Looking for easy meal prep ideas? Here are five easy dietitan-created recipes perfect to meal prep for a busy week!
Meal prep vs. Ingredient prep
It's officially almost halfway through December and I find this time of year can be so hard to stay on top of of your health goals. Between holiday parties, the stress of the end of the year and the darker evenings, finding time and motivation to cook healthy, nourishing meals can be hard!
As a dietitian my biggest tip to make it easier to eat healthy during the week is to prep a few things ahead of time. No, I don't mean you need to spend 6 hours in the kitchen on Sunday planning and prepping 3 meals a day for 5 days.
My suggestion is to spend 1 hour on Sunday prepping a few staple ingredients that you can easily add to a variety of meals. By doing this, you'll be spending less time in the kitchen during the week and more time eating healthy, EASY meals!
MY SIMPLE MEAL PREPPING FORMULA:
- 1 x grab and go breakfast - To make it easier on busy mornings!
- 1-2 x balanced snack to reach for - I'm someone that get's HANGRY when I'm hungry so to avoid reaching for chips or other "Easy" options, I find prepping a few snacks ahead of time makes it so much easier to reach for a balanced snack. Choose something that is high in protein and fiber!
- 1x protein you can easily add to lunches- This can be a whole protein such as chicken, tofu, beans etc. or a salad variation ie. chicken salad, smashed chickpea salad. Try to make it versatile so you can add it to wraps, salads, sandwiches etc.!
- 1x carbohydrate source to add to a variety of meals
- Properly wash and store your produce- I recommend chopping up 3-4 vegetables and pairing with a dip to easily grab for snacks and to add to meals. This will make it much more likely they will get eaten! (My favorite produce cleaning solution is 3 parts water and 1 part either baking soda or vinegar)
If this seems overwhelming- start small. Anything is better than nothing so try prepping just one snack or just one veggie this week and see if it's helpful for you!
HERE IS WHAT'S ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
Breakfast:
Quick & Easy Protein For Lunch:
Make-Ahead Snacks:
I've noticed recently that I've really been struggling with reaching for healthy snack options when I'm hungry and in a time crunch. So this week I really focused on prepping easy snack ideas that would make it so much easier for me to reach for a balanced option!
Sweet Snacks:
- For my apple slices I soaked them in 1 cup of cold water + ¼ teaspoon salt for about 5 minutes prior to rinsing and storing in order to help slow the browning process! These should last for about 3 days!
Savory Snack:
To wash and store produce:
- I use a ratio of 2 cups cold water to 1 teaspoon baking soda as an easy cleaning solution for my fruits and veggies! Just let the produce soak for about 5 minutes before rinsing and draining.
- For optimal storage and to increase freshness I recommend drying your produce thoroughly and placing a sheet of paper towel at the bottom of your storage container to help absorb any excess moisture!
Carbohydrate:
This week I just prepped some quinoa for an easy carbohydrate- so no recipe for you! However some easy meal-prep friendly carbohydrates include:
Meal prep storage containers:
Storage Containers:
- 9 piece- glass container set with lids - these are great because it comes with small, medium and large options!
- 5 piece- glass container set with lids- I find medium containers are the most versatile, so if you are looking for just the medium sized, these are a great option!
Vegetable tray:
I get asked where I got my vegetable tray every single time I post it. Unfortunately the exact one my family has is OLD, and I haven't been able to find a link for the exact same one (if you ever find it please let me know).
However, I've rounded up a few similar options you can try out:
- Covered veggie tray with dip holder
- Round locking veggie tray
- Round covered veggie tray
- Covered veggie tray with handle (but no dip holder)
More meal prep ideas
Looking for more weekly meal prep ideas? I've got you covered:
- Week 1 meal prep round-up
- Week 2 meal prep round-up
- A full list of all my meal-prep friendly recipes!
If you found this post helpful and would like to continue learning more about meal prepping don't forget to join my email newsletter list for a weekly meal plan sent directly to your inbox!!
PS. I love seeing my recipes in action! If you decide to make any of these meal prep recipes, don't forget to snap a photo and tag me on Instagram- @nourishedbynic! I also always appreciate comments on the posts here on the site!
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