The Koep House

*This meal prep is much easier with a partner who grills*

—Take your groceries (see image below), and pull out all things.

*First things first, we start stove top chili because it needs to simmer a while.*

◦ Brown the turkey burger, be sure to add seasonings (my favorite is Montreal Steak seasoning)

◦ Add cans of tomatoes and chili beans to pot

◦ Add your chili spices/seasoning packet (I use Tastefully Simple Wahoo Chili Seasoning)

◦ (Opt) Add your whiskey/beer

◦ Once browned, add turkey burger to chili pot

◦ Bring to boil, reduce to low/simmer (2 on my 1-8 stove) Let simmer (stir here and there) approx 2 hours or until done with other prep

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Next we’re gonna prep all the veggies, herbs, and chicken.

◦ Wash, separate, & dry butter lettuce. To store for later, lay one layer on paper towel, add paper towel and lettuce until all complete. I gently fold mine up and put it right into a baggie or container. Keeps well this way.

◦ Sharpen knife!!!! Wash and dry tomato. Slice your beefsteak tomato and store in baggie.

◦ Scrub potatoes. Palm sized ones will be cut into wedges, baby potatoes would be cut into halves or quarters. This will depend on which ones you purchased. While you do this, preheat your oven to 450.

◦ W&D peppers. Core the top, and slice them into long strips. Put in prep bowl.

◦ Peel top layer(s) of onion off until you reach the first layer that’s not green or flimsy. Cut in half down the middle, stem to root (hotdog style). Trim the stem and root off. Slice into thin slices similar to green peppers. Put in prep bowl.

◦ Cilantro. Give it a good rinse. Pull leaves from stem, and discard stems. Place leaves into bowl. You can either chop leaves now or later. I do later, you do you.

◦ Chicken (make sure you do your chicken prep last so there’s less chance of cross contamination. Rub small amount of oil to all inner surfaces of prep bowl. Cut chicken into roughly 1/2 inch cubes. Or one inch. Just try to keep a consistent size. Add to prep bowl. Drizzle small amount of olive oil and lime juice on top. Mix up with hands. This helps it not get sticky.

*PREP DONE*

◦ Take your foil lined raised cooking sheet and add potatoes. Make sure none are touching. It’s ok to use two sheets if you need to. I like to put them with one cut side down or all skin side down. Place in heated oven with a 20-25 minute timer or until the largest one is fork tender.

Next step, frying pan!

◦ Add small amount of oil to pan and let heat until a drop of water instantly dissipates. Your pan is ready! REMEMBER: do not crowd your pan. If you have to do any of the next steps 2x it is OKAY! An in crowded pan will allow your product to cook faster and more evenly.

◦ Add green peppers. Stir to coat all in oil. Now the hard part. RESIST THE URGE TO CONSTANTLY STIR THESE. Let them get a little char first. Then stir. If you don’t want them to dry out, add a splash of water (or lime juice) to the middle when you stir. Once done, add them to your meal containers.

◦ Repeat steps for green peppers with your onions. Same pan. Once done, add to meal prep containers. (See my onion pic… my pan was too crowded, oops!)

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◦ Add barbacoa (I know it’s not ACTUALLY “adobo” but it has the same elements and I don’t have to use my blender to make it myself) sauce packet to your chicken bowl and mix. Add to pan. Cook until done, I know so specific haha. Add to meal prep container. (Again, in my pic the pan was too crowded. This meant I had to use a paper towel to soak up some of the juices so it kept cooking and not boiling!)

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—Take a pause here and wash up some of the dishes you’ve used so far or load them into your dishwasher. Cleaning as you go makes prep day a breeze.

—AND IF YOU HAVEN’T DONE IT YET, STIR YOUR CHILI!

—Also, your potatoes should definitely be out of the oven by now and cooled off and ready to be placed in their meal prep containers.

Next steps will be rice & veggie burgers if you’re doing those!

◦ Turn your oven down to 350.

◦ Measure 1.5 cups of rice, and 1.75 cups of water. Add to instant pot. I don’t rinse my rice and it’s just fine. Add 1-2 tbsp of lime juice to pot. Pop on and close top. Make sure your vent is in the sealed position and hit rice button.

