Meal Prep Monday-Chicken Fajita Bowls

Ok I know its Tuesday BUT I was busy yesterday so you get this post today instead!

I LOVE Buddah Bowls…or anything that can be mixed into a big bowl of goodness. That is what inspired this dish and my Meal Prep for this week and let me tell you…these were AMAZING! I actually did NOT get sick of eating this AND I was sad when I had eaten them all. That’s saying something after eating them for 4 days in a row haha.

For breakfast I had 1 package of melba toasts with 2tbs of peanut butter spread between them and a piece of fruit, usually an apple or orange. The melba toast and peanut butter gave me the carb and protein that I need and the fruit is great for giving me a little more fiber and carb as well as balancing my meal and keeping me full longer. For lunch I had my Chicken Fajita Buddah bowls.

I had enough fixins left over for another bowl (minus the chicken) so I added 1/2 an avacado instead. YUMMO!

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless-skinless chicken breasts
• 1tsp Mrs. Dash Southwest seasoning
• 1 jar salsa (I like mild but you can use whatever you want)
• 1 LARGE red onion sliced in skinny strips
• 2 bell peppers sliced in skinny strips
• 3 cups (uncooked) Tru Roots Sprouted Rice and Quinoa blend
• 1 cup frozen corn
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Cilantro
• Salt and Pepper
• Cooking spray
• 4 bowls or containers that can be put into the microwave to re-heat!

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400F or 200C
2. Spray sheet pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken breast in the middle with the sliced peppers on one side and the onion on the other
3. Sprinkle Mrs. Dash Southwest seasoning on both sides of chicken (add any other spices you may want) and salt and pepper on everything, including peppers and onion.
4. Pour salsa, evenly, over the chicken breasts.
5. Bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through (about 25 minutes).
6. While the chicken cooks, make your quinoa blend by following the directions on the package.
7. Once everything is cooked start layering all of the items together in containers!
8. To layer I start with my quinoa blend (1 cup) in each of the 4 bowls.
9. Put ¼ cup of corn into each bowl on top of the quinoa.
10. Divide peppers and onions evenly between the bowls and put them beside the corn.
11. Then I slice up my chicken and divide that into the bowls.
12. Top with a pinch of cheddar cheese and cilantro (optional).

These will keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator so stack them up and grab 1 on your way out the door!

I feel like this looks like a lot of steps but I promise its not and it is SUPER easy! Like the easiest recipe I have made while meal prepping! Only 1 pan and 1 pot are used to make the WHOLE THING! You cannot beat that lol

Finished product!!

Are you doing any awesome meal preps? Please share! I am always looking for new ideas 🙂

Meal Prep Monday! Egg Cups and Tilapia Recipes

WOAH! I have been slacking on my meal prep blogging lately.

Even though the blog has been lacking that does not mean my meal prep game is not on fleek! Because it is and has been since I started cracking the whip 2 weeks ago.

My goals the past few weeks, in terms of my diet, are to decrease my carb (starch) intake and increase my protein intake. Easier said than done because, lets face it, I LOVE me some CARBS. Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, CHIPS, all the starchy goodness lol BUT I need to cut back on them (not eliminate them completely) so that I can put less insulin into my body and HOPEFULLY lose some damn weight!

I am back to my Zumba classes twice a week and with my Fit with Type 1 Diabetes challenge I also have 2 other nights that I work out as well. Maybe this will be exactly what my body needs to kick start this weight loss that I so desperately need.

My breakfast last week was ham and egg cups. These were SO good and kept me full all the way to lunch. I ate them with melba toasts as my starch as they are a great lower carb option.

For the ham and egg cups I placed slices of ham into muffin tins, pushing them in so that they were at the bottom of the tin and right up against the sides like a cup. Once the ham was in, I added some chopped mushrooms and cracked an egg into each muffin hole. I sprinkled the tops with salt and pepper and green onion, then I baked them at 325F for about 20 minutes or until the eggs were set. Once they were completely cooled I stored them in an airtight container in the fridge. Each morning I would grab 2-3 and pop them in the microwave for about 30 seconds and ate them warm because we all know I love a hot breakfast!

