This week we are tackling meal prep.. and I mean a-weeks-worth-of-food kinda meal prep. I don't like counting calories, but I do monitor what I'm eating to make sure that I'm eating healthy carbs, healthy fats and lean, quality protein at each meal, and protein and healthy fats for my snacks. 

To break it down, I lay out a plan & menu before I go shopping. I try to make sure I buy enough food for two adults plus a little extra. I lay out lunches and dinners in detail, and tend to 'go with the flow' on breakfast. 

Meal Goals for Lunch & Dinner: 

3-4 ounces of lean protein

15-20 grams of healthy fat

1/4-1 cup carbs*

*carbs vary depending on the density. We tend to eat 1/4-1/2 cup dense carbs like rice/sweet potatoes, and more (1 cup on average) of carbs like green beans, lettuces, and/or a little fruit. Amounts also vary on activity level, more on that in another post. 

With this plan I lay out a menu and our budget. See this post for more on that. Protein first, then veggies, then carbs & fats and any fruit. 

I'll basically go through and cook and season everything like I'm making Thanksgiving dinner, or feeding an army. We tend to look at food as fuel, which keeps the menu simple. Feel free to add in a more elaborate recipe or cook something special on Friday or Saturday night. 

Heat it up

Heat your oven to the lowest setting you'll need, I started ours at 350 degrees. (You can do another round in the oven if another temp is needed)

Bring out the pots & pans and any 'cookers' you might need - I love my rice cooker!

This is where I also started heating a pot of water for the hard boiled eggs, and another large pot with a steamer basket for veggies.

Prep

I rinse and season the pork tenderloin, placing it in a 9x13 dish to bake.

Throw the chicken breast in a marinade in a ziploc bag.

Follow this by mixing seasonings into the ground turkey in a large bowl, then dividing the mixture into meatballs in a another 9x13 glass baking dish.

Cut up any veggies & fruit - I cut up the cantaloupe. The veggies were already pre-cut & washed.

Scrub & rinse sweet potatoes, poke with a fork and place on baking sheet, set aside.

Cook while cooking

Place pork in the 350 degree oven, set time for 1 hour, or until internal temp says 145 degrees.

Place the meatballs into the oven for 25 mins. 

For the list of veggies I have this week, I needed to cook 3 different items. I placed the green beans in the large steamer basket for 5 mins.

The asparagus & broccoli were tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and balsamic vinegar  and placed on baking sheets, 20 mins at 350. If you only have one oven, swap these out with the meatballs once those are cooked.

Make sure to remove the eggs & beans from heat to prevent over-cooking.

Start pre-heating your grill to medium-high heat for the chicken breast. Depending on the thickness, grill breasts about 5 mins on each side.. thinner cuts will need less time.  Internal temp should be 165 degrees.

Once the first round of food is done in the oven, bump up the heat to 450 degrees and bake your sweet potatoes for 1-1 1/2 hours, until soft in the middle when pierced with a fork. 

Once all the food is cooked, cooled and ready to portion, I'll bust out my food scale, measuring cups, spoons, and every piece of Tupperware we own.

I'll portion out all the protein and carbs. From time to time, the only thing I will wait on is fat & fruit, depending on the sources that week. If I'm using olives/oils/nut butters, I'll portion them out. If we are using avocados, I'll stick a note on top of the Tupperware lid that says 'add fat - avocado'. So that it's still easy to grab and go without dealing with a brown avocado on Wednesday afternoon. The same thing goes for fruit - items such as strawberries and melon can be cup up and portioned ahead of time, but pears/apples/bananas we'll wait on. Sticky notes to the rescue again.

We love our food scale (similar one here), but just ordered this one and can't wait to try it! 

Often times I will make small portions of food for Aria as well, various meals like homemade "Yumm-bowls', rice with beans, cut-up chicken and cheese for us to have ready to go as well. This leads me back to breakfast. 

Breakfast is absolutely a staple, but we are more relaxed with it. Often times after the tupperware process I'll still have extras I set aside as leftovers for breakfast.  

Other go-to options include: 

Scrambled eggs with ham & cheese, oatmeal with chia seeds & fruit, hard-boiled eggs, plain greek yogurt with fruit. Nut-butters and canned coconut cream often find their way into this mix as well for fat. 

Going on a weekly cooking spree has been well worth it. I don't have to think about my food when I'm hungry, or risk making a less healthy choice and giving into cravings. It also saves me from an hour or more of nightly cooking and clean-up. I can spend that time with my family and know that we have healthy meals to choose from throughout the week. 

This is a long post, but I hope this has helped layout the process. Feel free to comment with any questions you may have, or tips on how you make it easier! I'd love to hear :)