Meal Prep Ideas!

Happy Hump Day! 

How has your day shaped up so far? I got to sleep in for the first time in 10 days and it was amazing. Sadly, 8:30AM is my "sleeping in" but regardless I got to bed at 11pm and I feel so ready for the day. I had breakfast, I did my BODY COMBAT and made my shakeology and I'm buzzing around with all the energy in the world, which is amazing because I could have fallen asleep standing up yesterday! I haven't drank coffee in like 3 weeks except for maybe 3 cups. I've been making Green Tea Lattes and my Shakeology has given me such an energy boost! AMAZING!

So this past weekend, my boyfriend, Matty, & I went to visit his family in Fayetteville, NC. We went to a family friend's 2nd birthday party at an arcade and that was the most tiring two hours ever, lol. I'm pretty sure I feel less tired after I have been running for two hours than chasing around kids and playing games. Here, Matty (right) and Brian are racing like two little kids. I like the look of excitement on his face, lol. He's such a little kid at heart, I love it.

Sunday was my usual food prep day, but I don't usually eat the food prep for dinner that day, just because I'd rather have another meal I don't have to prepare for work lunches. I sauteed spinach and had 2 over medium eggs with sirracha for dinner. It was amazing!

Sauteed spinach is so easy and so high in calcium and SO low in calories! Side note:

Cooking your vegetables can actually boost their antioxidant content. Heating vegetables releases antioxidants by breaking down cell walls. Studies have found that eating cooked spinach and carrots - versus raw - results in much higher blood levels of beta-carotene, an antioxidant thought to guard against heart disease and lung cancer. Source: The Globe & Mail. The calcium is absorbed easier after cooking as well. This is not the same for boiling veggies, just grilled or sauteed. I cook mine with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, onion, a dash of fresh ground pepper, and fresh ground sea salt. It is flippin' amazing! I cooked the whole bag and ate that with my eggies & lovedddd every minute of it. So basically for the spinach (whole bag) it was 100 calories then you add in calories for whatever you add to it- but heck, that's nothing! The nutrition facts are below.

Ok, so here is my meal prep from Sunday. I went grocery shopping and was done cooking all in 2.5 hours. Not bad at all! I made sweet potato mash, grilled chicken breast, and green beans. See below.

MEAL PREP

NOTE: I prepped the food, put it in the oven, went for a run, and came back and it was ready- Isn't that amazing?

Sweet Potato Mash:

I made 9 meals total.

Wash & clean 6 sweet potatoes (SP)

Microwave 3 SP at a time for 3 minutes, then microwave remaining 3 for 3 min

Cut in 1/2 and add cinnamon

Place in baking pan with green beans (recipe below)

Cook for 40 minutes at 375 degrees

When they are finished, I used a potato masher and mashed it with skin on, I added more cinnamon, and a  little nutmeg & a few drops liquid stevia.(optional)

Portion it out into 9 servings- it is very filling- a little goes a long way!

Green Beans

Clean and cut ends off fresh grean beans - you will need a lot for 9 servings, don't be stingy with the GREENS!

Spray with coconut oil or EVOO

Add your favorite seasonings

I used Mrs. Dash no salt added Garlic & herb

Put in pan with sweet potatoes and cook the same amount of time- BOOM!

Seasoned Grilled Chicken

I bought 6 large fresh chicken breast filets, but frozen chicken breasts thawed out will work too

Season with favorite seasonings

I used Mrs. Dash no salt added Chipotle seasoning

Put in pan and cook for ~40-50 minutes depending on how thick your chicken breast is- Mine were thick so it took 50 minutes, but I cut them up for portion sizes anyways, so in hindsight, I would cut them in 1/2 before baking to save time.

Portion them out so that your serving of chicken is about the size of a deck of cards and just eyeball the portions out so that they are even. I put 3 in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. I make overnight oats or Shakeology for breakfast and then just pop these in my lunchbox everyday for lunch along with 2 healthy snacks. EATING CLEAN IS EASY!

Here's my "Sunday Funday" summary - I use the hashtags on instagram and then just upload the pics from there, so that's why there's always "#' and '@' signs on my pictures. My instagram is aprilpinkney if that's your thing, follow me! I meal prepped, had some chai green tea, got a super cute bracelet in the mail from Etsy, snuggled with my kitty on the couch, and prepped a Shakeology shake so that I could eat it for breakfast on Monday morning. I save enough time to brush my hair and teeth, get dressed, and put contacts in in the morning lol. I love my sleep. I pack EVERYTHING the night before.

So, now you saw how easy meal prep can be, what's your excuse? Your choices decide everything about your life. YOUR food choices today determine your body in 6 months. Make everyday count, and remember you said "I'll do _____ tomorrow" yesterday. GET MOVING!

XO- April