My lunch last week was tilapia with Brussel sprouts/yellow squash and PC brand quinoa, corn and black bean blend (yes from the frozen food isle).

I put the tilapia in tin-foil with olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper and put it on the barbecue for about 20 minutes. It was delicious.

The Brussel sprouts and squash were steamed and then mixed in with PC brand quinoa corn and black bean blend.

The quinoa blend was a little bit spicy all by itself BUT onces the Brussel sprouts were added in, it was perfect. Quinoa is a great carb choice as it has a lot of nutrients and is considered a ‘good’ carb. It is a great replacement for white rice or pasta.

My snacks consisted of cut up oranges, nectarines, and cucumber with a mini babybell cheese!

There you have it. My first week back to meal prepping and I didn’t do too shabby (even if I do say so myself). I have saved money by not going out to eat WHILE eating a much healthier diet. I still eat out once a week but that’s ok. It is my treat to myself ❤

 

 

Meal Prep-Breakfast Time!

What do you eat for breakfast?

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I am a savoury kind of girl so I love bacon and eggs. Or an omelette with sausage and mushrooms.

I was never one for breakfast. Even being diabetic I would adjust my insulin so that I didn’t have to eat it. It made my stomach hurt or feel sick if I ate but, knowing how important breakfast was, I tried to find a way to eat it anyways. What I realized was that if I wait until about 2 hours after I wake up, I can eat and not feel crappy and I am full for most of the morning.

Now I find that, without breakfast, I don’t have the fuel to get through the first half of the day. OR if I eat CRAP for breakfast I am starving before lunch is even close to being a possibility. By 10am I will be hungry and craving something like nobody’s business!

My solution for the past few months has been this:

Greek Yogurt Parfait

• ½ cup Vanilla Oikos greek yogurt
• 1 tbs Vanilla protein powder
• ½ cup Welch’s frozen strawberry/blueberry mix
• ¼ cup Oats and Honey, Nature Valley Protein Granola

Mix the yogurt and the protein powder together FIRST. Once smooth, add in the rest of the ingredients. Also, you can use any frozen OR fresh fruit that you like.

Don’t get me wrong, its actually REALLY good. Its packed FULL of protein, low in carbs (35 in total), and low in calories. It keeps me full ALL morning and I don’t even contemplate snacking. The issue that I have started to find with this is…someone can only eat Greek yogurt SO MANY days in a row before they get sick of it! I am totally Greek yogurt’d out! 

Being so sick of this Greek yogurt breakfast I have been having, I decided to change it up. For me, breakfast has to be something I can either grab and go or can be put together at my desk. That being said I went ahead and made THIS:

Zucchini and Leek Frittata with Bacon

• 8 eggs scrambled(I ate this for 3 separate meals)
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 small leek
• 3 strips of bacon, already cooked

Cook up the zucchini in a frying pan with a little bit of EVOO. Once the zucchini is browned a bit, throw in the leek and cook for another minute. Once the leek has started to get really fragrant, throw in the cooked bacon and then the scrambled eggs. I like to scrape the bottom of the pan a bit when the eggs first get in there. This makes sure that the eggs cook a little more even. Throw the whole thing in the oven on 350F, or even just a LOW broil, until the top of the eggs have set.

My daughter and I both had a bit for snack the night that I made it, and they served as my breakfast for 2 days with melba toasts on the side. I separated them into separate containers and just tossed them into the microwave for a minute or two when I was ready to eat them. They were SO good and totally helped by giving me a healthy break from my usual breakfast and giving me that savouriness that I crave!

So, what do you eat for breakfast? Do you have any awesome breakfast meal prep recipes? I NEED MORE. Leave me a comment and let me know!

