Meal prep can be done in so many different ways, and it definitely doesn’t have to be very time consuming! What works for us is making a few bulk meals for the week. That way, we have a variety of different options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We don’t follow a specific diet or have many allergies (cashews/pistachios for Tom & shrimp for me), but I often try to make at least one vegetarian/vegan meal and one paleo/whole30 meal.
This week I made Chocolate Protein Donuts (for breakfast or snack) and three lunch/dinner recipes – Zuppa Toscana, Mexican Quinoa Stuffed Peppers, and Chicken Parmesan Pasta Bake. All of this took me about 1:45 min to make and will last us all week. We also typically have easy breakfast foods (oats, yogurt, etc), as well as salad and/or sandwich ingredients on hand.
Below is the order in which I made everything, a list of the main ingredients, and estimated cook time.
Crockpot Zuppa Toscana (10 min prep, 3+ hours crockpot)
- Ingredients: gold potatoes, ground Italian chicken sausage, onion, kale, coconut cream, garlic, chicken broth
- Paleo, whole30, gluten-free, dairy-free; can use heavy cream instead of coconut cream if desired
Mexican Quinoa Stuffed Peppers (15 min prep, 15 min bake)
- Ingredients: peppers, quinoa, black beans, diced tomatoes, corn, jalepeno, lime, cilantro (optional), cheddar cheese (optional)
- Gluten-free, vegetarian, can be made vegan/dairy-free
Chicken Parmesan Pasta Bake (10-15 min prep, 25 min bake)
- Ingredients: pasta of choice, chicken, zucchini, onion, marinara sauce, basil, mozzarella, parmesan
- Can be made gluten-free
Chocolate Protein Donuts (5 min prep, 15
min bake)
- Ingredients: eggs, unsweetened apple sauce, maple syrup, probiotic cacao pea protein (I love this one from Nuzest – you can use my code “figgindelicious” for 15% off), raw cacao, coconut flour, baking soda; frosting: coconut butter, cacao, sprinkles
- Gluten-free, paleo, dairy-free, refined sugar free (not very sweet at all)
Full grocery list & printable recipes below!
Crockpot Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground Italian chicken sausage
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2-3 gloves garlic minced
- 4 medium gold potatoes peeled and diced
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 1 cup coconut cream
- 2 handfuls kale chopped
- salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to taste
Instructions
- Sautee onions with 1 tbsp oil of choice (I used avocado oil) for 2 minutes, or until begin to be translucent. Add in chicken sausage and garlic. Cook on medium heat for ~5 minutes, breaking up chicken frequently until chicken is cooked and no pink remains.
- In a crockpot, add onions/chicken sausage, diced potatoes, chicken broth and spices. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.
- Once potatoes are softened, add in kale and coconut cream. Stir well, let cook for 15-20 minutes on low heat & then enjoy.
Mexican Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 peppers cut in half vertically and stem/seeds removed
- 2/3 cup quinoa dry
- ¾ cup water or vegetable broth
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- ½ cup corn frozen or fresh
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 1-2 jalepenos minced
- 1 lime
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1-2 tbsp fresh cilantro
- 1 cup cheddar cheese optional
- 1-2 avocado optional, for serving
- salt/pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large pan, combine quinoa, water, black beans, diced tomatoes, corn, garlic, jalepeno and spices. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes (or until quinoa is nice and fluffy). Mix in lime juice and fresh cilantro.
- In a large pot, boil peppers (after cutting/removing seeds) for 5-7 minutes or until softened.
- In a 9×13 baking dish, place the peppers side by side in two rows of four. Fill peppers as much as possible with quinoa mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top (optional).
- Bake for 15 minutes
Chicken Parmesan Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken diced
- ½ yellow onion diced
- 1 large zucchini diced
- 1 lb whole wheat penne pasta or pasta of choice
- 24 oz can marinara sauce
- ¼ cup fresh basil
- 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- ½ cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Saute onions with 1 tbsp oil of choice (I used avocado oil) for 2 minutes, or until begin to be translucent. Add in diced chicken and cook on medium heat for an additional 3-4 minutes. Add in zucchini, garlic and Italian seasoning. Cover for 5 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and zucchini is cooked.
- Cook pasta according to package
- Combine pasta, marinara sauce, basil, and chicken/zucchini together. In a separate bowl, combine mozzarella and parmesan cheese together.
- In a 9×13 baking dish (or 2.5 qt casserole dish), add half of the pasta mixture. Top with half of the cheese mixture, followed by the remaining pasta and remaining cheese.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Broil for 1-2 minutes at the end, watching carefully to make sure cheese doesn’t burn.
Chocolate Protein Donuts
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/3 cup chocolate pea protein
- ¼ cup raw cacao powder
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
Frosting:
- 1/4 cup coconut butter melted
- 1 tbsp cacao powder
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F & grease a 6-count donut pan
- Whisk together eggs, applesauce, maple syrup. In a separate bowl, combine pea protein, cacao powder, coconut flour and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until smooth
- Add 2 heaping tbsp batter to each donut slot.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes.
- Let cool completely. Melt coconut butter and mix in cacao powder. Pour frosting over each donut, and top with sprinkles. Refrigerate for 10 minutes, or until coconut butter hardens.
Notes
