Most of us these days are struggling with time.  Balancing work, family, housework, and a healthy lifestyle is demanding.  One item that helps keep our house centred is meal prep & planning.  Each Saturday morning, I plot out meals for the week and make a list.  This process helps ensure that we are meeting our workout goals (both of us are on a heavy gym phase right now) and keeps more time for other things than making meals.

When it all goes right, I peek into the fridge to see what I have that will go off.  Nick and I pull our work calendars and discuss what nights we are home, what nights we need something quick, and what nights we may not be around.  I then open Excel, make a plan and try to plan what I can meal prep before the weekend is up.  In the UK, grocery stores do not open till 11 on Sundays.  When I can, I try to do the shop on Saturday so I can do my meal prep when I get up Sunday morning.

One item that we do almost every week is lunch from Monday-Thursday.  We are both full-time work at home now and need to have a lunch that works.  With our current workout regimen, we also need a high amount of protein without being high in fat.

Many of my meal preps for lunches include Lentils and Brown Rice.  Lentils are packed with lean protein and are cost-effective.  I admit I often buy them in packets pre-cooked, but if you made them from dry, they would be even more economical.  (The £2.70 in lentils I purchased in packets would come to £0.50 dried). For the rest of the price breakdown, here is the full recipe and cost.

We track our food in MyFitnessPal.  Here is the output from this recipe:

• 528 calories
• 11.5 grams of fat (3.9 saturated / .2 trans fat / .8 polyunsaturated / 1.9 monounsaturated)
• 116mg cholesterol
• Dietary Fiber 10.4 grams
• Sugar 9.6 grams
• Protein 74.4 grams

And here is the recipe:

• 1.6KG Chicken Breast
• Chicken Tika Masala Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Chipotle Pepper Paste
• 100G Coriander / Cilantro
• 2 Small Red Onions
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• 50G Brown Basmati Rice
• Stock Cube
• Green Lentils
• 100G Kale
• 200G Leek
• Cumin
• Salt / Pepper

1. Chop the stalks off of the coriander and dice finely.  Dice one red onion and all the garlic.  Add to a large bowl with the Chicken Tika Masala Sauce & Chipotle Pepper Paste.
2. Add the chicken and put it in the fridge to marinate.  Marinating for 24 hours is ideal, but an hour or so is ok if time is tight.
3. Bake your chicken in the oven at 160C fan / 180C / 350F for about 25 minutes.  You want to cook it just to 65C / 145F.  Overcooked chicken is dry chicken 😊
4. Cook your brown rice in a pot with the stock cube.  Stir in cumin to your taste.  I use about 1.5 tablespoons.  Add this to a large bowl.
5. Clean and dice your leeks.  Cook in a large non-stick pan till well cooked.  Salt to taste.  Add to your large bowl with the rice.
6. Steam your kale and also add to your large bowl with the rice.
7. Add lentils to the large bowl with the rice
8. Dice the remaining onion and add to the large bowl with the rice
9. Combine the rice mixture.  Taste and add salt as you wish
10. When your rice salad & chicken are cooled, portion them into eight containers and refrigerate.