Skinnytaste Meal Prep – by Gina Homolka
Gina Homolka has still got it! Her newest book Skinnytaste Meal Prep is as good or better than her other three cookbooks. I love that after owning and cooking from ALL of Gina’s cookbooks as much I do – you have a level of trust with the recipes that isn’t there when you are cooking from someone’s book for the first time. She shares only tried and true recipes that are delicious and filled with healthy, easy to find ingredients. She gives instructions that are easy to understand and are not overly complicated. And the results – well they speak for themselves.
I absolutely LOVED the Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Sheet Pan Pancakes. These are so great for so many reasons. First is the fact that you can make a sheet pan full of pancakes all at once rather than individual pancakes. Second, adding the lemon to the blueberries puts these babies in a whole other pancake category. If I had to come up with a name, I would say Lemon Cake Pancakes. They are so simple and are great for a crowd.
Another HUGE HIT was the Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Rice Bowls. I think my family could eat this every week because it is OVER THE TOP DELICIOUS and the leftovers are perfect for lunch. I LOVE that this recipe does not use canned enchilada sauce. I was skeptical about the taste of a “make your own enchilada sauce” but the flavors blew me away. DO NOT SKIP the chipotle chilis in adobo sauce. They sound complicated, but they are easy to find in any grocery store in the taco/ salsa section and really make this dish special.
The Slow Cooker Barbeque Brisket was delicious, and it was my inauguration into cooking this cut of meat. Gina’s recipes are good, in fact they are better than good and always taste amazing. I COMPLETELY TRUST that her recipes turn out because they have EVERY time. That’s why I didn’t even flinch when I put a $30 piece of meat into a slow cooker. What can I say- she called it! (AGAIN) The brisket was flavorful, tender and juicy- all the things you want in a piece of meat.
For my last recipe share I picked from the Hearty Salad’s section of the book. This salad is hearty, healthy and has,oh so much flavor. This salad is a combination of chickpeas, cucumber, green pepper (I usually substitute for red, yellow or orange) grape tomatoes, olives, onions and feta cheese. It contains no lettuce and is topped with a fresh herby lemon vinaigrette.
I guarantee that you will fall in love with these flavorful recipes and colorful photos that fill this book. Better yet, most of these recipes can be made ahead of time or made in a slow cooker or instantpot. She even has a whole section on make and freeze options, all of which make it easy to put dinner on the table during busy weeknights. Pick up a copy of this book and check out the chart below to see my favorites.
| Recipe | Category | Rating | Page | Difficulty | Notes |
| Pina Colada Yogurt Bowl | Breakfast | 9 | 35 | super easy | Would be better with fresh pineapple. Needs a bit more sweetness suggest vanilla yogurt or sweetened coconut. |
| Chickpea, Spinach & Tomato Curry | F.F. Vegetarian | 8 | 173 | easy | Added extra spinach |
| White Bean Chili | F.F. meat & Seafood | 8 | 213 | super easy | Not a lot of ingredients easy due to spice packets. |
| Greek Chickpea Salad | Hearty salads | 10 | 78 | easy | Great side dish. I have made it multiple times. |
| Quinoa Fiesta Salad | Hearty salads | 6 | 89 | easy | Makes a large portion |
| Greek Yogurt Raspberry Loaf | Breakfast | 9 | 63 | medium | Family loved this will definitely make again. |
| Chicken Orzo Soup with Dill | Soup | 7 | 210 | medium | Used whole wheat orzo would use regular next time. |
| Stuffed Chicken Parmesan with Asparagus | mix & match bowls | 8 | 114 | easy | good but not over the top impressive |
| Sausage Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches | Breakfast | 8 | 51 | easy | Super easy and healthy breakfast. Great make ahead |
| PBJ Cookies | Snacks | 6 | 153 | easy | Good way to use old bananas – healthy / no sugar |
| Winter Roasted Vegetable Bowl | mix & match bowls | 10 | 134 | easy | Takes a bit of time / several steps |
| Italian Sausage and Ricotta Frittata | Breakfast | 8 | 55 | easy | Suggest using pre cooked chicken sausage to speed up process. |
| Slow Cooker BBQ Brisket | Meat & Seafood | 9 | 237 | easy | Surprised that brisket in a crock pot tasted so good. |
| Black Bean Butternut Enchilada bake | FF Vegetarian | 7 | 185 | medium | Great vegetarian dish. |
| Italian Marinade | FF Meat and seafood | 8 | 194 | easy | Used on chicken – all pantry items |
| Freezer to Instapot Cream of Chicken Wild Rice Soup | FF Meat and seafood | 8 | 201 | easy | Love how flexible this recipe is. Used it after Thanksgiving with leftover turkey and it was amazing |
| Eggplant Parmesan | FF Vegetarian | 8 | 1 | medium | Even people who don’t like eggplant – liked it. Will try again could be a 10 I had a few problems with my eggplants. |
| Lentil Soup w/ Bacon | FF Meat and Seafood | 9 | 241 | easy | Great flavor – needed more broth or less lentils. |
| Baked Spinach Stuffed Shells | FF Vegetarian | 7 | 170 | Medium A bit of work when making Ponodorosauce | Good – very similar to my standard stuffed shell recipe – I used the whole amount of the pondoro sauce – not 3 cups |
| Pondoro Sauce | FF Vegetarian | 7 | 294 | easy | A lot of carrots – did seem lighter than my standard sauce less oil & no wine. |
| Chili – Lime Chicken & Black Bean Bowl | Mix & match Bowls | 8 | 110 | easy | Easy to prep and put dinner together quickly. |
| Chicken & Chickpea Stew | FF | 5 | 209 | easy | Healthy |
