Meal Prepping 101- Protein

When I started meal prepping my last semester of college, I stuck to making simple, light, and easy meals because the last thing I needed to worry about was food. I came up with my own plan and tailored it to my dietary needs and based it on my exercise routine, thus this meal plan may not be suitable to everyone's needs but it surely can be used as a starting point or the very least for the recipe on how to prepare the food.

Here it is... what I eat on a daily basis for lunch and occasionally dinner- protein (Chicken/ Steak), carbs (Brown Rice/ Sweet Potato), & my chosen veg. for the week (Broccoli/Asparagus/ Zucchini) & sometimes a side of mixed greens/spinach with my homemade lime vinaigrette (recipe to come!).

When I meal prepped, I found it easier to designate one day (usually Sunday) to cook all my protein/carbs/veggies and pack my salads & vinaigrette and any other snacks (trail mix, chips, veggie sticks, fruit salad) I would need for the week. The question of freshness always comes up-I never had a problem with prepped food spoiling within the week but if you are worried about it then just prep every two days. How does the food taste? There are two kinds of people: those who don't mind eating previously cooked food & those who prefer fresh food. If you are the latter then it will take your taste buds some time to adjust- no biggie the food is still delish & you'll be happy to have a meal after you come home from a crazy gym sesh/ long day at school/ stressful day at work.

Now, lets get to it shall we!

Shopping List 

• Chicken Breasts
• I buy HEB's organic/hormone free boneless/skinless chicken...believe me you can taste the difference but use what you like
• Steak 
•  I prefer a thick cut sirloin to BBQ on the grill, but if I'm cooking the steak inside I buy HEB's Angus thin cut steaks  
• Olive Oil
• Salt/Pepper 
• Additional spices/sauces (My Favs. listed below)

• chili flakes
• garlic powder
• Mrs.Dash 
• Tamari Sauce (Gluten-Free Soy Sauce)
• Sriracha Sauce ( Spicy Asian Hot Sauce) 

Let's get Cookin' 

Protein- Chicken/Steak
I like to BBQ, oven-bake, & stove-top cook both the chicken/steak it just depends on how much time I have. I'm going to go over the stove-top method in this recipe.

Chicken

1. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat & place a tablespoon of olive oil to heat up. 
2. Wash & pat dry the chicken. Salt/Pepper the chicken to taste or if your salt-free you can flavor it with a Mrs. Dash flavor/garlic powder/any seasoning. 
3. Once the oil is hot, carefully place the chicken on the skillet. Let cook for 5-7 minutes- you want it to form a golden brown crust on the bottom. 

     4. Flip the chicken & continue cooking until the juices run clear- cook another 5 minutes. If you are not sure the chicken is cooked, cut it in half & check! *** The more you cook the better you'll learn to determine when & if the chicken is cooked thoroughly. 

     5. Take off the heat & place on a plate lined with paper towels in order to remove any excess oil. 

Steak

1.  Heat a skillet to high heat & place a tablespoon of olive oil to heat up.
2. Wash & pat dry the steak. Salt/pepper the steak to your taste or use your preferred seasoning.****** When seasoning beef you want to wait until you are going to put it on the grill/stove-top/oven because as soon as the salt hits the beef it begins drying the meat out. 

      3. Once the oil is hot, carefully place the steak on the skillet. Depending on how you like your steak (of course I like mine well-done/borderline chard) depends on how long you wait to flip the steak over. I usually let the bottom brown & then flip it over. If the steak is thick then I cover it with a lid (the vapor cooks the inside of the steak) if it is a thin steak then it usually takes only a couple mins (2-4) on each side.

  

     4. Once the steak is cooked to your liking take off the heat & place on a plate lined with paper towels in order to remove any excess oil. 

     5. If your chopping the steak for a salad, wait until it cools down so that the lovely steak juices don't escape & dry out the meat. 

Stay tuned for the rest of my meal prep recipes!

XO~Clarie