Easy Meal Prep Recipes for the On-The-Go Girl

Let’s chat about my one true time-saving love: MEAL PREPPING! I love sharing my meal prep recipes and routines with you all over on Instagram stories, but to be quite honest, I have been shocked by all of interest I’ve received, encouraging me to post more recipes for you all. This blog started off as a fashion and beauty inspiration outlet, but just like real-life, it has certainly grown and expanded to cover so much more. But the one thing that truly connects all the dots is living life as beautifully and balanced as possible. So today, to fit the theme of a well-balanced, healthy lifestyle (for the busy, on-the-go girl), I am sharing two of my favorite meal prep recipes that will work perfectly together and will shave hours off of your weekly lunch and dinner making time.

My Meal-Prepping Routine

Every weekend, I take a bit of time to think through the following week’s meal plans, accounting for everything from breakfast to dinner to snacks. This helps me to not over-buy when roaming the grocery store aisles. Well, to be honest, that’s still a work in progress, but I’m getting there. I just love grocery shopping too much that I think I’m buying for a family of four.

After grabbing my food and lugging back all 17 bags with me (more like two to three, but they are heavy… city-living problems), I then spend about two to three hours meal-prepping for the week. At the very least, I prep out my lunches. When I am feeling super ambitious, I prep all of the food needed for dinners, but wait to assemble dinners until I am actually home to give it a fresher taste.

Meal-prepping has saved me SO much time during the week and has allowed my nights to be a time of productivity, rather than a time of rebounding from the day and prepping for the next. If you have a side hustle, this time of productivity is a necessity! If you prefer relaxation in your evenings, meal-prepping will be your best friend, too.

My Best Meal Prepping Tip

If I can only share one piece of advice I have learned from meal-prepping, it is to diversify your meals just enough that you don’t get bored of your meals, but keep crossover in your produce. Produce is the easiest to overbuy and the first to go bad, which makes it tricky to master the art of buying the perfect amount of fruits and vegetables. The following recipes are my favorite examples of creating very different meals with similar ingredients. As someone who is meal-prepping for just one, it’s hard to find a balance of creating diversity in your lunches while also not wasting food because you are over-buying. The following recipes have different meats and grains, but very similar vegetables and garnishes, which is perfect for creating just the right amount of food. This also cuts down time in meal prepping. Win-win!

Chili-Lime Shrimp Burrito Bowls

Ingredients:

• 4-6 ounces shrimp (I bought frozen and de-thawed)
• 1 cup brown rice
• 2 tablespoons lime juice (+ 2 tsp topping)
• Chili powder to taste (or Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Powder)
• 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic 
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 2 cubs of corn (or one can)
• 1 pepper
• Red onion to taste
• Green onion to taste
• Cilantro to taste
• 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon salsa

Makes: 2 servings (but of course, super easy to make more up – all of the increments are approximates)

Meal Prep Steps:

• Sauté your shrimp in a tablespoon of olive oil, tablespoon of garlic, tablespoon of lime juice, and chili powder to taste.
• Cook up brown rice as instructed on the box or bag, but about half-way through cooking, add in half a tablespoon of olive oil, lime juice to taste, and cilantro for some yummy cilantro-lime rice.
• While the shrimp and rice are cooking, wash and dice your tomatoes, red onion, and peppers and put into a separate container. You can also cook up your corn and cut and add into this some container once cooled. I love keeping my vegetables cold while and heating up my rice and shrimp. This helps prepared meals feel so much more fresh.
• After your shrimp and brown rice are cooked, add to its own container and top with some green onion, if you like. Now you will have one container of meat and rice and another of fresh vegetables.
• Finally, mix up two tablespoons plain Greek yogurt with 1 tablespoon salsa (or so!) and put into a small container.
• To prepare: When you are ready to eat this yummy meal, heat up the container with the shrimp and rice, and afterwards, add your cold vegetables on top and drizzle your salsa mix. Enjoy!

Garlic-Lime Steak Quinoa Bowls

Ingredients:

• 1 pound steak (of preference)
• 1/2 tablespoon lime juice 
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1-2 peppers
• 1 cup tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 1 avocado (optional, but is it really?)
• Red onion to taste
• Green onion to taste
• 1 tablespoon feta
• 3 tablespoons avocado cilantro lime Greek yogurt dressing (or topping of choice)

Makes: 2 servings (but same as above, you can definitely be flexible with this)

Meal Prep Steps:

• If you have the time, marinate your steak with a tablespoon olive oil, garlic and half a tablespoon of lime juice. You can also add in some red pepper flakes and chili powder if you’d like.
• Next, cook up your steak by searing each side and then cooking your steak until your preferred coloring/temperature.
• At the same time, cook up your quinoa in water (packages often say chicken stock for more flavor, but this recipe has plenty of flavor, so skip the extra sodium and go for water) plus a half a tablespoon of olive oil.
• While your steak and quinoa are cooking, dice up your vegetables. If you are making this recipe along with the one above (which I’d definitely recommend!) you are dicing up all of the same vegetables, minus the corn for this one, so do it all at once to save you some time. For this recipe, I top my vegetables with 1/2 tablespoon or so of feta for some extra flavor. I also cut my avocado in half and add some lemon juice on top to keep it from browning and place each half in a plastic bag or another container.
• Place your diced vegetables in one container, your cooked quinoa and steak in another, and finally, add some of the avocado cilantro lime Greek yogurt dressing into a small container.
• To prepare: Heat up your quinoa and steak, toss your cold vegetables on top, slice up your avocado, and drizzle your dressing on top. All set!

Preparing the Two Recipes Together

I LOVE preparing these two recipes together for four meals total, alternating between the two each day. Then, for the fifth day of the week, I typically bring a dinner leftover, leaving me all set for the week! As mentioned above, to save yourself some time, prep all of the produce together since it crosses over between the recipes. Save yourself even more time and order some of the pantry items online (especially helpful if you live in a city and have to lug your groceries home).

If you try out the recipes above, post a picture to your Instagram stories and tag @littlelooksbigpictures and I’ll be sure to share your beautiful creations on my Instagram, as well. 🙂

What are your favorite meals to prep? I’d love to try out some new recipes – if you have any favorites, drop them below!