My Version of Meal Prepping
Life is hectic! We all know this. As a teacher, my life gets a little easier during the summer. This has given me some time to perfect the art of meal prepping - at least for my purposes. My boyfriend and I are really trying to eat healthier and we have some pretty serious fitness goals. To achieve these goals, we are trying to increase our protein intake and cut back on carbs and sugar.
We typically spend a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon/night prepping meals for the work week. Each week, we grill up chicken breasts, roast vegetables, boil eggs, and cut up fruit. We also prepare rice for days that we need more carbs (I would like to eat more brown rice, but my boyfriend will only eat white!). I have been wanting to incorporate some quinoa as I know that the nutritional benefits are amazing, but it is so darn expensive!
We prepare enough meals to last us 3-4 days. I have prepped for the full five-day work week before, but by Friday the vegetables are mush and the meat is a little dry. We try to put each meal in a separate container (you can see them in the picture), but sometimes it requires two.
A typical meal for us consists of meat (usually chicken but sometimes pork or fish), half of a baked sweet potato, and a healthy amount of green vegetables (brussels sprouts, green beans, asparagus, etc.). On days where we need more carbs (heavy workout days), I will pack a small container of pre-cooked rice. In separate ziploc bags or containers, I also pack a hard-boiled egg, protein balls or bars (I'll share the recipes for these soon), greek yogurt, and fruit (strawberries, blueberries, banana, etc.).
We try to eat something every 3 hours or so (which can be a little tricky on a teacher's schedule), so I stagger the food throughout the day. In the evenings, we try to cook a healthy dinner.
