkey, Rice and Corn

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Healthy Made Easy.

Well, that also depends on who you ask about what "healthy" really is.. But for me, and the past five years of my life where I've been eating so much fast food it's laughable, this IS healthy for me.. I've been trying to eat clean for the most part, and having already prepared foods ready to go at my disposal when I need them is FABULOUS. It keeps me on track, and takes the guess work out of my meals, generally for the next four days when I "meal prep". 

My husband works long, weird hours, so our eating schedules are NOT in tune with each other. Meal prepping has also allowed me the ability to make a home cooked meal that both my husband and I can enjoy when it's convenient for us.

Another awesome thing, Grayson will eat the stuff that I prep, as well! This helps out tremendously, and lets me know that he's eating good, healthy, CLEAN food (for the most part) and that I don't have to worry about any allergic reactions! Yay! =D

The meal I'm going to share with you today is just a concoction I like to eat..

(Most of these AREN'T recipes, but more of assembling and pairing options.. Clean eating is actually really easy as far as preparing food is concerned.)

Here are the ingredients that I used:

1lb Ground Turkey

1 cup dried organic long grain brown rice

1 can whole kernel corn (or vegetable(s) of your choice)

That's it. Super easy.

Brown the turkey on medium low (I find that temperature helps to keep it more moist). 

Cook the rice (don't forget that brown rice takes a little more tweaking than white rice, at least it did for me.. I end up adding about 1/8 of a cup more of water..).

No need to cook or heat the corn, unless you are eating part of it right after you make it.

I drain the corn, if that was a question in anyone's mind.. When I put it into containers, I layer it: turkey on the bottom, rice in the middle, and vegetables on the top. When reheating, I add a teaspoon or so of water to it, and then heat it. It adds a little moisture to everything, especially the turkey. 

I do season the turkey while I cook it with just simple salt and pepper. And when I eat it, I sometimes will add a small amount of soy sauce to it, although I generally don't because it's delicious as it is.

This is one of my favorite meals in general, not just favorite healthy meals. 

Generally, I can get three or four meals out of the whole pound of meat, but out of all of the ingredients I listed up there, I got two meals into containers as shown above, my dinner for tonight, as well as my son's dinner for tonight as well. 

When meal prepping, it's important that you pay attention to the expiration dates of everything. When combining everything in a single container like this, it's important to note that the ENTIRE meal now is only good until the earliest spoiling food.. In this case, brown rice. Surprisingly, brown rice only lasts COOKED in the fridge for 4-5 days, where as ground turkey will last COOKED in the fridge for up to 7 days. 

I, myself, won't eat any food "prepped" meals that have been in the fridge longer than 4 days. 4 days is my cut off. However, if the foods are all separated, then I will go to the actual recommended time limit. That's just my own preference, you may feel more comfortable with the recommended time frame. 

This is a really easy combination that I love to eat, and that I use to food prep all of the time. I'm no expert in the matter, but from the research that I've done, it's perfectly safe to cook, put into the fridge, and reheat all of this, even together, as long as it's put into storage and into the fridge right away, and not in the "danger zone" for too long. =)

I hope this helps you! I will have some more "recipes" up for you soon. Thanks for reading!!

Also! DON'T HEAT ANYTHING IN PLASTIC!!! Put it into a glass or non-plastic container when putting food in the microwave! (Plastic releases chemicals when heated! Look it up!)

Much love,

Ashley