Steal My Strategy: Meal Planning & Prepping
I’m always looking for new recipes that are healthy, easy to prepare, and delicious. What works for our household is to make dishes in bulk - I will often double or triple a recipe so we have leftovers. Here are some of my go-tos for Breakfast + how I like to plan for lunch and dinner.
Breakfast:
I like to keep a batch of homemade granola in my pantry and I pair it with greek yogurt + 1/2 scoop protein powder.
I like this egg frittata recipe
One of my favorite go-tos is a breakfast hash: 2lbs potatoes, 1 onion, 2 bell peppers, 1 head broccoli - I roast them all together with avo oil, salt, and pepper and mix with 2lbs cooked breakfast sausage. (Try to source pasture raised, usually by ordering frozen online). You can do chicken and apple sausages chopped up or chicken/turkey breakfast sausage for lower cal as well. I’ll reheat the hash and add a fried egg on top in the morning.
A guilty pleasure for us is Catalina Crunch cereal - not ideal since it isn’t a whole food, but it is nice to have in a pinch! I'll top this with some of my homemade granola and some blueberries to add some extra nutrients and flavor, and it is great when traveling.
You can’t go wrong with Kelly Leveque’s formula for Fab Four smoothies
I like to add 1/2 to a whole scoop of this protein powder to my morning coffee so that I make sure to get at least 40g of protein in the morning
On the weekends, I make these pancakes as a treat.
Lunch / Dinner: My husband and I tend to do a mix of some bulk-prepped simple items that we can remix throughout the week + some full meals/recipes that I will make a double or triple batch of.
Here’s how we bulk prep for a week:
We make a big batch of Roast veggies - get 4-5 seasonal veggies, chop, season with avocado oil, salt, pepper and roast at 400 for 30 min, tossing halfway through.
We’ll prep 1-2 Carbs: Rice and roasted potatoes are our go-tos, but you can also incorporate quinoa, barley, or other whole grains.
We cook 1-2 Simple Proteins:
Pulled taco chicken - 4 chicken breasts, 1 jar salsa (I like siete) 1 packet taco seasoning (I like Siete). Slow cook for 4-5 hours on high or pressure cook for 12 minutes. Shred and store in fridge.
Pulled chuck roast - 4lbs chuck roast, 1 cup beef broth, 1/4 cup coconut aminos, 1 tbsp salt, 1 tsp pepper. Slow cook for 5-6 hours on high or pressure cook for 60 minutes. Shred and store in fridge.
Curried beef: 3lbs lean ground beef, salt, pepper, curry powder, cumin, paprika.
Ground turkey - we'll just cook it up with light seasoning and put coconut aminos or Primal Kitchen soy-free teriyaki on top of it.
We keep several Flavor toppers in stock:
Chipotle mayo (I just mix Primal Kitchen mayo with chipotles in adobo and keep it in the fridge)
Kimchi (Cleveland is my favorite brand)
Sauerkraut (I like Bubbie’s spicy sauerkraut)
Coconut aminos (Target’s good & gather brand is my favorite)
Bachan’s Barbecue Sauce (has added sugar)
Fresh herbs or chopped scallions
Once we have all of these items prepped in the fridge, we can throw together a meal easily:
1 cup roasted veggies + 1/3 cup carbs + palm-size protein + 1-2tbsp flavor topper
Meals I'll double to have a big batch:
Thai basil chicken - you can make it with ground turkey too
I love this curry chicken salad. I like it on Base Culture paleo bread or on a bed of butter lettuce
Burger bowls - you can mix lean beef and turkey for a lower cal higher protein
I make this winter minestrone, but I add a few lbs of pulled chicken breasts and remove the pasta (I skip the bruschetta too)
Easy Meals We Always Keep In Stock:
Kevin’s frozen meals + frozen vegetables + frozen rice packets (You can put together this meal in minutes).
Tinkyada pasta + 1 jar of organic marinara sauce + frozen ground beef or chicken italian sausage (once defrosted, this can be on the table in 15-20 minutes).
Turkey bacon + eggs + rice + kimchi
Oatmeal + chia seeds + flax seeds + protein powder + frozen berries
Let me know if you try any of these methods or recipes out!
