meal prep Archives - Sprinkle of Country

With grocery shelves being a little more empty and the weather not cooperating with grilling it’s time be be a little more creative with meal prep! This week I was thankful to be able to find some locally sourced chicken from Miller Poultry at our grocery store. Although ideally I would have likely grilled my chicken for meal prep, the weather wasn’t exactly cooperative on my day off. So it was time to come up with an alternative plan. I took some of the concepts from a recipe I made a few weeks ago to make this easy stove top grilled chicken for my meal prep this week. It reminds me of grilled chicken when you order from some of our local bar & grill locations.

Preparation Of Easy Stove Top Grilled Chicken

Since I was only able to find larger chicken breasts this week, I chose to butterfly and cut my chicken breasts in half. This gives me approximately 4 oz pieces of chicken similar to chicken breast tenderloin pieces.

To begin preparation for your chicken place the chicken in a single layer in a large Ziploc bag. Use a meat tenderizer to pound the meat to be of equal thickness. Pound the meat to be approx 1/4-1/2″ thick.

Using a meat tenderizer to pound the meat to the desired thickness.

Set your chicken aside.

Turn the burner on med-high and place your cast iron skillet or cast iron griddle over the burner. Pour the vegetable oil on the skillet or griddle and let the oil warm up with the skillet or griddle.

You will know the oil is hot enough to cook once it is slightly bubbling and bubbles a lot when it is sprinkled with cold water.

Cooking

Place your chicken breasts on your hot griddle or in your skillet. Then season your chicken breasts to your liking. I used salt, pepper and a garlic and herb seasoning. Lemon pepper seasoning is also great! I prefer the seasonings that are similar to Mrs. Dash so I can control the amount of salt, but you can also use traditional onion or garlic powder, seasoned salt and pepper.

Let your chicken breasts cook for approx 5-6 minutes on this side, try not to move them around too much. This will help you to get a good golden brown sear on your chicken.

Then flip your chicken and season the other side. Cook for approx 5-6 minutes again. Flip one more time for 1-2 more minutes to complete searing.

Verify your chicken is at a safe temperature to eat which for poultry is 165° Fahrenheit.

Once your chicken is done cooking either serve immediately or package for meal prep. Our easy stove top grilled chicken pairs great with our slow cooker mac and cheese and our Red Hot applesauce or a nice side salad!

Ingredients

1 lb chicken breasts butterflied or chicken breast tenderloins

4 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

2 tsp Garlic and Herb Seasoning or seasoning of choice

Easy Stove Top Grilled Chicken

Perfect for an easy dinner or meal prep.

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 14 mins

Total Time 19 mins

Servings 4 servings

Equipment

Cast iron skillet or griddle

Ingredients

1 lb Chicken Breasts, Butterflied or Chicken Breast Tenderloins
4 tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
2 tsp Garlic and Herb Seasoning Or Seasoning Of Choice

Instructions

Start with placing your chicken in a large Ziploc bag.
Use a meat tenderizer to pound the meat until it is ¼-½" thick.
Set meat aside while you prepare the skillet or griddle.
Place your skillet or griddle on the stove top over medium-high heat.
Pour the oil evenly over the skillet or griddle.
Wait for the oil to heat up, the oil will slightly bubble and will bubble a lot when splattered with cold water.
Place your chicken in the skillet or on the griddle.
Then season your chicken with ½ of the salt, pepper and seasoning of your choice.
Cook for 5-6 minutes, flip the chicken.
Season the other side of the chicken with the remaining seasonings.
Cook for 5-6 minutes. Flip the chicken over again and sear for 1-2 minutes.
Verify your chicken is cooked through. It should be 165° F prior to eating.
Enjoy!

Growing up on a dairy farm with a working mom easy meals were our go to dinners! This slow cooker shepherd’s pie is a variation of my dad’s favorite dinner. We called it Dad’s Casserole for a majority of my childhood. Although we normally made this dish in the oven, I have found throwing it all in a slow cooker is a nice way to set it and forget it. Which if you haven’t noticed is one of my favorite things about slow cooker recipes!

Changing regular recipes into easy slow cooker or instant pot recipes has become one of my favorite things. With the time constraints of being a working mom, using a slow cooker or instant in the kitchen saves so much time and make life easier when it comes to meal preparation. Check out our slow cooker chicken and noodles and slow cooker mac and cheese for easy slow cooker recipes. Also check out our instant pot broccoli and cheese and cheese vegetable soup recipes for other ideas on good family friendly meals!

Preparation

Start with browning your ground beef. You can do this either on the stove or in the microwave in a steamable container. I prefer the microwave method to avoid the mess on my stove top. Then make the base layer of your slow cooker shepherd’s pie by combining the cream of chicken soup and green beans. Mix in your onion powder, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and pepper. Continue by setting this aside and starting to make your mashed potatoes next!

Mix browned ground beef, cream of chicken, green beans and spices together for the base layer.

To make my mashed potatoes, I used 6 medium potatoes. Begin my boiling then and mashing them with the butter and milk. You can either use real mashed potatoes which I did this time or instant mashed potatoes depending on what you have on hand. Either will turn out fine in your casserole! I would suggest to use 8 servings of instant mashed potatoes if you choose to go this direction.

Now your ready to use your crock pot, I suggest using a medium sized crock pot similar to this one. I also prefer to have all my crock pots with locking lids so in case I do travel with them there is no worry of anything spilling in the vehicle!

Next, spray your crock pot with oil to prevent the casserole from sticking. Then begin the laying process by pouring in the beef mixture and topping with all the mashed potatoes. To finish with the preparation of your slow cooker shepherd’s pie, cover the mashed potatoes with the shredded cheese.

Layer beef and green bean mixture, mashed potatoes and then top with cheese

Cooking and Serving

Cook your easy slow cooker shepherd’s pie for 6 hours on low. You will see some of the cream of chicken soup boiling up along the sides when it is done and the cheese starting to turn slightly brown. Since this casserole includes the vegetables you can serve your shepherd’s pie with a side of fruit or rolls. This recipe also makes an easy meal prep recipe and the left overs are great for lunches the next day.

Variations of Shepherd’s Pie

You will see many variations of shepherd’s pie if you search the web. I have tried several variations of this recipe myself. You can substitute the cream of chicken for cream of mushroom if you enjoy the taste. Feel free to add in other vegetables along with the green beans, in the past I have added carrots, peas and corn.

Meal Prep Dishes for Slow Cooker Shepherds Pie

Ingredients

1 lb Ground Beef, Browned

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

2 Cans Green Beans

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1/2 tsp pepper

6 Medium Russet Potatoes

1/4 Cup Butter

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Shredded Colby Jack Cheese