Monday's are for meal prepping!

This is embarrassing to admit but here we go.... A few years ago I had the habit of going to Taco Bell after the gym multiple times a week.

There, I said it. Now you know my dirty little secret. To my defense, this was 4-5 years ago and I have changed a lot since then! Quitting Taco Bell was almost as hard as quitting my Starbucks drink every time I went to Target. But I’ll tell something neither of those stores want me to share: I don’t miss them! Their drinks/food weren’t fueling me! They tasted good but were slowing my body down, making me feel sluggish and keeping me from my goals. Once I cut them out and changed my mindset and truly understood that food = fuel, my relationship with food!

So yes, I still make “informed” unhealthy decisions like a (rare) Starbucks drink when we are traveling or a bowl of ice cream with my kids. Or my favorite.... raw cookie dough that never makes it to the oven. Yup, that’s right! We eat cookie dough straight out of the bowl a few times a year! And there are foods like Taco Bell that I have cut out completely because I now understand what it was doing ot my body. For me, running through TB on my way home meant I wouldn’t skip lunch, I didn’t have to slow down to make it and I wouldn't have a mess in the kitchen.

I had heard of “meal prepping” but it seemed overwhelming and not something that would work for me. But when I started counting macros I knew I needed to take some steps to make my life easier since I was on this new journey with food and a lot of it was unknown territory. Meal prepping my lunch seemed like a great place to start. When talking to others, once of the most asked questions I get is what and how to meal prep, so today I'm going to walk you through exactly what I do. Keep in mind, I’m not a professional or a dietician. Just sharing the things that have worked for me. An everyday crossfit “athlete”, a homeschooling mom, and a wife who runs a business from home.

There’s a million different ways to meal prep but I’m here for simplicity! If I like the way something taste I can eat it over and over again! After all, I got the exact same thing at Taco Bell for years, why try something new if you are happy with that #7 with extra sauce! Anyway, I found a chicken recipe that taste good reheated and I change everything that goes with it weekly to keep from getting bored. I choose between sweet potatoes, red potatoes and steamed rice and then choose a veggie or two to add in. I make the rice in a rice cooker because we already had one but it can also be made in the Instapot. The vegetables and potatoes I always roast in the oven. Not a chef here... but I find veggies on 425* for 25-35 minutes always works. But I’ll also share with you that today I almost burned the potatoes so make sure to set the timer if you are forgetful like me! It's as simple as "siri, set an alarm for 35 minutes!"

I always start with what takes the longest: cutting up veggies! Turn on the oven and cut up what ever vegetables/potatoes you will be using for the week. Line your pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper to make clean up easy and throw your cut up veggies on the pan! I season just about all my veggies with salt, pepper and garlic and toss a little bit of extra virgin olive oil on them. If I cook carrots I like to add a little bit of honey and when I cook sweet potatoes I add a little cumin and paprika. If I’m having rice instead of potatoes I go ahead and get it cooking next! While a rice cooker isn't necessary I do like that I can have it going at the same time as the instapot. 

Next up is the chicken. I am a very picky eater and have never enjoyed chicken left over. It just doesn’t taste good to me. However, I have found this recipe reheats 5 or 6 days later just as good as the first time! I highly recommend Lillie’s cookbooks too, her food is amazing and has made my macro journey way easier! For the chicken you just throw everything in the IP (instapot) and let it do it’s thing! TIP: I prefer chicken tenders over chicken breast + the tenders cook faster! I always cook 3lbs which will feed Blake and I five meals each. (About 85-90 grams for me and 115-120g for Blake) Once everything is done cooking, I grab my scale and portion it out to meet our needs. Of course the amount you eat is going to depend on your personal nutrition goal and if you’re following macros, etc...

And just like that we have lunch for Monday - Friday in less than an hour! And some of that time is down time while the food is cooking!

If you don’t want the same food 5 days in a row, you could easily add different veggies for different days. From time to time I like to add sauce to mine to spice things up a little! Just be cautious of what sauce you are buying, we always look for sugar free. Anything with a keto, whole30 or paleo label is typically safe! (Some favs: Primal Kitchen, Tessemae’s and the Siete sauces- oh and I do love ketchup😜) The goal here is to make life easier for you! You want to be able to grab your lunch, warm it up and know that what you are eating fits your plan and needs! Before meal prepping I either skipped lunch and snacked all afternoon or hit up Taco Bell. Now that I have my meals ready each day, I’m not stressed thinking about what I’ll eat and I can focus on whatever I have going on for work or with the kids. And I know that I can hit my food goals because I’m sticking to the plan!

Here are a few items that have made my life easier! I’ll link them through amazon so you can check them out if you are in need of the item. My goal is to continue blogging and sharing the things that have helped me. If there is a topic you would like me to cover or if you have more questions about meal prepping, message me! I truly love to help others and hope that this blogs will help you feel confident in whatever journey you are on! I promise if I can do it, you can too!

Vegetable chopper : I held off for the longest on buying this because I thought I would hate cleaning it and never use it. I was wrong! I use it almost every time I cook and it’s not hard to clean at all!

Large sheet pan: I use this for cooking veggies!

Instapot: I had never really used one but I’m so glad I started! I have made so many yummy recipes in my instapot and use it every single Monday for my chicken when I meal prep!

Food Scale: If you are weighing your food, this is a must! Sit your plate/bowl on the scale and zero it out, add your food, then zero it out again if you need to keep adding! No need to dirty up mulitple plates for measuring!

Frozen Garlic:Ok, I can't link this through amazon but i'm going to link through Target so you can check if your store has it! Maybe I'm lazy? But I HATE dealing with garlic and all my recipes call for it! I'm sure this isn't cost efficient but it's one thing that makes cooking easier that i'll never stop doing!