Food Prep #1! {And Tips for Quick and Healthy Meals}

Hey guys! This week I decided to do some food prep and show you what I decided to cook! Prepping food, one day of the week, that takes a little longer to cook makes it so much easier and faster to put together quick and healthy meals. It's nice to have some core ingredients ready that you can still make different meals and recipes out of. I usually will always make a big pot of quinoa to have in the fridge but I wanted to prepare a little more! Lately I feel like I've been slacking on time and having to spend forever in the kitchen! I was inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Amy from http://thelittlehoneybee.com! She always does awesome food prep, and makes super simple, but delicious, nourishing and balanced meals. As far as food prep, it's good to prepare a protein for the week, like chicken, so you don't have to cook it every night for dinner. And you can have leftovers for lunch! I kept it pretty basic for my first time, so here's what we've got going on:

1. Shredded Chicken- This is my all time favorite type of chicken! I get soooo bored of grilled chicken, and it honestly is not that appetizing to me. I love how tender shredded/pulled chicken is and I haven't taken the time to make it in a while- but it's so easy. I just use our slow cooker/crockpot and put 2 pounds of organic boneless, skinless chicken breast (with about 3/4 cup water + salt+ pepper) in for about 4 hours. You can go on with some errands and be back with perfectly cooked chicken! No need to keep an eye on the stove or oven! I like to eat it plain or add to salads for protein, ect. My favorite is with mashed avocado, like chicken salad- Thanks again to Amy, for that one! 2 pounds is about 8 servings, perfect for one person for a week. :)

2. Hard Boiled Eggs- To be honest, hard boiled eggs aren't my favorite... I much prefer sunny side up cooked in a little coconut oil! Yum! But, they are so convenient, and I'm going to be super busy this week- I wanted to give them another try! Again, they are a great easy protein source to pack for lunch, salads, or even snacks.

3. Quinoa- Oh my beloved quinoa! Quinoa is definitely a staple in my diet. It's a gluten free carbohydrate that is high in protein, and I love to use it in place of rice. I love the taste and texture, but also just really agrees with me and doesn't leave me feeling sluggish afterwards. I enjoy it plain, but I also like to make salads out of it or make "fried rice" and stir fries with it. Click here for my Quinoa Fried Rice Recipe! You could also enjoy it sweet with berries or use it in place of oatmeal with a little almond milk, banana and cinnamon. So versatile!

4. Sweet Potatoes- another good carb source! I love sweet potatoes, but during a busy day, I don't want to have to wait for one to bake in the oven! So I just baked 2 potatoes- One is a regular sweet potato and the one is a Japanese white sweet potato. I'll heat this up with dinner or with lunch. I also like to dice them up and sautee them in a pan with coconut oil! I love how they can be seasoned so many ways! My favorites are chili+cumin or cinnamon+almond butter!

5. Asparagus- As far as veggies, this time I just washed and trimmed a bunch of asparagus. Now I can just quickly grab them and cook them to go with any dinner. They don't take very long to cook, so I just wanted to get them washed, because I get lazy! Next time I'll roast some broccoli and chop up some bell peppers. If you have your veggies ready to go, your much more likely to eat them!

I hope you guys enjoyed this and got some ideas for food prepping! Let me know if you'd like me to keep posting them, as I'm going to try to do this every week! 

Thank you!

XoXo,

Stephanie