wellness – The Meal Prep Princess

Hello all, today’s installment talks about one of my favorite things ever. Snacks. I LOVE snacks of all shapes, sizes, and textures! Snacks can also be sneaky and tricky, without realizing it we can sit and eat a whole family sized bag of potato chips and not even realize it until we have hit the bottom of the bag. But I do have some solutions for successful snacking!

The snacks I love the most would have to be pretzel sticks, dried fruit such as pineapple and mango, freeze dried strawberries, fresh fruit of all kinds, baby carrots and celery, gluten free crackers with tuna, babybell cheese with grapes, yougrt and granola, cottage cheese, dark chocolate, rice crisps, pickles, olives, I really could go on forever and ever about snacks. But apart from snacking right is watching the portion!

Always pre portion snacks, this has saved me time and time again and it’s handy for keeping in your lunch bag for mid afternoon hunger pains. I bag things like pretzels and dried fruit in zip lock bags. Dose them out in serving sizes, 1/3C of dried pineapple has about 130 calories. Dried pineapple is more calorie dense then fresh pineapple so watch out, however it is good to raise blood sugar and it’s better then eating a bag of candy. Fresh fruit and veggies I pack into small deep to-go’s and stash them in the fridge for breakfast as well as snacking.

Follow your hunger cues, when you are reaching for a snack, think to yourself “am I hungry enough to eat an apple” if yes, then you are hungry and should eat, if no then your mind is bored, you aren’t actually hungry. Try not to snack in front of the TV if at all possible, because I have a tendency to eat snack after snack if I’m watching tv, so I try to keep my hands busy instead by sketching, playing with a stress ball, crochet (which was an epic fail I should add).

Always try to have a snack after a workout, something lite, with healthy fat and protein, turkey, a handful of nuts, an avacado and egg on toast, fresh fruits with Greek yougert are all excellent picks!

Also eating small meals throughout the day keeps your blood sugars level and can help you fight fatigue and help curb the cravings for the junk food. Eating several small meals a day also helps promote weight loss, and better overall health.

Happy snacking!

The meal prep princess

Okay, for anyone who has ever been on Pinterest I’m sure you have seen pages upon pages of beautifully boxed and portioned prep meals all lined up on the counter in neat nutritious perfection. It’s a little intimidating I know, actually it’s a lot intimidating especially for a first timer. But relax, I have all the tips to success (after many weeks of trial and error).

The most important part of prep is your list! There will be 3 lists.

List 1: decide ahead of time what you are going to make. Since I prep for 2 people for the week I make 3 different dishes of 6 boxes of each item. Once you have decided what to make, find your recipes if need be. It can be as easy as a chicken ceaser salad, or as complicated as tamales. But I try to prep things that are fast, keep well over a period of time, and reheat well if need be.

Things that prep well are: salads (dressings always on the side, or else things get soggy) pastas with sauce, shredded pork, chicken or beef, chicken breast, roasts, chili, stew, wraps (condiments on the side for the same reason as above) egg cups (recipe will come later) fresh fruits and vegetables too, yogurt parfaits (granola on the side) cutie orange fruit, peel on bananas, pomegranates, almost anything can be prepped beforehand with some assembly required.

Things that don’t prep very well: runny yolk eggs, avocado, most fish (salmon actually preps pretty well), fried or crispy anything (trust me it will get soggy) sandwiches on soft bread (if you are going to do a sandwich, make your “filling” and keep the bread and condiments separate and assemble when you are ready to eat) pre cut apples tend to get brown no matter what you do with it so better to eat out of hand.

List 2: now that you know what you are making write down all of your ingredients (and quantities) then, go into your pantry and find what you have and don’t have (I cross things out as I go) there is nothing worse then getting home after a big grocery hall and realizing you forgot or ran out of something and have to run back to the store.

List 3: re-write your final grocery list. Write it out with the layout of your local grocery store in mind trust me this will save you boat loads of time and steer you away from temptation. So mine is written out as produce, deli meat, raw meat, canned/box items (by aisle, I have my local store layout memorized by now), frozen, dairy, and finally non-food items (toilet paper, “to-go’s”, etc)

A note on “to-go’s” this is what all of my finished meals come packaged in. They are disposable cheap Tupperware containers that I can wash and use again (or throw out if they get gross or I forget them in my car for 2 weeks). I use the square ones for my meals, small deep ones for fruits and vegetables, and bowl types for stews, soups, and chilis.

Now comes the legwork, when you get to the store stick to your list! I cannot stress this enough. I pre-plan all of my snacks before hand and write down what I’m getting. I used to go to the store and grab a box of cookies, or candy, or things I just didn’t need that were unhealthy or a waste of money. Stay strong, it all pays off, you might want those cookies now but in a few months you won’t even give them a second glance. Be prepared to spend around 30-60 minutes at the store depending on your haul. Try to go as early as time will allow, my local store doesn’t re-stock throughout the day so in order to get the best produce and meat I have to beat the Sunday crowd. Plus if your store doesn’t carry something, this gives you time to adjust your recipe or find a substitute (I have googled substitutes from my phone numerous times right there in the store) once you are finished, treat yourself to a cup of coffee (we have a Starbucks in my local store) this perks me up and prepares me for my prep day ahead.

Now throw it all in your car and hurry home. Put away the frozen and perishables like meat and produce. Now grab your first list with recipes and read them over again before you begin to make sure nothing has to marinade for an hour, has to sit, bakes for 4+ hours etc.

The next step is actually prepping, this will be a separate post so you don’t get overwhelmed by reading a novel of tips and tricks, trust me prep is easy once you get all of the above done. Stay tuned.

Love

The meal prep princess