Sample Paleo Meal Prep for the Work Week

Eating a healthy diet can be difficult for anyone. Sugars, fats, and carbohydrates are all very tempting. Not to mention that if you have been raised on a traditional modern diet, then these foods may be what you are used to eating.

What can make things even harder to stay committed is the difficulty of eating out or creating healthy, nutritional meals on the go. One fantastic solution is to prep your meals for the upcoming work week over the weekend, so you always have something to grab for lunch or dinner.

RELATED: Easy Ways to Meal Plan and Meal Prep for Healthier Eating

Ingredients

For the meals, you will want to utilize two different types of meat with an assortment of fresh vegetables and fruits. Roasting your meat is a very healthy way to cook it, and it allows you to prep both types of meat at the same time.

For today’s Paleo meal prep, we need the following:

• Whole-leaf spinach
• Olive oil
• 1 large, lean cut of organic, grass-fed steak
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1 avocado
• 1 eggplant

This is what we used for seasoning, but feel free to adjust to your preference:

• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Black pepper
• Fresh-squeezed lime juice
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Cilantro

We will instruct you on how to use the above-listed ingredients to create five lunches for one person. You can double the recipes to include suppers or to make enough for a second person.

Step One: The Meats

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Grease the bottoms of two baking pans with a thin coating of olive oil. Place the steak in one pan and the chicken breasts in the other.
• Season the steak with rosemary, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper. Slice the peppers and add them to the pan.
• Season the chicken breasts with lime juice, black pepper, and oregano.
• Place both meats into the oven. The steak will cook between 20 and 45 minutes, depending on how well done you like your steak. The chicken will cook for 30 to 45 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 165°F.
• When done and cooled slightly, cut the steak in half. Slice one half and dice the other. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Leaving the chicken pieces whole, top with chopped cilantro and set them aside.

Step Two: The Veg

Asparagus

• Snap the dried ends off the asparagus and rinse the tips thoroughly.
• Place the asparagus on a plate and drizzle with olive oil.
• Lay the asparagus stalks out on a stovetop griller or frying pan.
• The asparagus is done when it is tender and just slightly browned (if grilling). Set aside.

Avocado

• Take one avocado and use a knife to cut around the outside in a circle. Pull the two halves apart with a slight twisting motion.
• Remove the pit and use the knife to slice each half three times.
• Scoop out the slices using a spoon and set aside.

Eggplant

• Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a frying pan.
• Thinly slice the eggplant and season with black pepper. Place rounds into pan.
• Cook about five minutes on each side.
• Set on a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with parsley.

Step Three: Putting It Together

Pull out five meal containers and arrange your ingredients as follows:

• Container 1: Place a bed of spinach on the bottom; top with cubed steak, half the peppers, and half the avocado.
• Container 2: Place a bed of spinach on the bottom; top with one chicken breast and half the asparagus.
• Container 3: Place four eggplant slices on the bottom; add sliced steak with half the peppers.
• Container 4: Place four eggplant slices on the bottom; add one chicken breast and the rest of the avocado.
• Container 5: Place remaining asparagus beneath the last chicken breast. Add extra eggplant slices, if desired.

If there are any leftovers, you can store them in the fridge and incorporate them into your suppers for the week or simply snack on the individual ingredients. For more weekly meal plans, explore What to Eat This Week.