◦ Oven should be roughly ready but now, place veggie burgers on raised and line cooking sheet. Throw in for called for cooking time.

◦ Probably about time to turn off chili pot and remove from stove to cool. Once cooled it can be put in meal containers. This recipe makes about 6 containers if you used a beer, 4 if you used 1-2 fingers of whiskey or skipped the alcohol.

◦ Time to rinse your canned pinto/black beans. The beauty here is they don’t need to cook them per se, just add them to your container which will eventually be reheated.

◦ Your rice should be done. You can quick release it. Add your finely chopped cilantro and stir it in. Once ready, spoon it evenly into your 6 meal containers.

◦ Once veggie burgers are done, add two to each meal container.

◦ Hopefully your partner helped you to grill burgers, and unfortunately I can’t offer advice on how-to grill, as I’m still learning. If you’re like me, and you didn’t get grilled burgers this time, that’s ok, but if you did, 1 burger patty per meal container (as usually these are bigger and higher calorie).

**And would you look at that… all prepped!**

As a note for the burger meal, I prepped my lettuce and tomatoes, but I don’t put them in the meal container because the container will be reheated (I just have them in the pictures for “pretty” sake). I also make chaffle buns the day of because my chaffle recipe makes 2 chaffles, enough for 1 “bun” and personally I don’t like them “later”, though you can store in the fridge for 2-3 days. The burger/potato container reheats for approx 1:30-2:00 mins in the microwave.

As a note for the chili, I usually serve mine with rice or elbow noodles, sour cream and cheese, all done the day of. Reheats approx 2:00-3:00 mins in the microwave.

As a note for the burrito bowls, I serve with Pico de Gallo, sour cream, cheese, and avocado after reheating, occasionally spooning onto corn/flour taco size tortillas. Reheats approx 2:00-3:00 in microwave.

Hello Babies,

You’re a few days away from being 17 months guys! I have tried to sit down to write this post a few times and have just never gotten the right words to a page, so we’re going to try again. (But first an updated picture of you for posterity!)

The world has gotten weird. The last time I wrote to you was in May. It’s crazy how much has happened while the world has been mostly on pause! Let me tell you some important things I want you to know about this time in your lives.

Let’s start with this: kindness first, kindness always. Let’s try that again: KINDNESS FIRST, KINDNESS ALWAYS. Something I’m sure you’ll learn in school someday (and if you don’t, then it’s an example of history being written by those who won…) is that the world is extremely divisive right now. What the heck is that word? Divisive: tending to cause disagreement or hostility between people. When I was growing up, there were divisive issues, definitely, but we were encouraged to avoid talking about them to avoid conflict. I’m not sure if avoiding them caused or furthered the agitation and unrest seen in the world today but I do know that my generation (in a general sense) sincerely was not taught a good way to discuss, mediate, consider, or thoughtfully and respectfully disagree. This is why your daddy and I will always teach you kindness first, kindness always.

So what is it in our world that is so divisive these days? Abortion? That feels like the most divisive thing I can think of for the last half century! Of course that’s still up there but something new has taken a front seat for the time being: face masks. Face masks may seem like a rather innocuous thing to be so front and center as the cause of so much disagreement and hostility. Let’s talk a little about why: there is a statewide mask mandate that went into effect this past Saturday. Coronavirus is still an avid worry for the world. Parts of the United States have been greatly impacted: New York, Florida, and Arizona have all seen soaring numbers and at or near capacity ICU beds. Stripped down to the very basics, the idea is if people wear masks, it will help prevent the spread of the virus further.

Unfortunately, another thing you’ll learn in life is one size does not fit all. And you know what? It shouldn’t! Each solution will have its own accompanying set of problems precisely because there are so many complexities that come into play. So while at the very basics, this mandate is well intentioned, there is a LOT of very vocal (and other) unrest about being asked by lawmakers to wear a mask when in a public indoor situation. For the record, Mom and Dad are complying and feel like it is the least we can do (and if in the end they prove the masks didn’t help, then I guess we were a modicum uncomfortable and more the fool – although it’s ok to be a fool now and again).

