Tuesday, August 26, 2014

How to meal prep for a weekend away...

Today I want to share a little bit about how we prep our food for weekends away. As many of you know, traveling and sticking to a clean eating diet can be next to impossible. Thankfully, if you prepare ahead of time you not only come home without the bloated "ate too much on vacation" feeling but you also save a ton of money! 

For this particular trip TJ, Riley & I were all going, so I saved a lot of space, time & stress planning to bring things that the three of us could all eat. 

Step One: Develop a Plan!

When developing a plan that involves a little one typically you would be fine just grabbing their baby food containers and throwing them in the bag. My child, however, refuses to eat baby food and will only eat fruit, meat and veggies whole. With that in mind, I chose to make veggies and meat that she likes and that are things we enjoy as well. Then I wrote down what all we needed: fish, chicken, lean ground beef, brown rice, peas, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bananas (Riley), and juice (Riley).

Step Two: Prepare Your Food!

This step is the most time consuming but once you get the hang of it it really goes quick. Always start with your chicken. Why? Chicken takes the longest to bake in the oven so if you get that going first you will have plenty of time to get most of the other things done before it finishes. Next, I put the rice in the rice cooker. ** Hint: Always add an extra 1/4 cup of water when cooking brown rice to eliminate the crunch! ** Then I like to get the veggies going. I am impatient so I typically will put one kind in a steamer and cook the others in various pots on the stove just to cut down on prep time and get it all done at once. Lean ground beef comes next...just brown it in a skillet. By this point your chicken should be close to cooked if not completely done. I then switch it out with the fish in the oven on broil...it will only take about ten minutes.

Step Three: Package Your Food!

Once your food has cooked you can begin packaging it. **Hint: Using a food saver to pack your food in its portions not only takes up WAY less space but also keeps the food from leaking, keeps it fresh longer & hides the smell of the veggies like broccoli and Brussels sprouts.** I tend to always put things in 1 cup serving sizes when it comes to the vegetables and the brown rice. It may take me two actual meals to finish the brown rice but TJ eats an entire cup at each meal so it just makes it easier to do it like that. Meat will range anywhere from 6-8oz a package. TJ eats 8oz, I eat 4oz and Riley plays with 2oz. 

Step Four: Pack the Extras!

You will need: utensils, at least one plate/bowl/Tupperware container (to heat or mix your food), additional seasonings (optional), and your water (gallon jug). 

And That's It!!  Prepped, packed, and ready for a weekend away to have fun, stay on track & enjoy! 

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