MEAL PREP - MY VERSION

MEAL PREP - MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU THINK
For me, meal prep is definitely a key to being successful. I think one of the common misconceptions that people have about meal prep is that you have to prep five boxes of all the same thing and eat on repeat all week. My meal prep is very different.

I start my week by looking at what needs to be used up that week. I always have a ton of fresh fruit and veg on hand and some things keep longer than others.

I look at what needs to be used and decide what meals I can make that will utilize those items. I very rarely eat the same meal twice in one week. But I do make sure that the meals that I'm making have a crossover of ingredients.

Then I look at what of those ingredients can I take the fidget work out at the time of actual cooking.

So for example, anything that I will need cut up, chopped, sliced, diced and that will be okay once it's cut like that is all done and stored. So if you've already cut up your carrots, celery, onions, peppers etc - you're going to be much more likely to use those things in soups, salads, omelettes throughout the week because they're already done and all you have to do is grab them and put them in.

I use a veggie chopper like this one:
https://amzn.to/2sZwfo5

Way too easy - that particular one even includes a mandolin for doing your slicing which mine doesn't have!

This helps in numerous ways. You definitely will eat more fresh fruit and veg if it is ready to go and you don't feel like you need to come home at the end of the day and deal with the peeling / chopping that can be frustrating to do. You take the time to do it in one sitting so you don't have to do it when you come home from a long day.

You want to make a quick pizza?

If your ingredients are ready to go and all you need to do is throw a flatbread down, put some sauce on top of it, your veggies (everything is already chopped up and ready to go), add some protein and throw it in the oven, you're going to be much more likely to do so if everything is already prepped.

The second part about meal prepping is to make sauces and marinades that you're going to have on an item ahead of time. Most of them store beautifully.

I will do Tzatiki for salmon or gyros, or my Guacamole or Pico at the beginning of the week and then it's just another thing I don't have to do when I actually make the meal that it goes with. Same for any dressings or marinades.

I did some beautiful Cilantro-Lime Chicken Tacos last week and I had already prepped the slaw, guacamole, pico and I had made the chicken filling in the crock pot. It took no time at all to throw that meal together because I'd already prepped.

Which brings me to my last recommendation for meal prep.

If you have a Crock-Pot or you use your Instant Pot - there are many things that you can make ahead of time that save you a huge amount of time.

I did a three ingredient Creamy Crock-Pot Chicken which is to die for. Here's the link.

https://fromdumpytodivas.blogspot.com/2019/01/crockpot-creamy-salsa-chicken.html

A lot of weeks, I will prep egg or tuna salad or chicken/apple/grape type salad and then if you need something to grab as a quick bite lunch you can throw it in a lettuce wrap or a standard Ole Xtreme Wellness wrap... you can have it just on its own... it's already done so it's something you don't have to think about. Throw it through your Recipe Builder and you don't even have to think about the BITES each time.

You can cook all of your chicken breasts for the week to add sliced on top of salads or shredded in something like the three-ingredient Crock-Pot chicken and it's already done.

Meal prep for me is about making it easier when it comes to preparing the meal itself as opposed to cooking one thing and eating it all week.

I think everybody handles meal prep differently but hopefully there's something in this that encourages you to take some time this week to plan and prep and see if it makes a difference for you.

How do you meal prep? Does it help?
#simplyfilling #wholefoods #mealprep #beprepared