Easy, Healthier Alfredo Meal Prep

This week, I really wasn't feeling doing a huge grocery store run so I used 90% of what I already had at home.  However, if you're looking to make a grocery trip "from scratch", here's what I used for 4 breakfasts and 5 lunches! 

Breakfast
- Rolled Oats (3 cups)
- Apple Sauce (1 cup)
- Eggs (2)
- Vanilla extract
- Milk
- Canola Oil
- Baking Powder
- 2 Golden Delicious apples
-  Brown Sugar (OPTIONAL)
- Cinnamon
- Yogurt (4) They were out of my usual Yoplait, so I tried the vanilla Chobani from locally sourced milk.  It's a Greek yogurt which made me nervous, but I LOVED it!
- Cupcake Liners

Lunch
- Vegetable enriched pasta (this is my FAVORITE- You'll get 3 servings of veggies per 3.5 oz. serving! Woo!)
- Fresh broccoli (I used 2 large heads of broccoli just for myself - but I do love broccoli with all of my heart so I'm a little biased and you may want to use less.)
- 1 lb. lean, white-meat, ground turkey breast (This is my favorite and I use to 93% lean.)
- Alfredo Sauce (I use 1/3 cup per lunch.) Here is my favorite sauce to use.
- Italian Seasoning
- Garlic Powder
- Ground Chia Seeds (Optional, but read about all the cool things these babies do HERE.)
- Olive Oil
- Salt + Pepper

Snacks
- Baby carrots
- LARA bars 


Like I said, my husband can literally do a keg stand on a jar of Alfredo, so I've learned to make it a staple in our household.  We LOVE it so I've tried to make a semi-healthier version of our favorite pasta dish!


Now, on to the important stuff!

1. I decided to make some baked apple oatmeal muffins to have with my yogurt this week.  I followed this recipe that I found here: To-Go Baked Oatmeal Cups with your Favorite Toppings.
I really don't love sweets, so I totally left out all of the brown sugar that the recipe calls for.  Instead, I peeled and diced 2 Golden Delicious apples. I decided to mix the apples into the batter and see what happened. 

These things were freakin' DELICIOUS.  If you like super sweet things, then you'll definitely want to add the sugar. You'll probably think they're bland if you're expecting an apple pie flavor.  I'm sure the sugar would spice it up quite a bit!  You could also always go by the suggestions in the recipe, as well: chocolate chips, blueberries, nuts, etc.!
Side note: These muffins baking made my house smell like God's kitchen.
Here they are fresh out of the oven!

2. While the muffins were baking, I prepped my lunch. First, I washed and chopped 2 heads of broccoli into bite-size pieces.   You'll want to chop your broccoli before you do anything else because I have a secret for cooking it!  You'll need it prepped and ready before you cook your pasta.

3. Next,  I LOVE THIS PASTA! I cannot say it enough.  It doesn't taste like veggies AT ALL BUT LOOK AT ALL OF THAT VEGGIE GOODNESS IN EACH SERVING.  I literally just follow the instructions on the box to cook my pasta al dente (8-ish min.).

4. Now, here's when my favorite trick comes in.  When your pasta finishes cooking, pour the excess water off.  I don't use a pasta "drainer".  I simply place the lid a little "off center" on the pot and get rid of the water.  Then, while the pasta is still steaming, I add all of my broccoli to the pot of pasta, give it a good stir, and place the lid back on the pot.  I literally just let it sit (lid on) while I cook my meat.  This steams the broccoli PERFECTLY.  It doesn't get too mushy (since you'll be cooking the broccoli a little more when you reheat it during the week), and yet it's still not crispy like fresh broccoli.  It's broccoli perfection.

5. While my broccoli is steaming, I grab my ground turkey breast from the fridge.  I add a little olive oil (about a tablespoon) to my cast-iron skillet.  I saute' the turkey breast with about a tablespoon of Italian seasoning and a teaspoon of garlic powder.  I add in a dash of salt and pepper just to bring out all the flavor.  I make sure to crumble the meat as it cooks. 

