Newfoundland Meal Prep--TexMex Chicken Bowls

Why all the meal prep for long RV trips?  We have three reasons: 1) eating healthy, keeping an eye on our expenses, and preparing quick meals, so we don't cut into adventuring time.  I mention the quick meals because we take shortcuts! At home I cook with dried beans--on the road--canned. I also don't do much any baking on the road.  I find myself watching the timer and thinking about what I'm missing while I'm waiting.

Maybe when we retire the timer won't have as much power over us, but for now, it's about quick meals so we can catch a sunset or a ranger program.

One of my shortcuts (don't judge me!) is 'boil-in-bag' type grains to make bowl meals.  There are several different brands of these available in local grocery stores. Trader Joe's has some great options too.  I usually get "Success" brand--it's non-GMO (thank you Vermont for being first in the nation to ban GMO products) and available in several varieties of white rice, brown rice, and quinoa.  In 10 minutes we have brown rice, and a pot that doesn't need to be cleaned! That totally works in our little RV galley.

Oh and did I mention, one box of Success Boil-in-Bag brown rice contains four 2-serving bags. Think Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Thai...

Here's a TexMex Chicken Bowl I prepped for our trip.

TexMex Chicken Prep

3 chicken breasts
3 small cans of tomato sauce (no sugar added)
3 Tablespoons taco seasoning
Hot sauce (optional)

Heat a medium sized skillet with a tsp of olive oil.  Brown chicken breasts (about 4 minutes per side).  Add 3 cans of tomato sauce and taco seasoning.  Simmer until chicken is heated through (about 20 minutes).  Remove from heat, cool, and shred chicken.  Divide chicken into three freezer ziplock bags to prep for three meals, and place flat in freezer.

Note: You can make this with chicken and a jar of salsa, but the day I made it, I only had tomato sauce in the house. A can of Rotel tomatoes and peppers would work well too.  Vegetarian?  Black beans heated with a can of Rotel and some taco seasoning is yummy.

TexMex Bowl

Ingredients
1 bag of defrosted TexMex Chicken
1 bag of 'boil-in-bag' brown rice
cilantro, 5 or 6 sprigs of fresh
1 lime, cut in quarters
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Other toppings--avocado, tomatoes, corn, sour cream, broken corn chips

Prep The Meal
1.  Boil the rice, split between 2 bowls and stir in a little chopped cilantro for flavor.
2.  Reheat chicken adding a little water in a foil lined small skillet.
3.  While chicken is heating, make chimichurri in a small bowl by combining minced jalapeno,  a tablespoon olive oil,  the rest of the chopped cilantro, and juice from half a lime. Set aside.
4.  Add chimichurri on top of rice, then the warm chicken, top with whatever else you have--Monterrey Jack or cotija cheese, avocado slices, tomato... have any sour cream or corn--toss that in too...and squeeze remaining lime over the top.

Rosie would honestly rather have a restaurant doggie bag, because there are usually more leftovers.  But a little chicken and rice to top off her kibble is always a good thing.