Welcome to ROUND 2 of Meal Prep Sunday! YAY!
I received SO much positive feedback from the first post so I think it's definitely safe to say that Meal Prep Sundays are here to stay!
This week I have also included vego and vegan options so that there is something for everyone...but mostly because I have to keep the vegan in the office happy...hahah jokes jokes!
PLUS, I have some new super delicious recipes that I am SO excited for you to try!!
Now remember the purpose of Meal Prep Sunday is to support YOU to easily fit healthy and balanced meals into your life.
It's going to save you a lot of time, stress and energy, and ensure you're body is enjoying tasty, filling and nourishing food.
No more skipping breakfast, takeaway lunches, two minute noodles or 3pm hunger pains, because this meal prep plan has got you completely covered.
All I need from you is 2- 3 hours on a Sunday for some meal prepping fun!
Put on your favourite music so you can dance along or even have a podcast or movie playing to help the time fly by.
Let's get started!
Meal Prep Guidelines
Each Meal Prep Sunday Plan contains one daily plan, which you can use from Monday to Wednesday or full the whole week. It's completely up to you.
For each recipe I provide, you'll need to work out how many serves you need. This is determined by how many days you follow the plan and also how many people are following the plan along with you. For instance, if you and you're partner (2 people) decided to follow the plan from Monday to Wednesday (3 days), you would need to make 6 servings of each recipe.
To be clear, each plan isn't a diet or weight loss plan but a guide to easily incorporate balanced and healthy eating into your life. However, because each plan is packed with goodness you may notice a change in your energy, overall wellbeing and potentially your weight over time depending on you normal eating routine.
If there's a recipe you don't like then simply swap it out for one of my many others. Simply look for recipes that you can easily batch cook, keep in the fridge and reheat if you need.
After you've portioned out any warm or hot meals into containers, make sure you give them some time cool on your bench, before putting the lid on or putting them in your fridge. Putting hot into the fridge straight away, can cause bacteria to form and no one wants that.
REGULAR
This Week's Meal Prep Plan:
Breakfast: Banana Smoothie (You can use fresh or frozen bananas for this)
Snack 1: Greek Yoghurt and Blueberries (Fresh or Frozen)
Lunch: Honey Salmon
Snack 2: Protein Brownies
Dinner: Curried Chicken and Rice with Cucumber, Baby Spinach & Red Onion Salad (More details on the salad in the method)
Meal Prep Method:
1. Read through this whole post first - so there's no risk of missing anything - and then work out how many days and how people are following the plan so you know how many serves you need to make of each recipe.
2. Go through each recipe and construct your shopping list for the week. What's great about meal prepping is you don't need a million different ingredients because you're making the same meals.
3. Go food shopping!
4. Once you're home, make sure you're kitchen is clear and ready for cooking, and then get out all the ingredients and containers you need. This is also the time you can put on some music, a podcast or a movie - or maybe you just want silence - whatever you need to enjoy the next couple hours.
5. Let's start with breakfast. Now when it comes to Banana Smoothies it's actually NOT good to make a batch and then have them in the fridge for days...you're nose and your tummy will not be happy. Smoothies can last up to 24hrs in the fridge so the best practice is to make your smoothie either the night before - ie while you're waiting for your pre prepped dinner to heat up - or in the morning - it take 5 minutes to make I PROMISE! In this step, I want to make your smoothie for Monday (don't forget to put it in the fridge once you're done) and then make sure all your dry ingredients are placed together on the same shelf - that way you're not searching for them every day and can easily grab them. Also, if you didn't buy frozen bananas and your bananas are looking SUPER ripe, make sure your peel them, chop them in half and place them in a container before putting them in the freezer! This keeps your bananas nice and fresh, while keeping your smoothies nice and cool.
6. Next we're going to focus on your snacks. With the yoghurt and blueberries, you may want to just take a container of yoghurt and a box of fresh or frozen blueberries and put them in the fridge and/or freezer at work (if you have one) - this way you can serve up your snack as you want it. Otherwise, portion out each serving of yoghurt and blueberries into seperate containers, and even sprinkle with cinnamon if you like!
7. Now it's time to make your Protein Brownies! Once you've whipped up the mixture and put up the brownies in the oven, I want you to put on a timer for 25 minutes (how long the brownies will take to bake) and refocus your attention on the next recipe. As you're brownies are baking, we're going to be making your Curried Chicken and Rice. When the timer goes off, simply take the brownies out oven the oven and leave them on your stove top or a wooden chopping board to cool - we'll come back to them later.
8. Follow the steps to make your Curried Chicken and Rice and once you're finished cooking you can either seperate each serving into individual containers or keep all the Curried Chicken and Rice in one container - whichever suits you. If you're following this plan for more than 3 days then I recommend you freeze any servings for day 4 and beyond - otherwise that rice will give you a very upset tummy. Now, during the week when you're waiting for you're dinner to reheat, use this time to 1) Make your smoothie and then 2) Make a quick salad (If you like - it's your choice). To make the salad simply chop up 2 cups of baby spinach finely, along with 1/4-1/2 red onion and 1 small cucumber. Mix all the ingredients together, and then lightly dress with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice or balsamic vinegar - super easy and fresh!
9. Now it's time to cut up your brownies and put each serve into individual containers. Make sure the brownies are completely cool before putting the lid on the container and putting them in the fridge, otherwise bacteria will form.
