Meal Prep Breakdown!

Over the past year my fiance and I have taken our fitness and clean eating habits to an all new high. Getting into the routine of meal prepping and changing your eating habits is not an easy feat; cheesy fries will ALWAYS sound better than green beans! It's hard and it takes a lot of dedication and sometimes a lot of work. Most people begin working out and see little to no progress, become discouraged and quit because they aren't aware of the extreme importance of changing your diet and proper water intake. Having said that, the hardest part for me, personally, was I had no idea where to even begin. Luckily, I got the hang of it well enough that I have felt a want and desire to help others struggling to start. So, in this post I will break down our breakfast and lunch meal's, including the recipes for how to make them as well as the recipes for our nightly dinner's. Sometimes I change up the breakfast and lunch meals, so I will try and make a new post with an updated weekly meal prep every week or so. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask, I will help to the best of my abilities. I'll try to keep this together and as easy to comprehend as I can and good luck with you're prepping!

Our full breakfast and lunch meals this week are as follows:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup of lean ground turkey cooked with green chile's and a white onion, sided with 1/2 cup of black beans.

Lunch: 2 ground chicken patties mixed with green chile's, green onions and cilantro, sided with 1/2 cup of Sriracha broccoli.

Our weeknight dinner breakdown:

Monday: Chicken Taco Salad

Tuesday: Enchilada Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Wednesday: Sweet potato and ground turkey skillet

Thursday: Tuna Patty Melts

Friday: Sweet potato and black bean chili

Before I get into this fully, I do want to put a disclaimer out that some of the dinner recipes are not my own creations and those will be linked instead of written out so the original bloggers/websites will be credited.

I also want to put it out there that portion control with each meal is just as important as the clean diet itself. The portions we have for our meals may not be what's best for you, so give them a try and adjust accordingly to your body's needs without over-eating.

Breakfast

Ground Turkey Recipe

What you will need:

• 1 Pack of lean ground turkey, thawed. I use the 3 pound Jenni-O ground turkey packs. 1 pack will make 10 meal prep meals, so you may not need one that size if you're looking to meal prep smaller or only for yourself.
• 1 small to medium white or yellow onion.
• 2 oz fresh or canned green chile's. 
• Seasoning of your choosing.
• Coconut, ghee, olive oil or any other cooking oil you choose. We try to stay away from cooking with butter; we prefer coconut oil.

1. Place your cooking oil in a medium to large pan and turn your heat to medium-low.
2. Begin dicing your onion and green chile's if they aren't already, while your oil is heating up in the pan.
3. Once the oil is heated and your produce is diced, add them to the pan and turn the heat up the high-medium, saute them until soft, about 5-7 minutes.
4. When the onion and green chile's are soft, add your ground turkey and cook until golden brown, mixing up the meat and veggies as you go.
5. Add a liberal amount of seasoning while the turkey is cooking, just to add a bit of flavor. I use garlic salt, salt and pepper. Try to stay away from over seasoning as most seasonings are packed full of sodium.
6. Place your turkey in a strainer to rid it of any excess fat and allow to cool.

That's it for the turkey! Once it's cooled for about 5-10 minutes, place 1/2 cup into each of your containers and you're done with that portion!

Black Beans:

What you will need:

• Canned, low or no sodium, unseasoned black beans. I left the portion out of this because it will vary depending on how much you are planning on making. It takes me 5 cups total, 1/2 per container for 10 meals, which breaks down to 3 15 ounce cans.
• Seasoning of your choosing.

1. Place your pre-measured black beans into a small to medium pot or sauce pan, bring your heat up to medium-high.
2. Sprinkle whatever seasoning you would like on top of them. I use red pepper and a small sprinkle of garlic salt.
3. Allow the beans to simmer slightly, stirring occasionally. 
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Once they are cool, place 1/2 cup of black beans into each one of your containers and you're all finished!

Lunch:

Ground Chicken Patties

What you will need:

• Lean ground chicken. I use 2 packs of harvestland 92% lean/8% fat ground chicken in 16 ounce packs. 
• 2oz of fresh or canned green chile's, chopped.
• 3-4 green onions, chopped.
• Liberal amount of cilantro.
• Coconut oil, ghee, olive oil or any cooking oil of your choosing.
• Seasonings of your choosing.
• Optional: Old fashioned rolled oats.

1. Add your cooking oil to a pan and set the heat to a medium-low and allow it to heat up.
2. Place chicken in a medium sized bowl.
3. Once all your veggies are chopped, place them in the bowl with your chicken.
4. Season the mixture with seasons of your choosing. I used a small pinch of garlic salt, salt and pepper as well as a dash of cumin.
5. Mix everything together and pay attention to the consistency. Depending on the chicken, it not stick together as well as it should. If you come across this problem, add rolled oats in small amounts until it begins to come together well.
6. Roll your chicken mixture into balls and place them into the oiled pan. Smash them down with a spatula until they form a patty shape.
7. Allow each patty to cook until the sides are golden brown and the meat is cooked all the way through, about 3-4 minutes each side. Continue this until your mixture is completely used.
8. I like to let mine cool on a plate lined with a paper towels to allow all the oil to be soaked up.

