Healthy Eating With Weekly Food Prep

Posted on by lynnsmythe
weekly food prep

Prepare Foods in Advance

I used to participate in 15-20+ races per year; triathlon, 5k, half marathons and time trial bike races. I am always trying to eat healthier these days but sometimes I’m so busy doing other stuff, that I forget all about meal planning and weekly food prep until I am absolutely starving. Then it just seems easier to grab a bag of chips, or go to the local fast food restaurant for a quick bite to eat. As I am still trying to take off a few more pounds before the 2020 race season gets under way, I’m making an effort to pay better attention to my diet.

I work as a freelance writer/blogger/craft artist out of my house. With the kitchen just around the corner from my office, I have a tendency to grab a quick snack whenever I’m hungry. I’m trying really hard to eat more regular meals, and less junk food, but that means I have to plan a menu for each week. I find that it’s much easier if I prepare a bunch of meals and snacks ahead of time, so they are ready to eat when my stomach starts growling at me.

I almost always have a mixed green salad or green vegetable, such as steamed broccoli or oven roasted asparagus, with my lunches and dinners. Vegetables are terrific sources of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants and, unless you smoother the vegetables with butter or cheese sauce, they are also very low calorie.

Intermediate Food Prep

There are a few items that you can prepare in advance, which are used to make the other recipes included in this post.

Honey mustard dressing

I use the honey mustard dressing in the potato salad. Left over honey mustard dressing can be used as a dipping sauce for homemade chicken nuggets, tofu nuggets or fresh veggies like carrot sticks and celery.

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup prepared honey mustard
  • 2 tablespoons stone ground mustard
  • 1 tablespoon honey or light agave syrup

Whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Store in a covered bowl in the refrigerator until ready to add to the potato salad.

Food prep tip: If you have any leftover honey mustard dressing, it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Hard boiled eggs

This recipe make approximately 1/2 dozen hard boiled eggs. I chop up a couple to use in the potato salad recipe. I keep the remaining ones on hand, to either chop up and use in green salads, turn into egg salad, or to simply eat a hard boiled egg on it’s own for a quick snack.

The easiest way to make hard boiled eggs is to place the raw eggs in the bottom of a large pan of water, bring the water to a boil, then cook the eggs for 12 minutes. Then drain off the water, rinse with cold water until cool enough to handle, and peel off the egg shells.

Food prep tip: If I’m not going to use the hard boiled eggs for a few days, I leave them in the shell until I need them.

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Kumquat Fennel Salad. Image courtesy Lynn Smythe, Founder of The Creative Cottage blog.

Weekly Food Prep Recipes

These are the recipes that I just made late Monday morning/early afternoon. If you work a regular Monday-Friday job outside of the house, you will probably want to do your food prep on the weekend.

Prepare your shopping list and go shopping for all ingredients on Saturday. You can do the actually meal prep later in the day on Saturday or wait until Sunday depending on what activities you have planned with friends and family.

Honey mustard potato salad

Ingredients for potato salad:

  • Small container of fingerling potatoes
  • 2 hard boiled eggs – chopped
  • 1 recipe honey mustard dressing

Directions for potato salad:

  1. Scrub the skins off the potatoes to remove any dirt and blemishes
  2. Leave very small potatoes whole, larger ones should be cut in half or thirds
  3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil
  4. Add the potatoes and cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until fork tender
  5. Place the potatoes in a colander and rinse with cold water until cooled down
  6. Stir in the chopped eggs and honey mustard dressing
  7. Store in the refrigerator in a covered container until chilled. Leftovers will last for 4-6 days

Kumquat fennel salad

Kumquats look like micro sized oranges and have a tangy/tart orange taste. Fennel is crunchy like celery, with a slight anise/licorice taste. You may also add a bit of chopped, raw red onion to this salad if desired.

Ingredients for kumquat fennel salad:

  • pint size container kumquats
  • 2 fennel bulbs
  • juice from 1 orange
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper

Directions for kumquat fennel salad:

  1. Rinse off the kumquats, cut in halves or quarters, remove any seeds and add to a large bowl
  2. Remove any dried out/discolored outer portions of the fennel bulb if necessary
  3. Cut off the top and bottom of the fennel bulbs
  4. Cut the cleaned fennel bulbs in quarters, then chop into 1-2 inch size pieces and add to the bowl of kumquats
  5. If desired, the herb-like leafy portion of the top of the bulb may be cleaned, chopped and added to the salad
  6. Stir in the orange juice and olive oil
  7. Add salt and pepper as desired
  8. Chill in a covered container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Food prep tip: Leftover kumquat fennel salad can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

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Marinated steaks smothered with lots of delicious onion gravy. Image courtesy Lynn Smythe, Founder of The Creative Cottage blog.

