Meal Prep How To for Beginners – Easy Mini Meal Prep For Anyone!
When I lived in New York, I was really good at doing meal prep pretty often. Although I had a full-time job, I tried my best to do some sort of prep on Sundays so I wouldn’t eat a bunch of junk at the office. Funny how I made more time for it back then when I had WAY less time to do so!
Since we’ve moved to Montana, I’ve worked from home, so it’s a lot easier for me to make healthy meals from home. But I still like having healthy meals and/or snacks on hand so that I’m not spending extra time in the kitchen during the week! I decided to do a little mini meal prep last week, and below are some of the things I made! You will learn very quickly that I’m a follower, not a leader, when it comes to recipes. Most of the time, I’ll be linking recipes that I’ve found on other sites.
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Carrot Banana Muffins
I’ve been making these muffins for about 6 years now, and they are my go-to for healthy muffins. They are really easy and pack some fruits and veggies into each serving but taste like a delicious muffin you’d buy from the bakery! Bonus: they are paleo friendly! I’ll give you the basics below but you can get the full recipe here.
Ingredients
You should have most of these ingredients on hand if you’re already into healthy cooking/baking.
- Almond flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Pitted Dates
- Banana
- Eggs
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Coconut Oil
- Shredded Carrots
- Walnuts (optional) *I leave these out
Following the directions, you’ll mix the dry and wet ingredients separately then combine them in one big bowl. My Vitamix comes in handy for the wet ingredients since it can blend up the dates really well.
Once you’ve mixed everything together, you’ll fold in the carrots and put them in your favorite muffin tin (or silicone pan). I LOVE these muffin liners – the muffins don’t stick nearly as bad as most liners.
Once the muffins are cooked and ready to be stored away, I put them in these awesome little containers and store them in the fridge. I love these because the lids shut tight and you can see what’s in the containers without having to open them. They also look really clean in the refrigerator, which is kinda great if you like having a clean and organized fridge!
These muffins also freeze well! I usually end up freezing a lot of them and then take out a couple at a time to thaw in the fridge. They are great heated up with a little butter (K,errygold, of course)!
Make Ahead Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches
I don’t know why I’ve never tried these before, but this was my first time making them! Breakfast is usually the one meal that’s pretty healthy for me every day, but with this pregnancy, I’ve wanted something a little more substantial than scrambled eggs. I also wanted to have something easy and ready to go for mornings when we’re low on groceries, or in a hurry, so I thought I’d give these a try! You can find the full recipe here.
Ingredients
- English muffins
- Eggs
- Bacon/Sausage/Deli Ham (I used all 3 for variety)
- Sliced cheese (I used a mix of cheddar and pepper jack)
- Milk
- Butter
- Salt & pepper
I won’t list the whole recipe here, as you can find all of the instructions on the original post. I doubled the recipe to make 12 sandwiches total. I knew 6 wouldn’t last that long, and for the amount of effort, I wanted to have more on hand. I made some for my husband and some for myself. The ones I made for myself, I used unsweetened almond milk in place of whole milk in the eggs, and they turned out just the same. I’ve already had one of them and reheated for 1.5 minutes total, which I think was plenty of time. The bread was a little soggy but it was still really good. I may try some tweaks next time, but all in all, I’d give these a thumbs up!
Steps of preparation above, with a huge mess not pictured. 😂 We don’t have much countertop space in our place right now, so there was stuff everywhere! I can’t wait to be in our new kitchen and have so much more room for cooking!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Balls
I LOVE having these on hand for a quick snack or small dessert. Really great for anyone on the go! I don’t know why I don’t make them more often. So easy and delicious, and they have a little protein in them too!
Ingredients
- 4 T Coconut Flour
- 1 Scoop Protein Powder, chocolate or vanilla (my all-time favorite protein powder)
- 4 T PB2 or 2 T Nut Butter (my favorite is sunflower seed butter or almond butter)
- Pinch of Salt
- 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Chocolate Chips (I usually get these dairy-free ones)
- Almond Milk or Water
- Optional: Nuts, Chia Seeds, or anything else you may want to add
All you need to do is mix everything but the liquid & chocolate chips together in a small bowl, then add milk or water until you have a crumbly consistency.
Add your chocolate chips (as many as you want!) and roll into balls!
This recipe made 10 balls, but you could easily double it to have more on hand for the week. I store them in these Rubbermaid containers and pop them in the fridge! They probably won’t last long!
Cookie Dough Overnight Oats
I also used to make these overnight oats pretty often but haven’t made them in a while! I love hot oatmeal but sometimes it’s nice to switch it up and these have a totally different taste than regular, hot oatmeal. A great option for breakfast or mid-morning snack (which is probably what I’ll do since I’ve been starving between breakfast and lunch)!
Ingredients
- 1/2 C Oats (Rolled oats, not quick cooking!)
- 1/2 C Yogurt (I use plain greek yogurt)
- 1 Scoop Protein Powder
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 C Almond Milk
- 1 T Nut Butter (my favorite is sunflower seed butter or almond butter)
- Chocolate Chips to Taste
Mix everything together in a mason jar, or whatever you have, and let sit overnight. In the morning, you’ll have deliciously creamy oats! I eat mine cold and have never tried heating them up, but that might work too
These are just a few things I like to make to have some healthy options to grab during the week! I hope you give some of these mini meal prep options a try!