Once the patties are cool, add two to each container and move on to cooking your broccoli.

Sriracha Broccoli

What you will need:

• 2 - 14oz bags of frozen broccoli.
• 2-3 tablespoons of sesame oil.
• 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar.
• 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce.
• 2-4 tablespoons of sriracha hot sauce.

1. Place your sesame oil in a wok or a medium to large sized pan and place your heat on medium-low, allow it to heat up.
2. Once the oil is heated, add both bags of broccoli.
3. After the broccoli has been added and has warmed up some, add the rice vinegar, soy sauce and sriracha and stir it all up. I say 2-4 as it's a personal preference to how hot you want it.
4. Place a lid on the wok/pan and allow it to cook for 10-12 minutes or until it's at your desired tenderness.
5. Once cooked, remove from heat and allow the broccoli to cool.

That's it for the broccoli! Once it's had some time to cool, place 1/2 cup into each of your containers. 

Dinner

Monday: Chicken taco salad. 

This recipe was not my creation. I have linked it below, so just follow the link to get to the recipe!

Recipe by GimmeDelicious

Tuesday: Enchilada Stuffed Spaghetti Squash.

This recipe was not my creation. I have linked it below, so just follow the link to get the recipe!

Recipe by RecipeRunner

Wednesday: Sweet potato and ground turkey skillet.

What you will need:

• 1.5 pounds of lean ground turkey meat. I use Jenni-O brand.
• 1-2 large sweet potatoes.
• 1 9oz tube of chorizo.
• Coconut oil, olive oil, ghee, etc.
• Optional (but recommended) fried eggs.

1. Begin by placing your cooking oil in a medium skillet and allow it to heat.
2. While your oil is heating up, peel and dice your sweet potato and place it in the skillet with the oil and cook until they are tender.
3. Once your potatoes are done cooking, place your ground turkey into the same medium sized pan and cook over medium-high heat until golden brown, season liberally with garlic salt, salt and pepper.
4. While the turkey is cooking, in a separate pan, place your tube of chorizo and cook until bubbling.
5. Once the turkey, chorizo and potatoes are done cooking, add them all to a bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. Optional: Fry eggs in cooking oil to be added to the top of the skillet. 
7. Spoon 1/2-1 cup of the meat and potato mixture into bowls and add your fried eggs to the top and enjoy!

Thursday: Tuna Patty Melts

What you will need:

• 4- 5oz cans of tuna. I use the chunk whole white, but you can use whatever you like.
• Any bread of your choosing, thicker sliced bread turns out better. I use a honey oat bread.
• 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise, miracle whip or veganaise. Whichever you prefer.
• 2 tablespoons of mustard.
• 2-4 tablespoons of dill/sweet relish.
• 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.
• Seasoning of your choosing.
• Coconut oil.

1. Open and drain all of your tuna cans and place it all into a medium mixing bowl.
2. Add the mayo, mustard, relish, cheese and seasonings to the tuna and mix well. 
3. Take your coconut oil and spread a small amount across one side of two separate pieces of bread.
4. Place a medium pan over a medium heat and add a piece of bread, coconut side down.
5. Spread tuna salad across the bread, adding as much as you want. The more you add, the thicker the sandwich and longer cooking time.
6. Once you have added your desired amount of tuna spread, place the other piece of bread on top with the coconut spread side facing up.
7. Allow the first side to cook until the bread is golden brown and flip over to the other side. You may need to hold the sandwich together as you flip it so none of the tuna falls out. 
8. Once the other side has cooked to a golden brown remove from the heat and enjoy while warm!

Friday: Sweet potato and black bean chili. 

This recipe was not my creation. I have linked it below, so just follow the link to get to the recipe!

Recipe by What's Gaby Cooking

I also want to point out a few more things before I end. 

• Your water intake is important as well. Drinking a gallon of water a day will flush your body of anything unnecessary and will also boost your metabolism, aiding you in losing unwanted body fat faster. Another perk of staying hydrated is that you won't feel as hungry in between meals. 
• When trying to lose weight, remember to try and cut out as much starches, processed foods and sugars as you can. Eating healthy all day long and finishing your night with something packed full of sugar is not going to help. Keep that in mind and look for healthier options to kick your sweet tooth.
• Cheat meals are important too. I am a firm believer that balance is key. But having said that, balance in moderation is the way to go. Don't have a cheat DAY once a week, have a cheat MEAL once a week. We tend to have ours on Saturday or Sunday to reward ourselves for the week. While indulging in a cheat meal, still try to keep in mind that you don't want to over eat.

Whew! That was a lot of information, so if you made it this far congratulations! I know that meal prepping seems a bit intimidating and like it takes a lot of time to prepare, but I swear it doesn't and that it's all worth it. It takes me about 90 minutes, sometimes less, one day a week to make 20 meals; 10 breakfast meals, 10 lunch meals. I don't meal prep our dinners so that my fiance has a fresh warm meal after working all day, but If you choose to do so, that's just as well and good! If anything meal prepping not only improved our eating habits, it also actually made things more convenient for every day life. If you start to meal prep, stick with it! People who have a though out, clean diet are more successful than those who try to find things to eat day by day.  If you have any questions, please let me know! I would love to help.