Tag Archives: meal prep

This week’s meal prep

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Good morning!

My hubby was out of town over the weekend, so I thought I’d take advantage of a quiet Sunday by prepping some food to have throughout the week.  Here’s what I came up with.

Hard boiled eggs:

Turkey zucchini muffins (EDIT:  scroll down to the bottom of the post for the recipe!):

A batch of steel cut oats (one container will go in the fridge, and the other in the freezer):

Some cucumber and tomato salad:

Some asparagus dip, courtesy of Peas & Crayons:

And the shrimp and crab ceviche that I talked about in this post:

Click here to see this week’s meal plan and how I plan to incorporate these foods into my week!

Turkey Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon of olive oil
  • 1/2 of an onion, diced into small pieces
  • 1/2 of a red bell pepper, diced into small pieces
  • 1 medium zucchini, shredded (I shredded mine with a box grater)
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 lb. package of ground turkey (I used 93% lean because it was on sale, but 99% lean would be even better!)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/2 cup of ketchup, divided
  • 1 teaspoon of sriracha sauce (optional – if you like spicy!)
  • 1 teaspoon of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
  • 1 teaspoon of chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of red chili flakes (optional – if you like spicy!)
  • salt and pepper (approximately 1/4 teaspoon of each)

Directions:

  • Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
  • In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat
  • Add the onion, red pepper, and garlic, and until the onion starts to become translucent.  Add the shredded zucchini and cook for about 2 minutes more (enough for some of the moisture to come out of the zucchini)
  • In a large bowl, combine the cooked ingredients with all other ingredients on the list, with the exception of 1/4 cup of the ketchup and the sriracha sauce (if using)
  • Mix everything together well, and then with a 1/2 cup measuring cup, scoop out and place into muffin tins which have been sprayed with olive oil spray or non-stick cooking spray  (NOTE:  for me, this equaled out to 8 muffins total)
  • Mix the reserved 1/4 cup of ketchup and the sriracha sauce together and spread on the top of each muffin
  • Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until the muffins are cooked through
  • Let cool, and then remove from the muffin tins with a spoon – they should pop out easily
  • TIP:  Place a sheet pan on the rack underneath your muffin tins in case any “juices” from the meat bubble up and spill over while it is cooking

Nutrition (based on 8 muffins, 1 muffin per serving):

  • 133 calories
  • 8 grams of carbs
  • 5 grams of fat
  • 12 grams of protein

Did you do any meal prep for your week?  What did you make?

Meal planning made easy

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Good morning!  Hope your week is fabulous so far :)

I’ve had a couple of questions about meal planning and how I eat.  I like to create a meal plan every week, and have posted mine on this page if you’re interested in seeing them (and if you can read my chicken scratch handwriting).  The print-outs are courtesy of Artsy Fartsy Mama (aren’t they cute and isn’t that the cutest name for a blog?).

So – here’s how I plan my meals:

1.  Survey your fridge and pantry:

Each week, I take a look at what I have in my fridge.  This week, we just returned from vacation and our fridge was totally empty with the exception of some mustard and hot sauce, haha!  However, we have a ton of stuff in our freezer that I want to eat before buying a lot of new groceries.  In our freezer, we have turkey burgers, frozen shrimp, and some steaks and salmon.  (We tend to buy a lot of our meats from Costco, then portion them and freeze them.)

2.  Start with planning your dinners and lunches first:

I always plan our dinners first, then I usually like to make enough dinner each night to have leftovers for the next day for lunch.  I won’t eat leftovers for more than one day, so I don’t like to make huge meals and eat them all week – some people do, though!

Our dinners are usually pretty simple – a protein and a veggie.  Because it’s finally summer, we are using our grill more and more!  So this week, dinners look like this:

Sunday - Bunless turkey burgers on the grill with quinoa salad (recipe to come soon!)
Monday - Cedar plank salmon with veggies on the grill
Tuesday - Bunless turkey burgers with grilled asparagus
Wednesday - Baked shrimp and tomatoes with feta cheese
Thursday - Steak on the grill and salad with homemade balsamic dressing
Friday - TREAT MEAL!!
Saturday - Will probably eat dinner out

Trever and I avoid eating starches with our dinner, so I’ll make a big batch of something like quinoa or brown rice and eat that with my lunches during the week.

3.  Next, plan your breakfasts:

Right now, I’m eating the same breakfast over and over:  egg whites with broccoli and steelcut oatmeal with berries.  I’m sure I’ll get sick of it eventually, but it makes my breakfast meal planning pretty easy :)   When I’m not stuck in the pattern of eating the same thing every day, I like to plan a few breakfast meals and rotate them.  For example, I might have the following for breakfast on any given day:

- Egg whites scrambled with spinach and feta cheese and a slice of Ezekiel toast
- Steelcut oatmeal with a 1/2 scoop of protein powder mixed in and some mixed berries
- A whole wheat wrap with a banana, almond butter, and sprinkled with cinnamon
- A protein smoothie made with a 1/2 of a frozen banana, frozen berries, unsweetened almond milk, protein powder, and ground flax seeds

4.  Plan your snacks:

I eat 5 – 6 small meals per day.  I am currently using Isagenix products as a supplement for my 2nd and 4th meal, so I simply have an Isagenix shake for each of those meals.  Here are some other ideas for snacks:

- An apple and a handful of raw almonds
- Cucumber and tomato salad drizzled with balsamic and olive oil
- Steamed edamame sprinkled with salt
- Greek yogurt with mixed berries and a small handful of granola
- A couple of slices of low-sodium turkey and a piece of string cheese rolled up together
- Your favorite raw veggies dipped in hummus

At night, if I’m still hungry after dinner, I’ll have a little bit of cottage cheese sprinkled with cinnamon and Truvia or with a spoonful of sugar-free jam.  Cottage cheese contains casein, a slow-digesting protein, which helps with growing muscles while you sleep ;)   This is an optional meal that I only have if I am still hungry.

