Sunday Meal Prep for October 9th, 2016

For the Sunday Meal Prep for October 9th, 2016, I’ve added a new feature! This week, I created a My Fitness Pal account specifically for Project Meal Plan, so anyone can take a look at exactly what the meal plan chart below means in a bit more detail. I love the chart as a simple overview of the week’s plan, but its a little vague when it comes to amounts and specific calories of each item. I hope the ability to review Project Meal Plan’s food diary will keep it simple for those who want to modify the meal plan for themselves or who already use My Fitness Pal (the best calorie counting tool in existence!). You can also copy recipes from Project Meal Plan straight to your food diary.

Earlier this week, I found a new favorite condiment. So far, I’ve put it on – salad, pizza, wraps, and quesadillas. I’m positive this stuff would go fabulously on almost anything. It’s Creamy Roasted Garlic Yogurt Dressing by Bolthouse Farms. You’ll find it on the Project Meal Plan food diary this week. With an actual appropriate amount of calories for a topping, PLUS creamy and garlicky and so much flavor, I want to put it on just about everything. Literally. And that’s all for my guilt-free obsession of the week!

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 October 10-14

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Breakfast	Jalapeño Pepper Quinoa Breakfast Casserole	Jalapeño Pepper Quinoa Breakfast Casserole	Jalapeño Pepper Quinoa Breakfast Casserole	Jalapeño Pepper Quinoa Breakfast Casserole	Greek Yogurt, Blueberries, Pistachios & Honey
Lunch	Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs, carrots & quinoa	Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs, carrots & quinoa	Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs, carrots & quinoa	Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs, carrots & quinoa	Pesto Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Dinner	Creamy Chicken Garlic Wrap	Creamy Chicken Garlic Salad	Creamy Chicken Garlic Wrap	Pesto Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash	Creamy Chicken Garlic Salad
Snacks	Protein Bar, Turkey Jerky	Protein Bar, Turkey Jerky, Parm Crisps	Protein Bar, Turkey Jerky	Protein Shake, Turkey Jerky	Protein Shake, Turkey Jerky, Parm Crisps
Macro Totals	Cal: 1,619 C: 119 g F: 68 g P: 140 g	Cal: 1,704 C: 121 g F: 70 g P: 142 g	Cal: 1,664 C: 120 g F: 71 g P: 146 g	Cal: 1,678 C: 97 g F: 75 g P: 152 g	Cal: 1,705 C: 125 g F: 67 g P: 157 g

What we’ll accomplish on Sunday:

• 4 or more servings of crockpot cooked chicken breasts for dinner meals
• Breakfast casserole serving 6-8 for breakfast
• Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs, roasted carrots, and quinoa for lunches

Supplies List (for 1-2 people):

Grocery:

• 4 chicken thighs, bone-in with skin (normally about 1 grocery store package)
• 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
• About 12 ounces of your choice breakfast meat – I added this to the breakfast casserole
• 1-16 ounce container plain greek yogurt
• Creamy Roasted Garlic Yogurt Dressing (or any dressing of your choice)
• 10 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• dry white quinoa (about 1.5 cups dry)
• 8 ounces chopped green chilies (for breakfast casserole – I subbed jalapeños, onion and green pepper)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar and/or Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 can light coconut milk
• wraps or tortillas (I’m into these spinach and herb ones, 50 calories!!)
• sun-dried tomatoes, not packed in oil
• traditional pesto
• 1 can chicken broth

Produce:

• 16-oz bag baby carrots
• bag of baby spinach or power greens
• roma tomato and other salad toppings
• spaghetti squash
• white onion (if subbing in casserole)
• jalapeno peppers (if subbing in casserole)
• green pepper (if subbing in casserole)
• shallots
• lime
• fresh basil
• cilantro

Snacks

• protein bars/shakes
• turkey jerky
• pistachios 
• parmesan cheese crisps
• blueberries

Pantry:

• olive oil
• paprika
• cinnamon
• honey
• minced garlic
• chili paste
• hot sauce
• dried basil
• salt/pepper
• non-stick cooking spray
• chili pepper flakes

Equipment/Tools:

• large skillet or dutch oven
• classic 9×13 casserole dish
• 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 Steps:

1.  [10 minutes] Begin with the crock pot chicken breasts since those will take the longest to cook. I previously recommended following recipe: Easy Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken by Kristin at Yellow Bliss Road. The chicken will be used for the week’s dinners of wraps and salads.
2. [10 minutes] Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Dump your bag of baby carrots (or your choice of veggies) in a bowl. Toss with two tablespoons olive oil, salt, pepper, and any spice combination you would like. I went for basil to match the chicken dish. Bake on a prepared sheet pan for 20-22 minutes.
3. [10 minutes] Start some quinoa in the rice cooker, following my well recommended coconut oiling method. Grease the inside of the rice cooker dish generously with coconut oil. Add 2 cans chicken broth and 2 cups of dry quinoa. We are doubling a normal recipe since some will be used in the breakfast casserole and some will be put in the week’s lunches.
4. [25 minutes] Next, start on the breakfast casserole, which will spend some quality time in the oven at 350. While the carrots finished cooking, I prepared my casserole ingredients. I found inspiration from Wendy Polisi’s Chili Rellenos Quinoa Breakfast Casserole which looks so delicious. I decided to hunk it up a little more with half a white onion, green pepper, and jalapenos, all diced, sautéed and tossed into the casserole. I also found the casserole took about 65 minutes in the oven at 350 (after the carrots come out).
5. [35 minutes] Let the carrots cool and follow the Project Meal Plan recipe for Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs. This should take about 45 minutes total including cooking time. While the the chicken is cooking, portion out your carrots and quinoa into 4-cup Pyrex bowls for storage.
6. [5 minutes] The casserole is done when a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out almost entirely clean. Let it cool and then store in an airtight container in the fridge. This can be separated into individual servings to make mornings go quicker!
7. [10 minutes] When the chicken thighs are done simmering, confirm the internal temperature (165 degrees) as the recipe instructs. Add one chicken thigh to each Pyrex bowl and let it cool before storing.
8. [15 minutes] When the chicken breasts in the crock pot are done, feel free to store in one container or portion out for the rest of the week’s dinner. The chicked will be used for salads and wraps.

Total Active Time Estimate: 2 hours 0 minutes

This Week’s Featured Recipes:

Pesto Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash – Thursday Dinner/Friday Lunch – Make this for yourself on Thursday night and have your Friday lunch already made!

Hot Basil Coconut Braised Chicken Thighs – The main component of lunch this week, Monday through Thursday.

Jalapeño Pepper Quinoa Breakfast Casserole – I got the idea for this recipe from Wendy Polisi’s Chili Rellenos Quinoa Breakfast Casserole. I made several changes to this recipe including subbing onion, green pepper, and jalapeños for the chilies. I also added jalapeño chicken sausage for some protein. It was delicious!

Thanks for checking out the Sunday Meal Prep for October 9th, 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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