Healthy Lunch Meal Prep Week 2

Hey Guys, Hope the last post about meal prep was helpful and eliminated some of the anxiety that can come with trying to meal prep for the first time.

Today, I spent another hour meal prepping for the week. After my Easter indulgences yesterday, staying on track this week is really important!!

So here goes.

Healthy Lunch Meal Prep- Week 2

What you'll need

Bag of chicken breast

salad mix

squash

zucchini

Brown whole grain rice

Mrs Dash- ( I used original, fiesta lime and garlic herb)

Olive oil

and cottage cheese

Step 1- Defrost your chicken and cut into thin pieces. I filleted mine and cut into small chunks.

Brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle on Mrs Dash seasoning of choice. I did two different flavors for the week.

Cook on 400 for Approx 25min or until done.

(TIP- wait to cook chicken til after you cook the veggies. This way you can be putting together your containers while the chicken cooks, since it takes longer.)

Step 2- Slice squash and Zucchini, lay on lined and sprayed baking sheet. Then spray a light coat of olive oil over top and sprinkle on seasonings.

Broil on the middle rack for approx 10 min until done to your liking. I don't like mine super mushy. So I don't cook mine very long. 

Step 3- While waiting for your veggies to cook. Go ahead and measure out your rice (1/2cup), your salad greens (2cups), and cottage cheese (1/2cup).

 And top your salad with whatever other veggies you'd like, I used cucumber slices and carrot shavings.

Step 4- Now that your veggies are done- go ahead and divide into 1cup portions and put into containers.

(other side note- I had left over green beans from last week..so I just added them to one of the containers)

Step 5- Now that your chicken is done. Weigh out into 4-6oz portions and place in containers.

While my chicken was cooking, I went ahead and cut up a cauliflower so I'd have veggies to snack on in between meals this week.

And Batta Bing Batta Boom- You're done and have lunches ready for the week ahead!!!

(Side Note- I didn't include the step of making your rice because I had a container of rice pre-made and in the frig. So you'll want to boil some rice at the beginning of the process.)

Like I've said before, meal prepping seems so hard and daunting. But it's really very simple. This process took me just under 1 hour from start to finish AND I played with my one year old during the process.

If you've ever said to yourself, "Man, I wish I could meal prep" I dare you to JUST DO IT!!! Give it a try and surprise yourself at just how easy it can be to stay on track with eating right throughout your week!!

Happy Eating! 

XOXO

Healthy Lunch Meal Prep Made Easy

Meal prepping has become a pretty big thing. There are countless blogs, pinterest pins and websites dedicated just to the art of meal prepping. If you're anything like me, you love the idea of meal prepping, you see the benefits, you know it would help you stay on track with healthy eating during your busy week but you're overwhelmed with the wealth of information, recipes, how to's etc.

I have been lunch meal prepping for a little over a month now and Love Love Love how it's helped me stay on track. I've stayed on track to the tune of being down two pants sizes..... can I get a "raise the roof". (no? ok, I'll do it myself......*happy dance...raise the roof...Happy dance*)
Phew, ok, I'm done celebrating. Back to business.

Taking the time to meal prep my lunches has saved me time, calories and mental block as to what to make for lunch at that moment when I'm absolutely starving and am battling between what my taste buds want and what my fitness goals need. Have you been there??? Those battles for me usually resulted in a grilled cheese sandwich and chips. :( not such a great option.

I hear people say things like, "I don't have time to meal prep" or "I really want to, but I don't know where to start." Sometimes I hear..."Doesn't that get expensive eating dinner type foods at lunch"??

So, I decided to break it down for you to show you how easy and cheap lunch meal prepping really is and hopefully help you on your road to making this a routine that can assist you with your health and fitness goals.

FIRST, Buy your ingredients
                                      
For this weeks meals. I bought
-Bag of Chicken Breasts
-Bag of Steamable Green Beans (I got these from walmart)
-Bag of Sweet Potatoes
-Cottage Cheese
-Salad Greens
-Eggs
-Light Italian Dressing

I bought all these items from Aldi and spent just about $15.00 for them all.  I wont use everything in it's entirety for this week. So the break down per meal is less than $3.75. Not bad. Pretty affordable right?

Ok.

Step 1.
Place either 3-4 LARGE chicken breasts (or 5-6 small ones) In crock pot and cover with 3/4 bottle of italian dressing. Turn on High and let cook for 4-5 hours.
You will want the remainder of the dressing for your salads this week.