Smothered marinated steak

I found a package of very thinly sliced eye round steak at my local grocery store. You could also use skirt steak or flank steak for this recipe. My favorite way to eat the steak after cooking, is to cut it into strips and serve on top of a large plateful of mixed salad greens.

A local pizza restaurant near me makes a Thai-dye steak salad, which is the marinated steak served on top of a mixed green salad along with roasted chopped peanuts, roasted red bell peppers and a Thai-style peanut dressing. It is pretty dang yummy!

Ingredients for smothered marinated steak:

  • 1-2 pound package thinly sliced steak
  • 1 bottle ginger dressing/marinade
  • 1 red onion – peeled and chopped
  • olive oil

Directions for smothered marinated steak:

  1. Cut off any visible fat from the steaks
  2. Place the steaks in a bowl and cover with some of the ginger dressing
  3. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for up to 10 hours, stirring occasionally
  4. When ready to eat, place a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large frying pan set over medium heat
  5. Cook the red onions until they begin to turn translucent
  6. Remove the onions to a bowl or plate
  7. Add additional oil to the pan if necessary and turn the heat to medium high
  8. Cook the steaks, a few at a time in the pan, for a minute or two on each side.
  9. The key to keeping these thin steaks tender is to quickly cook them.
  10. Serve with the grilled onions and additional ginger dressing if desired

Roasted butternut squash

I like to use a bit of chili powder or five spice powder in this recipe. One time I actually grabbed the chili powder by mistake and sprinkled it all over the squash before realizing it wasn’t five spice powder, silly me! It came out fantastic with both the chili powder and five spice powder, happy accident!

Ingredients for roasted butternut squash:

  • 1 butternut squash
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • five spice powder
  • chili powder
  • salt
  • pepper

Directions for roasted butternut squash:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
  2. Use a vegetable peeler to peel off the outer layers of the squash
  3. Cut the squash in half, lengthwise
  4. Use a metal spoon to scrape out all the seeds and stringy pulp from the interior
  5. Cut the peeled and cleaned squash into 1-2 inch chunks
  6. Toss the squash with the olive oil and spices
  7. Place the squash on a large baking pan and place in the oven
  8. Bake for 35-40 minutes until fork tender

Food prep tips: You can smash the cooked squash with a potato masher, if desired, prior to serving. Reheat the cooked squash as needed to serve with your meals during the week.

More Foods to Prep in Advance

I get bored if I always eat the same types of food all the time. Each week I try to vary my menu slightly. Here are some other ideas for for your weekly food preparation.

Pasta

Cook and prepare your pasta in advance and toss with extra virgin olive oil to keep from sticking together. Reheat as necessary and serve with your favorite tomato sauce. I am trying to eat mostly gluten free these days, so I have boxes of quinoa, brown rice, chick pea, lentil and corn based pastas in my pantry.

Tuna salad

Mix up a can or two of your favorite brand of tuna with a bit of mayonnaise and celery. Since I am trying to eat gluten free, I rarely eat bread anymore. In lieu of serving your tuna salad on bread, I like to place it on top of tomato slices. For an extra zing, stir in a teaspoon or two of sweet pickle relish into your tuna salad.

Egg salad

My roommate loves egg salad and will eat it faster than I can make it. Mix up chopped, hard boiled eggs with a bit of mayonnaise. I like to stir in a bit of chopped celery and/or a few roasted sunflower seeds for a nice bit of crunch.

Roasted potatoes

Wash a small container of red skin potatoes. Leave the skin on and cut larger ones in half or thirds. Toss with a bit of olive oil and stir until all potatoes are coated with a bit of the oil. Bake in a 350 degree oven until fork tender, stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan. Left overs can be reheated as needed.

Pasta salad

Cook a box of your favorite pasta according to package directions. Place in a strainer and rinse in cool water until it has cooled down. Strain well then add to a large bowl. I like to use a vinaigrette dressing, such as balsamic vinegar mixed with olive oil, to dress my pasta salad.

Then I add a variety of ingredients such as sliced black olives, chopped green onion, fresh dill, cherry tomatoes, sliced water chestnuts or chopped red onion to my pasta salad. Add whatever you like to dress up the pasta salad. This salad doesn’t contain mayonnaise and can be packed in a small storage container, placed in your lunch box with a freezer pack and brought to work.

Raw vegetables

Pretend you are having a party and are going to serve a vegetable platter. I use a large, divided plastic container to store a variety of chopped, raw vegetables. It’s nice to have an assortment of vegetables, all cleaned, prepared and ready to pack in your lunch box or grab as a quick snack at home. Some of my favorites include carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, green onions, summer squash and celery.

My daughter is a vegetarian and often packs raw vegetables in her lunches which she takes to school. She fills a very small tupperware container with hummus to bring with her, which she eats along with the vegetables. You could even use some of these vegetable ingredients during the week to make a quick, vegetable infused stir fry dinner. Use your imagination!

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