Weekend meal prep

Most weekends I try to spend a bit of time in the kitchen getting organised for the week ahead.

Even though it’s sometimes the last thing I feel like doing, I’m always glad I have as I find it saves time on busy work days and it means we always have healthy options available for school and work lunches.

Here are some of the things I usually prep:

• Hard-boiled eggs

• Shredded chicken breast (you can use a BBQ chicken if you don’t have time to cook it yourself)

• Quinoa or brown rice

• Tinned tuna or salmon mixed with whole egg mayonnaise

• Chopped fruit (e.g. watermelon, rockmelon, pineapple)

• Carrot, cucumber and capsicum sticks (cover with a damp paper towel to prevent them drying out)

• Bliss balls/protein balls (I have a few recipes I alternate between but these are peanut butter and oat balls - recipe below)

• Roasted pumpkin or sweet potato

• Meatballs or sausages

• Mini muffins

• Soup (e.g. pumpkin, minestrone, chicken)

If you haven't tried doing weekend meal prep before, I encourage you to give it a go. It might seem like a lot of work but everything in the photo was prepared in less than an hour!

Recipe - Peanut butter and oat balls

Ingredients:

⅔ cup unsalted peanut butter, e.g. Mayver’s

1 ½ cups rolled oats

¼ cup coconut oil

2 tbs LSA mix

12 fresh dates, pitted, finely chopped

2 tbs chia seeds

1 tbs honey

2 tbs sultanas

Method:

1. Place all ingredients except sultanas in a food processor and pulse until combined.

2. Transfer to a bowl and stir in sultanas.

3. Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls

4. Place on a tray or in an airtight container and refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm

Source: Woolworths Fresh Magazine (June 2019)

Enjoy!