Meal Prep Like A Boss
Take 1-3 hours per week to make your life easier.
It's no secret that meal prep is the number one way to stay on track with your health and fitness goals. When you take the time to plan and prep your meals you take the guess work out of eating right. Take 1-3 hours per week to make your life easier!
My go to meal prep items include smoothie packs with baggies of bananas and berries for easy grab and go. Cutting melon for east snacks. Pre cooking my complex carbs like quinoa or brown rice, and roasting large batches of vegetables. Making the more time consuming items ahead of time makes putting together healthy meals simple as the week goes on. I like to cook my protein fresh then reheat my sides so meals are ready within minutes.
Breakfast:
1. Overnight Oats:
½ cup oats ½ cup unsweetend almond milk + 1 tbs almond or peanut butter + fruit of your choice
Make ahead of time or freeze! These are great for grab and go breakfasts on a hectic morning.
Make ahead of time for quick breakfast
Snacks:
Wash Cut Carrot sticks for snacks + Hummus
Make “smoothie packs” freeze bananas and other fruits of your choice
Hard Boil eggs
Turkey Jerkey
Protein Bars
Almonds + apple
Lunch:
Easy "small meals" Prep:
Garlic Herb Chicken:
- 1 lbs Marinated Grilled Chicken (marinade at least 30 min prior)
- Marinade: 1 lemon juiced, 1 clove garlic crushed, parsley, 1 tsp balsamic salt and pepper
- Grill or broil.
Roasted Sweet Potato Mash
6 Sweet Potatoes Broiled:
Wash, wrap in foil (skin on) Broil for 1 hour at 500. Allow to cool after baking then remove skins. Mash with 2 tbs unsweetened almond milk. ½ tbs irish butter.
Steam broccoli
Bring steamer water to a boil: Place 3/4 to 1 inch of water in a saucepan with a steamer and bring to a boil. (Note that is you don't have a steamer, you can simply put the broccoli directly into an inch of boiling water.)
Portion out your quick grab small meals: 3 oz chicken per meal/ 100 grams sweet potato/ 1 cup veggies
1. Game plan.
Spend a few minutes writing out the menu for the week. Figure out what meals you need to food prep meaning (cut and wash veggies and leave them unprepared, marinade ect.) and what meals you need to make ahead of time and pack to take with you out of the house. Snacks, breakfasts and healthy dessert items should be included in this plan.
2. Make food that you want to eat.
This should be an obvious one but I am going to cover it anyway. Prep and plan meals that reflect your cravings! If you want stir fry or hamburgers prep accordingly. Pinterest is a great resource to find healthy versions of your favorite recipes. Put some love in to the meals you will be eating for the week.
3. Stock the Staples.
If you have good food in your fridge then that is what you will eat. Stock the foods that will serve your goals. If something is overly tempting don't buy it. Stick to foods that you enjoy in moderation.
Here is my go to stocked kitchen list:
Produce :
- Avocado
- Bananas
- berries
- Melon
- Arugula
- Romaine
- Spinach
- Green Onions
- Brussels Sprouts
- Sweet Potatoes
- White Onion
- Garlic
- Parsley
- Cilantro
Protein:
- Eggs
- Chicken Breast
- Ground Turkey
- Lean Steak
- Tempeh or Tofu
- Hummus
- Edamame
- Deli Meat
Pantry:
- Brown Rice or Quinoa
- Peanut Butter or Almond Butter
- Non Stick Cooking Spray
- Olive Oil
- Tomato Sauce
- Chicken Broth
- Sea Salt
Dairy/ Misc:
- Almond Milk
- Coconut Creamer
- Goat Cheese
Parmesan
Pizza Dough
PLAN
Sit down and make a plan. Figure out what your menu with be for the week covering all of your meals in and out of the house. If you work out of the house 5 days per week you will need 5 lunches, 5 breakfasts and dinners planned ahead of time. Once per week write down your meal plan and all of the ingredients you will need and then shop accordingly
PREP & PACK
Now that you have your grocery haul it's time to get to work. You can decide if you want to prep your meals or keep it as food prep. The difference being with meal prep you would portion out each meal in a container opposed to having large batches of items made and ready to assemble in to meals as the week goes on. The method you choose will be up to what works best for you.
KEEP IT FRESH
As a general rule, prepped meals can last up to 4 days in the fridge, with some individual ingredients lasting up to 1 week. I recommend scheduling a weekly meal prep practice, ideally on a weekend. You can also prep during the week if you have the time for it. Make sure you are using quality containers that are air tight.
