Meal Prep Made Simple

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Written By

Lauryn

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Expert Reviewed By

Dr. Lauryn Lax, OTD, MS

Dr. Lauryn, OTD, MS is a doctor of occupational therapy, clinical nutritionists and functional medicine expert with 25 years of clinical and personal experience in healing from complex chronic health issues and helping others do the same.

meal prep 1080x675 1 | Meal Prep Made Simple

Know you “need” to plan or prep your meals for the week in order to be on your “A-game?”

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But overwhelmed by the thought of spending all afternoon on a Sunday in the kitchen, or even knowing how to throw meals together for the week?

No sweat with this ONE word in mind: SIMPLE.

  • Eat real food.
  • Meat, veggies and healthy fats.
  • Lots of color.
  • Spice it up with spices, herbs, healthy condiments and add-ins (like avocados, sauerkraut
  • And seek above all to nourish thyself with foods that bring your body to life.

Just like a plant needs clean water, rich soil and bright sunshine to thrive, when we feed ourselves with foods that nourish us (fresh foods, colorful foods, variety, quality foods) we, too thrive.

Just because you “eat healthy” now doesn’t mean eating has to be boring, laborious or dry, bland, OR complicated—especially with these 8 Meal Prep Made Simple Hacks + a basic grocery list for a week’s worth of real (delicious) eats all week.

8 Meal Prep Made Simple Hacks

  1. Plan It. Take 5-10 minutes to think through the week before hitting the store, take inventory of what you currently have in house, and make a list of the foods you need. Your list will be your arsenal for making your grocery trip quick and efficient. (No time for the grocery? No sweat! Recruit Instacart, Shipt, Amazon Fresh or another personal grocery shopping service to get your goods. You actually may even save money this way since you won’t see the “last minute” items that were not on your list to start).
  1. Keep it Simple. No elaborate recipes are necessary—even if you like to vary it up! Use seasonings, spices, herbs and condiments to help dress up any ol’ staples. Buy a few different types of meats for the week, 2-3 different starchy veggies, 1-2 fresh fruits to try and lots of different greens and let the basics shine with varied tastes and flavors: Curry chicken (chicken + coconut milk + sweet potatoes + curry powder + greens + ginger), beef stir fry (grass-fed beef + broccoli & carrots + coconut amino + sea salt and pepper), hash (ground turkey + butternut squash + greens + cinnamon + sea salt + yellow onions), pizza casserole (spaghetti squash + tomato sauce + grass-fed ground meat + goat cheese + mushrooms + italian seasoning + nitrate-free pepperonis), etc. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
  1. Uniform. Go a step further to take the thought out of meal prep and cooking by choosing 2-3 different, but uniform breakfasts and lunches to have during the week. Switch back and forth between them, but every day doesn’t have to be different. For instance: Turkey sausage, avocado and greens OR a smoothie bowl with coconut milk, additive free protein powder, berries, chia seeds or nutbutter, ice cubes for breakfast; and tuna salad collard green wraps with a side of carrot fries, or turkey rollups with roasted bulk veggies, paleo Ranch dressing or coconut butter for lunches.
  1. Bulk It. For stable non-perishable shelf items like coconut oil, coconut butter, spices, herbs, nutbutters, condiments, dressings, coconut aminos, avocado oil, etc., buy in bulk when you can from bulk-savings places like Costco or Thrive Market Often times you can find things cheaper for the long run and you’ll always have your “supplies.”
  1. Start Off Strong. You do not have to cook every single recipe or food you need for the week on one day (unless your schedule allows it or you desire). However, I do recommend setting aside at least 1-2 hours one day per week to do a small “bulk” prep of some basics you like. Whip up 2 to 3 protein options to have on hand (like shredded crockpot chicken or pork, turkey or bison burgers, wild-caught herb salmon) and 2 to 3 bulk veggies (4-5 sweet potatoes, wrapped in foil, plus a large batch of mixed roasted vegges—like brussels sprouts, baby carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, asparagus, and perhaps some pre-spiralized zucchini noodles or a spaghetti squash). Store in glassware containers or ziplock baggies for assembling an assortment of meals throughout the week.
  1. Prep as You Go. No pressure to cook everything at once per week. If you were to take 10-20 minutes each day, or every other day to assemble and cook while you’re home, you’d be amazed on how you CAN fuel yourself well throughout the week, without the burden of spending an entire day in the kitchen. Simply:
  1. Meats: Pick a meat to stovetop cook or bake (such as fish: bake 12-15 minutes at 400-degrees; ground turkey, bison or beef burgers, hash or meatballs; cast-iron skillet chicken thighs).
  2. Veggies: While your meat if cooking, prep some veggies (i.e. flash cook greens in a pan, sautéed in ghee or coconut oil on medium heat with sea salt and pepper, covered for 4-5 minutes; whip out a sweet potato you pre-prepped or nuke it in the microwave for 6-7 minutes in a wet paper towel, pan fry any veggie of choice in a skillet with ghee or coconut oil, coconut aminos and sea salt, etc.)
  3. Assemble. While your meat and veggies are cooking, be proactive and choose 1-2 veggies or meats to make for the week while you’re in the kitchen. Slice some carrots or sweet potatoes into “fries” then allow to bake at 400-degrees while you finish cooking and eating your evening meal. Make your bulk roasted veggies. Throw some meat into a crockpot to sit over night while you sleep. One thing to make your life easier, without taking any extra time away from simple prep of your meal at hand.
  4. Bonus: Crockpot or Insta-Pot. Speaking of the crockpot…use it! You can throw any meat + veggies + bone broth into your crockpot or Insta-pot in the morning and dinner will be ready when you get home.
  1. Make Extra. Cook up 2-3 extra servings of your evening meal, and make lunches a no-brainer with leftovers, or leftovers thrown on greens for a salad mix-up.
  1. Keep Grab-&-Eat Items on Hand. Foods that require little to NO cooking are good to keep on hand for those times when fires or hanger (hungry + anger) arise. See ideas indoor grocery list for some ideas.
  1. Order Up. If your life is not conducive to meal prep or you simply want a NO thought solution to at least one meal per week, take the thought out of it by signing up for a meal delivery service like Pete’s Paleo, The Good Kitchen or Trifecta Nutrition, or a pre-assembled meal service to prep yourself as you go, like Sunbasket’s Paleo Meals.

