I’m completely convinced that the secret to losing weight/staying healthy is organization: planning your meals, planning your workouts… Most people have plenty of motivation, it’s just difficult to find the time! That’s why I’m beyond obsessed with my latest purchase, Easy Lunchboxes.

(And yep, those are my actual meals!)

***UPDATE (March 2016): If you’re interested in strictly gluten-free meal prep, make sure you check out Super Simple Gluten-Free Meal Prep after you finish with this post! :) I just added a lot of new ideas!***

Now, you can definitely get the same effect with a different brand container, but after a lot of research (#majordorkmoment – who researches plastic containers??) I decided these were by far my favorite.

Warning: This next part’s not gonna get any cooler…

It turns out, there are a couple different staples in the world of cute meal prep containers (a.k.a. bento boxes).

I started out with Ziploc, but who are we kidding – there’s no way I could resist all of those different colors (and minature dipping containers!) that come with Easy Lunchboxes ;) I also went a lil crazy and bought these adorable condiment containers (that were, admittedly, probably designed for lil kids):

But who cares?! They’re so cute! ♥

For anyone who missed my first post on meal prepping, you can catch up here. Or, if you just need to grab a new template, download away!

Download (PDF, 78KB)

Getting started with meal prepping can seem crazy overwhelming at first (lil panda bear containers or not…). That’s why I wanted to take a couple of minutes to go over a few strategies and some super easy recipes.

Think of this as a Beginner Bento Tutorial :)

1. Get organized on Pinterest

Create four boards: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks. Start searching on Pinterest (and Googling other sites) for healthy recipes that you’ll actually eat. For Pinterest newbies: install a Pin It button on your toolbar (don’t be scared! it takes like two clicks) – that way, when you see a picture or recipe on another site, you can quickly pin it to your collection!

For a bit of a head start, check out my boards :) They’re small – but growing!

2. Write out your one-week plan

Using the template above (or any other paper of your choice!), write out your one-week plan – noting all groceries that you need to buy as you go (that way, you’re less likely to forget ingredients). Still stuck on what to make? Remember: You always want to pair a lean protein with a complex carb (that’s why chicken and brown rice, egges and veggies, etc. are such fitness go-to’s!).

3. Cook and pack!

Most people recommend ‘prepping’ all of your foods first (i.e., dicing fruit/chopping onions for every recipe). But honestly? When I first started, I found it a lot easier to just cook one thing at a time. Sure it takes longer, but until you get a better feel for what you’re making it’s a lot more fun to accomplish one thing and then move on – versus triple-checking every recipe and trying to figure out out how much 1/3 cup + 1/4 cup + 2 1/2 cup onions is!

I’ve provided links below to some of my favorite (easy!!) recipes. I organized things by this week’s boxes (above) to help give you an idea of what to pair with what :)

Steel cut oats + mini egg-white spinach quiches + blackberries
Carrot oatmeal muffins + celery w/PB + strawberries + 1tbsp. cream cheese
Clean eating chicken salad + natural popcorn (kernels + EVOO!) + organic applesauce
Sauteed shrimp + quinoa (with herbs) + tomatoes and onions
Greek yogurt w/cinnamon + chopped almonds + strawberries + nut thin crackers + mini orange
Whole grain bread (half pita) + apple butter + celery + PB + cherry tomatoes
Grilled steak + arugula salad (I buy arugula pre-mixed with spinach) + peaches
Steel cut oats + chicken sausage + sugar-free syrup + blackberries
Carrot oatmeal muffins + 1tbsp. cream cheese + celery w/PB + natural popcorn
Clean eating chicken salad + mini orange +nut thin crackers

Note: These meals aren’t 100% ‘clean‘ but, if you’re a regular reader, you know I’m a big fan of moderation ;)

Please let me know if you have any questions! :) I hope this information has been helpful… and if you’re interested in saving some extra grocery money, check out this post on couponing and clean eating ♥

My post publishing schedule is super random (I really need to work on that! lol)

So if you don’t wanna miss new articles, feel free to enter your email address below and we’ll shoot you a message when new posts go live :) ♥

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Healthy Meal Prep Ideas

1. Get organized on Pinterest

2. Write out your one-week plan

3. Cook and pack!

Thank you for your response. ✨

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