I love to meal prep, I have been making my lunch since I was about 8 years old, so this all seems to come pretty naturally to me. When discussing nutrition with my clients a common theme I come across is, “I hate making my lunch because it takes so much time and I make such a mess, so I usually end up eating out”. Although this may be true (it can be super messy sometimes), it definitely gets better with practice! Having an organized approach and doing things in the proper order can both save time and cut back on cleanup time.
Week 1 Tutorial
This week I’ve put together a tutorial on how to meal prep 4 days worth of breakfast and lunch for you and your partner in 45 MINUTES. I’ve chosen some easy and tasty recipes and made a video that you can follow. This will show you what order to prepare the food as well as offer some key tips on how to speed up the process and be a meal prepping whiz in no time.
Week 1 Menu
Breakfast
1. Spinach frittata egg cups and mixed berries
2. Oatmeal and hard boiled eggs
Lunch
1. Lemon chicken, arugula salad, homemade dressing and flatbread (optional)
2. Ground turkey with roasted broccoli and quinoa (optional)
Grocery List (All available at Trader Joes)
- 12 eggs
- 1 container egg whites
- Feta cheese (optional for egg cups)
- Olive oil
- Old fashioned oats
- Maple syrup (optional for oatmeal)
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Raspberries (optional)
- 1 package lean ground turkey
- Broccoli (cut and washed)
- Quinoa (microwave ready or uncooked)
- Sunflower seeds or sliced almonds
- 1 package boneless skinless chicken breast (cut into tenders) or boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 container of arugula (cut and washed)
- 2 pieces whole wheat Mediterranean flatbread cut in half
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup of chicken stock
- ½ cup-1 cup flour
- 2 tbsp kerrygold grassfed butter
- Garlic salt
- Salt and pepper
All together I would estimate this to be about $40 of groceries. This is pretty great considering that if you were to buy breakfast and lunch for 4 days for 2 people it would cost you upwards of $30 per day! It also happens to be super tasty, easy to take on the go, and good for your health.
Some key tips…
- Use large pans that you can easily reuse for different items
- Set up your kitchen with everything within reach (I love keeping my spices above the stove for this reason)
- Don’t cross contaminate meat and vegetables. Have separate knives and cutting boards for each. Wash your hands frequently!
- Start with an empty dishwasher (if you have one) and clean counters.
- Adjust the amount of food as necessary. I never make more than 4 days worth of meals because you will either not eat all of it or it will go bad before you eat it.
- Get yourself a nice lunch bag, coffee mug and ice packs. A fancy lunch bag that I love reminds me to pack a lunch everyday.
- Do your shopping the day before. For some people going shopping and then coming home to cook everything may be a little overwhelming.
Few notes …
- You will notice I didn’t add the flatbread or quinoa to the containers. I chose to exclude these because we were eating low carb this week. They are always an option to add. I just layer the quinoa under the broccoli and put the flatbread in a Ziploc bag.
- Mix and match meals. Turkey with salad or oatmeal with egg cups is just fine.
- I didn’t have sunflower seeds to put on the arugula salad. I love the flavor and crunch they add.
- Have fun! Play some music, drink some wine. Be proud of yourself when you are done!
Recipes
Lemon Chicken
1 package of chicken breast tenders
½ lemon
1 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove minced garlic (optional)
½ cup of flour
2 tbsp butter
Olive or coconut oil (optional)
- Coat chicken in flour
- Melt butter in pan
- Cook chicken until almost cooked through and browned on both sides
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add chicken broth
- Cover and let simmer for ~10 minutes or until chicken cooked through
- Remove chicken
- Let rest of sauce boil down until it is thicker. Add ontop of chicken as desired.
Lemon Pepper Salad Dressing
¼ cup of olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
1/2 tsp lemon pepper spice
½ clove of minced garlic
- Mix together and keep in fridge for when you need it!
Egg Cups
6 eggs
6 egg whites
½ onion chopped
½ bag spinach
Olive oil
Salt to taste
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Sautee onions in olive oil until soft
- Add spinach until wilty
- Mix eggs together
- Add egg mixture to muffin tin (coated in oil or Pam)
- Add spinach and onion mixture
- Top with feta cheese (optional)
- Cook for 10 minutes or until cooked through
If you have any other questions feel free to reach out or comment on the video! I am looking for feedback as this was my first meal prep video. What do you love about it, what do you hate? Would you like to see more videos like this? What kind of recipes do you want to see?
Watch the video below!
Sharing is caring…send this to someone who may appreciate it! Thank you!
In fitness and good health,
Natasha