Healthy Meal Prep Ideas: Quinoa Salad & Chicken and Potatoes

I have been wanting to meal prep for the week on a Sunday for the longest time now. Preparing my lunches and dinners ahead of time so I am not scrambling to the store after work is both fun and a great way to have a great start to the week. This morning Paul left for a work trip for over a week, so I decided to spend the day keeping busy and meal prepping since I am a little sad that I won’t see him for awhile. I went to the grocery store to buy all my ingredients and start on the meal prepping. After everything was said and done, I was finished cooking by 11:30am with time to still enjoy the weekend. In today’s post I want to share some healthy meal prep ideas including quinoa salad and one pan chicken and potatoes.

Healthy Meal Prep Ideas: Quinoa Salad

I got the idea to make quinoa salad for work lunches from my friend. Last week she was sending me snaps of her quinoa salad she meal prepped. Since I got back from the holidays, work has been insanely busy. I end up only eating something small throughout the day so I wanted to make a healthy and filling lunch to bring to work. I made it as both a side dish if I end up bringing a sandwich or by itself. It has so many fresh and delicious flavors, plus it’s perfectly healthy too.

 

Ingredients

1 cup dry quinoa
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper , cored and chopped
1/2 cup sliced red onions
1 cucumber, diced

Additional: I added Italian dressing to my final product to bring all the flavors together and add more taste!

Instructions
Rinse quinoa well in a fine mesh strainer. Transfer to a bowl and season lightly with salt, pepper, garlic salt (or any other seasonings to taste.
Toss together quinoa, garbanzo beans, cucumber, bell pepper, red onions, and Italian dressing. Season with salt, pepper and additional seasonings to taste and scoop into Tupperware for throughout the week.

Healthy Meal Prep Ideas: One Pan Chicken & Potatoes (with a side of broccoli)

I am obsessed with one pan meals lately. They are so easy and healthy, perfect for a weeknight meal. For this one pan chicken and potatoes recipe, you can definitely mix up the flavors each time you make it. Today, I decided to do a honey Dijon mustard glaze for the chicken and garlic salt and red pepper potatoes. After the chicken and potatoes were cooked, I also cooked some brocoli on the side to complete the meal.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
Salt, pepper and garlic salt, to taste
8-10 baby red potatoes, halved
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 broccoli crown
Crushed red pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cover pan with aluminum foil (to minimize clean up after meal prep)
In a small bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons olive oil Dijon, garlic, salt, pepper and garlic salt.
Place the red potatoes scattered throughout the baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil on the potatoes and then season with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and garlic salt Add chicken in a single layer to your baking sheet (I cut the chicken breasts in smaller pieces to assist in cooking thoroughly). Brush the olive oil and Dijon sauce onto the chicken.

Place into oven and cook until the chicken is completely cooked through. Typically, about 30-35 minutes. Next cook your broccoli on the stove top with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Once everything is complete, divide the chicken, potatoes, and broccoli evenly in Tupperware for the week.

Viola! You have yummy meals planned for the week. You can adjust the serving size for how many people you are meal prepping for and how many days. I also made an easy side salad with mixed greens, red onion, cucumber, and chicken!

Want more Miss Olivia Says? Check out my latest posts HERE and HERE and HERE

 

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