Meal prep is the practice of preparing the key elements of a dish. It can feel overwhelming at times. If you stick to these suggestions though you will rock it:
- always make a grain
- always roast some vegetables
- always cook 2 meat proteins (based usually on my meal plan for the week)
- always prep a few breakfast meals
- always try and plan your week of dinner recipes
- always cut up vegetables and fruits and have them washed and ready in tupperware
- always make overnight oats for reg carb days
- always make egg cups for low carb days
- always have romaine, spinach and arugala in the fridge.
- buy this
chopper or something similiar, it is great for veggies and fruit and super quick and easy
Learning how to meal prep will change your life. Set aside 2 hours on Sunday's to meal prep, trust me you will thank me later. It is worth it. I try and shop on Sundays then as I am putting the groceries away I start my meal prep. I always cut up all of my vegetables and fruit and make a veggie tray and put the rest in containers. This way my husband eats healthy too because there is food that is quick and easy for him to grab at lunch. For me my breakfasts are always made except smoothie days. Lunches I make bowls. I add some lettuce (spinach, romaine or arugala), cut up veggies for the lettuce, some beets, roasted vegetables, potato, sweet potato, rice or quinoa, and usually hummus and avocado. For dinner I usually make it fresh for the protein and use one of my grains or starches, and fresh vegetables. When it is quick and accessible you will eat healthier.
There are many ways to meal prep, but basically, all the food preparation methods involve organizing the food in your fridge to make it easier for you. This could be make-ahead dinners or maybe just breakfasts. Sometimes it just means chopping or slicing foods to have them ready to cook for dinner. Sometimes it means actually cooking them. Each person is different what would benefit them. I like to do a range of different things (stated above).
Some suggestions would be to do the following:
- batch cooking (e.g. stews and chilis). Great for make ahead lunches or dinners.
- or maybe just prepped vegetables to add to meals
Individual Meal Prep Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Recipes
My favourite breakfast meal preps:
Egg Cups
Ingredients
- silicone muffin cups (found
here)
- 12 eggs (6 whole, 6 egg white)
- cooked bacon (6 slices) and sausage (6)
Directions:
- crack all eggs together in a bowl if you prefer them scrambled, mix.
- add the bacon to the outside of the cup for 6 of them
- cut up the sausage into small pieces and add to the muffin cups (1 per cup)
- add the eggs and egg whites to 6 each
- bake approximately 20 min or until cooked
- let cool for 15 min and then place in your containers and put in the fridge.
If you want to add some carbs add cooked sweet potato or potatoes to them.
Bacon Egg Wraps
Ingredients:
- small tortillas
- 12 whole eggs or egg whites
- spinach
- bacon bits or cut up bacon
- small frying pan (size of the tortilla)
- meal prep container
Directions:
- scramble your eggs
- pour into a hot pan, enough to fill the bottom
- add your spinach and bacon
- add the tortilla quickly while the egg is still liquid
- push down on the tortilla so all edges touch the egg
- once bubbling, flip
- take out of the pan once cooked and let cool. Roll and place in a container for the freezer.
- once ready to eat, take out, thaw for 30 secs microwave, then I unroll for 2 min in the airfryer on each side.
Lunch Ideas
Chicken Quinoa Mediterranean Bowl
- cooked chicken breast (2 chopped up)
- 1 cup quinoa cooked
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1 bell pepper (colour of choice) or tomato
- 1/4 cup feta
- 1 cup spinach
- cilantro lime essential (2 drops into the cooking quinoa) oil or fresh cilantro
- lime essential oil (4 drops) or lime juice
Mix everything together, this makes 2-3 servings.
Pork Souvlaki Bowl
Ingredients:
- cooked pork tenderloin (2 small tenderloins)
- cooked rice or quinoa (1 cup)
- roasted red bell peppers
- greek yogurt and lime essential oil or juice
Directions
- mix the yogurt and oils together, set aside into a small container
- cook the pork tenderloin (cut it into small chunks and peppers together on a sheet pan with some olive oil)
- add 4 oz of chicken, 1/4 cup of rice/quinoa and 1 cup of roasted peppers to each container
- makes about 4 servings
Dinner Ideas:
Chicken Chili
Ingredients:
- 3 chicken breasts
- 1 can of brown beans in tomato sauce
- 1 can of black beans
- 1 can of kidney beans
- 1 small can of corn
- 4 celery stalks chopped small
- 1/2 an onion or 2 tbsp dried onion
- 1 can of pureed tomatoes (large or 2 small)
- 1 can of tomato paste
- 4 tbsp chili pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
Directions
- chop the celery on a small setting with the
chopper and place in a crockpot
- add all cans to the crockpot
- add the chicken breasts
- let cook for 4 hours on low, then try and shred the chicken
- let cook 6-8 hours on low or 4 hours on high
This is a perfect recipe that you can double or triple to batch cook for the colder months. This recipe makes about 8 servings.
Batch Cooking Ideas:
- Chili
- Lasagna
- Chicken Stew
- Beef Stew
- Chicken breasts (I like to add italian seasoning or bbq spice)
- Ground beef (I like to add taco seasoning)
- Soups
- Pulled pork
How do I get started with meal prep?
- you need to have containers to put your food in (great ideas found here)
- you need to pick your recipes
- you need to grocery shop
- you need to set a few hours aside to get it done
I recommend the
Plan to Eat App. It helps you select your recipes for the week. I only do this for dinner. It then adds your grocery list for you. You can easily upload your favourite recipes to get started. I plan my week and then that helps me decide what to meal prep. e.g. chicken for 2 days but I just have to add sauce or the starch and veggie prepped and I just have to add meat.
Let me know if you try to get some meal prep done or you try any of my recipes.
xoxo
Lisa