 

Meal Prep Monday + My Journeying

For those of you who know me personally, you know that I was not blessed with a butt. I have never in my life been the girl with the ‘booty’, the ‘ba-donk-a-donk’, or the ‘junk in her trunk’. My sister and I both suffer from ‘pancake booty’ or in other words…a flat ass lol We blame our parents for our misfortune as neither of them have a booty either (I curse you GENES!!). Anyways, I tell you about my flat butted issues because after working out for the past few months and really giving my all to those squat thrusts and squat lifts and squat (whatever other kind of squat you can think of) during Zumba…I, OFFICIALLY, have a booty lol WOOHOO me lol this is a huge accomplishment and I am happy to share it with the world…or at least my small blogging family.

It hasn’t been all wondrous news though. I did a weigh in recently and..I have gained. I am now basically back to my pre-journey weight. WTF?! I know that this weight is muscle. I know this because I can see my body changing. Not just my new ass 😀 but my stomach is visibly (even to me) smaller, my hips and my thighs are tighter etc. Even though I know that this weight gain is a result of building muscle, which is a great thing, I still feel appalled. Appalled at myself for not losing anything. Appalled at my body for being so resistant to weight loss. Appalled at the fact that I have been on this journey for a year, and after all of the work that I put in, I am not any closer to the goals that I had in mind than I was before. Maybe I am a little closer (see: my booty) but not anywhere near where I expect to be at this stage in the game.

Even though I have had a rough go, I am not letting this stop me. Back to the doctors I go to see what the next plan of action is. What else I need to change. I know that I need to get in more muscle building workouts because honestly, I don’t do them at all right now. The only thing I do is Zumba for an hour 2-3 times a week. Since Zumba focuses on legs and cardio my next step is starting to add in 1 workout a week (for now) focused mainly on building muscle in my mid to upper body. This is the hardest part because I will be doing this at home. If you ask my Zumba instructor, I have NEVER missed a class, shown up late once or twice yes, but never missed..not even one. I have never been a class person but clearly the fact that I have other people expecting me to be there actually pushes me to go lol Doing a workout at home, by myself most likely, is what will be hard. But I can do it!! I need to do it!

Anyways, I meal prepped my ass off yesterday and have some great lunches and snacks to show for it this week. You know I always struggle with my dinners as I don’t cook them but my gym has this awesome program where you can purchase meals for $8. They are prepared fresh and you can have them customized to exactly what you want and need. EX) if you need to stay below a certain amount of calories per meal or if you have dietary restrictions you tell them that and they make the meals customized to you. It’s basically meal prepping but I don’t have to do any of the work lol So I purchased a few of those this week to try out. I plan on using them specifically for dinner so that maybe I can get a more balanced meal than I have been (You mean a bowl of Mac N’ Cheese isn’t a balanced meal?!?! :O). So here is my meal plan for the next week:

Breakfast: 240 calories, 45 carbohydrates

• 1 packet of Quaker Oats Maple Oatmeal
• 1 apple

Morning Snack: 100 calories 0 carbohydrates

• ½ cup 1% cottage cheese
• ½ cup sliced cucumber

Lunch: 340 calories, 40 carbohydrates

• 1 baked tilapia filet
• ½ cup uncle ben’s brown and wild rice
• 1 cup steamed broccoli

Afternoon snack: 0 calories, 0 carbohydrates

• Fresh veggies. If I really need something yummy I will add in some laughing cow cheese (this makes it 50 calories, 0 carb)

Dinner:

•  I don’t know the exact details of these yet but under 450 calories and I requested 3 meals, 1 steak, 1 chicken, 1 salmon with veggies and a carb.

Other snacks: 100 calories each (I may not eat all of these in 1 day, I switch it up for whatever I am feeling or add in one of these if I need a sweet treat)

• 1 Oikos Greek Yogurt-desert flavour (lemon meringue anyone?!)
• 1 Chewy granola bar
• Guacamole with a few Tostitos

My lunch was super yummy and I can’t wait to eat it again tomorrow…and the for the rest of the week :O lol

My lunches before I put the rice in. If you put the tilapia over the veggies to re-heat it will add flavour and you will not have to add Salt.

