Meal planning tips for this Holiday Weekend

With the Holiday weekend this weekend and some extra time on our hands...may I suggest taking a little time to do some meal prep and planning.

It’s been a game changer for me with sticking to a healthy lifestyle because it takes the stress off of cooking for the week and allows you to have food ready to eat without the hassle and stress of making it in the midst of a hangry moment.

I am sure you have heard and know that meal planning is great...but what exactly does that even mean.

Two things I make sure I always have stocked in my freezer is shredded chicken and brown rice.  I make batches of frozen chicken in my instant pot every couple weeks and the possibilities are endless with these two items on hand.

Here are some suggestions:
1.  Eat with baked sweet potato and steamed broccoli
2.  Tacos- corn tortilla, salsa, lettuce, cheese
3.  Stuffed Sweet Potato- mix chicken with salsa or homemade BBQ sauce
4. Stir Fry- sauté veggies, brown rice and add chicken with soy sauce, hint of honey and pepper
5. Burrito Bowl
6. Chicken noodle soup
7. Tortilla Soup
8. Add to clean Alfredo sauce with pasta and broccoli
9. Make BBQ chicken sandwiches
10. Put over a nice salad

It’s the base for so many quick and easy dinners with no extra work for you.  

I throw the raw frozen chicken breasts in the instant pot with a splash of chicken stock and some salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder...set it for 20 minutes of the meat setting and let it naturally release for 10 minutes.  Let it cool, shred it up and put in freeze bags labeled to freeze. 

Same thing with the brown rice. I do 3 cups of brown rice to 6 cups of chicken stock. I set the instant pot to multigrain and cook for 20 minutes.  I let it naturally release for about 10 minutes.  I spread the rice on a cookie sheet and let it cool for a few minutes then pop in freezer to flash freeze for a few hours. I break up the frozen rice with the back of a spoon and place in labeled freezer bags for a quick addition to any dinner.

You will be so thankful you took the little bit of extra time to do it so you can have quick proteins ready for a busy week ahead.