Inside Scoop: Check out your complete step-by-step 5 day meal prep plan that includes an inexpensive grocery list, how to prep those foods and a sample menu utilizing those ingredients. Doesn’t get easier than this.
We used to DREAD meal prepping.
We would go to the grocery store, buy a whack load of healthy food, put all the food away and make promises to ourselves of large batch cooking, and healthy prepping for the next week. Then, we would spend the week avoiding it, until finally, the week passed, all the healthy food went bad, and the closest Thai or sushi joint is where we threw out all our excuses.
Spending an entire day meal prepping, how annoying, right?
The thing is, that once the sushi joint became a distant memory, we actually got used to putting aside a couple of minutes in our kitchen.
Getting into the hang of things became more intuitive and meal prepping turned into less of a chore, and more of a fun activity that we enjoyed. The beginning of the week brought relief because we knew that we would have delicious food and healthy snacks for the week ahead.
Our meal prepping game became on point, and staying on track became easier than ever.
It takes awhile to know where and how to get started, or what you need to buy and how to prep it. So we’ve put together this simple, straight to the point 5 day meal prep plan, which will help you know exactly what to buy, how to use those simple ingredients, and what you can cook from a basic whole food shopping list.
IN THIS 5 DAY MEAL PREP PLAN YOU WILL FIND:
- Your ingredients
- Ideas on how to prep your ingredients
- A 5 Day Meal Plan making use of your simple ingredients
Learn more about our Individualized Meal Plans, meal plans to suit your own nutrition blueprint here.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED FOR THIS 5 DAY MEAL PREP PLAN
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 organic/ free range chicken breasts or 2 medium wild caught Alaskan salmon filets
Half block of tempeh
1 cup uncooked quinoa or brown rice
10 cups (apx) of mixed dark greens
1 bunch of kale or spinach
1 can black beans or chickpeas
1 jar sauerkraut
A variety of vegetables (cucumber, pepper, zucchini, cabbage, onion, carrots, mushrooms, beets etc.)
A variety of fruit (low sugar fruits include pears, apple, berries)
Bananas
Dairy-free milk container
Peanut or nut butter jar (100% nuts, natural, preferably organic)
Mixed raw nuts & unsweetened dried fruits
1 bar dark chocolate
Eggs
Avocado
Seeds such as hemp, flax, chia
Coconut
WHAT TO PREP & HOW
**Click on the pink text to learn more
SWEET POTATOES can be cut, seasoned and roasted, cooked whole or mashed. When you’re cooking them at night for dinner, make sure you cut up extras to ensure leftovers for your week.
QUINOA OR RICE can be cooked at a 1:2 ratio and used for salads, quinoa cereal bowl, or on the side of protein & veggies. This can be cooked while you’re watching a movie or doing some reading.
TEMPEH can be marinated in tamari & fried in lengthwise sliced pieces, or baked in the oven. Pro Tip: try to cook it all at once so that you have leftovers for your week.
CHICKEN/ FISH: Can be baked, pan cooked, or can also be cooked the same as tempeh, with tamari, spices and herbs. You can poach chicken to create shredded meat for stuffed potatoes, salads or sandwiches. If you are planning a chicken dinner, cook extras so that you don’t have to pre prep it!
VEGGIES can be roasted, sauteed or used raw. Cook with the sweet potatoes, slice them lengthwise, raw or spiralize them, or just dice them to be prepped for cooking and salads throughout the week. Again, we like to cook or chop extras while we are prepping a meal, that way we don’t need to spend an afternoon getting them ready.
VEGGIES can also be used as soup and stock base, if you mince your garlic, onion and celery ahead of time, that’s the base of most stocks.
FRUIT can be used plain, make berry jam, sliced fruit and nut butter snacks, or in smoothies. Pro tip: when you get home from the grocery store, wash and cut up all of your fruit and put them in individual glass containers. They will be easier to reach for if they are already prepped.
OATS can be used for breakfast cooked or overnight oats, you can add them to your crock-pot and make energy bars. If you get steel cut you can throw them in a crock pot and slow cook while you’re at work.
NUTS, SEEDS & DRIED FRUIT (sugar-free) can be used as a snack or for trail mix.
EGGS can be made into mini frittatas (with a muffin tin and veggies), hardboiled, even scrambled with veggies in a large batch ahead of time.
SEEDS & FAT suck as flax, hemp, chia, coconut can be blended together and used in a salad, yogurt or fruit topper to enhance the nutritional value of your food, or added to smoothies.
AVOCADOS can be used to make dip (guacamole), added to salads, smoothies, soups, or even just eaten plain with a sprinkle of salt and pepper or cumin.
SPROUTED BREAD can be used for vegetarian/ veggie loaded sandwiches, on the side of morning eggs, avocado toast.
YOUR 5 DAY MEAL PREP PLAN INSPIRATION MEALS THAT UTILIZE YOUR GROCERY LIST
**Click on link for recipes
BREAKFAST:
Day One: Hardboiled eggs with sauerkraut & mixed greens
Day Two: Peanut butter & chocolate overnight oats
Day Three: Skin Glowing Avocado Smoothie
Day Four: 2 Slices of sprouted bread with avocado/egg mash, a sprinkle of cumin and sprouts
Day Five: Quinoa breakfast bowl with almond milk, fresh berries, nuts and seeds, a dollop of nut butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon
LUNCH/ DINNER:
Day One: Mediterranean quinoa on a bed of mixed greens with goat cheese & vegetable medley soup with a slice of sprouted bread
Day Two: Tex-Mex brown rice goddess bowl & chopped stuffed sweet potatoes with shredded BBQ chicken and a side salad
Day Three: Vegan veggie loaded sandwich with roasted peppers, arugula, avocado, hummus, cumin & baked ginger & soy salmon with braised greens
Day Four: Veggie lettuce wraps with tempeh, salsa, avocado and red peppers & coconut curry with brown rice
Day Five: Mini frittatas with side salad & 4 ingredient turkey burgers with roasted sweet potato fries
Get in on the meal plan action and check out our Individualized Meal Planning Services here.
YOUR SNACK LIST:
Trail mix with dark chocolate chunks
Hummus and veggie sticks
Apple & nut butter
2 cups popcorn
Full-fat yogurt with fresh fruit and granola
Brown rice cakes with nut butter & banana
A couple pieces of dark chocolate
Bean chips & hummus
Sometimes the thought of meal planning and prepping seems overwhelming, but broken down it can actually get to be a little bit fun. Knowing what to cook, how to cook, it and how to utilize leftovers make for more excitement then plain old boring chicken and rice every day.
If you’re looking for more tips, check out one of our old live videos below (back in the day when we were The Naughty Nutritionists) where she dishes out what she was eating, and how she utilized everything for 3 days in a row.
And, knowing that with this 5 day meal prep plan comes a simple grocery list, and easy to prep ingredients is key to getting motivated to stay on track and spend a couple hours a week putting together the ingredients. You don’t need a full day, you can simply find easy recipes, prep extras, and batch cook your grains and cut up your veggies.
Simple, to the point, and doesn’t uproot your entire life. Our kind of 5 day meal prep plan!
And if you’re looking for a downloadable grocery list that you can pack with you when you hit the grocery store, make sure you grab this affordable list here:
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