If you are like me then you are busy and it's tough to find a lot of time to meal prep. My kids may look older because they are tall but a 2 year old and a 3 year old take up most of my time...mainly separating them so they stop fighting....but still my focus can't be in the kitchen non-stop to prep food. Especially when you add a husband and a household to keep going on top of my kids. There just aren't enough hours in the day! So I have had to come up with some ways to make meal prep super easy yet 21 Day Fix approved.
My challengers have asked me to share some of those meal prep ideas with them but I also wanted to share with all of you.
Okay, you can meal prep a BUNCH of chicken at once and it's a throw it in and forget about it kind of thing. I like to buy a whole chicken and put it in the crock-pot. You just sprinkle some seasoning (I use: 1 teaspoons paprika, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon dried onion, 1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon chili flakes. You mix all those spices together in a bowl then coat the whole chicken with olive oil then sprinkle the spice mixture on top of it.) I like to cut some sweet potatoes and throw in some baby carrots in the bottom, pour some organic veggie broth to cover the veggies and then place the chicken on top then cook it on low for 6 hours. Afterwards you shred the chicken and then you have quite a few meals ready to go. They make for great lunches at work...just ask my hubby. You can also skip the veggies and just cook the chicken (no need for the veggie broth if it's just chicken) and then you have a bunch of chicken prepared for salads or tacos...really anything! You can also get 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts and put them in the crock-pot. You cover them with a jar of organic salsa (or even homemade salsa which you can find the recipe to in the new Fixate cookbook) and then turn the crockpot on low for 6 hours. When it's done you shred up the chicken and you have plenty of meat for whatever you choose. Then of course if you live in Belgium then there are the Markets in each town on certain days. They have GREAT rotisserie chicken that you could buy and shred to use during the week. If you are looking to do something similar but live in the US then I suggest finding a place that uses good, no antibiotic chicken. Places like Wal-Mart do not use good chicken so please try to avoid that stuff!
I don't typically do elaborate snacks so my prep is super easy. I make sure I cut up all my fruits and portion them out right away. You can put them in Ziploc bags to store them. However, I like to portion my snacks out with my lunch as seen in the picture below. I also boil enough eggs for the week which is super easy and quick. Honestly, the best thing you can do for your snacks is make them super simple so all your prep should be is cutting fruit or boiling the eggs. So many times people over complicate the process.
(The pic above shows my snacks in one container and then in the bottom portion you see my salads for lunch. I use these containers but there are plenty of options to choose from.)
Don't be afraid to eat the same thing each day for most your meals! I do it! I use my dinners as my "new meal" of the day. You can even plan more portions when you cook your dinner so that you have leftovers for lunch the next day. That alleviates the pressure to prep for lunches.
I personally do not prep my dinner items because I work from home and can cook dinner when I need to. If you are busy and work outside the home then you can always try to cook Monday night's dinner on Sunday, then you can stay a day ahead and only have to reheat the items. I do like to pre-cut my veggies if I can sneak that in at nap time or on Sunday's during meal prep. I have also used meal prep Sunday to cut and roast a week's worth of veggies using this recipe. That means all I am making for dinner is the meat and warming up the veggies. Another go to quick and easy option for prepping dinner is making a big pot of spaghetti sauce. It's easily freezable and you can make an abundance of it so then all you have to do for dinner (or even lunch) is boil up some noodles. Again, the Fixate cookbook has awesome options on using the sauce in multiple ways so that's it's fresh and new.
I hope that these options help you to get some meal prep done in a quick way. I know that your time is precious and that when you first start out, meal prepping can take hours. I have been there! That's why I try to stick to the crock-pot for chicken, I cut my veggies and fruits, boil some eggs and portion out my salad items.
As always, if you have questions then please don't hesitate to ask! I am here to help! If you are interested in joining one of my fitness challenges then fill the below form out and we can get you started on your journey. XoXo
I don't typically do elaborate snacks so my prep is super easy. I make sure I cut up all my fruits and portion them out right away. You can put them in Ziploc bags to store them. However, I like to portion my snacks out with my lunch as seen in the picture below. I also boil enough eggs for the week which is super easy and quick. Honestly, the best thing you can do for your snacks is make them super simple so all your prep should be is cutting fruit or boiling the eggs. So many times people over complicate the process.
Don't be afraid to eat the same thing each day for most your meals! I do it! I use my dinners as my "new meal" of the day. You can even plan more portions when you cook your dinner so that you have leftovers for lunch the next day. That alleviates the pressure to prep for lunches.
I personally do not prep my dinner items because I work from home and can cook dinner when I need to. If you are busy and work outside the home then you can always try to cook Monday night's dinner on Sunday, then you can stay a day ahead and only have to reheat the items. I do like to pre-cut my veggies if I can sneak that in at nap time or on Sunday's during meal prep. I have also used meal prep Sunday to cut and roast a week's worth of veggies using this recipe. That means all I am making for dinner is the meat and warming up the veggies. Another go to quick and easy option for prepping dinner is making a big pot of spaghetti sauce. It's easily freezable and you can make an abundance of it so then all you have to do for dinner (or even lunch) is boil up some noodles. Again, the Fixate cookbook has awesome options on using the sauce in multiple ways so that's it's fresh and new.
I hope that these options help you to get some meal prep done in a quick way. I know that your time is precious and that when you first start out, meal prepping can take hours. I have been there! That's why I try to stick to the crock-pot for chicken, I cut my veggies and fruits, boil some eggs and portion out my salad items.
As always, if you have questions then please don't hesitate to ask! I am here to help! If you are interested in joining one of my fitness challenges then fill the below form out and we can get you started on your journey. XoXo
Fill out my online form.
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