Not a Fan of Tempeh:
This week, I bought new meal prep containers and found a bunch of old containers in the back of my cabinet. I used the variety of containers to pack a variety of foods, and I am glad I did. This allowed me to pack more than just the usual main dish and two sides. Being able to pack a couple of salads allows me to have more variety so I’m not struggling to eat the same thing every day, and it doesn’t take a whole lot of extra time to throw together a few salads and some snack containers. For breakfast, I made ten Bacon And Egg Cups With Avocado (not pictured), lunch was eight Sesame Tempeh Bowls/, and five salads with mixed greens berries, goat cheese, and, and fat-free poppysead dressings. I made a five snack boxes with veggies and ranch dip, and five boxes with pretzel crisps and hummus. All together, this should have been enough food to feed myself and any meals or snacks my kids may have wanted to eat, and it was all very quick to make compaired to some of my past meal preps. Most of it is still in my fridge. The Pretzel crisp boxes went quick, but I cannot eat the Sesame Tempeh Bowls. However, the salads are delicious and would be even better with a few pieces of grilled chicken.
How I F*d up:
Tempeh is gross. Maybe some people like it, but it is just not my cup of tea. I didn’t know what it was, but thought I’d give it a try. Never again. This recipe also did not use nearly enough sauce. That wasn’t so much my mistake, as I followed the instructions exactly, but I noticed when I put it all together it didn’t have a whole lof of sauce. I should have taken a few minutes to make some more sauce. The tempeh had a decent coating of sauce on it, but there was no sauce to spread around on the rice or broccoli. Since the broccoli is simply tossed into the bowls as is, without sauce, it is super bland. Also, I do not think that jasmine rice reheats very well. It becomes a bit crumbly and has a weird texture. More sauce would have potentially covered this up, but without enough sauce, it was just plain, weird textured leftover rice.
The bacon and egg cups with avocados have a lot of potential, but I did not follow instructions. I had this brilliant idea to make them in 4 oz jars instead of a muffin tin, so I could just put a lid on them to take them to work. This did not work as I’d hoped. I even asked the creator of the recipe about trying it in a jar and was advised to cook the bacon first. I did not do that. I should have done that. I was trying to save time, as I always do, and just shoved entire thick slices of bacon into the bottom of the jar and stuck them into the oven. This is when I realized it is supposed to be a thin layer of bacon at the bottom. The bacon did not crisp up, but the jars did fill up with bacon grease. I shrugged it off, drained the grease, and topped the bacon with the avocado mixture and raw egg, and baked for the recommended time. The next morning, when trying to eat one, I realized I had a giant squishy piece of bacon covered in goo. I will be trying this recipe again, following proper instructions.
Suggestions for Improvement:
Next time, I’ll go with a traditional sesame chicken. I liked using homemade sauce, as It was quick and easy to make, using ingredients I already had in my pantry. Next time, I will use real chicken and make a lot more sauce. I also prefer basmati over jasmine and I think it reheats better. As for the broccoli, using fresh broccoli, oven roasted with salt, pepper, and olive oil, instead of frozen, will give it a better texture and more flavor, if it doesn’t have any sauce on it.
I am definitely going to try the bacon and egg cups again, but will be following the instructions. I also still have a few other ideas for it involving the sous vide. I want to try pre-cooking the bacon in the oven and layering it on the bottom of the jar, then topping with the avocado and egg, and putting it the sous vide. Or layering the bottom of the jar with the avocado, blending the eggs until smooth and pouring into the jars, then topping with cooked bacon crumbles, and cooking in the sous vide. I am going to try these different methods and record my findings later.
How I F*d Up 