Sunday Meal Prep for November 6th, 2016

The Holidays are coming up. There’s even less daylight left in the day to get everything done that you’re supposed to. Not to mention cooking! So why not spend Sunday prepping a few meals ahead to give yourself a healthy head start on the week? And just in case you need any ideas, I’ve got the Sunday Meal Prep for November 6th, 2016 fresh off the presses (I’m joking, there are no printing presses in blogging!). Check out a variety of meal ideas for your week, *mostly* from Project Meal Plan, and I’ll stop trying to be funny today.

This week, I’ve again put a more in depth outline of the week’s example meal plan into the Project Meal Plan My Fitness Pal account. If you want a more detailed explanation of the meal plan outlined below, that’s where to look. My Fitness Pal is a great tool to keep track of what you eat, as well as establish personal goals that fit your lifestyle.

If you haven’t read one of these posts before, I just want to share a couple things before you dig in. The meal plan example and recipes are created to provide as many healthy ideas as possible for our weekly meal planning. Based on our own goals, I have created the meal plans to reflect a normal day (non-workout days for example). I would encourage anyone to figure out their own goals, and change any of the ideas presented accordingly.

Planning Goals: 1,700 calories a day, made up of 30% carbohydrates, 35% fat, and 35% protein (MyFitnessPal says this equals approximately 127g of carbohydrates, 66g of fat, and 149g of protein).

1) Reduce costs and food waste
2) Save time during busy week days
3) Help provide simple strategies, examples and meal preparation steps that are beneficial to almost anyone
4) Have healthy choices planned, prepared and available to reduce impulse eating

Meal Plan for November 7-11

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Breakfast	Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt Pancakes, Turkey Bacon	Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt Pancakes, Turkey Bacon	Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt Pancakes, Turkey Bacon	Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt Pancakes, Turkey Bacon	Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt Pancakes
Lunch	Chicken Teriyaki Quinoa Bowl	Chicken Teriyaki Quinoa Bowl	Chicken Teriyaki Quinoa Bowl	Chicken Teriyaki Quinoa Bowl	Pesto Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Dinner	Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs, Fried Cauliflower Rice, Veggies	Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs, Fried Cauliflower Rice, Veggies	Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs, Fried Cauliflower Rice, Veggies	Pesto Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash	Asparagus Sweet Potato Chicken Skillet, Quinoa
Snacks	Protein Shake, Parm Crisps	Protein Bar	Protein Shake, Parm Crisps	Apple & PB	Parm Crisps, Halotop
Macro Totals	Cal: 1,721 C: 120 g F: 68 g P: 155 g	Cal: 1,751 C: 140 g F: 66 g P: 146 g	Cal: 1,721 C: 120 g F: 68 g P: 155 g	Cal: 1,665 C: 142 g F: 57 g P: 150 g	Cal: 1,603 C: 128 g F: 63 g P: 151 g

 

What we’ll accomplish on Sunday:

• About 8 Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt Protein Pancakes for breakfast
• About 8 slices of turkey bacon for breakfast
• Four Meal Prep Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki Quinoa Bowl
• Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs for three dinners (eat some for Sunday dinner)
• Fried Cauliflower Rice for dinner side dish
• Roasted veggies for dinner side dish

Supplies List (for 1-2 people):

Grocery:

• Turkey Bacon (enough for 4 servings)
• about 4 pounds bone-in chicken thighs with skin (about 2 packages)
• 4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast (1 pound for Thursday, 1 pound for Friday)
• Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Waffle & Flapjack Mix
• Plain greek yogurt (about 1 cup for Sunday/Thursday)
• eggs
• canned pumpkin puree (1 cup)
• milk, 2%
• 20 ounce can pineapple chunks
• 14.5 ounce can chicken broth
• dry white quinoa (1 cup) plus additional for Friday
• light coconut milk
• pesto (for Thursday)
• 2-3 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes (for Thursday)
• shredded mozzarella (1/2 cup)

Produce

• green pepper (1)
• red pepper (2)
• large carrots (2)
• frozen peas
• white onion
• green onions (garnish only)
• red onion
• shallots
• lime
• fresh basil
• head of cauliflower (or riced cauliflower)
• roasting veggies (squash, carrots, sweet potato, broccoli, etc)
• spaghetti squash (for Thursday)
• baby spinach leaves (for Thursday)
• medium sweet potato (for Friday)
• 1/2 pound fresh asparagus (for Friday)

