Happy Fresh Friday! Are you loving your summer fruits and veggies yet? Remember…they days of kale and grapefruit aren’t far away, so enjoy all the juicy strawberries, peaches, summer squash, and tender lettuces while they’re fresh and in season. (Post about your fruits and veggies! Win prizes!)
I promised that I would post about my grocery situation…
…so here are the details! Remember that my meal preps are for me and, while they might inspire you, they are not intended to be full menus for you to follow. We each have different needs, so ask me if you ever have questions about how to adapt any of these ideas to be best for you.
I spent about $70 on:
- organic Greek yogurt
- organic chicken
- organic strawberries
- organic eggs
- lemons
- mangos
- avocados
- cilantro
- oats
- organic high protein tofu
- soy chorizo (ok, it wasn’t on the list but it has been fun!)
- vanilla coconut milk (a stepping stone to help me start drinking coffee at home again)
and combined all that with protein powder, egg whites, and seasonings that I already had at home.
Prep-wise, I made these things in the following order:
- baked chicken breasts (literally: a split chicken breast straight out of the package, topped with leftover salsa. my salsa happened to be homemade, but a jar of salsa would work just fine, too!)
- a batch of sunshine muffins
- grilled chicken tenders (straight out of the package – I buy the pre-cut chicken breast tenders because they’re the same price as the breasts but save me prep and cleanup time – seasoned with salt and pepper)
…which took about 10 minutes of hands-on prep time and 45 minutes of stovetop/oven time.
I didn’t prep much because…
- the veggies from my farmshare are currently so easy to slice, saute, and eat (squash, eggplant, corn)
- cooking eggs with soy chorizo takes about 3 minutes
- slicing fruit takes less than a minute and I prefer my fruit freshly sliced when I have time
My daily meals for this week look like:
- Sunshine muffins
- Greek yogurt with mango or strawberries (or both! live on the edge)
- Cold brew coffee with chia seeds and vanilla coconut milk (ok, it’s not a meal but I look forward to it every day!)
- Eggs with soy chorizo, avocado, and a side of (frozen) spinach or squash
- Protein shake #1 (vegan + vitamins + probiotics)
- Chicken with butter lettuce salad, okra, green beans, or peas – the veggies just get 5 minutes in a hot pan with olive oil, salt, and herbs
- optional meal, depending on my schedule: warmed tofu with some kind of dipping sauce
So easy! And so healthy – my veggies and fruits are built into my day, and I have soooo much more energy when I eat like this then when I slide into carb dependence. (But! My yogurt, fruit, and veggies still have carbs, as do the oats (obviously), so I’m still getting my full carb macro for the day even though my lunch and dinner don’t have any rice or bread-like foods.)
This is the fastest meal prep I’ve ever done…
…and I did it straight off of the plane from the Zumba Instructor Convention when I could barely keep my eyes open. It was totally worth 10 minutes of my time, and I hope it inspires you to prep something for your week and also to keep it simple when you don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen. No two weeks are the same, so just go with the flow and do what makes sense for your life.
