Food Prep: Delicious Recipes for Easy Meals

Life has been a bit busy lately. I’ve been trying to do some meal prep and easy meals to make life easier…and maybe a little healthier.

M’s been working long hours at the racetrack while live racing is in session. When I say “long hours” I’m talking from 6 am to 9 pm…five days a week. Poor guy. It sucks because he doesn’t get to eat much, and when I’m hanging out on my own I’m not that motivated to eat right. So, for both of us, pre-planning is the best route to go.

I’ve done easy things like washing and cutting up carrots and celery which I can take for sides for lunch, making chicken salad for M to take and snack on with some crackers when he gets a few quiet moments at work, and I’ve also marinated and grilled chicken breasts that can be heated up for dinner or lunches. I’ve actually really enjoyed the grilled chicken because it’s so flexible–shred it for a salad, eat it cold or heat it up and eat it with my carrots and celery.

Another easy, yet delicious lunch I discovered last week is a salad with chicken sausage. We buy this spinach and asiago chicken sausage from Sam’s Club every once in a while and I love it. I’ve sliced it up to have with whole wheat pasta and tomato sauce, as well as just eaten it plain for dinner. But one night I had a bag of salad and wanted something different. I poured some salad in a big bowl, sliced up some carrots and celery, added some slivered almonds and sunflower seeds, then heated up one sausage link. After cutting it up into smaller pieces, I added that and some light Italian dressing to the salad. OMG. I’m telling you, it might sound weird, but it’s delicious! So good that I had it for lunch the next two days (I just packed the salad in one container, the sausage in a sandwich bag, and brought the dressing with me to work).

One of the most satisfying work lunches ever!

Another favorite has been this Meatball Parmesan Casserole that I discovered on Pinterest. If you think you might be pressed for time, you can pre-make the meatballs and store in the refrigerator to bake another night. The longest part is the baking, but if you can have these ready to pop in the oven, it helps so much.

To add a little something, I place slices of zucchini under eat meatball, as well as scattered along the top under the cheese. I love zucchini, especially in Italian meals, so any time I can incorporate it, I will. Plus I think it adds some fiber and extra nutrients to the meal. The meatballs are great in a sandwich, as well as leftovers for lunch the next day.

Meatball Parmesan Casserole

And, finally, for breakfast, I have loved the Lean Green Bean’s Baked Oatmeal. I made this recipe in one pie pan, substituting chopped walnuts and slivered almonds for the pumpkin seeds and I used peanut butter instead of the Nutzo (but I added some cocoa powder as well as the cinnamon and some nutmeg). Baking this in the pie pan yielded four servings for me. And I loved heating these up every morning, adding some more peanut butter to the top and having some fresh berries on the side. It’s a great way to wake up! Next time I’m going to try adding some of my protein powder to it for some added protein.

The Lean Green Bean’s Baked Oatmeal

I’ve come to appreciate taking a little extra time, when I have the free time, to do some food prep. It might not exactly be Sunday night like some people, but it works…whenever I do it.

Your turn: Have you started doing food prep? If so, share your favorite pre-made meals!

Good Reads: CrossFit Open, Peyton Manning, Food Prep & More

It’s time to share some more good reads and a little link love, a couple of posts might be older, but still a worthwhile read. I hope you enjoy!

For Each And All (CrossFit Games): An inspirational post about why people who aren’t top athletes are signing up for the CrossFit Open. “Why not me?” has been said a lot lately since the Super Bowl, so why not me? Man O’War CrossFit has been encouraging all of its members to sign up, and while I haven’t yet, I will if I have an extra $20 to spare. Have you signed up yet?

Dear Mr Manning (The Denver Post): This might be a couple of weeks old, but it personifies  exactly why I love Peyton Manning so much, and not just because he was drafted by my beloved Indianapolis Colts. I hope more professional (and some collegiate) athletes can learn from him about how to be prideful, but not full of yourself, and how to be a star. Who’s one of your favorite athletes?

Top 10 Foods for Sunday Food Prep (The Lean Green Bean): I’ve recently tried to start doing Sunday food prep mostly because of inspiration from Lindsay’s blog. These tips are a big help for anyone who is starting and feels a little confused as to how to get started.  Have you started weekly food prep?

Thing I Hate Most About My Blogging (Fitting It All In): Clare is always so open about her life, which is inspiring because to me she’s fearless. There are times I just want to say it like it is on here, but I hold back because I’m worried about backlash, etc. I haven’t mastered blogging yet, but with inspiration from the likes of Clare, Lindsay, and Tina, I can only get better.

WIAW: Positive Body Talk (The Real Life RD): Again, Robyn is so straight-up, tell you like it is in all of her posts. This time she talks about how her body perception isn’t always 100% positive, but she combats a bad (“point five”) moment with thoughts of how we are all stars in our own rights. Negative body thoughts can suck the life right out of you, according to Robyn, and I agree. But, as women, we have such a hard time combatting that. We all need to find our own light to shine brightly. Thanks for that reminder, Robyn!

My First Attempt at Food Prep

So I’ve never been much of a good planner lately. M and I always talk about planning our meals ahead of time and making solid grocery lists and sticking to them when we shop, but we fail at that…unfortunately. At least we try!

But for some reason Sunday afternoon I got a wild hair to do a little food prep for the week.  I didn’t have a solid plan as to what we were going to have all week long, but I figured just doing a little bit would help. So here’s what I came up with:

You’ll see that I washed and cut up celery to have on hand either for snacks or to cook with later.

I made M some chicken salad so he can just grab it for his lunches either at work or when he’s at home (fat free mayo, diced celery, dill relish), and put them in two separate grab-and-go containers.

I tried a new cookie recipe for when I get hit with my sweet tooth (blueberry oatmeal cookies), but I’ve already decided the recipe needs work (a little dry).

I also tried a protein muffin recipe so I can grab one for a mid-morning snack for work. I changed the recipe from the pumpkin cinnamon roll protein muffins I found on Pinterest, so I’ll let you know how they taste and post the recipe.

I also pre-made Italian turkey meatballs for a meatball casserole I’m going to finish up for dinner tonight (this way I can just add the zucchini and spaghetti sauce and pop it in the oven.

Finally I pulled out some  beef veggie soup from the freezer that M’s mom had made for us. I’ve been taking some for my lunches at work along with a sandwich.

Hopefully next time I can do a little more for prep to help with meal selection. At dinner we usually make more than two servings so M can take the leftovers to work for his “lunch.” That’s been a big help.

One thing about it, I did feel accomplished writing out this list of what all I’ve finished this afternoon.

Thanks to Lindsay for the constant inspiration. Check out her weekly posts on for food prep every Sunday for her ideas and other blogger’s food prep ideas.

Your turn: Do you do weekly food prep? If so, share your tips!