Low On Time: Real Simple

Low On Time: Real Simple

Warning: the following may contain content that is highly relatable. Side effects include hunger pains and a few chuckles. (Scroll to the bottom for two quick-and-easy recipe ideas)

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For almost a year now, I have been a fairly consistent meal-prepper, but it has come with its ups-and-downs (still to this day). One of the challenges I have faced over this past year is life. Yes, that’s right. Life happens, and it doesn’t always like to line up with your meal planning escapades. Sometimes you go to work all day, go to your soccer game, go to the gym, go to dance class, go to your great-aunt’s best friend’s dog’s neutering. As you may have guessed, the last one did not happen…but I digress. The point is, time isn’t always on your side; therefore, how do you find the time?

The truth is, there are a multitude of factors that determine the best course of action when you feel the metaphorical meal-prep clock tick down on Sunday [or whichever day(s) of the week].

From personal experience, when I need to get my food shiz together real quick…I think of something real simple. Keep in mind, this may vary from person-to-person. I will give you a scenario from my life to make this more #relatable (Apologies for the use of the hashtag #sorrynotsorry #demilovato #CampRock).

Going into the weekend, I knew how my day would mostly look like:

• Wake up
• Go to the gym
• Shower
• Eat lunch
• Drive to massage therapy
• Come home
• Go to soccer game
• Shower
• Get ready for Kevin Hart

• Meet LA boyfriend to go to Kevin Hart
• Sleep
• Wake up and conquer Sunday Funday

Remember how I said there are many factors that determine the best course of action, blah blah blah…. Well, usually I would try to meal prep in advance knowing that my Saturday (and Sunday) was going to be really busy. However, I was not feeling it that week, so I made the most of the limited time I had.

First off, I knew I was going to have to do some compromising with myself. Since my Saturday was jammed pack, I decided to push my meal prep to Sunday. Additionally, I wanted to spend Sunday with my boyfriend without him watching me meal prep (even though he has, and I appreciate it very much). Consequently, I knew I was going to have to stay up later to get all of my meal prep done for the first few days of the coming work week. One compromise was no gym Monday morning. Little sleep = no gym. I enjoy the gym, so it was a compromise for me. In order to reduce meal prep time, and maximize my sleep time, I needed to make something quick-and-easy. When I need something fast and simple, I tend to choose a grain, ground meat, veggies…and cheese!

The resulting recipes: (keep in mind that I count macros, so the weights fit what I needed for the week)

Lunch

• 60g Farro
• 100g spiralized, store-bought zucchini
• 80g butternut squash cubes
• 30g spinach
• 100g baby potatoes
• 20g feta

Dinner

• 60g quinoa
• 100g ground turkey
• 50g black beans
• 30g tomatoes
• 60g corn
• 75g iceberg lettuce mix
• 20g feta

You can make this as easy or as hard as you’d like. To make it easier for me, I used canned black beans and frozen corn that I could toss into the microwave.

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I hope this inspired you in some way, whether it was to go watch Kevin Hart on YouTube or buy a tub of feta cheese.

Seize the day!

Jenna