Many of my clients voice their frustration with the tedious task of ‘meal prepping.’ I get it. It can be a pain to devote your only day off to shopping, washing, cutting, cooking, prepping, separating, and eating the same meals for 5 days in a row. Some people love it and some hate it. For those who are in between or would love to have some ideas on how to make this task easier, I offer an alternative approach. Instead of ‘prepping for the entire week,’ simply make your food more ‘accessible’ so you reach for healthy options instead of junk food when you are tired after a long day.
Tips
- Wash and cut ALL fruits and veggies and portion them out in ziplock bags
- Hard boil your organic eggs
- Cook all your grains- quinoa, rice, barley, etc
- Portion out your nuts and seeds
- Cook your chicken/lean meat
Grab and go options with no preparation to throw in your lunch bag
- Greek yogurt
- Protein bars
- Cheese sticks
- Baby food fruit and veggie pouches (take my word for it)
- Tuna pouches
- Lara bars
- Dried fruit
- Fruit cups
- Edamame pouches
- Fresh fruit (some)
During the week you can create new recipes with the food you already prepared and not eat the same thing every day.
- Cooked chicken- Chicken tacos, chicken salad, chicken on leafy greens, chicken mixed with pasta, chicken and cheese stuffed mushrooms, chicken and quinoa, chicken and rice, cashew chicken stir fry, or chicken quesadilla
- Quinoa-Quinoa stuffed peppers, quinoa mixed with grilled veggies and chick peas, quinoa over salad, Quinoa mixed with ground turkey and mushrooms, add it to soups, add to omelet, turn it into cereal/mix it with oats, or throw it into a smoothie.
- Hard boiled eggs-Plain, egg salad, add to leafy salad, deviled eggs, cobb salad pasta, mix with tuna salad.
- Fruits and veggies-Add to salads, smoothies, pair with hummus or ranch, plain, roast veggies, add to quesadilla, veggie burritos, add to soup
