“Abs are made in the kitchen.” It’s a true statement, but isn’t always easy to do when you are busy with a job or kids. We learned this after having Braxton. We used to do so great with making healthy foods when it was just the two of us. Now it’s just too easy to drive thru Taco Bell for lunch or dinner. And my husband would do it everyday if he could. So we had to find another way. Meal prepping is what saves us. Not only does it save us time, but it also saves us money! We typically go grocery shopping and meal prepping on Sunday for the week. We prepare meals for breakfast and lunch for the week and then we plan out an easy dinner for each night.
(Braxton isn’t interested in our food yet…he’s just obsessed with his Puffs. Anyone else’s baby like this?)
Here’s what a typical meal prep might look like!
Breakfast Meal Prep:
Smoothies: We love our Ninja blender. We make a large batch of smoothies and put them in small containers and freeze them. You just have to take one out in the morning while your getting ready and it’s ready to drink on your car ride to work! We mix up what we put in them from week to week, but the main idea is using frozen fruit instead of ice.
- Mixed Frozen Fruit (We either buy frozen bags, or just freeze fresh fruit if it’s starting to go bad.)
- 100% Cranberry Juice (Any juice would work, we switch it up from week to week. You just need a splash of it. 100% juice is always better then juice cocktail though!)
- Kale (You’re able to sneak some veggies in without tasting them! Spinach would also work.)
- Chia Seeds (Not necessary but adds some health benefits.)
- Greek Yogurt (If you want it a little thicker.)
(So yummy and a natural pick me up in the morning!)
Hard Boiled Eggs: We also hard boil a dozen eggs. Blair only eats the egg whites. I eat the whole egg. The yolk does have a lot of cholesterol in it, but it’s also where all the protein is. So it’s a trade off, but either way a healthy easy breakfast.
A small smoothie and an egg doesn’t sound like much, but it really does fill you up! And we snack throughout the day as well.
Lunch Meal Prep: We just put these in containers for the week, and reheat them in the microwave for 2 minutes.
Grilled Chicken with Rice and Veggies: Sounds like more work then it is! And you can change up the meat, the type of rice and the types of veggies from week to week so you don’t get bored.
(This was grilled chicken with rice, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes and bell peppers. We make enough to fill 8-10 containers this size.)
*Grilled Chicken: (You can change it up with pork chops or ground turkey.)
- Coat with Olive Oil
- Season with salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme & garlic.
- Bake at 425 for 25 minutes. (Does depend on your oven.)
*Rice: We just buy the boxed rice and follow directions. Super easy and then you can change up the flavor of rice from week to week.
*Veggies: Follow the same directions as cooking the chicken. Depending on your oven you can even cook them at the same time. We usually make 3-4 veggies each week. Here’s all the ones we have tried so far. You can either have a veggie for each day of the week, or if your like us, we just mix them all together. (You can also steam the veggies instead. We usually steam them for about 15-20 minutes.)
- Sweet Potatoes
- Carrots
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Brussel Sprouts
- Onions
- Bell Peppers
- Green Beans
(When you’ve gotten so many healthy gains that you don’t fit into your stuff anymore. We had to put away this swing and some other baby items he has outgrown! In storage until it’s time for baby #2…)
Weekly Dinners: We don’t prepare these ahead of time, but we make sure that each day’s dinner doesn’t take more then 30 minutes to make. Here’s what a typical week might look like.
(Snapchat filters…because who has time to shower and put makeup on all the time? Also why easy dinners are a must.)
- Monday: Chicken Pasta Salad. Bake or grill chicken. Cook some wheat penne pasta. Chop up some lettuce. (Much cheaper to buy a head of lettuce then bagged.) Mix in cucumbers, broccoli, hard boiled eggs, bell peppers, etc.
- Tuesday: Stuffed Bell Peppers. Cook boxed rice. Cook ground turkey with chopped onions and garlic. Stuff the bell peppers with rice, ground turkey and top with a little cheese. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Our favorite meal!
- Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner. We toast some wheat bread. Make some eggs either sunny side up or over easy. Mash up some avocados. Spread the avocado over the toast, put the egg on top. So good and so super easy!
- Thursday: Pizza! Not the healthiest of meals, but you if you restrict yourself too much then you usually won’t stick to eating healthy. So it gives us something to look forward to on the nights we don’t feel like eating healthy.
- Friday: This is our date night. We usually go out for happy hour and appetizers somewhere for our “dinner.” Cheap and fun!
(Our daily walks have been so fun and we are going to start going on daily runs this week as well!!)
Snacks: I try to have a ton of snacks on hand that are ready to eat to make it easy. Especially when I’m trapped below a sleeping/breastfeeding baby.
- Celery (Make sure to wash and chop up as soon as you buy it that way it’s ready to eat anytime!) Love it with some ranch or peanut butter.
- Hummus with veggies. (Carrots are a favorite with it.)
- Cheese Sticks
- RXBar (My favorite protein bar. It’s all natural with no added sugar and is gluten, soy and dairy free!)
- Bananas
(One of my favorite flavors! The Mint Chocolate and the Chocolate Sea Salt are my favorites.)
We try to stay under $100 per week on food, and meal prepping definitely helps us do that. It also makes us feel better and we’ll be able to set a good example for our son.
**An Update on Braxton’s Sleeping…
(The unboxing. He was so excited!)
We bought a Dockatot! And after only one day, I can say the high price tag is worth it! Braxton was waking up every 30-45 minutes and would not let you put him down once he woke up. The first night with the Dockatot, we put it in our bed between us. (We made sure to follow the safety guidelines of co-sleeping, like making sure we each use a different blanket so it doesn’t accidentally get pulled over his head, etc.) He slept for 2 hour stretches! It might not seem like much, but for us it’s great progress! And after a few minutes of nursing he would fall back asleep and I could set him back down in the dockatot and he would stay asleep. Once we get to longer stretches, we’ll move the dockatot to his crib. (I did put it in his crib for naptime, and he did great in it!) If anyone else is having a hard time with their baby sleeping, I would definitely recommend it. If you are thinking of getting one, you can click here for a code to get $10 off!
(Not related to the post, but a great date idea for you guys! We had so much fun at Painting with a Twist!)
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