Protein Pantry: Meal Prep ~

Meal Prep is probably the single most important thing to having success with fitness. This is the only way to stop over eating or binge eating after hard a workout. It happens every time, and you know it, it happens to the best of us when we aren't prepared.... Imagine... You eat 2 hours prior maybe more, maybe less and your pressed for time BUT you made gym time... You kick your self in the butt, drain all your energy with weights and cardio and all you can think about is eating. You didn't bring a snack, no protein and now you have errands, have work, school, etc... and you're not going home for food. IT happens, you go to closest place to grab food or you don't eat at all. By the time you get home or to the place your gonna eat at and you pretty much eat anything any everything you can get your hands on.
The hope here is that your PANTRY or your REFRIGERATOR are properly maintained with healthy products... Because the truth is that any normal person will want to eat the quickest, yummies insight especially when they're starving!

I am guilty to this type of failure luckily my cheats are rice cakes and peanut butter, dark chocolate, or a protein bar or protein dessert I've created. Only because I maintain my pantry and meal prep. ...

You can see my pantry for tips.

So now that I have hopefully convinced you that meal prep is singly the most important thing!

Here is what I do on Sundays and sometimes during the week as need as well. I meal prep for both my husband and I so we make it through a lot of food.

Meal prep consists of:

1. Dozen Eggs
2. Chicken/Meatballs
3. Veggies (Broccoli, Bell Peppers etc...)
4. Oatmeal
5. Beans
6. Protein Bars
7. Protein Muffins

ONE:

Boil a dozen of eggs. Easy Right! My husband and I go through a dozen in 3 days, 2 eggs per day per person.
You do your math for your house. Eggs are great, you can never boil too much!

TWO:

Bake at least 1 chicken breast per person per day. This is considering they are for lunch/snacks. I eat oatmeal for breakfast and make dinner every night so this is truly for Snack 1, 2, 3 & Lunch. I season my chicken with anything I feel like that day... Here are some of the spice blends I've used and like...

Bake chicken in a dish at 350 F for 40 minutes.

Once its done, slice and portion out accordingly.
You can freeze some, depending on how much you make. I don't like to have cooked food sitting in my fridge more than 5 days.

For meatballs follow the Turkey Meatloaf recipe but form them into balls (makes about 12) and bake for 30 mins.

I LOVE these because they are quick, easy and super tasty! I love to dip them in mustard! YUMMY!!

You can freeze some of these too or throw them all in the refrigerator. If you freeze these I recommend freezing them individually on a pan
in the freezer before throwing them in a bag and freezing. This helps them to not stick together.

Three:

Chop fresh veggies! Broccoli, Bell Peppers, Cucumber, Asparagus or whatever else you like. These are great snack options and great to dip in Hummus! Having veggies chopped on hand are great because you can reach for a bell pepper vs. a chip or cookie. I eat more than 1 cup of veggies per day but these are for on the go or sitting around snacks.
I don't chop more than 4 days worth, Apx 2 c per day per person. Veggies aren't the best once they start getting old so think and plan smart. I would hate to eat stale yucky veggies!

Four:

I always have my protein oatmeal prepped in the cabinet but for mornings on the go I really like to have quick easy stuff ready. It helps you to eat right.

For fast on the go oatmeal I use Ball Glass jars. And fill them with 1/4c Oats, 1/8c oat bran, 1/8c Vanilla Whey, 1 tsp Flax, dash of Cinnamon and cover with 1/4 c Almond milk and 1/4 c water. Shake and pop into the refrigerator. On the go grab one and eat cold or pop it in the microwave to eat on the go! Smart YA!

Five:

For the LOVE of BEANS! And boy do I love BEANS! I eat a ton on Black Beans and although canned ones are pretty cheap, when you eat as many as me... they aren't that cheap anymore!

So I buy bagged dried ones now. Either cook them on the stove or in a crockpot (EASIER!) The beans pretty much double in size so 1-20oz bag for $2 becomes 5 cups of Beans! Mama Mia! Follow the cooking directions on the bag. for the crockpot I cover them in water (2x the amount of beans) Cook them on low for 8 hours and wala! Season them if you want. I don't, purest me!

Six & Seven:

I also like to make some Protein Bars and a batch of Protein Muffins for the week. These are also good little snack if you need a dessert or something on the go other than food that will spoil in the car.

Meal Prep takes a couple hours but in the long run it TOTALLY WORTH THE TIME!!!

Meal Prep ~