HOT HEALTHY MEALS RECIPES

Over the past 7 years, I've started and stopped meal prepping more times than I can count.  Each time I was on a roll with meal prep, then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, I'd just stop.   Work got too busy.  I got tired of the food.  I hated the clean up.  I suddenly didn't have any time.  I had all the excuses - if you name one, I probably said it. But really, when I stepped back to examine WHY I was failing in meal prep it was primarily due to one thing -  boredom or better stated, lack of variety.  I know this is pretty hard to believe because I preach "variety is key" to all my followers.  But here's the thing - I actually DID have variety...it was just a lot more time consuming to manage it. See - I'd make several different complete meals such as casseroles, one-skillet recipes, or a 3-part dish (protein, carb, fat). The thing with these types of meals is that once you spend time making that ONE dish, well, that's all you have.  You have to make  several of these complete meals just to have variety during the week.  With a growing busy schedule and constantly experimenting in the kitchen, that type of prep just wasn't as doable.  And after reading thousands of comments and messages from followers RE meal prep, I realized others were struggling with the same thing. So I switched it up! Instead of complete meals, I  focused on individual items  or "side items" that I could quickly prepare and then pair with other foods to create meals.  This is what I call "mix and match" meal prep. Here's the premise: prep several side (smaller) items + pair foods together to create a meal + (optional) add sauces or other simple ingredients to complete the meal. One of the biggest benefits of this, besides the variety, is that you may likely end up cutting down on your overall time in the kitchen. Here are the guidelines Choose 1 or 2 protein sources (animal or plant-based) Choose a complex carbohydrate OR a low-carb option such as cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles Load up on your favorite veggies Here are the 5 foods (recipes) I prepped in under  1 hour: Chicken breast Chickpeas Roasted Veggies (onion, zucchini, bell pepper, sweet potato, yellow squash) Quinoa Braised (or wilted) shredded kale   Couple of quick notes: Remember to add common items from your pantry, fridge and freezer to easily give these meals a flavor makeover. Need more calories? Consider adding avocado, raw or roasted nuts or even an isolate (or lean plant-based) protein shake to the meals. Calorie-conscious sauces, salsas and dressings can add a LOT of flavor to meals so ENJOY!   MEAL COMBO 1 Quinoa Adds Your portion of scrambled eggs or egg whites chopped tomato green onion sea salt & pepper   MEAL COMBO 2 Quinoa Adds fresh blueberries (or choice of berry) dried cherries almonds (raw or roasted) almond milk   MEAL COMBO 3 Quinoa Roasted Veggies Grilled chicken   MEAL COMBO 4 Quinoa Roasted Veggies Spicy chickpeas Adds tahini   MEAL COMBO 5 Braised kale spicy chickpeas Adds avocado lemon   MEAL COMBO 6 Grilled chicken roasted veggies   MEAL COMBO 7 Kale roasted veggies chicken homemade peanut sauce (1 1/2 tablespoon raw peanut butter, 1 tablespoon lite soy sauce, 1 tablespoon water, Sriracha to taste)   MEAL COMBO 8 Quinoa Braised kale spicy chickpeas Adds low calorie Italian dressing (or your favorite vinaigrette) lemon   MEAL COMBOS 9 & 10 Chicken OR chickpeas Braised kale Adds Avocado Bell pepper lemon

Total Time 45 minutes

Prep Time 5 minutes

• Ingredients

Nutrition Facts : ServingSize , Calories calories, FatContent , CarbohydrateContent , CholesterolContent , FiberContent , ProteinContent , SaturatedFatContent , SodiumContent , SugarContent , TransFatContent