Week 3 Meal Prep

Hello cupcakes,

Well... it's that time of week again. Time for my weekly meal prep post! I apologize, I am most likely not going to go in chronological order here. Too many pictures to share with you!

Saturday I went to the grocery to get some food. I don't know about you guys, but I get so excited to go to the grocery. Just ask my boyfriend! I got: chicken breasts, lean ground turkey, celery, avocados, limes, coconut oil, egg whites, bananas, zucchini, bell peppers, Mrs. Dash seasoning (Whole30 approved), red onion, and carrots. I already had: 1 spaghetti squash, 2 sweet potatoes, nut butter, unsweetened almond milk, and apples. 

Friday morning I made breakfast and did a little blogging for you lovely people. I really enjoy writing my Friday Favorites posts. Here I had 1 cup of egg whites cooked in 1 tsp. of coconut oil. I also had 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk. 

Friday after work, I went to Meijer to get some nuts to make homemade nut butter. I literally could not have walked out of the store at a more perfect time. About 2-3 minutes after I took this picture it was almost gone. Take time to enjoy the little things in life. Take a moment to stop and enjoy the beauty around you. 

Turn up on a Friday... I spent my Friday night getting crazy... crazy in the kitchen that is haha!

I decided to experiment with some new nut butter flavors. I made almond espresso butter, almond coconut butter, regular almond butter, and coconut cashew butter. All of these are paleo and Whole30 approved. Here are the ingredients:

Espresso Almond Butter:

-date paste

-raw, roasted almonds

-freshly ground, dark coffee beans

-pink Himalayan salt

Coconut Almond Butter:

-raw, roasted almonds

-date paste

-unsweetened coconut flakes

-coconut oil

-pink Himalayan salt

Regular Almond Butter:

-raw, roasted almonds

-pink Himalayan salt

Coconut Cashew Butter:

-raw, roasted cashews

-coconut oil

-pink Himalayan salt

I always make the nut butter first with just the nuts. Once the nut butter is smooth, I add the "add in" ingredients. Another tip: when roasting the nuts, bake them at 275 degrees. Keep an eye on them so they do not burn. Let them cool all the way before processing them. 

I also decided to buy a waffle maker when I was getting groceries on Saturday. Since I am currently doing a Whole30, I cannot have waffles (yes.. even healthy waffles). So, I decided to cook my eggs in the waffle maker. How cute are these? 

Now on to the actual meal prep: 

I cut up green peppers and red onions and cooked them in the oven at 400 degrees until tender. I cover the pan with aluminum foil to make the veggies steam faster. 

I cut up 6 zucchinis and used my garlic press to add garlic to the top. I also sprinkled some pink Himalayan salt on the top. I baked these in the oven at 400 degrees until tender. 

I cooked my 11 lbs. of chicken in the crock pot again this week. I love how tender the chicken is after slow roasting it. I cook the chicken in two batches. The first batch I used the juice of 1 lemon and Mrs. Dash seasoning. Then, I add enough water to cover the chicken. I turn the crockpot on low and cook for 8 hours. The next batch was the same, but I used the juice of 2 limes instead of a lemon. 

-I cooked 3 sweet potatoes in the microwave on the potato setting. Poke holes in the sweet potatoes so they do not explode. 

-I cooked 1 spaghetti squash in the microwave for 20 minutes. Make sure to poke holes in the spaghetti squash so it does not explode. 

Here is the finished product!

Here are my meal plans I created in Excel:

1) Low Carb Days (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday)

2) High Carb Days (Tuesday & Friday)

I am still doing Carb Cycling and Whole30. This is week 3! Check out this blog post for more info: Whole30 + Carb Cycling & How to Meal Plan. 

I did not prep my eggs because I like to eat them fresh. They taste better to me! Here was a picture of my breakfast Sunday. I had 1 egg cooked in the waffle maker, lean ground turkey, Frank's hot sauce, cold brew coffee with unsweetened almond milk, 1 banana, and cashew butter. 

My weekends are not as strict as my meals during the week. I still try to stick to my macros, but all of my meals are not prepped.

Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to comment below. I love hearing from you!

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."