10. Now we're at the home stretch, with one last meal to make... your Honey Salmon for lunch! During this recipe you'll have moments where you're waiting for the veggies and/or salmon to bake, use this time to start cleaning up so that once your Honey Salmon is done, you only have the tray to clean. When you've finished cooking, portion out each serving into individual containers and allow the food to cool before popping them in the fridge!
11. Once everything is clean and done, it's time for you to put your feet up! AMAZING job! You just smashed Meal Prep Sunday and now all your food is ready to go, which means no more food shopping, cooking or cleaning for the next few days.
VEGETARIAN AND VEGAN
This Week's Meal Prep Plan:
Breakfast: Banana Smoothie (You can use dairy or plant based milk, and either fresh or frozen bananas for this)
Snack 1: Greek or Coconut Yoghurt and Blueberries (Fresh or Frozen)
Lunch: Vegan Dahl
Snack 2: Vegan Protein Brownies
Dinner: Vegan Enchiladas with Cucumber, Baby Spinach & Red Onion Salad (More details on the salad in the method)
Meal Prep Method:
1. Read through this whole post first - so there's no risk of missing anything - and then work out how many days and how people are following the plan so you know how many serves you need to make of each recipe.
2. Go through each recipe and construct your shopping list for the week. What's great about meal prepping is you don't need a million different ingredients because you're making the same meals.
3. Go food shopping!
4. Once you're home, make sure you're kitchen is clear and ready for cooking, and then get out all the ingredients and containers you need. This is also the time you can put on some music, a podcast or a movie - or maybe you just want silence - whatever you need to enjoy the next couple hours.
5. Let's start with breakfast. Now when it comes to Banana Smoothies it's actually NOT good to make a batch and then have them in the fridge for days...you're nose and your tummy will not be happy. Smoothies can last up to 24hrs in the fridge so the best practice is to make your smoothie either the night before - ie while you're waiting for your pre prepped dinner to heat up - or in the morning - it take 5 minutes to make I PROMISE! In this step, I want to make your smoothie for Monday (don't forget to put it in the fridge once you're done) and then make sure all your dry ingredients are placed together on the same shelf - that way you're not searching for them every day and can easily grab them. Also, if you didn't buy frozen bananas and your bananas are looking SUPER ripe, make sure your peel them, chop them in half and place them in a container before placing them in the freezer! This keeps your bananas nice and fresh, while keeping your smoothies nice and cool.
6. Next we're going to focus on your snacks. With the yoghurt and blueberries, you may want to just take a container of yoghurt and a box of fresh or frozen blueberries and put them in the fridge and/or freezer at work (if you have one) - this way you can serve up your snack as you want it. Otherwise, portion out each serving of yoghurt and blueberries into seperate containers, and even sprinkle with cinnamon if you like!
7. Now it's time to make your Protein Brownies! Once you've whipped up the mixture and put up the brownies in the oven, I want you to put on a timer for 25 minutes (how long the brownies will take to bake) and refocus your attention on the next recipe. As you're brownies are baking, we're going to be making your Vegan Enchiladas. When the timer goes off, simply take the brownies out of the oven and leave them on your stove top or a wooden chopping board to cool - we'll come back to them later.
8. Follow the steps to make your Vegan Enchiladas and then pop them in the oven. Once again I want you to put on a timer for 15 minutes (how long the enchiladas will take to cook) and refocus your attention on the next recipe. As you're enchiladas are cooking, we're going to get started on Vegan Dahl. When the timer goes off, simply take the enchiladas out of the oven and place them next to your brownies on your stove top or a wooden chopping board to cool - we'll come back to them later.
9. Now it's time to make your Vegan Dahl for your lunch! This is one of my favourite recipes. Follow the recipe and once you have the dahl simmering (which will take 20-30 minutes) you can move on to steps 9 and 10 below, and use any extra spare time to start cleaning up while you wait for the dahl to finish cooking.
10. Now it's time to cut up your brownies and put each serve into individual containers. Make sure the brownies are completely cool before putting the lid on the container and putting them in the fridge, otherwise bacteria will form.
11. When it comes to your Vegan Enchiladas you can either seperate each serving into individual containers or keep all the enchiladas in one container - whichever suits you. Also an important note about your salad...During the week when you're waiting for your enchiladas to reheat, use this time to 1) Make your smoothie and then 2) Make a quick salad (If you like - it's your choice). Simply chop up 2 cups of baby spinach finely, along with 1/4-1/2 red onion and 1 small cucumber. Mix all the ingredients together, and then lightly dress with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice or balsamic vinegar - super easy and fresh!
12. You're nearly there. You're Vegan Dahl and rice should ready to be portioned out into containers! Remember, any rice that is being used for Day 4 or beyond should be put in the freezer so it doesn't go off and give you a funny tummy.
13. Once everything is clean and done, it's time for you to put your feet up! AMAZING job! You just smashed Meal Prep Sunday and now all your food is ready to go, which means no more food shopping, cooking or cleaning for the next few days.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and what you would like to see more in Meal Prep Sunday. I LOVE LOVE LOVE hearing your feedback! Be sure to also share your creations with me on Instagram so I can like, comment and share! Use the tag @leahitsines and hashtag #leahitsines to reach out.
Leah x
