Butcher Box

Today was an off day! So, I gave myself a little break and slept in but the first big thing I did was this run. I pumped up the speed in the end and it felt great. My muscles felt like they did some work but I was fine to do some chores after. Cue some meal prep!

Butcher Box and Misfit Market were my inspiration for dinner. Above is a serloin cap steak searing in a cast iron pan with some salt, pepper, garlic, and red chili pepper.

I was searing the steak while the oven heated to about 400F. I tossed in some whole garlic cloves, dried rosemary (I’m too broke for fresh) and unsalted butter (because there’s already salt there) and basted like all those fun Tiktoks you see.

This was after 25 minutes in the oven then I took it out to rest while I did the veggies.

Like I said before, the vegetables from Misfit Market need to be used right away. My delivery was today so, I tossed the brocolli rabe and regular broccoli in the pan and cooked them on the stove.

Steamy, right? I sliced up the meat while the veggies cooked and this was the final stage before plating.

I made myself a small bowl and put the rest in a container for lunch tomorrow. This was so savory and comforting. I did the veggies just long enough so that they retained the crunch that I like, even if I have to reheat them another day.

This was the perfect dinner for a day I do a run. I had just a salad with tuna for lunch before this; super light and easy to make.

I dunno the science behind protein before or after a run but since I don’t really do breakfast (I have gummy vitamins and coffee) it’s usual for me to have food after a run when I’m off for a day and run first thing in the morning. Also, this wasn’t a huge meal prep day. This was more of a big dinner that fed me and the teenager (no clue if they even like this…) tonight with some leftovers for me to use the next day. The amount of food I used wasn’t suited for a week’s worth of food unless I cooked it all in a different way. I had fun cooking this and is totally a meal I’d only make if I had time. This isn’t something to throw in the oven after work and eat while still giving me enough time to workout, do one of the three side hustles I have, get the dishes in the dishwasher, and get to bed at a decent hour.

But the last bit of meal prep I did was a huge hit with the teenager; who demanded I make that more often. Hey, cabbage is cheap. I’ll make that whenever.

Just, in case anyone hears my kid saying I don’t know anything; I had to teach them to put lettuce on the bottom bread before you put the juicy chicken and coleslaw on top to make sure you don’t have a soggy sandwich. This is to the kid who also said they hated sandwiches…

Parenting is a journey, let me tell ya.

I do plan to post an example of how I cook my lunches at work soon!

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I started getting Misfit Market to save some money on vegetables but I have noticed that I end up with stuff that still goes bad too quickly. So, I decided to get creative.

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I got a bag of potatoes that there was no way I was going to use up by eating a baked potato with dinner every so often. I figured making chips was the best way to use up the whole bag and satisfy my regular cravings for salty crunchy things. Only drawback is I underestimated how salty Trader Joe’s Cheesy Seasoning was on it’s own and added too much salt. The chips are still good but I know anyone but me probably wouldn’t be able to tolerate them. I combined the cheesy seasoning with garlic powder as well. Awesome combination, in my opinion.

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I also got cabbage and the first box I had with cabbage in it I kept with all the good intentions of using it but I hadda toss it. This time, I chopped up half of the red and white head of cabbage, sliced up one red and one white onion, seasoned it with (a reasonable amount of) salt and pepper, a dash of onion salt, some cilantro, and lime juice. I let it sit for awhile as I prepped the chicken thighs.

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The chicken was from Butcher Box (so I had a lot of this as well) and was marinated in lemon juice, rosemary, garlic salt, pepper, and paprika. I probably should have done it overnight but it was just for 5-6 hours or so. I led them keep marinating while I made the chips and when the chips were done, I just fried them in the same oil. Not the healthiest way to cook them but I wanted to get all the use I could out of that oil.

The warm chicken and cold cabbage were surprisingly refreshing! I would totally make this again for a lighter dinner than pasta or chili. And it gave me plenty of leftovers to pack for lunch today.

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I reheated the chicken on the top of the container in the microwave for one minute to keep the other ingredients cold. All together, this lunch is about 390 calories and is really filling. And in that picture, you can see how over salted some of those chips are. Luckily, there’s a decent balance of too much and just fine and since there was so much seasoning on the chips, the rest of the meal didn’t need it.

And heck, it’s pretty to look at!

Most of the time, I bring in ingredients to cook at work. The next time I do that I’ll post about it but it’s meals like this that come in handy when I don’t want to or can’t spend half of my lunch break cooking the food. This was quick and tasty. Absolutely gonna make this again.

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