I think I am onto something. The other night I had a bit of a palm on forehead moment when trying to get a quick dinner for myself, walk the dog, and leave something for DH to reheat when he got home, and get to Trivia before 7:00. I knew we had taco meat and a bit of cheese, tacos of course. But, I found we had no tortillas, no lettuce or greens, and really just a few sprinkles of cheese. I did have the last of my basmati rice, perhaps a cup, a can of tomatoes, black beans, and corn and thought why not just cook them all (zap in microwave except for rice), and make a burrito bowl? Why had I not thought of this before? I could put my dinner in a sealed container to eat at Trivia; DH could assemble how he wanted once home, and it left us with two abundant lunches worth of leftovers. I can't imagine that the whole dish came to even $5.00. I rinsed the corn and beans to reduce some of the salt. Loaded with protein, it was filling without being overly heavy like a burrito sometimes can be. It sort of looked like this, but picture is from showmetheyummy.com.
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| https://showmetheyummy.com/chicken-burrito-bowl-recipe/ |
I'm having the last of it for my lunch today. DH made the bacon wrapped pork fillets last night. He did a mini rogue shop, and bought sour cream and onion potatoes (despite last week buying two 5 pound bags of russets), chicken tenders, and things I don't even recall. He made loads of potatoes because he wanted leftovers to eat with the chicken tenders. It seems the burrito bowl inspired him to think of the KFC bowls, where there are potatoes, chicken, vegetables, and topped with gravy. If it gets him coming home for lunch more often, great. Still, the salt worries me, so if he likes this, I think I'll make up mashed potatoes from real potatoes and freeze in portions that he can microwave while his tenders cook. He does get the chicken tenders that have low salt.
I get tired of the same old things for lunches. We can easily assemble the stuff for either of these bowls on the fly, adding a little more variety without breaking the lunch bank. For me, the portability factor is great as the entire meal is contained in one dish and easily fits in my lunch bag between two freeze packs. I can heat and eat during a working lunch meeting, with no mess. I think this idea could work to upcycle ramen by using a block with 1/2 the seasoning packet (I drain the liquid after cooking), topped with a handful or two of frozen mixed vegetables, leftover chicken, pork, beef etc cut in pieces, sprinkled with some soy, sweet and sour, sesame, or whatever seasonings or sauces I might have on hand. I could throw the lid on and go. I've been less successful on meal prep and storage for multiple days, but this method seems to work quite well. If you have other ideas for one bowl lunches, let me know.
That sounds great. I pretty much eat any of our protein leftovers on a salad, thus creating a salad based bowl. I try not to eat too many carbs, although sometimes a very small amount of beans or rice make there way onto my bowl at work.
ReplyDeleteWe like carnitas as the topping to a similar bowl as you've described. We also batch prep grilled chicken, and keep that on hand for a bowl. I've tried a few egg roll in a bowl & taco slaw in a bowl recipes that would both fit the bill for you. The egg roll in particular has a very different flavor & is great for leftovers.
Anne has posted about deconstructed egg rolls-I bet that would be delicious as a bowl. thanks for these great ideas. I did a little googling of "bowls" and there is a whole world of ideas.
DeleteI eat lots of salads with added protein like chicken, tuna, cooked beans, eggs. I add capers, peppers, tomatoes, cheese, anything I have available to the salad greens to construct the base. When there is enough protein, the salad keeps me full and I enjoy the taste. Never get tired of these.
ReplyDeleteI really should do more salads, but feel like I would have to keep the greens separate, which is the ease of these meals. Maybe salad and everything else together would work for me.
DeleteI keep the salad separate until the end. I prep a large bag of salad & then add in what I'd like to the bowl + the rest of the toppings.
DeleteI used to cook up all my leftover meat into fried rice type meals--basically pepper, carrots, onions (or whatever we had on hand) sautéed, add an egg and leftover meat and seasonings, serve over rice. That would be the repeat of say, a roast chicken, then the leftovers of that would be my lunch at work. I used to call this a "threepeat."
ReplyDeleteMy youngest was my fried rice lover. Can't beat a threepeat.
DeleteThe only thing I might add to your bowl is sliced black olives (personal taste) lol. Sounds perfect. Hubby doesn't really do beans (hard on his IBS) very often but I love this idea for me.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I did have about 1/2 dozen black olives left from something else that I did throw in the bowl I brought to trivia. Yum-my favorites as well. Sadly, no more were left for today lunch.
DeleteThe three of us could definitely eat lunch together, because black olives MAKE a taco bowl! It's my favorite part of eating lunch at work. They have olives for the salads. Sadly, they also have homemade tortilla chips, which are my kryptonite
DeleteI now if I had access to a salad bar everyday, I would eat so much better. My youngest doesn't realize right now what a gift that part of her dining hall is-and there seems to be olives there when I have eaten with her.
DeleteYour bowl looks fantastic! I actually think you could add a mix of just about any leftover bit and bobs into a tasty bowl. I might start scouring the fridge to throw together a bowl lunch just to see what I can come up with. That being said, a keto bowl would almost always have cauliflower as the main ingredient.
ReplyDeleteI guess I didn't think of any leftovers n this manner but absolutely. I no longer am going to say I'm bringing leftovers, but trying a new bowl lunch. It' all in the mind set.
DeleteI have been eating bowl meals long before they became a thing. I thought it was silly and lazy. How was I to know they would become trendy?
ReplyDeleteI guess you were the original trend setter. Restaurants get big bucks for "bowls".
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