Monday, April 28, 2014

Easy No Prep Meal Prep

Happy Monday! I had a crazy fun and super busy weekend, including a ton of food, beer, fun, pig racing and alpacas at the county fair! 


I also have a busy week ahead because it's my last week in the office before I head out to the Philippines on a loong work trip! And the bf is visiting this weekend!! 

With all the awesome non blog things going on, I didn't have time to do my usual meal prep. But I did take the opportunity to show how you can prepare for a week of healthy food with very little prep time. So here's my super easy no prep method to set yourself up for healthy meals throughout the week. 

Breakfast

Instant oatmeal is makes for a really easy grab and go breakfast. On its own, however, even this cool oats and flax variety I found at Trader Joe's is a little wimpy nutritionally. Adding half a banana, 1 tbsp of chia seeds, 1 tbsp of almond butter, and 1/4 cup Greek yogurt (not pictured, whoops) gives you a hearty, under 400 calorie breakfast with 9 grams of fiber and 16 grams of protein. 


I'm lucky enough to have a good amount of fridge and cabinet space at work, so I can just bring a week's worth of breakfast supplies with me to put together quickly each day. If you have a little more time, portioning out each day's ingredients into an easy grab and go package works well too.

Protein

I didn't have time to cook a protein, so I picked up a couple easy items and worked with what I had. I love my baked tofu, but if you don't have time to prep it's also great raw in salads or stir fries. Edamame is very high in protein, and the frozen shelled variety cooks up easily for a weeknight meal. Canned  tuna and chickpeas also make great quick, no cooking required, low calorie proteins. 


Sides

Besides the sweet potatoes I (barely) managed to bake, I bought some easy sides. Bagged greens are great for lunch. I just throw in some protein and cut up sweet potato and call it a day. I also got some organic zucchini, which I can grate to use instead of noodles. Trader Joe's soycutash, a mixture of edamame, corn, and red pepper, is one of my favorite frozen veggies. It boils up fast and I'll even throw it in a stir fry straight from the freezer. Can't get much easier than that.


Workouts

Since the bf is coming to town, I'm not sure how much I'm going to workout this weekend. I definitely want to stay active though, especially since I'm traveling soon! Hopefully I can get the bf out for a run and to the beach to play some volleyball with me :)



Q: Do you have any time-saving tips for meal prep? Besides just not doing it at all. I've tried that one before.

10 comments:

  1. IAs much as I have been wanting to, I haven't jumped on the meal prep band wagon, so I have no tips! Have fun in the Philipines!

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    1. Thanks! I know it's hard to get started with meal prep, but once you do you won't be able to stop! ;)

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  2. The Philippines sounds like a fun time- I hope you enjoy it! I meal prep pretty much every week and it's been a huge time and money saver. One thing I do is make a big enough quantity of things to have multiple meals of it, plus enough to freeze 1-2 servings! It's hugely helpful. I also cut up fresh veggies for easy grab-and-go situations throughout the week. If I want salads for lunches, I'll cut up each item and then store them in individual containers, and then throw the salad together the night before. Nice and easy.

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    1. Thanks! I really need to get back into freezer cooking. It makes things so easy! I love meal prep too, especially salads for lunch. So yummy and easy!

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  3. I have some accidental meal prep advice. For the weeks that I actually do prep and make meals that can be frozen, I stick one or two in the freezer. Usually I forget about them and then super happy when I am looking for dinner :) Oooh Philippines! Ube!

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    1. Oh that's great advice thanks for sharing! I definitely need to get ahead that way. Filipino food is honestly not my favorite, but you know I love my sweet-potato-like things!

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  4. SOOOOOO JEALOUS!!! I haven't been to the Philippines in over 20 years. :(
    I hope you have a blast!!!!!!!

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    1. Thanks Maria! I'll try to fit some fun in to my crazy work schedule, and will definitely eat a lot of yummy food for you. You'll have to send me some recs :)

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  5. Great tips. Tuna and garbanzo beans are always in our pantry.

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    1. Thanks Jenny! Such good healthy staples to have!

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