As a working mommy, I am a big advocate for meal prepping.  Honestly, I even meal prepped prior to having my son because it saved me SO much time in the mornings.  Time saved in the morning means more time for me to sleep! 🙂  I pack my lunch (and breakfast) almost every day of the week which saves a lot of money, but is also usually healthier than buying food at work or from a fast food restaurant.

So here is the rundown on how I prep my meals.  I usually do my meal prep on Sunday afternoon.  I prep a breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks for most days.  For breakfast, I pack a grain, protein and usually a fruit/vegetable.  For lunch, I pack a protein, vegetable/fruit, and usually a grain.  For my snacks I usually do a fruit/vegetable and protein and a trail mix.

Here are a few of my meals to give you some ideas:

For breakfast I am usually pretty basic.  I do oatmeal (either old fashioned or steel cut) in a jar.  I will add cooked cinnamon apples and nuts or dried fruit and nuts.  I cook my oatmeal in batches because it takes a while to cook steel cut and old fashioned oats, so cooking them in advance really helps.  I put them in jars and warm them up at work each morning.  I will take a boiled egg or greek yogurt for my protein.

 

(Steel cut oatmeal, cinnamon apples, and roasted pecans)

This lunch prep included chicken quesadillas.  I was being a little lazy that week so I bought the pre-cooked chicken (Simple Truth), but usually I will grill some chicken breasts.  I added a salad, salsa, plain greek yogurt and avocado to complete the lunch.  My husband and I use plain greek yogurt in place of sour cream, which will add a little extra protein to your meal.

Next is one of my non-oatmeal breakfasts.  I made egg white, spinach, and mozzarella sandwiches on a thin bagel bread.  I cooked the egg whites and spinach in a pyrex dish in the microwave.  Then I added the mozzarella cheese, let it melt, and then put them in the freezer.  On the day I ate them, I reheated in the microwave and then added the thin bagel bread.

Here is a photo of all my meals for the day.  This includes oatmeal and a boiled egg for breakfast, an apple and peanut butter for a snack, homemade trail mix for another snack, and chicken and cheese hand pies for my lunch.  With my lunch I added a green salad, carrot, cucumber, and red pepper cold salad, and mandarin oranges with blueberries.  I prep EVERYTHING when I do my meal preps, so I boil all my eggs for the week and even put the peanut butter in individual containers for each day.  I wait to take my eggs out of the shell the night before I will eat them.  My trail mix usually includes cashews, dried cranberries, and almonds.  I do trail mix almost everyday because I can eat it in the car and I have a long commute home. 🙂

This meal included a sweet potato and black bean quinoa bowl (http://www.spoonfulofflavor.com/2015/01/14/sweet-potato-black-bean-quinoa-bowls/) for lunch.  I had oatmeal for breakfast with a boiled egg, an apple and peanut butter for snack, as well as carrots and hummus and trail mix (I have a long commute!).

I will share more meal preps in another post, plus I try to post my meals on instagram (when I remember) so follow me for more ideas throughout the year.

❤ K