KEEP IT SIMPLE MEAL PREP GROCERY LIST

Keep the basics on hand, along with an arsenal of pieces or seasonings and you will never go unprepared again.

Veggies

  • Stock up on several containers of bulk, pre-washed greens (or bunches of greens) for easy flash cooking.
  • Choose 2-3 starchy veggies (ex. 2-3 sweet potatoes, pre-diced butternut squash, baby rainbow carrots)
  • Choose 2-3 fiber-rich green or low-starch veggies (ex. asparagus, cauliflower, zucchini squash)

Fruits

  • Choose 1-2 fresh fruits for the week
  • Keep a bag of frozen organic berries in the freezer for smoothies

Meats

Pick 2-3 different meats or fish to have on hand (ex. a whole roasting chicken, 2-4 lbs. grass-fed beef or organic ground turkey, 1 lb. wild-caught salmon)

Note: Keep a couple different meats on hand in the freezer for those in-a-pinch weeks (i.e. frozen chicken breast. *I love keeping quality meats from the Farmer’s Market on hand, or ordering fish from Vital Choice and meats from U.S. Wellness Meats.

Gut Loving Foods

Love your gut with food! Some great foods for doing that include:

Condiments, Seasonings & Spices

Keep stocked with your favorite seasonings and flavors. Shop the bulk bins for cheaper bulk buying and store in the spice and herb containers you have at home.

Some of my faves?

  • Staple Spices & Herbs:
  • Sea Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic Powder
  • Onion Powder
  • Vietnamese Cinnamon
  • Staple Fats:
  • Avocado Oil Mayo
  • Coconut Oil
  • Avocado Oil
  • Coconut Butter/Manna
  • Raw Nuts/Seeds or Nutbutters
  • Ghee/Grass-fed Butter
  • Staple Condiments, Baking Items & Seasonings:
  • Coconut Aminos
  • Primal Kitchen or Tessemae’s Dressings
  • Coconut Flour
  • Baking Soda/Powder

Grab-&-Eat Foods

Keep a few no-brainer non-cook (minimal cook) foods on hand every week, based on your lifestyle.

Proteins

  • Additive-free Rotisserie Chickens
  • Canned Wild-Salmon, Sardines or Tuna
  • Organic Roasted Canned Chicken (Wild-Planet brand)
  • Pre-frozen Organic Turkey Burgers
  • Frozen Organic Chicken or Turkey Sausage (Applegate Farms)
  • Organic Deli Meats (nitrate-free)
  • Pastured Eggs
  • Uncured Pastured Bacon
  • Organic, Grass-fed Greek Yogurt or Goat’s Milk Yogurt
  • Bone Broth

Veggies & Fruits

  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Boxed Greens
  • Frozen Veggies
  • Frozen Fruits
  • Whole Fruits (don’t go bad as fast)
  • Avocados

Snacks & Misc

Above all, remind yourself: Eating REAL FOOD is NOT that complicated. You’ve got this. Happy Shopping!

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