5.  Plan your treats!

This is so important!  My goal is to eat “clean” about 90% of the time.  When you do the math, that means that out of all the meals I have in a week, 3 of them can be “treats.”  This gives so much flexibility!

If I know I have something planned during the week – like dinner with a girlfriend, or a happy hour at work – I’ll plan my meals to include those as my “treat meals.”  I don’t go super crazy with treat meals, but I’ll eat what I want and have a glass or two of wine and not make a big deal about it!

6.  Stick to your plan!

Make up your grocery list according to what’s on your meal plan for the week, and only buy what’s on the list.  This will keep you from buying food that may go to waste or buying a bunch of junk that you don’t want in your kitchen anyway ;)

And try to stick to your meal plan during the week – but have flexibility as well!  If your plans change and you have an unplanned meal or if you slip up and eat an unplanned treat meal, it’s ok…no biggie!  Just get back on your plan and move on!

 

I hope this post has been helpful!  Thank you so much for your questions, comments, and input on the types of things you’d like to see on this blog – keep the feedback coming!!  xoxo

How I {normally} eat

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Now that I’m done with my competition, I thought it might be fun to share how I eat on a regular basis, when not in competition prep mode.

I like to have lots of fresh fruits and veggies throughout the day, and generally try to make healthy choices with a few little treats thrown in here and there.

For example, breakfast was 1/2 of a grapefruit, steel cut oats sprinkled with Truvia and cinnamon with about a tablespoon of almond butter mixed in, and coffee with about a teaspoon of half & half.  YUM :)

I ALWAYS bring my lunch to work.  Here’s what I brought for the day.  A spinach salad with salmon, onions, and peppers, a Larabar, an apple, and baby carrots with hummus.

Dinner was a simple meal of shrimp sauteed in a little bit of coconut oil along with cherry tomatoes, onions, and a sprinkle of feta cheese.  I enjoyed it with some steamed broccoli on the side:

I like to eat foods that are fresh and easy to prepare.

How about you?  What are some of your go to breakfasts and lunches?  (I’m always looking for new ideas!)

It’s almost here!

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Goodness GRACIOUS, I did not even realize how tough this last few days leading up to my competition were going to be!

I’m telling you…it’s crazy.

My diet plan became much more strict in the last week (read: next to no starchy carbs) which has left me in a brain fog! Plus I’ve been trying to get a ton of stuff done at work so I can take time off with a clear conscience, and I’ve been squeezing in even longer workouts into my already packed schedule. Good news is: we’re almost there. At this point, I’m really just excited to get this weekend on a roll! Enough of this preparation, already!! :)

So, what exactly have I been doing, you ask?

1. BEDAZZLING

I’ll be wearing two outfits on stage: my bikini and my “sportswear” outfit, which is basically like a teeny tiny Halloween costume. My costume is a “Kentucky Derby” jockey theme. Both outfits need lots of “bling” so I’ll sparkle on stage. Here are all the goodies:

I bought “hotfix” Swarovski crystals for my bikini, plus a cheaper version of these for my hat:

Here’s a nice shot of the bikini sans bling – check out those removable pads for the top, LOL! Don’t think I’ll be wearing those ;)

So I wanted my hat to look like a cute jockey hat (even though in reality it’s just a plain black baseball cap that I bought dirt cheap on Amazon). I laid out all my supplies:

And marked where I wanted the sparkles with a white eyeliner:

Then I blinged away! Plus added a pink ribbon around the brim:

I thought it would be cute to add a bow where the adjustable part is on the back too – voila!

So, that was a fun project. You’ll get to see how the bikini turned out in my competition pics ;)

What else have I been up to??

2. MEAL PREP

I staged a MASSIVE meal prep for the next couple of days’ worth of food.

Believe it or not, I’m not even done with my food prep! I still need to pick up some more chicken and make a big giant batch of asparagus tomorrow.

For the next couple of days, my meals have no salt or seasonings and I’ll be drinking less water. Obviously, I’m also consuming large quantities of protein as well. (gag me with a chicken breast – I’m considering going vegetarian for a while after this, LOL)

Ok, and finally, I’ve been:

3. WORKING OUT!

I completed my final workout today before the competition, aptly named “the final shower.” It’s called this because you’re showering yourself in sweat and tears, baby. And it’s no joke. I’m pretty sure that someone had 911 on speed dial at the gym tonight, ready to call an ambulance for me at any moment. Torturous, but it felt great.

So that’s my life in a nutshell over the last couple of days. I have a TON of stuff to do tomorrow before leaving on Friday for Connecticut. I will be blogging along the way – this is a once in a lifetime experience for me and I want to make sure to capture everything!

Be back soon (promise!)