Wow, I got so much positive feedback on the format of last week's blog post that I'm going to start writing it out that way more often! I shared some in my stories on Friday, but this week's prep was for both me and my husband and was done in UNDER 2 HOURS. That's 20 meals (plus 10 no-cook meals) in less time than it takes to do a full load of laundry. The photo above only shows my prep for 4 days, but the plan is written out to include all of the above!
Here's this week's meal plan:
Breakfast: Lamb Hash with Sweet Potatoes (me) // Smoothie (husband)
Lunch: No-Cook (me) // Date Shallot Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots (husband)
Dinner: Ginger Chicken Meatballs with Carrots and Collards (me) // Taco Salad (husband)
Ingredients:
4# whole carrots
1.5# yellow potatoes
2 medium/large sweet potatoes
1# ground lamb
2 organic yellow squash
2 organic zucchini
Green onions (about 3 cups chopped)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 16oz bag riced cauliflower
1 5oz bag organic baby spinach
1 can green olives
2-3" knob fresh ginger
1 bunch organic collard greens
2.5# chicken breasts, tenders, or thighs
2 medium shallots
8 dates
5 sprigs fresh rosemary, stems removed
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1# ground chicken
3 tbsp coconut aminos
1 tbsp fish sauce
2# ground beef
Taco seasoning
Olive oil
Salt
For taco salads: lettuce, tomatoes, bell pepper, avocado, salsa, cilantro, olives, etc
For smoothies: frozen fruit, frozen spinach, collagen, fat of choice (nut butter or avocado), etc
For no-cook: AYOBA-YO, Safe Catch, or sardines for protein, ZUPA for veggies (wholedailylife for 15% off), and grapes for carb
Prep list:
-slice carrots
-chop potatoes
-peel and chop sweet potatoes
-peel/mince ginger
-chop green onions
-de-stem/chop collards
-chop zucchini/yellow squash
-chop shallots
-pit/chop dates
-dice bell pepper/veggies for salads
Cook list:
-roast carrots
-roast potatoes
-roast sweet potatoes
-cook lamb hash
-saute collard greens
-bake date shallot chicken
-bake ginger chicken meatballs
-cook taco beef
Step by step:
1. Preheat oven to 375 and line 4 baking sheets with parchment. (The four that I have all fit in my oven at the same time.)
2. Slice the larger carrots lengthwise down the middle, and leave smaller ones (about 1/2 inch in diameter) whole. Distribute over two baking sheets.
3. Chop the yellow potatoes into 1/2-1" pieces, then distribute over another baking sheet. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into 1/2-1" pieces and do the same with the final baking sheet.
4. Drizzle all sheets with oil of choice and sprinkle with salt; toss to combine, then place in the oven. Set a timer for 15 minutes, then stir the veggie and rotate the pans so that those that were on the bottom rack are now on the top (not necessary if you have a convection oven). Repeat as needed.
5. While the veggies are roasting, set a large pot over medium heat and add the ground lamb; use a spatula to break it up as it cooks.
6. While the lamb is cooking, chop the yellow squash and the zucchini into small pieces (1/4-1/2") and chop the green onions. Add the squash into the pot when the lamb is cooked through, along with the seasonings (1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp dried oregano). Add the bag of cauliflower rice. Add about 1/2 cup water (or broth if you have it!), then cover and let cook for about 10 minutes for veggies to soften.
7. You should have tossed and rotated your roasting veggies by this point, and if they're cooked to your preference, pull them out and set them aside. If you're waiting for them to finish, go ahead and peel and mince the ginger, de-stem and chop the collard greens into 1/2" pieces, pit and chop the dates, and peel and chop the shallots. Remove the roasted veggies from the oven and either transfer the veggies to another container so that you can re-use the parchment or just re-line the pans.
8. Turn the burner off for the lamb hash, then add in 1 bag of baby spinach (I like to rough chop mine first, but this is optional), along with 2/3 of the green onions. Roughly chop the olives, then stir those in too. This dish is finished! While you're at the stove, add the collards into a large skillet along with about 1 tbsp oil. Sauté over medium heat until cooked to preference.
9. Increase oven temperature to 425. In a large glass baking dish, place the chicken pieces and sprinkle with salt. Drizzle with olive oil and approximately 3 tbsp each of balsamic and apple cider vinegars. Distribute the chopped shallots and dates across the top and sprinkle with the fresh rosemary. Place in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. Check your collard greens and remove from heat if cooked.
10. In a medium bowl, combine the ground chicken with 1/3 of the green onions, the coconut aminos, the fish sauce, and the minced ginger. Form approximately 16 meatballs and place on one of the baking sheets. Put these in the oven for about 12 minutes, which should be around the same amount of time that is left on the chicken dish.
11. We're almost there! All that's left is to cook the taco beef, which I do in the same skillet that I cooked the collard greens. By the time that is finished, the chicken and the meatballs should be almost done too.
Now just portion everything out and celebrate that you prepared all of your weekday meals in 2 hours!!
If you give this a try, I'd love to hear what you think! Do you prefer this meal plan for two, or a meal plan for one like last week? Let me know over on Instagram!
-Tracey