Meal prepping can be a game-changer for busy individuals, especially fit moms juggling work, family, and fitness goals. Preparing meals in advance saves time, money, and reduces the stress of last-minute meal decisions. This guide provides tips and single-serve meal prep ideas to help you stay on track with your health and fitness goals.
Why Meal Prep?
The benefits of meal prepping are numerous:
- Saves Time: Spend a few hours prepping meals for the entire week, freeing up valuable time during busy weekdays.
- Saves Money: Avoid impulsive takeout orders and reduce food waste by planning meals and using ingredients efficiently.
- Reduces Stress: Eliminate the daily question of "What's for lunch/dinner?" by having pre-portioned, healthy meals ready to go.
- Supports Healthy Eating: Meal prepping allows you to control ingredients, portion sizes, and nutritional content, making it easier to achieve your fitness goals.
- Consistency: If you’re tracking your macros and have goals, consistency makes it a whole lot easier.
Single Serve Meal Prep Ideas
Here are some ideas to get you started with single-serve meal prepping for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can utilize them for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner.
Breakfast
- Overnight Oats: Combine rolled oats, chia seeds, milk (dairy or non-dairy), yogurt, and your favorite toppings (fruit, nuts, seeds) in a jar or container. Let it sit in the fridge overnight for a quick and nutritious breakfast.
- Breakfast Burritos: Scramble eggs with veggies and your choice of protein (turkey sausage, black beans). Wrap in tortillas and freeze for a grab-and-go breakfast option.
- Protein Pancakes: Make a batch of protein pancakes using protein powder, oats, and banana. Store in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or toaster.
Lunch
- Salads in a Jar: Layer salad dressing, grains (quinoa, rice), veggies, protein (grilled chicken, chickpeas), and leafy greens in a jar. When ready to eat, shake and enjoy.
- Single Serve Enchiladas: These are easy to portion and packed with flavor.
- Mini Meatloaf: A classic comfort food made healthy and convenient for meal prepping.
- Pasta Salad: Cook pasta and toss with vegetables, protein, and a light vinaigrette. Portion into containers for a satisfying lunch.
- Quinoa Bowls: Combine cooked quinoa with roasted vegetables, black beans, corn, and a flavorful dressing.
Dinner
- Sheet Pan Meals: Roast vegetables and protein (chicken, tofu, sausage) on a sheet pan with your favorite seasonings. Portion into containers for easy dinners.
- Stir-Fries: Stir-fry vegetables and protein with a flavorful sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.
- Soup: Prepare a large batch of soup and portion into containers for easy and comforting dinners.
- Chili: A hearty and flavorful meal that's perfect for meal prepping.
- Chicken and Veggies: A simple and versatile meal that can be customized with different seasonings and vegetables.
Meal Prep Cookbook
The Stay Fit Mom Meal Prep Cookbook is available, offering over 40 recipes tailored for meal prepping. Every recipe includes the macro breakdown and can be found in MyFitnessPal for easy logging! This cookbook is designed to provide you with a variety of options to get you through 5 days of meals!
Meal Prep Tips and Tricks
- Plan Your Meals: Before heading to the grocery store, plan your meals for the week. This will help you stay organized and avoid impulse purchases.
- Choose Recipes You Enjoy: Select recipes that you genuinely enjoy eating. This will make meal prepping more sustainable in the long run.
- Prep in Bulk: Cook large batches of grains, roast vegetables, and grill protein to save time.
- Invest in Quality Containers: Use airtight containers to keep your meals fresh.
- Utilize Your Freezer: Freeze extra meals for future weeks or when you need a quick and easy option.
Food Safety and Storage
- How Long Do Prepared Meals Last? I prefer to make 5 meals on Sunday to last me the work week, Monday through Friday.
- Airtight Containers: Keep your prepared meals in an airtight container and you have nothing to worry about.
- Freezing Meals: Absolutely. I freeze any and everything.
- Freezing Pasta: If freezing a meal with pasta, just make sure to defrost it slowly and don’t stir until it’s warmed up or you’ll have mashed up noodles.
Container Recommendations
- Reusable Plastic Containers: I like these reusable plastic containers because they stack well and hold up for several months at a time.
- Glass Containers: I typically find mine for a bargain ($4.99 - $7.99 each) at Ross, TJ Max, or Home Goods. You won’t always find 5 matching containers though. If you prefer to have matching ones, you can get them on Amazon. I have these by Anchor.
- Oven-Safe Glass Containers: Make sure the ones you pick say so on the label. Most the ones I see at the store are. Just make sure if you ever freeze your containers you let them defrost a few hours before you throw them in the microwave.
Time-Saving Tools
- Veggie Chopper: It’s from Amazon and you’ll find it right here. It’s one of my favorite ways to save time when prepping food.
Macros and MyFitnessPal
- Tracking Macros: Every recipe includes the macro breakdown and can be found in MyFitnessPal for easy logging!
- Finding Recipes in MyFitnessPal: Yes. Just like all my other recipes, you’ll find them by searching the food database for, “Stay Fit Mom” followed by the recipe name. Example: “Stay Fit Mom Single Serve Enchiladas” or “Stay Fit Mom Mini Meatloaf.”
Addressing Common Concerns
- Eating the Same Meal for 5 Days: Can you really eat the same thing 5 days in a row without getting sick of it? Yes. If you’re making delicious meals you enjoy, you won’t get sick of them. If you’re tracking your macros and have goals, consistency makes it a whole lot easier. Another option is to prep multiple meals and mix and match.
Read also: Low-Carb Meal Ideas
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Read also: Keto Diet Meal Prep Ideas