We all know the value of meal prepping; it saves you time during the week, money and can help you stay on track with your healthy eating goals. But that doesn't mean the meals have to be bland and boring--or just salads. If you're tired of eating salads every day, here are some wholesome meal prep ideas that are super delicious, healthy and will satisfy all your food cravings.
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Wholefood Grain Bowls
Instead of plain salad, try making a "grain bowl" for your next lunch or dinner. You can use any of your favourite grains as the base — try high-fibre brown rice, nutrient-dense quinoa, nutty barley, or whatever you prefer. Switch up the grains each week for more variety. All you need is a 1/2 - 1 cup of grain for a based for your bowl. Then, layer in a source of vegan or animal protein, such as chickpeas, tofu, fish, hard boiled eggs, chicken, or steak.
Next, to balance out the macros of the grain bowl, add in a source of healthy fats, such as nuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, black olives, crumbled cheese like feta, or avocado slices. Bulk the rest of the bowl up with any high-fibre vegetables you like such a pre-roasted sweet potato and capsicums, raw cauliflower and broccoli, celery, grated carrots, beetroot or shredded cabbage. Finally, make your drizzle sauce or dressing.
You can make a super simple olive oil and vinegar dressing or try something different, such as peanut butter or teriyaki drizzle sauce. The options are limitless, and you can combine different ingredients each week for a different flavour.
Personally, I love eating grain or Buddha style salad bowls with a little of this and a little of that. Its a fantastic way to make meal prep quick, simple and painless, and also helps you feed your body a variety of nutrients if you're choosy with the ingredients.
Try one of these mouth-watering grain bowl recipes:
Remember you can mix and match recipes and ingredients. Like making a Buddha bowl, there are no rules with grain bowls other than starting your base with a healthy, wholefood grain. See what you can come up with using what you have on hand already.
Grilled Chicken, Fish or Tofu & Veggies
If you enjoy salads because of the easy prep and high nutritional value, grilled tofu or chicken with vegetables is a great alternative for when you need variety while still sticking to your health goals.
Grilled tofu and chicken breast are both fairly low in calories and high in protein, so they are two excellent food choices that will help to keep you feeling full and satisfied for a long time. Salmon is also a good source of protein, which is important for maintaining bone health, preventing muscle loss and helping the body heal and repair. You can grill or prepare any of these protein-rich ingredients on a Sunday afternoon, tub it or freeze it, until you need a quick protein to add to stir fry or rice.
These days vegetables come in pre-portioned freezer packs. Don't be shy using them. Veggies that are flash frozen actually contain more of the "live" nutrients then those that were picked and farmed off to the grocery shops. Its a long journey for "fresh" produce from farm to the Coles veggie section. Along the way, many nutrients, in particular antioxidants, are lost. Flash frozen veggies (and fruits) retain far more of these gems, so grab a bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower guilt-free. Add a heaping handful to a steamer or quickly stir-fry in herbs to add to your protein (above). Easy as!
Check out these super quick and easy recipes:
One of the best time-savers for me has been seasoning and preparing my protein (I'm plantbased) in batches and freezing it. When I need some, I defrost and toss it into my stir fry or bake it in a pan of roast veggies. Super simple.
Low Carb Lettuce Wraps
If you enjoy eating wraps but don't love their high carbohydrate content, you will absolutely love lettuce wraps! They are so fast and easy to make, low in calories, keto-friendly, and totally gluten-free. Not only that, lettuce wraps and cups are an excellent way to boost your greens intake.
The trick to successful lettuce wraps is all in the physical durability of the greens you choose. Some leafy greens lend themselves better than others for holding together a jam-packed wrap. As a general rule, go for large leaf lettuces like head or butter lettuce, romaine, or try cabbage, collards, or even cabbage leaves.
The next step is deciding on your filling. This is the fun part, and sky is the limited when it comes to how to stuff your wraps. I encourage you to get creative and use up your leftovers. The best fillings are ones that are pre-combined before you build your wrap. Think egg or tuna salad, Greek salad (finely chopped), leftover taco filling and guacamole etc. These hold together well because the ingredients and sauce are softish and well-blended.
After you've picked your greens of choice, you'll need to choose your protein source— some great options are beef, chicken, or black beans. These combined with healthy fats and high fibre veggies provide a well-balanced meal. Cook your protein with some onion, spices, and sauce to give it a hearty flavour. The sauce is necessary to prevent your wrap from being too dry. Teriyaki sauce and other Asian-inspired flavours always taste amazing in lettuce wraps. Scoop up your filling mixture into a leaf for a refreshing, crunchy, and low-carb meal.
Check out these tasty and nutritious recipes:
Are you salivating yet? Lettuce wraps are one of my go to lunch or summer dinner recipes when I'm short on time and know I've got leftovers to use up. They really only take a few minutes to assemble and and make a fun wholesome meal for the whole family.
Stir-fry The Easy Salad Alternative
Stir-fries are such delicious and simple recipes that are another perfect meals to make when you want to empty your fridge. You can make a chicken or turkey stir-fry, or you can use tofu to make it vegetarian. Capsicums, carrots, snow peas, green beans, broccoli, spinach and onion are typically the best veggies for a stir-fry, but you can add any veggies that you have in your fridge.
To make, just tss all of your ingredients in the pan with seasoning and some high quality, plantbased oil like avocado, extra virgin olive or organic coconut, and then lightly stir fry. You can easily make the sauce at home by mixing soy sauce, garlic, honey, and chili if you want it spicy, or by combining your favourite spices with a splash of red wine, drizzle of coconut milk or soup stock. This make a delicious low-carb meal with super easy clean-up. Eat as is, or try over quinoa, brown rice or rice noodles.
Try mouth-watering wholefood stir-fry recipes:
Meal prepping doesn't have to be boring. I like to change up the menu week by week to keep things interesting, and with so many different options to mix-and-match ingredients and flavours, you'll find a great system that works for you, too.
I hope you have found these tips and suggestions useful. Meal planning can be a game changer in helping you eat better and stick to your nutrition goals. If this is something you struggle with, book a Free 15-Minute Call with me. Help is just a click away!
Healthy + happiness,
Emma
xox
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Bookmarked!! So many yummy recipes to try now, thanks Emma! - Cari x