A Successful Week Begins With Meal Prep

Meal prepping takes time, energy and patience. But prepping for a few days at a time can mean the difference between staying on track or being tempted by sugary, gluten, high carb foods that surround us every day. Prepping means an effortless few days of knowing exactly what you are eating and how much. This doesn't mean you have to always eat that meal on that exact day because we all know things come up and plans change, but having a pre-portioned, gluten-free, clean meal prepared helps us stay focused and determined. With a meal in the fridge at work, we can still take part in the group lunch and bring our own rather then give in to the cheesy goodness of pizza or sandwiches or chinese food. I try to meal prep 2-3 meals at a time - this prevents salads from getting soggy and allows me the choice to treat myself 1-2 days a week.

After breakfast, Ryan and I went to Trader Joe's. We stuck to the perimeter of the store and didn't buy any frozen foods. Our cart was a rainbow of fresh produce for juicing and salads and we picked up healthy nuts. Ryan wants to start making oatmeal for breakfast so he isn't eating eggs and bacon everyday. Oatmeal is a great filling, delicious, warm meal and topping it with berries and walnuts/slivered almonds adds healthy omega-3 fats to the meal. Trader Joe's has a gluten-free, wheat-free bag of rolled oats. On the back of the bag is a recipe for gluten-free oatmeal pancakes that we might make for dessert one night this week!

When we got home with all of our fresh groceries, I decided to meal prep breakfast for the week and 2 lunches. Breakfast is my hardest meal all week because I am not home 4 mornings a week. My mornings begin at 5am with a spark and a glass of water. By 6:30am I am working out at Bar Method and by 8:30am I am headed to the office for breakfast. Meal replacement shakes have a lot of sugar and only keep me full for 2 hours. I tend to over eat when I have a meal replacement shake. And while Ryan is home juicing and eating oatmeal, I am at the office with very limited options since I can't cook. Quest bars are great because they have 20g of protein which helps my muscles heal after I work out, but protein bars are not great to eat every day! I was talking to my friend Victoria who has adopted a Paleo lifestyle. I asked what her breakfast consists of and she says she meal preps with crockpot oatmeal which can be stored and egg cups! I always prep lunch and never thought to prep breakfast so today I created a new habit.

I made scrambled egg with spinach and onion cups and packaged them up to bring to work with me tomorrow and have in the fridge for the week! They were extremely easy to prep and I hope they taste just as good as they look!

Scrambled Egg Cups
Servings: 2 Cups, makes 12 cups
Weight Watchers Points: 1

4 eggs
3/4 cup All Whites 100% Liquid Egg Whites
1 cup spinach, chopped
1/4 cup onion
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

3. Line a muffin tin with cupcake/muffin liners or spray tin with oil.

4. Spoon egg and vegetable mixture evenly into muffin tin

5. Cook for 20 minutes until tops of cups begin to brown

6. Remove from oven and let cool before eating. Store in container in fridge for future meals!

Lunch was easy to prep. I made a grilled chicken salad cucmber, tomato, broccoli slaw, mesclun, Trader Joe's grilled chicken 2 oz: 2 points) with a side of red pepper hummus (2 tbsp: 2 points) and celery/carrots. I bought Trader Joe's Cilantro salad dressing for the salad (2 tbsp: 1 point)

I was so happy to have bought only fresh groceries. In the past, over half of what I purchased was frozen meals, but we are learning to buy fresh meats, fresh produce and nuts and plan our meals ahead of time so that we shop from a grocery list that is created from recipes. I love looking recipes up online and making them my own and Well Fed 2 has been a great addition to our cookbook collection. Victoria also recommended Against the Grain and I have already ordered it on Amazon today! I love having a friend to share recipes, struggles and successes with. Victoria and I met in college but have not seen each other since graduation 5 years ago. It is amazing to connect now over our similar lifestyles and be able to talk about food we love and how amazing we feel having adopted a gluten-free, clean eating lifestyle. Her transformations have been incredible and I love seeing the changes in other people, including Ryan. Eating clean is so easy and Ryan and I have never felt better! I have been following Victoria's story on her blog

Ryan and I are headed back out to buy fresh scallops and bacon to make a warm scallop and spinach, bacon salad for dinner tonight!

XO