Hi Everyone!
I am going to give you a glimpse into my Sundays. Sunday has become the day when I prepare to eat healthy all week long. It makes mornings, and packing my lunch for work much easier. Plus it gives me plenty of healthy options that I can grab on the go, and helps stave off unhealthy cravings.
I have also implemented Slow Cooker Sundays. I use the crockpot and make something for dinner, that I will also enjoy for leftovers during the week.
So what did I prep? I’m glad you asked!
I usually bake some chicken, fish, or both. This week I did chicken, and made Seafood Stew in my crockpot.
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| Baked Vegetables, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Chicken, and Butternut Squash Medley |
I recently started measuring out portions of some of my foods. I weighed my chicken, and separated it into 4 oz. portions that I can easily grab or add to my lunch. The container’s with the blue lid I typically add spinach leaves and some grape tomatoes to make a quick chicken salad. Other times I toss the chicken with some vegetables, or even make an avocado chicken salad (click for the recipe).
I cut up the chicken breast to make it easy for lunch, plus it can be added to a quick stirfry during the week if you want to make a fast dinner.
I also baked two trays of vegetables. I love veggies, and I like to have some type of vegetable with every meal. These are my trays of vegetables before they went in the oven.
The top photo is butternut squash, onions, and grape tomatoes. When I put the tin foil down I lightly brushed it with extra virgin olive oil. On top I lightly sprinkled some coconut oil. I incorporate healthy fats into
my diet. When cooking the squash I covered the dish with tin foil to allow it to soften.
The second photo is zucchini, asparagus and grape tomatoes. I lightly brushed olive oil on the tin foil before baking, and then I added a touch of fresh ground pepper, and fresh ground sea salt. Delicious, and easy. I baked both veggie dishes at 375, at the same time as I was baking my chicken and sweet potatoes.
I don’t do anything special with my sweet potatoes. I poke them with a fork, set them in a glass dish, and cook until they are slightly soft to the touch (I wear my oven glove while testing this. Don’t get burned!) To make sure they are ready for lunch I cut them in half. One serving of sweet potatoes is 4 oz. Usually I just bake small sweet potatoes, and guesstimate them to be around 4 oz. Today I baked larger potatoes, and weighed them. Cutting it in half gave me a 4 oz serving.
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| 4 oz serving of Sweet Potatoes |
When the squash was almost done cooking I added some fresh baby spinach (Kale is another great option), walnuts, and dried cranberries. It’s also delicious with some feta, but I didn’t have any today so I left it out. This is one of my favorite side dishes, and it’s also great as a vegetarian meal, or with some chicken thrown in.
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| Shrimp, Tilapia, and Veggies over Brown Rice. |
When I pack my lunches all week I will have plenty of nutritious, filling, and tasty things to chose from. Plus, if I don’t have a lot of time I can keep dinner simple by throwing some chicken or fish in the oven, and still have some great vegetables ready to go on the side.
I absolutely love the detailed posts you have been leaving lately, particularly about your diet!! Can you possibly give an idea of a serving size for the vegetables, particularly the asparagus/cranberry/walnut dish?? Thanks Melissa!
Wow! You are so generous, thank you for sharing your meal plans for the week. You give me new ideas!
I was wondering, does this last the whole week or does it spoil? Do you do a mid week mini prep or freeze some of the cooked foods?
Yum! Thank you!
Awesome plan & ideas. Thank you so much. I am always looking for quick healthy options & this is another way I can cook my veggies. Looking forward to the seafood stew recipe.
thanks!! good ideas for healthy meals . yours Ayelet
wow Thank You !!!
Thank you for taking the time to get pictures of meal prep and explaining it! Do you eat these foods for breakfast as well, or do you get into eggs & oatmeal or some other rad idea? –so grateful, Melissa R.
Just found your site and I’m obsessed. My problem is not losing weight, but toning up and knowing the right exercises to do on my own. I love your detailed meal plans! Makes me very motivated seeing the results you get and I hope to see some of my own results soon as well. I’m going to the grocery today with my new “clean eating” grocery list. Thanks for all of your help!! Can’t wait to have my bikini body ready for the summer months.
Fantastic! I keep thinking I will make food for the week but it never happens 🙁 This is a great idea to just have a slew of options ready to go and cook them all at once in the oven – great inspiration for me!
How do you cook your chicken?
Love these ideas, thank you.
How many days is chicken good for in the fridge after its been cooked? I would like to make it ahead but I don’t want it to go bad
I love your blog very inspirational and useful – thanks!
Yummmy Idea I love to eat new dishes 🙂
thanks for sharing your experience 🙂 i will try it 🙂
health benefits dairy
Hi! 🙂 I just discovered your blog and it looks great! I love that you incorporate both exercise and meals, since one can’t really do one without the other 😉 Anyway, I have a question for you. I am a mother to two lovely children, one is 2,5 years and the other is soon 11 months 🙂 Thing is, I have been exercising regularly for about 8 months now but can’t really see the change where I want it the most, of course my belly… I also ended up with to c-sections and thus I have belly literally hanging, even though I have been doing both interval, strength training (squats etc..) and some jogging.. What am I doing wrong? I eat with variation and moderation. Got any pointers?
Would be much appreachiated 😉
How do u cook your brown rice w shrimp and veggies please help. Also is this a good meal to eat everyday for lunch??
Ive always been a fan of having a sunday “cookathon” for the week ahead. Lately, my veggies have gone soggy? any tips on how to keep them crispy? without undercooking them too much of course.
Eating the butternut squash recipe right now and WOW it is delicious! I put the kale, walnuts, feta and grapes (instead of cranberries) and it is so yummy! I made all of these recipes last night and it is all so good! Thanks for the inspiration, I get in a rut sometimes with cooking 🙂 I just love you Melissa! THANKS for being so awesome!
excellent recipes idea. those recipes are really good for health.
I saw your blog and have been trying our meal prep for a week as well. Would love to get your opinion on how I did healthylivying.wordpress.com/2014/06/29/meal-prep-first-timer/ 🙂
Out of interest, how long does the cooked chicken and veg last? Do you freeze it or keep in a fridge?
I’m always happy when I meal prep but I don’t do well with fussy, overly specific meal plans. This approach was so easy and I was able to utilize the groceries I already had available. The veggie trays in the oven is such a great idea!
Food ideas look good! Thanks for the ideas.