4 STEP MEAL PREP

Life gets busy and sometimes we just get a little tired and lazy when it comes to deciding what to eat. Sometimes I find myself standing in front of my fridge wishing we only had to eat once a week or something because I just don’t feel like cooking again! Buuttt, we need fuel for our bodies! I’m sure many of you can relate. So normally we will just go for what is easy and fast, which unfortunately is rarely something healthy.

SO…. IN STEPS THESE WONDERFUL LITTLE CONTAINERS!

I found these on amazon. They are dishwasher safe and BPA free so they're microwave safe. I really like these! It came in a pack of 20, with plastic sporks and I only paid $12! I'll attach the link at the end.

I've found that meal prepping is such a life and time saver! It’s so much easier to just go in your kitchen and grab an already made meal, heat it up and eat it! It also makes eating on the go so much healthier, cheaper and easier! I really recommend meal prepping to everyone honestly, whether you’re crazy busy, not a fan of cooking or just want something fast! It’s pretty easy too. I’ll share some of my meal preps for examples, but you can tweak it however you want to do what works best for you!

STEP 1: PLAN OUT YOUR MEALS FOR THE WEEK

I'll talk about breakfast at the end, but for now I'm starting with lunch and dinner.

If you don’t mind eating the same meals every day then you can just prep the same things for each day, but if you need some variety then pick a few of each you can prep so you can switch it up! Here are some of my go to that you can easily prep: (disclaimer: I eat vegan, so my meals don’t include any animal products, but I will include some options for all you meat-eaters ;)

LUNCH AND DINNER:

My lunches and dinners are usually similar. I just pick a few different variations of grains, potatoes, legumes and veggies and mix it up.

Main:

Potatoes

Brown Rice

Quinoa

Couscous

Lentils

Black, Kidney and/or Garbanzo beans

Tofu

Chicken breast

Ground turkey

Homemade turkey burgers

Sides: TONS of veggies!

Peas

Zucchini

Yellow Squash

Carrots

Brussels Sprouts

Broccoli

Mushrooms

Cucumber

Bell Peppers

SNACKS:

I like to snack on fruit, nuts and seeds throughout the day.

Apples, grapes, berries, bananas, kiwi etc. are all yummy snacky fruits!

I will usually wash all my fruit, cut it up how I want it and put it in baggies in my fridge for easy grab and go! I will also make baggies of mixed nuts like almonds, walnuts, cashews and seeds! Fyi pumpkin seeds are amazing for you and so good too!

So in planning your meals, just pick a few different grains, veggies and proteins. For example, one week I will choose quinoa and brown rice, sweet and white potatoes, lentils and black beans, and five or so veggies. Then each meal container will have a variety of everything!

STEP TWO: GROCERY SHOP

After making a list of everything you will need for your meal prep, shop till you drop! An additional benefit to meal prepping is that you only buy the food you will need for the week so you end up buying less and saving some money!

grocery haul :)

STEP THREE: COOK COOK COOK

This is the part that takes a little bit, but it is so worth it! Turn on some jams and cook your heart out. Cut up all your veggies, season them how you like and cook everything you will need! You can roast or steam your veggies. You can bake your potatoes, or slice them up and make “fries” or wedges, or sometimes I will boil them and mash them.

STEP FOUR: DIVIDE

So once you have everything cooked and ready, set out your containers and start filling them up! Just do whatever variety you like! Just make sure that in each container you have a good variety of everything!

For some extra flavor, I love to add salsa and coconut aminos! I also use this sprinkle seasoning to put on my veggies when I'm cooking them. Its a combination of tons of seasonings and adds a great flavor!

BREAKFAST:

Depending on what you like to eat, and what your morning routine is, you may not even need to prep breakfast. If you have time to fix it in the morning then great! I typically have time and oatmeal is my favorite breakfast so I probably have oatmeal daily! But on days I have to be somewhere early I will prep in mason jars! Here are some ideas:

mason jar prep:

chia pudding

overnight oats

smoothies

*for details on how to make these breakfasts, check out my post "Mason Jar Breakfasts".

-if you like smoothies, you can make jars or freezer bags of all the smoothie ingredients then in the mornings just add liquid!

-You can also boil some eggs ahead of time and store them in a container in the fridge for a quick breakfast!

SO THAT'S IT! Hopefully you found this helpful! It definitely requires some planning and time, but once you have it done you don't have to think about meals for the rest of the week! It truly saves so much time and makes eating healthier so much easier. Also, pinterest and youtube are great resources for more tips and ideas.

SO GO PREP. YOU GOT THIS. :)

link for containers: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G52B7QW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1