Weekly Meal Prep - Week 1

In the same vein as the menu planning, I'm going to attempt to start regularly meal prepping on Sundays. 

Here's the thing, between work, working out, and tutoring, there are nights during the week when I roll into my apartment at about 7:00, and by that time am so hungry and in no mood to cook. Cue unhealthy choice here.

So I thought doing some hardcore meal prepping on Sunday might help.  I'm not prepping every meal, I plan to cook a couple of nights (the nights I'm not tutoring).  But I feel like this will also help me with snacks and lunches on the go, which I also sorely need.

I started about 10:15 Sunday morning and was finished at about noon.  Not terrible!

First up, though, is to be prepared.

Look, you are going to be working, so make it a pleasant experience!  Made myself a cup of coffee, lit my Twisted Peppermint candle, and turned on iTunes radio.

First up, a little breakfast prep. 

I decided to break in my waffle maker using this recipe for Banana Oat Waffles.  It made about 8, so I had one for breakfast, along with some sunflower butter and raspberries.  Then I cooked up the rest and let them cool, before storing them in freezer bags separated by wax paper.  That way during the week, I can always pop one out and heat it up in the oven while I'm getting ready for work!

Next, sweet potatoes! 

I plan to use these as a side dish during the week.  I had 2 sweet potatoes which I just roughly chopped up.  I preheated my oven to 425 and sprayed with coconut oil spray.  After spreading the potatoes out, I sprayed them lightly again with the coconut spray and dusted them lightly with salt and pepper.  I didn't add any extra seasoning because I may want to get creative later in the week.  This is basically a time saver, get them cooked through and then I can prepare them any number of ways during the week. 

I put them in the oven for about 13 minutes, flippped them, gave them another quick spray, and then put them back in the oven for about another 10 minutes.  They came out crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside, so perfect!

And now it was time for the rice cooker!

First up, steaming veggies!

I did this first because you need the steamer basket.  Basically I just took a bag of broccoli and cauliflower I had picked up at Trader Joe's and steamed with about 3/4 cup of water for about 5 minutes.  Now it's perfect for a quick snack, side dish, or to throw in a salad!

Then, a batch of quinoa.

I used 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of organic chicken broth.  Again, perfect for side dishes or adding to salads during the upcoming week!

While the quinoa was cooking, I cut up some Persian cucumbers and started portioning them out to use as a snack with some hummus.

Then I got out my lettuce and washed and spun it out :)

I also rinsed and drained some chickpeas and cut up some roasted turkey breast because once everything cooled, it was salad in a jar time!

I ended up with a protein packed turkey salad - recipe will be up later in the week!

So all in all, it didn't take as much time as I thought and I feel really set for the week!