We had a recent week in our house that was so jam-packed with evening activities I needed to give careful thought to how I would keep us on track with home cooked meals. I am sharing a few of my tips, tricks and plan of attack here. Healthy eating with whole, minimally processed foods goes hand in hand with exercise to yield the biggest health benefits.

The meal plan, and my plan to make it happen

Monday: Sheet pan chicken and broccoli with peanut sauce
Tuesday: Chicken breasts and beet avocado salad
Wednesday: Egg Roll in a Bowl
Thursday: repeat Tuesday, chicken breasts with beet avocado salad

How I prepped on Sunday

None of these recipes are particularly time consuming, but our schedule was so tight that I spent an hour in the kitchen prepping on Sunday. Here’s what I did.

  • I cut and marinaded the chicken for Monday, along with washing and chopping the broccoli. I also made the peanut sauce.
  • I steamed the beets for Tuesday in the Instant Pot. While I had the chicken out prepping for Monday, I also prepped them for Tuesday and Thursday. We used this 20-minute no marinade-needed recipe, which works best if the chicken is filleted and pounded.
  • I shredded a head of cabbage in the food processor for Wednesday.

The week in action

Monday: I preheated the oven to 350, tossed everything on the sheet pan per the recipe, made cauliflower rice for Jeremy and I, jasmine rice for the kids.
Tuesday: I cooked the chicken with this recipe in 20 minutes start to finish. While the chicken cooked I tossed together this salad with the beets I had pre-steamed.
Wednesday: I made Egg Roll in a Bowl with ground turkey and the pre-shredded cabbage.
Thursday: Repeat Tuesday.

Author Lee Carson is a writer, business strategist, health advocate, principal and co-founder at both Hyatt Training and Florasophy. She believes in a minimally processed whole-foods approach to nutrition, and loves sharing ways to use food and movement as catalysts and tools for optimal health. Learn more about Lee, or get in touch with her by emailing us at Go@HyattTraining.com.

Hyatt Training is a team of certified, enthusiastic and innovative personal trainers and physical therapists in Portland, Oregon. To read more nutrition-related posts like this one, follow this link.