Healthy Make-Ahead Recipes
No matter how busy we get I refuse to get totally derailed from eating healthy. In fact, finding a way to get real food on the table is more critical than ever while we shape Rylan’s eating habits and expectations for the type of food he will get at home most days.
Weekend meal prep is my best shot for avoiding takeout temptations. I still haven’t found the time to make large batches of freezer meals but I have found a few new recipes that yield a fair amount of leftovers to carry us into the week for lunches and dinner.
Links I suggest all busy households pin and try:
- Vanilla chia seed pudding. A delicious, crazy-fast and protein-packed breakfast that you can prepare at night and eat for at least two – three days following. I have been topping mine with organic strawberries and blueberries.
- Kale pesto (nut free). I read on a mom blog somewhere that pesto is something all families should keep in the fridge. Tossing it with pasta is a fast weeknight fallback. Until Rylan has been exposed to all nuts I searched for a nut-free version and am surprised by how good this one tastes. Since we are not vegan I did add some parmesan cheese–highly recommended.
- Chickpea, avocado and feta salad. This is dummy-proof. To make it even heartier as a standalone dinner I mixed in about a cup of Trader Joes Harvest Grains mix. Rylan devoured this.
- Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Chili. This is now a staple in our house. I make it at least twice a month and freeze extras for mid-week meals when we’re running low on energy and motivation. I omit the chipotle peppers since I am breastfeeding and want to keep it on the milder side.
Overnight slow cooker oatmeal is a forever-staple and I always make sure to keep frozen veggie burgers and fish on hand to bare with a basic salad. Morning green smoothies have gone on a hiatus but I am hoping to make another round of smoothie packs now that the weather is warming up. I am obsessed with the daily recipes shared by Simple Green Smoothies on Instagram.
We’re keeping Rylan gluten free, per our pediatrician, until one year and that will influence a lot of my cooking until then. Some freezer-friendly recipes I was able to test this last weekend include:
- Mini Frittatas (for Rylan, but good for any busy household. I made ours in a mini muffin pan)
- Paleo pumpkin muffins (for Rylan, though I realized the almond flour might not have been the best choice so even though he reacted fine, we can’t bring them to daycare. Again, I used the mini muffin pan)
- Salmon cakes (I used gluten free bread crumbs. Warning – do not overcook or these bad boys totally end up like hockey pucks)
- Crock pot vegetarian stuffed peppers (I can’t for the life of me find the recipe I followed! But if you Google “slow cooker stuffer peppers) there are endless varieties. I used brown rice, frozen corn, black beans, shredded cheese, cumin and chili powder. They baked perfectly in about 3 hours on high)
What weekend meal prep saves your sanity during the week?
