Last week I attempted a no-cook weeknight meal prep and it turned out way better than I expected. The goal: avoid cooking at all during the week and not buy or order food out. Obsessed with analyzing, I love to assess outcomes and evaluate. (I'm real fun at parties.)
It was and is astounding to look at just how me and my husband, and baby Miles (11 months old) eat in a week! The photo of our full fridge was taken Sunday night. By Saturday afternoon the entire fridge was empty. We ate every. thing.
Dinners are a time I prioritize comfort food. The days are dark and cold, so it only makes sense that in the evening we would want something substantial and warm. The BBQ chicken worked perfectly for this! It's so tasty and goes with anything. You can throw it on top of greens, with rice, mashed potatoes...I just love shredded, flavorful chicken.
The trick to a no-cook weeknight meal prep is to 1. be prepared to buy one meal out just incase and 2. have one extra back-up meal ready to go, again, just incase. The back up meal should be easy and simple. On Wednesday night, I defrosted turkey meat. This way if needed, I could make meat pasta sauce with pasta, meatballs and pasta, OR ground turkey with mushroom and bean soup (comes in a packet, easy peas-y, ha).
So disclaimer: I'm no pro food blogger but I cook a lot. And the only recipes I ever post here are ones that I have made and trust. So many recipes you'll find online are poorly written and result in awful, wasted food. I hope you enjoy what I've shared here and that it saves you some time. If there's a better way I could share this info or you have any other questions, absolutely let me know by emailing me or commenting. I am more than happy to discuss.
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MAKE IT HAPPEN
- If you're going to chose ONE meal to prep for the week, make it dinner. Dinner is the most expensive to order out, and comes right when everyone just wants to relax at the end of the day. Knowing you have a meal to enjoy at the end of your day is very satisfying. Personally, I like making sure we have a comfort food for dinner. The BBQ chicken worked perfectly.
- However, mornings were so easy and fun with one giant breakfast casserole to enjoy. But, I will say the carb (in the form of protein pancakes) was necessary to stay full.
- The lunch salads needed grains otherwise, they're just not quite filling enough. We both got our own dressing to bring to work to cut down on any spills during our commutes.
- The average lunch in DC costs $12-15 easily. This week, counting Sunday to Saturday, we spent $18 on two food truck lunches, $5 in random snacks, and $15 in coffees. (Yea, the random snacks are my work stress-induced vending machine visits.)
- When you do this prep, you just have to focus. There's a lot of multitasking. The plan below is a 2 hour version of what I did last weekend.
THE MEALS
Breakfast
Piece of breakfast casserole (see step 5 here)
Protein pancake (I used dark chocolate Kodiak cakes)
Slice of turkey bacon (Bake 1lb in the oven. Instructions here.)
Mid-morning snack
Overnight oats with chocolate chips, berries, and peanut butter
(I put 1/3 cup oats, 2/3 cup milk of choice and mix in a small jar. Add toppings! They stay good all week.)
Lunches
Chop't style salads with chicken, veggies, cheese, and grains (Chop't is a salad place that chops up every single part of the salad, including the greens, into bite size. Every bite is packed with flavor!)
Protein packed quesadillas with chicken, beans, and salsa
Dinners
Instant pot BBQ chicken with roasted sweet potato and salad
Chipotle-style bowls with chicken, rice, and beans (Toaster Oven and Instant pot)
Late night snack
Deli meat, nuts, cheese, apples, chocolate chips, tortilla
Slice of turkey bacon
Leftover couscous with some shredded cheese (Couscous is the easiest grain to cook, use goat milk feta on top for an extra zing)
THE PLAN
This is organized so that by the end, you are simply assembling everything.
Preheat oven to 450This is organized so that by the end, you are simply assembling everything.
Make the Instant pot rice and beans (I usually double it)
Prep the breakfast casserole completely so it's ready to go into the oven later
Once oven is preheated...bake turkey bacon in the oven for 25 minutes at 450 degrees
While bacon is bakin' make your couscous on the stovetop. I do 2 cups liquid to a boil, add 1 cup couscous, turn off heat and let it sit with the lid on for 7 minutes.
Remove turkey bacon from the oven, lower oven temp to 350, start your chicken (make half of your total chicken)
Start Instant pot BBQ chicken
Make 6 boiled eggs on the stovetop or in your Instant pot
Arrange salads (chop everything up, put into tupperwares!)
Make the overnight oats (these jars are perfection for the oats)
Place breakfast casserole in oven for 45 minutes
Assemble and make the quesadillas by warming them in a skillet (I press on the top with a lid from a smaller pot. FANCY.)
Assemble the burrito bowls.
THE LIST
2 dozen eggs
arugula
+ other green of your choice
kodiak cake protein pancake mix
1-2lbs turkey bacon
stubbs bbq sauce
goat cheese
dry beans
brown rice
cherry tomatoes
bottle of dressing
block of cheese for quesadillas
oats
milk
chocolate chips
can of chipotle pepper in adobo
tortillas
collard greens
2 cans of canellini beanns
salsa
lime juice
cilantro
paprika
peanut butter
berries
nuts
frozen organic veggie mix (for baby)
sliced deli meat
sliced cheese
3 lbs chicken breast
2-3 lbs russet potatoes
red wine vinegar
1 white onion
dairy free sour cream
extra virgin olive oil
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