6.  Assembly is my favorite part because I get to see everything come together! When my broccoli has been steaming for about 10 minutes in the pasta bowl, I set up 5 containers for my 5 lunches.

I add the pasta + broccoli mixture, then I pile on the ground turkey breast!  I top it all off with a drizzle of Alfredo sauce.  A little bit goes A LONG way so I use a 1/3 cup measuring spoon to make sure I'm not drowning my pasta with sauce. I also like to sprinkle some Chia seeds on top of my sauce.  I've totally hopped on the magical chia seed bandwagon.  This is completely optional, but I've convinced myself I'm doing my body a favor by adding them.

That's it! All I had to do was pack my breakfast muffins in individual bags (I saved 12 for the week and froze 12 for next week!) and grab my carrot sticks. 

Let me know what you think about this week's menu! What are ya'll making and prepping?! I need ideas for next week...I'm thinking about a nice, warm crockpot soup since it's basically ALASKA in North Carolina this week. ha!

Meal Prep for Teachers

Over the past few years, I've really become serious about leading a healthy lifestyle.  About 2-3 years ago, I had some intense health issues - like take a year to recover, consider taking a semester off work big issues. I had to take some time to learn about what I could do to help myself along with my best-doctor-ever working to help me.  I found out that what you put into your body will truly be a direct reflection of how good you feel.  The right foods at the right times are definitely not magic wands, but being mindful about how you're fueling your body gives your immune system a fighting chance.  At this point, I've not had a soft drink in 3 years and the thought of fast food turns my stomach - and all this coming from the girl who used to double fist Wendy's double cheeseburgers and wash it down with a handful of Dunkin' Donuts cinnamon sugar munchkins.  I am ashamed.

Now, let me honest for a second...I do NOT restrict myself or eat twigs and berries every meal of every day.  I eat WAY more than most girls (the waitress still brings my dish to my hubs and hands his salad to me) and I've been known to eat a taco or six on Saturday nights, but during the week I go all gas no breaks 24/7 and need to make sure my tank is full of the good stuff so I don't end up stranded on the side of the road a.k.a super cranky, sick, hangry, run-down.

If you're leery about meal prepping, DON'T BE.  I am NO COOK. In fact, I've actually had to throw away two pots because I tried to cook rice.  Yep, we literally had to pitch the pot and fan the smoke detectors for 20 minutes.  I HATE grocery shopping, and I only had an apple slicer for a week until I nearly had to go to the emergency room pinky-less and my husband hid it from me.  

That being said, I make a grocery list for five days of breakfasts and lunches each Friday, I go to the grocery store on Saturday morning, and I meal prep on Sunday afternoons.  I NEVER spend more than an hour prepping my lunches and breakfasts for the week and I switch it up from week to week so I rarely get bored with what I'm eating.  

My goal is to share my lunches each week so that maybe I can help you to feel better, quit wasting time (and money) on making/buying lunches each week, and feel fueled and ready to kick booty all day. 

Grocery list for the week:

- Bananas

- Apples

- Olive Oil

- Chicken Breasts (2 lbs.)

- 2 large heads of broccoli 

- 2 small sweet potatoes

- Italian seasoning 

- Garlic powder

- A fav. sauce (I chose Trader Joe's Carolina Gold)

- Vanilla Yogurt

- KIND Protein Granola in Almond Butter

Menu:

Lunch: BBQ shredded chicken, charred garlic broccoli, roasted sweet potatoes

Breakfast: Yogurt Parfaits with Protein granola

1. One thing that I usually have on hand for meal prep is shredded chicken.  I only shop at Food Lion because I like their rewards program that best.  I ONLY buy the all natural organic chicken breasts and I love to stock up and freeze them when I find a "manager's special" pack. I use THIS crockpot recipe for my shredded chicken.  It's a great base recipe and you can add ANY sauce to the finished product to use it in tacos, casseroles, soups, etc. I'll make small batches (2 lbs. of chicken breasts) and freeze it. I just label my bag and pop it in the freezer.  I sit the bag in the fridge the night before I'm ready to prep! That's what I did this week to make my meal prep even easier!

