Meal Prep Basics and Veggie Burger Recipe

When I say meal prep to some of my clients, a lot of them cringe at the idea because they think it means spending a full day or entire afternoon in the kitchen prepping your foods for the entire week. Some people may choose to do this, however that is not the type of meal prep I am talking about. While there is no right or wrong way to meal prep, I have found that the best way for myself and for many of my clients has been to prepare simple basics, and to have an idea of what you want to do for the week, but to still allow for flexibility and intuitive eating. This allows me to have some staples at the ready to make quick and healthy meals, but also be able to decide what I want to eat at that moment in time. I don’t know about you, but I have no clue what my body is going to want on Thursday for lunch when it is only Sunday evening.

Generally, I start off on Saturday or Sunday taking a look at my week and seeing where I am busy. I look for areas where I know having something prepared will be helpful. This can be lunches for work, or dinners when you are on the run, and even breakfast if you are like me and refuse to wake up any earlier to eat breakfast at home. This means I usually make foods that can easily be thrown together for lunches, overnight oats for on the go breakfasts, and depending on my evening schedule, some items that I can use in a variety of dinners throughout the week.

Here is what I prepared this week (not pictured is a variety of berries divided into containers and a few overnight oat jars–I made this later last night after I took the picture):

Sometimes the littlest things go a long way. My biggest example of this being chopping up and storing your fruits and vegetables as soon as you get home from the store. People tend to gravitate towards convenience, myself included. If I am packing a lunch or snacks, or even just looking for something to snack on at home, I am way more likely to grab for the fruits and vegetables when they are already cut and washed.

Hummus and veggies are a go to snack for me. In this picture I have my peppers and watermelon radish (and baby carrots in a bag) in separate containers because I can just bring all of them to store in my fridge at work for the week. However, if you want to make your life super easy, make little ziplock baggies (or reusable containers to be eco-friendly) for each day of the week! I usually do this with my fruits especially.

Next, I made some roasted vegetables. This week I did some buffalo cauliflower and carrots. The most helpful thing to do is choose vegetables that can be roasted at the same temperature for roughly the same amount of time. I also removed the stems from my kale and massaged the kale with just a little olive oil and lemon juice. Whether I feel like whipping up a salad, or just adding kale to a bowl, wrap, or sandwich, it is ready to go for me.

While my vegetables were roasting, I also had some quinoa cooking on the stove top. I will usually choose at least one grain to prepare ahead of time (this will typically stay good in the fridge for up to 3 days). I can use this quinoa for a variety of different recipes throughout the week–and it cuts out 20 minutes of cooking time.

I usually make a batch of oven roasted chickpeas to be added to salads or to just snack on by themselves, but this week I opted for some veggie burgers (see recipe below). These are great because they can be added to not only burgers, but any sandwich or wrap or even a salad. Aka what I am currently having for lunch today:

Inside of whole wheat pita pockets, I added the veggie burgers along with some hummus, feta, kale, cucumbers, and red onions. I paired this with a side of berries. This was so good and had me looking forward to my lunch all morning.

I will pack my lunch and snacks the night before–and after meal prep this only takes a matter of minutes.

If you are brand new to meal prep, I recommend starting small. Start with just washing and cutting some of your foods and putting them into separate bags or containers. In order to turn this into a habit, you don’t want to overwhelm yourself trying to make an entire weeks worth of meals on your first try. Each week you can add on items if you want or need!

Some other easy meal prep ideas:

-Crockpot chicken or pork for a shredded meat

-Baked chicken cut up

-Make a batch of soup and store in the fridge for the week or freezer for longer

-Hardboil eggs for easy snacks

-Divide up nuts into portioned out bags

-Roasted vegetables

-Energy balls (I’ll be sharing this recipe later this week)

Remember, there is no right or wrong way to meal prep! For myself, my main goal is just making my life a little easier and having healthy choices at my disposal for making good choices (especially for the work day!). Everyone’s schedules are different, so try things out and see what works for you! I hope this helps 🙂

Chipotle Veggie Burgers:

1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and mashed well

1/2 c red onion, finely chopped

1 zucchini, grated

1 large carrot, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 T cilantro, chopped

2 T green onion, diced

1 T chives, diced

1 cup rolled oats

1 T cashew butter (sub any nut butter)

1 T chipotle sauce (or sriracha)

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T olive oil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt and pepper

1. Mash chickpeas in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
2. Form patties with your hands–should have 7-8.
3. Fry in medium frying pan with a little bit of olive oil–a few minutes each side until golden brown.
4. Store in fridge in airtight container or freeze and reheat in the oven at 400 for about 15-20 minutes.