Cilantro & Lime Garlic Beef with Vegetables
My go-to food prep recipe when I am on a keto diet! You can easily change the dish by switching up the vegetables or using ground turkey instead of ground beef. Optional to add carbs to meals. Step-by-step instructions make it possible to get your meals for the week prepped in under an hour. You even have time to make your breakfast meals!
Servings 8 servings
Calories 315kcal
Equipment
- Long tupperware containers of equal size makes food prep easier! You can eyeball portions and don't have to waste time searcingh for matching lids!
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb extra lean ground beef or replace with ground turkey or chicken
- 2 tsp cilantro
- 1 tsp garlic powder or use fresh cloves
- 1/2 tsp sea salt can add more to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper optional
- 8 slices turkey bacon half package (188 g)
- 1/2 medium onion sliced
- 1 bulb fennel sliced, great for breast-feeding mothers! (helps milk production)
- 8 mushrooms optional, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 2 cups cauliflower chopped
- 2 cups sugar snap peas 1-2 cups, your choice
- 1 medium tomato fresh on the vine, chopped
- 1/2 cup peas frozen
- 2-3 fresh squeezed limes
- 11 oz fresh spinach full package (312 g)
- 1 cup part skim shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 ripe avocados sliced in halves
- coconut oil spray
Instructions
- Purchase long tupperware containers of equal size to make food prep easy!
- Cooking with fresh vegetables is recommended for taste and improved nutritional value.
- Spray coconut oil in a medium to large nonstick pan. Brown beef, seasoning with cilantro, garlic, salt and pepper, over medium heat.
- Chop and add onion, fennel and mushrooms to cook along with the beef. Beef cooks aprx 15-20 minutes.
- In a separate 2nd pan, while the beef cooks, fry turkey bacon on med/high heat.
- Chop cooked bacon & add to the beef pan, also adding the chopped fresh tomato and frozen peas.
- In the now empty 2nd frying pan, combine fresh cauliflower, snap peas, bell pepper and lime juice. Cook vegetables over medium heat until softened. Don't overcook your vegetables! Mushy veggies are not appetizing and lose nutritional value. Remember, your greens will cook again when you reheat your meal.
- By now, the beef mixture should be done. Portion out over 8 servings and place (don't lock) tupperware lids on to preserve moisture and keep safe from germs while you finish preparing vegetables.
- In the empty first pan, begin to wilt spinach, 1/4 at a time. As each batch finishes cooking, divide evenly amongst 4 of the waiting tupperware containers.
- Sprinkle mozza over the four dishes with spinach, close and refrigerate.
- Divide the cauliflower mixture evenly into the remaining four meals.
- Slice avocados and add to these four meals, cover and refrigerate.
- *You may want to let meals cool on countertop, sealed, to avoid fridge heating up, which could be hard on the appliance and cause milks and other foods to go bad sooner. Meals in fridge are good for 3 days. If freezing, do so immediately and eat within 6 months.
- *Adjust your meals to match your own diet, prepping carbs for appropriate meals and cutting back on fats if necessary (aka cheese and avocado)
- *Be sure to compost all your unused vegetable pieces please! We *heart* Earth!
Notes
Total cals per serving aprx: 315 cals; 18 g protein; 14.5 g carbs; 20 g fat (protein is higher in spinach and cheese dish) Preheat Instructions: If meals were frozen, allow to thaw before reheating. Meat can become tough if reheated from frozen. Every microwave can vary, however I find my meals reheat best when I unlock the lid but leave sitting on the tupperware while I heat just over one minute.