Sunday Night Meal Prep

Confession: I've totally slacked with meal prepping the last few weeks. After vacation it was very hard to get back into the swing of things! But I'm starting another round of P90X3 tomorrow and I am determined to give it 100%! No last minute trips to Subway to find something "healthy" or eating in the cafeteria at work because I didn't have any food prepped. Tomorrow is a new day and I'm going to be prepared for it!

Our grocery shopping consists of going to two stores, Sam's Club and Price Chopper. Sam's is nice because you can get a lot of stuff for pretty cheap - chicken, fish, frozen veggies, ground turkey, protein bars, and greek yogurt are a few of our stamples. However, with only two people in the house you can't buy everything in bulk! Plus I'm not a huge fan of Sam's produce so we have to make another stop at Price Chopper. Today we got lots of fresh veggies, farm-raised eggs, and PB2.

Having a lot of food in the fridge does NOT mean you are actually prepared for the week. You could "plan" to prepare and cook for 2 hours each night, but a slight change in plans could mean a trip to McDonald's for a quick bite to eat. Please avoid that! You are not setting yourself up for success!

Below is a outline of the prep we did tonight and a good starting point for any beginners!

1. Chicken - We bought about 7 pounds of chicken of Sam's. We opted for the cheaper kind this time and I quickly discovered why it was cheaper! Lots of fat and rib meat left on my chicken boobies! Even though we only cooked half of the chicken tonight, I cleaned all the breasts up and placed each breast in a separate zip-lock baggie (just in case you only need 1 or 2 at a time). Derrick seasoned 4 breasts with Nature's Seasoning (we didn't have any plain garlic salt) and grilled them up! Just enough for dinner tonight and Monday/Tuesday lunches for both us of.

2. We bought a bag of avocados that were already soft and ready to go so I had to use them quick. I decided to make guacamole and an avocado dressing. 

Guac - 5 avocados, 1/2 a red pepper, salt to taste, garlic powder to taste, and a couple squirts of lime juice. We will be using this as more of a dressing or garnish with chicken, instead of a dip for tortilla chips :) Yum! 

Avocado Dressing - I found this recipe on Pinterest. It is AMAZING! I use this stuff on top of grilled chicken, on top of rice (I hate plain rice), in wraps, on salads, almost anything! It doesn't look appetizing in the picture, but trust me it is! 

1 large avocado 

2 teaspoons  lemon juice 

1/2 cup greek yogurt 

1 teaspoon hot sauce 

1/4 extra virgin olive oil 

2 garlic cloves 

3/4 teaspoon salt

Blend together and enjoy! 

3. Broccoli - This one is simple. Buy a big bag of broccoli and boil it. Done!

4. Green Peppers - Some people like the sweeter peppers, but I LOVE green peppers. I bought 4 peppers, rinsed them off, and sliced them up. I'll keep them in a tupperware container to eat raw or to saute with coconut oil for a quick side dish to any meal. 

5. Strawberries - One carton of strawberries rinsed and sliced. I had originally planned to make greek yogurt covered frozen berries (yum!), but my freezer is too full to freeze them. I'll keep them in the fridge for a quick snack or to top a spinach salad.

6. The final product - I'm able to come home for lunch each day, but Derrick cannot and must pack his lunch. I made up these to-go containers with chicken, white rice, and broccoli. I'll put some gauc in a smaller container and he's ready to go!

That was my meal prepping for the week! Between prepping for the week, prepping dinner for tonight, and actually eating dinner, it took us about two hours total. Two hours to set yourself up for success the rest of the week? Totally worth it! If you have specific questions or want additional meal prep ideas, please reach out to me! I'm happy to share more.

Have a great week!