2. I LOVE veggies - I promise you that after you start to understand how to cook them AND you realize how much better you feel once you ditch the fries and pick up a carrot, you won't be sorry.  This week, I picked up two heads of broccoli - MY FAV. VEGGIE.  I could literally eat broccoli instead of candy.  You cannot make it so that I do not like it! One of my favorite, fastest ways to meal prep broccoli is by doing a garlic broccoli roast.  First, I pre-heat my oven to 415 degrees.  I wash and chop my broccoli into bite-size pieces. 

Then, I use a non-stick sheet pan (or line a sheet pan with foil) and spread my broccoli out over one side (if I'm cooking another veggie with it like I will be this week).  Drizzle olive oil over broccoli and sprinkle liberally (I freakin' love garlic) with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt + pepper.

I've found that "eating the rainbow" is basically the key to the Holy Grail of health. For more info on what every color does for your health, check out this website.

3. For my final lunch veggie I like to whip up some sweet potatoes whenever I get the chance. I looooooove those sweet potato fries sprinkled with powdered sugar from the fair (also known as manna from Heaven) but sometimes I have to settle for roasted sweet potatoes which are ALMOST as amazing. 

I chop up the sweet potatoes into slightly smaller than bite-size pieces.  I find that two small sweet potatoes are the perfect amount to divide for myself for a week of lunches. 

Once my sweet potatoes are chopped, I add them to the other side of the pan with the broccoli.  I simply drizzle them with a little olive oil and add salt.  My mom likes to add cinnamon to hers, but I think that a little sea salt is my favorite.  I'm that weirdo that prefers the peeling left on all my veggies - I slightly peel my potatoes, but I still like to leave a little on to add texture.

4. Once I've prepared my pan of veggies (YUM!) it goes into the oven for 15 minutes.  I've found that this is the perfect time for my garlic charred broccoli.  You may want to check your broccoli after ten minutes if you don't like yours as charred as I like mine. 

At the end of 15 minutes, I take the broccoli off of my pan completely to cool.  I give my sweet potatoes a good stir and place the pan back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes. 

5. Once my potatoes are finished and my broccoli is cool, I sit out my five Tupperware containers and divide each veggie + chicken between the five.  Lastly, I like to drizzle my "liquid gold"/Trader Joe's Carolina Gold BBQ sauce over the shredded chicken. A little goes a long way! 

6. While my potatoes and broccoli are roasting, I make up a few yogurt parfaits for breakfast.  I buy Yoplait vanilla yogurt, KIND granola in the Almond Butter protein flavor, and whatever fruit sounds good that week. If you know me, you know that I really do not like fruit and never have.  Everyone thinks I'm crazy but it just doesn't do it for me.  However, I know that vitamin C is VITAL to the immune system being big and strong and the potassium a lot of fruit offers is super great for workout recovery.  This week, I grabbed a few bananas and apples.  I chopped them up really small (to try and fool myself) and threw them into a tiny Tupperware container with a serving of Yoplait vanilla (Make sure your yogurt has active cultures in it to support gut health!).  

I take a small container or bag of the KIND granola to work with me...if you add it before you're ready to eat it'll get too soggy and I like a good crisp! 

I'll probably toss in a few bags of carrot sticks or LARA bars for snacks before the gym, but overall it only took me 45 min. to make 4 breakfasts (I eat at Dunkin' Donuts on Friday mornings) and 5 lunches for the week! 

That's it for this week! I'm thinking about doing a veggie pasta with ground turkey and alfredo next week! (My hubs swears he could chug a keg of alfredo ha!) Do you meal prep for a busy work week? What are your favs? I'm always looking for new ideas so leave a comment and help a sister out! :)