Pantry:

• vanilla extract
• pumpkin pie spice
• cinnamon
• soy sauce
• toasted sesame oil
• ground ginger
• red pepper flakes
• paprika
• cinnamon
• minced garlic
• chili paste
• honey
• sriracha
• coconut oil
• olive oil
• salt/pepper

**SOME ITEMS ARE NOTED “FOR THURSDAY” or “FOR FRIDAY”. FOR BEST QUALITY, PURCHASE THESE ITEMS LATER IN THE WEEK.

Snacks

• Protein Bars/Shakes
• apples/PB
• parmesan cheese crisps
• Halotop Ice Cream

Equipment/Tools:

• large skillet
• rice cooker
• stove
• slow-cooker or crock pot
• meat thermometer
• Kitchen scale
• 4-cup Pyrex bowls for lunches, and large Pyrex bowls

Sunday Meal Prep for November 6th, 2016:

1. [15 minutes] Start by following the recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki Quinoa Bowls, since they take the longest in the slow cooker. The chicken will cook for about 3 and a half to 4 hours. The quinoa is started about 3 hours after the chicken starts cooking in the crock pot.
2. [25 minutes] Prepare your knife and cutting board to cut all the veggies for the next three dinners. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut the following vegetables into bite-sized pieces and put them in a large bowl to prepare for roasting: 1 zucchini, 1 butternut squash, 1 red pepper, 1 head of broccoli, and 1 sweet potato. Add whole mushrooms (or any other veggies of your choice) to the bowl. Toss with 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoons dried thyme, 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, and a large pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly to coat all veggies, and spread veggies on two sheet trays or cookie sheets. Don’t crowd the veggies! When the oven is ready, put the sheet pans in the oven. Check after 18 minutes, roast for 20-23 minutes depending on how they look. Clean up while the veggies roast, and gather your ingredients for the pumpkin pancakes.
3. [30 minutes] When veggies are done, store in a large Pyrex or other airtight container, and then begin to work on the Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt Protein Pancakes. If possible, cook the pancakes and the turkey bacon at the same time. Cook bacon per package directions. I cook the bacon in a Dutch oven, 3-4 pieces at a time. Let all these items cool and store in gallon size Ziploc bags. To ensure freshness, store half of of the pancakes in the freezer and take them out on Tuesday or Wednesday.
4. Cook the bacon now if you were unable to do it at the same time as the pancakes.
5. [30 minutes] Follow the recipe for Fried Cauliflower Rice. Store in airtight container for next three night’s dinners.
6. [50 minutes] Make sure your Dutch oven or deep skillet is clean in order to make the Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs. This recipe makes 8 thighs. I’d recommend eating this for dinner on Sunday as well. If you are one person, this could be your meat for lunches and dinners, or you can half the recipe. Store in airtight container or Pyrex when done.
7. [10 minutes] After about 3 hours since starting the chicken, start quinoa for the same recipe (Chicken Teriyaki Quinoa Bowls).
8. [15 minutes] Follow the quinoa bowls recipe to make four lunches for the week. Shred the chicken, return to crock pot, and portion out four lunches into airtight containers.
9. You’ve just cooked all your meals for the next 3 days, and some for days after that! You’ve saved yourself a buttload of time.

Total Active Time Estimate: 2 hours 55 minutes

This Week’s Featured Recipes:

Asparagus Sweet Potato Skillet – I haven’t actually tried this one yet, but I love ALL of these ingredients, so why wouldn’t it be great? I put it on the meal plan just in case you run out of food on Friday evening and need a different meal! Thanks Primavera Kitchen!

Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt Pancakes – Get some more of these babies in before pumpkin goes out of style! Some of my favorite of the season.

Meal Prep Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki Quinoa Bowls – New to Project Meal Plan this week! An easy recipe for anyone to follow made specifically for meal prepping!

Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs – A PMP favorite and super easy/delicious as leftovers. PLUS it goes with pretty much anything. Also I love chicken!

Thanks for checking out the Sunday Meal Prep for November 6th, 2016. Any feedback is appreciated so I can improve the Sunday Meal Prep posts every week. Tag @projectmealplan on social media if you meal prep! I’d love to see what you’ve created! And follow me on Pinterest for meal inspiration every single day 🙂

– Danielle

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