You might also be capable to inform I’m gravitating towards routines by the topic of right this moment’s weblog publish: Weekend meal prep!
As I briefly talked about on the weblog some time again, I bought some blood work finished (impressed by studying the guide Outlive) and it’s prompted me to wish to concentrate on three most important issues in relation to my weight-reduction plan: Enhance my water consumption (this has been going so, so nicely and I owe all of it to this time-stamp water bottle!), enhance my produce consumption and enhance the quantity of protein in my weight-reduction plan. I didn’t actually dive into implementing these adjustments past rising my hydration over the vacation season as a result of meals through the holidays are everywhere however now I’m feeling excited to make some adjustments I hope may have a optimistic affect on my general well being.
Relating to the meals I meal prepped for the week forward, you’ll see meals I prepped for our household (aka recipes our boys love) in addition to some extra protein-dense recipes I prepped with my private targets in thoughts. I’m not somebody who naturally craves protein so I do know that so as to see the quantity of protein on my plate or in my snacks bump up a bit, I want a plan and a plan is 1,000,000 instances simpler for me to implement if I do some prep work.
I’ve categorized my weekend meal prep into breakfast meal prep recipes and lunch + dinner meal prep, although among the recipes shall be consumed for snacks and should even flip-flop classes relying on what we’re craving within the second.
Breakfast Meal Prep
These waffles have been the boys’ favorites for years. Final yr, after I lastly purchased a bigger waffle maker, I started making the whole field of Easy Mills waffles at one time so I may freeze the waffles we didn’t eat and save them for busy weekday mornings. They reheat completely within the toaster and our boys love them with a little bit of butter, maple syrup and recent berries on the facet.
Since I already had the waffle maker out on Saturday morning, I made a mega-batch of protein waffles to eat and reheat as nicely. I nonetheless must share this recipe with you guys however the components are just like my egg white and oatmeal protein pancakes so in case you like that recipe, keep tuned for this one coming quickly! They’re sooo good topped with a smear of peanut butter as a result of the peanut butter melts and oh my gosh it’s so scrumptious.
I’ve these entire wheat pumpkin muffins below the “breakfast” class however they’re actually an anytime meals in our home. (Shout out to Ryder for sneaking one earlier than I snapped a photograph!) We like them for breakfast however are simply as prone to eat them for a fast grab-and-go snack as nicely. And the boys find it irresistible after I embrace one of their college lunches.
Since I had some pureed pumpkin leftover from the entire wheat muffins I made, I discovered a recipe that might enable me to make use of the remainder of it up in a protein-packed oatmeal bake! I used the remaining pumpkin on this recipe for brownie baked squash oats and because it known as for added squash, I additionally very finely shredded some yellow squash utilizing my rotary grater to include as nicely. (I’m sorry I forgot to snap an image of this one proper out of the oven on Saturday so that you get the second-day glass meals storage container pic!)
Lunch + Dinner Meal Prep
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Thai Cabbage Rooster Salad
My mother is a retired nurse and one of many first individuals I talked to about my bloodwork outcomes. She is aware of about my targets to extend my protein and produce consumption and gave me an unbelievable reward over Christmas. I discussed a cookbook by Lillie Eats and Tells, a girl I started following on Instagram who shares macro-balanced recipes which might be usually excessive in veggies and protein, and my mother printed out all of the recipes from her newest cookbook, One Extra Time. It’s been an unbelievable useful resource for me for brand spanking new recipes. I’ve made a handful of recipes already (perhaps 5?) and all have been extremely scrumptious and filling and so they make me really feel good (steady vitality + glad) after consuming them. On Saturday, I meal prepped one other recipe from the cookbook — a Thai cabbage rooster salad — and it was so splendidly recent and scrumptious, although it did make my kitchen appear to be an entire catastrophe zone within the course of.
Right here’s a glimpse into the fact of meal prep behind-the-scenes:
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Prepped + Sliced Fruits and Veggies
I prepped some fruits and veggies for the start of the week, largely for the boys’ college lunches, or as a simple throw-it-on-their plate dinner choice. Some fruits like apples and pears they’re a little bit choosy about due to discoloration however others, like bell peppers and strawberries, are simple sufficient to slice 1-3 days upfront of serving and so they’ll nonetheless keep recent sufficient. I additionally steamed some inexperienced beans and plan to do one other mini-prep of further vegetables and fruit about midway by way of the week.
We undergo so many hard-boiled eggs in our home and fortunately our useful little egg cooker does many of the heavy lifting and makes a bunch of easy-to-peel eggs for us to have readily available. Ryan and I like exhausting boiled eggs in egg salad (or any salad, actually) whereas the boys like them as a snack dipped in salt. For this week, I used the egg cooker to prep two cycles of eggs so we’ve a dozen hard-boiled eggs readily available going into the week.
I’ll seemingly do one other spherical of mid-week meal prep on Wednesday to assist get by way of the rest of the week however the above prep ought to hopefully assist the subsequent few days a little bit simpler!
Questions of the Day
Do you meal prep or take time to prep meals for the week forward on the weekends?
For many who eat a weight-reduction plan with an honest quantity of protein, share your methods with me! Is there something you do to make incorporating protein into your meals and snacks a little bit simpler? Any favourite sources?
