How to Meal Prep for a Busy Schedule
Every Sunday morning, I wake up and feel very excited. Why, you ask? Sunday is my day for grocery shopping and meal prep…and I love it. Am I the only weirdo who loves perusing the aisles of the grocery store or the stands at the farmers market? I find it so peaceful to have some quiet time to myself to explore all the fresh goodies and find new things to cook with each week. I like to take my time and stroll leisurely, scoping out the best deals and the freshest produce. This relaxed pace is not for everyone, just ask my boyfriend who wants to pull his hair out whenever he gets stuck going food shopping with me. But hey, you have to take time for the things you enjoy.
Before I go grocery shopping, I make a rough list on my phone of food and ingredients that I need for my meals for the week. I plan my meals based on what I’m craving, recipes I want to try and what produce is in season. I love trying new recipes (hello, hundreds of recipe pins on my Pinterest) but I also have a busy schedule that does not allow me to cook each night. Enter, meal prep. Sundays after grocery shopping, I turn on Netflix or a podcast and get to chopping, roasting and baking. I usually prep a lot of roasted veggies that I pair with protein, breakfast foods, salads and snacks.
Each Sunday I dedicate a few hours to prepping, which is a savior for my busy schedule. It’s so easy to grab something less healthy or to spend money eating out when you don’t have food prepped and ready to go. I truly believe that meal prep is a key to staying healthy during the week and making sure you eat lots of nutritious foods. I make tons of veggies, healthy fats and protein that is ready to grab or heat up when I’m in a time crunch. Even if you’re not a weirdo like I am who loves long walks through the grocery store, meal prep will be a total game changer for you. Meal prep requires much less thinking during the week and let’s be honest, by Wednesday night after a long day of work, not thinking about what you’re going to make for dinner is a blessing.
Breakfast: This may look like mush but it is yummy, I swear. Overnight oats are super easy to make and stay good in the fridge for a few days. Each morning, you can mix up your add-ins such as almond butter, peanut butter, pecans, fruit or whatever your heart desires. To make it, mix 1/3 cup oats, 2/3 cups almond milk, 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (optional) and dash of cinnamon and store in the fridge overnight or until you’re ready to eat. You can heat it up in the microwave or eat it cold, which I normally do. This week, I plan to top with figs and almond butter!
Produce: This week I went for some fall favorites, apples and figs, which are perfect for snacking or as toppings for overnight oats. I got avocados for some healthy fats and also because I am obsessed with them. They are the perfect add-in to a salad, a bowl of roasted veggies and protein or on toast. I also hardboiled eggs for snacking or to eat with roasted veggies for dinner.
Vegan Cashew Pesto: Holy cow, I love this stuff. It will only take you five minutes to make and it is the perfect addition to roasted veggies or salad. Check out the recipe I used from It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken.
Salad: This Crunchy Thai Salad from Hummusapien is going to hit the spot for lunch this week. It was easy to throw together and you may or may not want to drink the creamy peanut dressing. I swapped sunflower seeds for roasted cashews but use whatever you like! I plan to top this with roasted chicken for lunch this week. No sad desk lunch here, folks.
Roasted Veggies: Roasting veggies is the best way to get your greens in. Instead of force feeding yourself bland veggies, you will actually crave them because of the flavor and sweentess the roasting brings out. This week, I roasted brussel sprouts, zucchini and broccoli. To make, set your oven to 400, toss veggies in olive oil, sea salt and spices and bake for 45 minutes, flipping halfway through. I added cumin powder to the zucchini and curry powder to the broccoli. Yum!
Cookie Dough Protein Bars: Hummusapien FTW again. These vegan, gluten free Cookie Dough Protein Bars have been on repeat for the last few weeks. They are no bake, quick to throw together and are all the goodness that is the chocolate/nut butter combination. I used peanut butter in the recipe but you can use whichever nut butter you fancy. This is the perfect snack with protein and healthy fats to keep you full and as a bonus it tastes like dessert. Winning.
RX Bars: Okay, to be honest, the main reason I grabbed these is because I saw the new Pumpkin Spice flavor. If you read my Creamy Sweet Potato Fall Smoothie post, you know I’m a sucker for anything fall and #basic. I then also had to grab the Chocolate Sea Salt flavor for good measure. Anyways, these are my favorite protein bars for when I’m running out the door and need to grab something in a pinch. They don’t have any weird ingredients you can’t pronounce and they aren’t loaded with sugar like many other packaged protein bars since they’re only sweetened with dates. I love to keep one in my purse if I feel like hanger my strike when I’m on the go.
So there’s my weekly round up! Meal prep allows me to grab healthy options all week long and gets me excited to try new recipes each week. It’s an investment of a few hours to prep but it saves loads of time and stress during the week, which I love. Let me know if you love meal prep or plan to give it a try! I’d also love to know if you try any of the recipes, so let me know what you think in the comments or on my instagram @findingmyom 🙂