Meal Prepping Part II: Cooking the Food

First off I will start by saying I work full time and I honestly don’t want to put in the effort to spend more than an hour for meal preps. Know what that means? I make a lot of the same foods and I keep it simple! “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” is my motto for a lot of things, meal prep being one of them!

Meat – I do either Chicken Breasts orTilapia, but usually chicken breasts. I preheat the oven to 400, spray a baking dish with pam and seasoning (roasted garlic and herb is all I use on mine, but you can use whatever you want) I place all the chicken breasts from the big frozen bag I bought into the dish, sprinkle seasoning on top and place in the oven, uncovered, for roughly 40-45 minutes.

While my meat is cooking, I tear open a big bag of frozen veggies (2 bags usually) and dump it into a big pot, put it on the stovetop over medium heat, and stir every few minutes. Once it’s pretty much cooked I turn the heat to low and cover the pot for about 10-15 minutes

             (This was only one bag)

At the same time I will also make spaghetti squash. There are many ways to make this, but the way I make mine is in the microwave- Put it on a glass plate, poke holes all over it with a sharp knife, and place it in the microwave for 4 minutes if it’s a small one, or 6-8 minutes if it’s a larger one. Once the microwave stops, I slice bigger holes in the squash and put it back in for another 4-8 minutes depending on the size. I then am able to get my knife through the squash and make 1-2 inch slits in it. I put it in one more time for 4-8 minutes. I pull the plate out with a dish towel or gloves because it is HOT and I cut the squash completely in half. Let it cool down for about 20 minutes. Once it’s cool enough to touch, I take a fork and scoop out the seeds and slimy squash and then scrape out the squash and dump it into a plastic container and place it in the fridge.

Complex Carbs – I only make one at a time, either sweet potato, brown rice or quinoausually. For sweet potatoes I boil them for about 25-30 minutes and they are ready to be cut into slices. For quinoa and brown rice I follow the directions on the packaging.

Once all the food is done I put them each into their own containers and stick them in the fridge. Each night I pack my 2 lunches for the next day (meals 3 and 4). I have a cheap little scale I use to calculate my macros (bought for $20 at Walmart. It’s digital) as I’m measuring my food with the scale and with my measuring cups, I simultaneously enter it into myfitnesspal app on my phone for the next day. Most recent foods are saved, so it’s really easy for me to just click on a saved item and enter the amount.

 

The next Meal Prep installment will be snacks!