Step 2.Prepare Sweet Potatoes- Poke three small holes in each potato and wrap with foil. Place on baking sheet and cook on 450 for 1 hour. When your timer goes off, check and see if they are slightly squeezable. If you can squeeze them with your over mitt on, then they are done. I always cook more than I need for just my meals so I can grab them easily for snacks or dinners as well. *Plus my kids LOOOOVE sweet potatoes*

Step 3- Boil your eggs- I usually boil several because they are a great snack..full of protein. *great for throwing in your gym bag for after your workouts*

Step 4- Cook your steamable green beans in the microwave. 

Step5- While your chicken is cooking, your potatoes are baking and your eggs are boiling. Measure out your salad, Cottage Cheese and Green beans into your containers.

For this I use

1/2 c Cottage Cheese

2 cups of Salad Mix (topped with chopped cucumbers)

1 cup Green beans

I decided I wanted a lil variety for the week. So I am making two containers with salad to put my chicken on, and two containers with a starch item(my sweet potato) and veggies.

The end result will look like this \/

                                                       \/

By then your eggs should be done boiling- So peal two to add to your containers.

Put your containers in the frig.

Then all you have to do is wait for your potatoes and your chicken to be done.

Once they are done. Place one medium potato in your containers and 4-6oz of chicken. Be sure to spoon out some of your left over dressing over the chicken.

(I don't add the chicken to my salad, til I'm ready to eat it. Sometimes, I like it cold, sometimes I like it warmed up and I can't warm it up if it's already on the lettuce. So I store the left over's separately.)

And Voila!! 4 healthy lunch meals that are prepped and ready for a quick grab.

All the Prep Time only took me about 45 minutes today. From start to finish. That of course is not counting the cook time for the potatoes and chicken. But while those are cooking, I can do whatever else I need to get done. 

As you can see, this method is easy, cheap, and quick. 

I know we all lead busy lives, with work, families, kids, sports...whatever it is you do.

But one thing I've learned is that, If I have 1 hour of time to sit and do anything like watch t.v, read, sew, look through facebook, or pinterest 

I HAVE TIME TO MEAL PREP!

Seriously, we all HAVE the time, somewhere within our week. The question is will we TAKE the time to make this skill and healthy routine a habit for our lives.

If you've ever wanted to try lunch meal prepping, I encourage you to try it. You wont regret it!!!

I believe in you. You CAN do it!!

Happy Cooking!! XOXO

What Are We Striving For?

Have you ever wondered if what you're striving for in life is worth it? Have you dared ask yourself if at the core of your being you truly care about what is important?

I think for me, I always assume that my deepest desires are pure and righteous..that somewhere beneath the fleshliness of my sinful nature my "TRUE" self, cares about what truly matters in life.  But the more I ask myself the hard questions the more I realize that underneath the fleshliness of my sinful nature...I am still sinful. I am a selfish, selfish human being....and guess what, You are too.

We are all selfish. Human nature, makes us selfish, and as if our inherent nature wasn't bad enough we have a world telling us how much we 'deserve'. How much we 'need' and just how far we should be willing to go to get 'it'. 

You deserve a big house, you deserve fashionable clothes, you deserve to spend money on YOU, you've earned it. Do we really "earn" anything in life that should only be used for us without any thought to how we might use what we've been given to help others?? 

These are hard questions and let me just say, it's NOT fun when you realize that you really would rather buy a new spring scarf than give your money to a homeless person. Or that you really don't know if you can spare $30 a month to support a child in India because what if you get invited out to lunch by a girlfriend and don't have the money?? What if you see a new purse, new shoes for your kid or need a haircut?? It sounds so stupid but these are thoughts I have been guilty of thinking in my life.

I'd feel conviction and the prodding of the Holy Spirit asking me to sacrifice and ALLLLLL the things I've ever wanted to purchase in my whole entire life flashes before my eyes in that moment. And in a moment of complete honesty...There have been times I've said no to God. I've walked away from what I KNOW was Gods tug upon my heart and all so I could buy something for ME that I don't even remember buying at this point.

It may not be material things that we strive for. It may be to be the perfect mom, or the perfect wife. It may be to be physically fit or advance in our careers. None of those things are "bad". But is it making a difference to someone outside of what is important to "us"??

Maybe we strive for compliments, or the affirmation of others. Maybe we want to be popular, in the limelight or #1 at something. We work so hard at so many things day after day and we get so consumed with our own little world that we forget that there is a big picture out there.

There is a world that is lost, hungry, thirsty, dying, and alone.

And we shut our eyes and close our doors and continue on with our lives of Target runs and football practice, new outfits and new jobs. We forget, we don't see, we don't change and what we are so desperately striving to succeed at is only benefiting us. 

Does what you're striving for really matter?? Is it helping anyone outside of your 4 walls? Are you willing to sacrifice so that someone else can live??

I recently saw this video and it's really powerful. Please take a minute to watch it and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. Gods agenda is PEOPLE! Investing in People is the most important thing we could do.

Be Blessed~~