#meal-prep

#meal-prep

Over the years, I've kind of learned what I need because it does sometimes change, if I'm doing well or if I don't feel like I'm doing well.

These Middle Eastern chickpea balls are so meaty and satisfying, I feel like I could eat them every day! One of my favorite ideas for how to eat them is this falafel salad. Make a batch of my baked falafel, then layer them with crunchy veggies and top with a creamy, zingy tahini dressing. You can also use purchased frozen falafel, or even repurpose takeout leftovers! This one is a massive hit with my family.

In addition to selecting a mix of quality fruit, a key to constructing the perfect berry bowl is layering a creamy base with succulent fruit elements, plus contrastingly crunchy toppings. To keep toppings like granola, cereal, and puffed grains crunchy, though, there is one important rule you need to follow: Add the toppings on just before serving the berry bowl.

A sandwich might sound like a "boring" meal, but these vegetarian sandwiches are anything but uninspired! I've spent years testing different combinations of veggie sandwich fillings in my kitchen, and over the years I've collected my favorite ideas for making meatless lunches and dinners. These vegetarian sandwiches have become my go-to's for quick weeknight dinners and healthy lunches that actually make me look forward to the meal.

I'm Micah. A busy mom of a very active toddler, a business owner, wife, marathoner, dog mom, and a just trying-to-keep-it-together mom. Each week looks different, with both my husband and me traveling multiple times a month for work while navigating busy schedules and some kind of social life. Even though I work from home, I still struggle to get meals on the table. We rely a lot on leftovers, meal prep, and frozen dishes I made months ago.

Quinoa is a filling, nutty-tasting food that pairs well with a variety of ingredients. From breakfast bowls of quinoa topped with yogurt and fruit to savory meals made with chicken and roasted veggies, this powerhouse seed is ready for culinary embellishments. But there's no need to just prepare quinoa with water, instead, make things creamier by simmering the small superfood seeds in a can of coconut milk instead.

The great thing is that a lot of the following additions can be mixed and matched to achieve unique and fun flavor profiles. Salads don't just have to feature bland, limp, and waterlogged pieces of lettuce; there are so many ways to approach them and make them scrumptious and satiating. After trying some of them, you may never look at salad the same way again.

Want the best roasted vegetables ever? I've been making roasted vegetables for years, and I've found that that high heat in the oven caramelizes the vegetables and gives them a lightly crisp exterior which pleases even the most veggie wary eaters! This is my master recipe for how to roast vegetables: make it for a crowd as a side dish, or meal prep them to eat in grain bowls all week long. They're healthy, plant based, vegetarian and gluten-free, and even better: colorful and delicious!

Pickle fans know the joy of nabbing a fresh jar of any of the best pickle brands and enjoying the tasty snacking and sandwich-stacking possibilities. But there's a way to feel even better about your pickle purchase: reusing those jars. When you can repurpose a product's packaging, the benefits are plentiful. You're participating in an eco-friendly mission to reduce waste, and you're also putting the packaging to use for where you might have otherwise had to spend money to buy new.

A carefully calibrated amount of rice and water ensures everything cooks at exactly the same rate, so don't eyeball it. Making your own sofrito on a weeknight is a commitment that's well worth the effort; it provides a deeply savory foundation that perfumes both the rice and chicken. Serve it with a dollop of sour cream, some pickled onions, or warm tortillas for a stick-to-your-ribs dinner that tastes like it took at least two, if not three, pots to make.

There are exactly three meal-prep foods that I have on rotation: shredded beef, shredded pork, and, you guessed it, shredded chicken. All of these involve exactly two steps: Putting spices on a meat, and putting that meat into a crockpot. Every other dinner is leftovers or sandwich meat. Author Don't say I haven't tried. During the pandemic, I went through a jerky phase. I've sampled most of the meal prep boxes.

Note: As many redditors have pointed out in the original thread, these examples are not to discredit how useful pre-prepared foods are to those who are disabled or have a super packed schedule. There's nothing wrong with buying these from the store - we all do (I say, with a jar of pasta sauce literally sitting on my counter right now). There's no shame in it!

At 4:30 a.m., before her husband and two kids are up, Morgan Walker is typically just starting her workout. "I'm kind of a first-thing-in-the-morning type of person when it comes to exercise," Walker, a 32-year-old registered sports dietitian at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania, told Business Insider. Walker focuses her own workouts on a mix of cardio and strength training. Each week, she spends three to four days building muscle mass by gradually increasing the weights and rep counts of exercises like bench presses, deadlifts, and squats. She also runs twice a week, for up to an hour at a time.

1. A self-stirring multi-cooker for those of us whose grown-up version of a fairy godmother would be a private chef. This dream machine uses an automatic paddle to shred meats and stir soups and stews so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time picking out Halloween costumes with your kiddos.

Don't try too hard Rather than trying to impress people, it is actually the opposite that ultimately does impress, says Rosie Kellett, who hosts supper clubs in London and is the author of In for Dinner. My advice is keep it really simple. Cook something that you know you're going to nail and feeds the right amount of people. Go for the heavy-hitters that are solid gold in your repertoire.

This is a versatile dinner that can be dressed up, down, and sideways depending on who you're feeding.

It may sound weird, and it's definitely unconventional, but Ree Drummond's method for boiling an omelet in a bag is actually genius. You need to try this if you're among those of us who try to flip an omelet and quickly change the meal plan to scrambled eggs every time. On her Food Network show, " The Pioneer Woman," Drummond demonstrated how she makes an omelet by adding all the ingredients for the previously complicated egg dish to a boil-safe bag and cooking a tasty dish in minutes. After enjoying this dish, there are no messy pans to scrub because you can simply toss the bag in the trash.