Did you meal prep this week? What did you make? Do you count calories or do something else to help control or lose weight?

Meal Prep Monday-February 1st

Whats up peeps? Its been a while. Let me give you a little catch-me-up before I get down to business.

January has been CRAY CRAY! Getting my daughter back to school after Christmas holiday has been horrific (Read all about our ADHD Life here ). The plus side: the screaming and out-right refusal has stopped but the crying about not feeling well and not want to go to daycare or school continues. My grandma was in and out of hospital, which meant sleep overs on her couch while she was recovering. Work, work, and more work. We have started horseback riding at a new farm (my daughter not me lol) once a week. I am going to Zumba twice a week now instead of just once. I also started taking an online class from the local college to possibly get a NEW career. It’s one class but it takes up about 7-8 hours a week of my nightly routine. So to say that I have been busy, and STRESSED is an understatement.

I am finding it increasingly difficult to find time to, or even want to, work out. I can’t seem to get the motivation to do any exercise at home and I’m getting to the point that I don’t even want to go to ZUMBA! Say it isn’t so! My muscles don’t hurt anymore after my class, just my joints…constantly! Which I am sure has something to do with my arthritis and the weather this time of year. I have even quit going to the gym (for now). I don’t know if it’s just me being totally worn out or if it’s the season or a bit of both but I am hoping that I can my shit together really soon.

I have been sticking to the diet given to me by my dietician but I have GAINED 4 pounds in the last month. Maybe 4 pounds doesn’t sound like that much but when I think about how long it took me to lose those 4 pounds (almost a year) it is absolutely terrifying! I think this has also contributed to my non-motivational funk. I feel like I worked so hard to lose that weight and then POOF there is in, right back on.

I am frustrated and unnerved but I am TRYING not to let that get me down 100%. The one thing that I have not been slacking on is my tracking and my meal prep. I am switching up my meal plan AGAIN. Less carb, more veg and protein. More veg is the downfall. Its not that I don’t like veggies, its just that I would rather have fruit and fruit has more sugar. And picking better-for-me items to snack on when I am hungry in between meals.  I need to find the balance and I need to find it NOW!

My NEW meal plan for the following week includes the following:

Breakfast: 240 calories, 54 carbs, 5 grams of protein

• Quaker Oats-Maple Oatmeal
• 1 apple

Lunch: 340 calories, 30 carbs, 18 grams of protein

• 2 home-made chicken wraps with garlic sauce and hummus (pictured below)
• 1 cup cucumber slices

Snacks:

• 1 Oikos Greek Yogurt (Raspberry Truffle to curb the sweet cravings after lunch)
• Dehydrated zuchinni chips (home-made!)
• 1 Quaker Granola Bar

Dinner: Under 500 calories

• I now have a TON of veggies on hand that I can pop in the microwave or oven when I get home to go with whatever my wonderful mother has cooked us for dinner. Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini etc.
  • I am doing this to include MORE veggies and to make sure that I fill up  more on veggies and less on carbs.

The last change that I made to this week’s meal plan was to incorporate MORE water. I drink plenty of water but had definately been slipping up on this aspect for the past month or so. So I am re-committing myself to drinking more water. My beautiful tumbler that I got for Christmas is sitting on my desk right now, filled to the brim! (Also shown in the pictures below)

These are the pics of my very YUMMY Chicken Wraps with Garlic Sauce and Hummus. If your interested they are super easy to make: 2 small tortillas, 1/2 tsp lebanese garlic spread, 1 tsp hummus, 1/4 cup grilled skinless boneless chicken breast, cucumber slices and romaine lettuce. All under 400 calories.

All of the ingredients. Plus my pretty Marilyn Monroe tumbler sitting in the back FULL of water.

Yummy garlic spread made with garlic and olive oil. Usually served on Shawarmas.

Layers: garlic, hummus, cucumber, chicken.

Fill the rest of the wrap with lettuce.

Wrap and EAT!

What are you meal prepping this week? What does your meal plan look like on any given day or week?