So what’s got people stirred up about it? Well for one, people REALLY don’t like change. We live in a time where all the world’s information is at our fingertips immediately. And it is very uncomfortable to have competing/missing/untrue/no information regarding masks and it’s relation to coronavirus. Some say they work and are necessary, some say they don’t work and are silly. Some people frankly, don’t want to be told what they can and can’t do with their bodies. I think there are even some who are just mad and it’s not really about the masks. In fact, I’m glossing over many of the other reasons circulating out there for the simple fact that I cannot explicate all of them or this would be the longest letter to you guys I would ever write. The point I am trying to make is this: these masks are causing an upheaval. There are lots of very pointed social media posts and real world reactions happening, some bordering on rude or outright hateful. From both sides of the fence, people who are pro and con masks. And there is a lot of unkindness.

Girls, my point is this: the world we are living in right now does not feel very kind. And I get it, we’re scared and we’re angry and we’re uncomfortable. And yet: I strongly feel that there is never a time for “kindness last”. I am not immune from unkind thoughts. But I try to change those thoughts to better kinder ones. If there is one thing I can give you as a parent, I hope to give you kindness and the ability to live by kindness first and always. Form your opinions! Be strong women! Be steadfast in love! Find productivity! But most of all, be kind.

This may have been a rambling of sorts to you guys (and I haven’t even touched on some of the other things in the world that have caused us to steep in this divisive nature – another post for another day) but it is because I truly believe that you and your peers are the future and I sincerely hope that the future you create embodies kindness wholly.

Love, Mommy

Dear babies (or should I say toddlers?!?),

You are 14 months old now! And you’re both walking! Katherine started taking independent steps in late March and less than one month later, Elizabeth’s patient observation paid off. She took a few independent steps toward daddy, and the next day took off!

We got you guys a climber with a slide and it took Katherine two minutes to figure out how to climb up, and just one hour to go down it by herself! Elizabeth, true to form, watched Kat for a couple weeks, and then started climbing too! About a week later, Bee was going down the slide by herself too! You guys are getting along so well now (most of the time, haha) but you really like being up on the slide together!

Last time Mommy wrote to you, we had just started to see and experience the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19). The world was full of panic, misinformation, and chaos because the last time a global epidemic really took a foothold in the United States was in 1918, the Spanish Flu. Unfortunately, it is now classified as a pandemic. The infection rates are extremely high, humans have no natural immunity, and we just don’t know enough about it yet.

I think we all were rather naively hoping it would pass without really creating a ripple effect. Instead, in just two months, it has completely changed how we all live. The governor of MN (who we extremely thankful for because of his great leadership and ownership of the situation) has the state on a “Stay at Home” order. People wear masks when they shop for groceries. Children are doing school work at home. Many people have transitioned into working at home. We don’t visit friends and family. I wonder how many of these things will stick around long enough that you might remember it.

Even as the world changes happen, we still feel rather stable at home. Daddy is an essential worker because people need heat and air conditioning, so he goes out. You guys stay home with Mommy. We got new car seats in April and we have only used them twice. That’s a big change for us all. We used to leave the house at least once a week. For safety though, we are willing to make changes to try to prevent our family from getting it. It’s extra scary because you guys had RSV in March, which takes a long time for your little lungs to heal. So we’re being careful!

The world can be scary, and maybe a little extra so right now, and changes like the ones we have seen are hard. Mr. Rogers (he was a really good dude!) said that when he was young, his mother told him that when things are scary, look for the helpers. Girls, there are so many helpers right now! Whole companies changed their production lines or normal operations overnight: beer makers started making hand sanitizer, craft stores started donating materials to home seamstresses to make masks, companies stopped making their normal fashionable clothes and started producing gowns and face shields and so much more.

At night we pray: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, His love to guard me through the night, and wake me with the morning light. God bless… Katherine and Elizabeth, Mommy and Daddy, all of our family and friends, people working the front lines of the virus, people who are sick, people who are well, people protecting the nation, our nation’s farmers, people facing hardships, people who are helping, all God’s creatures and creations. Amen.

This morning you are peacefully playing with your Sesame Street “guys” together and small moments like these fuel my hope for the world. I love you baby nuggets!

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Love, Mommy (and Daddy)