Over the past few weeks I have skipped out on my meal planning and prep posts, simply because my weekends were busy and I barely had enough time to do the planning and prep, let alone post about it. However, some prep still got done and I planned meals as usual to help save time during the week. I have been making a lot of the same meals lately- most that require little to no prep and cook quickly. I thought that today I would share some of these go-to meals to give you some ideas if you are short on time as well!
I think of my meal planning in several different categories: breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks/dessert. I usually plan 1-2 breakfasts, lunches and snacks to have on hand throughout the week, but I plan out a dinner for each night. Then I look at my list of meals and decide which items I could prep over the weekend. Below are some of the meals that I have been making almost every week lately.
Breakfast:
Egg scramble- I start by cooking up a few pieces of bacon (sugar free and nitrate free) and then cut it into small pieces. I add some sweet potatoes and broccoli to the pan (typically I roast 3 sweet potatoes and 2 heads of broccoli and use some of it for breakfast and some of it for lunches) and then some spinach. I mix in about 6 eggs, lightly beaten and scramble everything until the eggs are cooked. I separate it into 3-4 containers for easy breakfasts throughout the week.
Smoothies- My other go-to breakfast that requires no prep is smoothies. I usually make them using frozen bananas, frozen berries, frozen spinach, a scoop of almond butter and/or protein powder, and OJ.
Lunch:
As I said above I usually roast sweet potatoes and broccoli for breakfasts and lunches. We also cook up some flat iron steak and grilled chicken, and cut up some veggies like cucumbers and peppers. Sometimes we also have baby carrots or cherry tomatoes on hand. Then each day Rob and I make our own salads using whatever ingredients we feel like and put them over spring mix.
Snacks/Desserts: Lately I have been making Michele’s paleo chocolate chip muffins almost every week. I love bringing them to work as a snack or eating one for breakfast with a smoothie! I also buy some apples and berries each week to eat as snacks. For dessert, my favorite cookies are Amy’s paleo chocolate chunk cookies. Even though I don’t eat 100% paleo, I find that I really like baking paleo recipes because of the healthier ingredients that are used, like almond flour and coconut oil/milk/powder and no refined sugar.
Dinners: As I said I usually plan out a dinner for each night of the week. I plan to make the fastest cooking meals of nights that I know we will be home later, or if Rob will be cooking I plan a meal that he already knows how to make. Here are some of the meals that have made frequent appearances on our meal plan lately:
-We try to eat salmon once a week, and if we buy it on Saturday or Sunday we like to eat it no later than Monday. We will usually pair it with some kind of potato and green vegetable.
-Burgers are quick and easy (we cook them on the Foreman grill) and I will usually make sweet potato fries to go along with them.
-Tacos or fajitas are quick and easy, and there are healthier options too: Fajitas/Tacos(we switch between the standard kind and the healthier kind:😊
-Pasta with meatballs and a salad. I try to eat mostly natural, unprocessed food, but we do have pasta somewhat regularly. I try to make my own meatballs when possible, but I did find a brand that I like from Fresh Market for weeks when I don’t have time to make my own.
-Homemade pizza- this is more of a “treat” for us, but its a nice option for Sunday nights when we don’t feel like doing real cooking. We make extra chicken when grilling it for lunches during the week, and top off the pizza with spinach, broccoli, and basil.
Hopefully that gives you some ideas if you are ever short on time but still want to prepare for a busy week ahead!
I’m linking up with Jill and Laura for their weekly meal planning link-up!
What are some of your “go-to” meals that require little to no prep?
That homemade pizza looks great! I should look into a good gluten free crust and finally make something like that. Go tos are always burgers for us, couldn’t be easier 🙂
That would be great if you could have a gluten free crust! Would you be able to eat the cheese?
I’d probably break out lactaid pills for the cheese! Had some cheese today actually so we’ll see!
That pizza looks great! We usually have chicken and roasted sweet potatoes and vegetables as a go-to meal.
Those are some of my favorites too!
I make almost the exact same smoothie in the morning! And that pizza looks amazing. I’ve been bad about meal prep, but I have a couple of go-to meals that I have memorized for those nights when cooking is the last thing I want to do.
I think its all about having those meals that require no thinking! I mean who wants to have to follow a recipe when they are already tired/short on time?
great tips! i feel like weekends are getting busier by the day! always need time to prep something in life on the weekend. haha!
I know, it can be so hard to get everything done! But I’m always glad during the week when I have at least some foods prepared already:)
Rotisserie chickens have saved me more times than I can count! And, yes, I know roasting a chicken is not that hard 🙂 I love sweet potatoes and will always roast extra when I make them. And I love pizzas – so many options!
Roasting a chicken is pretty easy just time consuming! Buying them fully cooked definitely saves a lot of time:)
IM A HUUUUGE POACHER!
salmon.
all the damn time 🙂 then plop on a salad.
Ive actually never poached salmon before, but thats a great idea!
I make snacks ahead (weekly muffin and bar batches), and get dinner prep, but never thought to actually scramble my eggs and put them in the fridge for later!
I realized one day when I was making them in the morning that I could make extra and save them for the next day…thats what gave me the idea to make them over the weekend!