A healthy meal prep lunch with options.

It's that time of year already, back to school, holiday rush, another year end is approaching fast. Often families can be short on time and prioritizing healthier meals gets pushed aside, trust me I'm guilty of that drive thru run too, it's nothing to be ashamed of and some days the best option for everyone's sanity. As I always say balance is the key to fit, happy and healthy, so let's focus on one meal at a time and how to set yourself up for success.

I see a lot of meal prep ideas out there for lunch, but I use to find myself getting bored of what I prepped by the end of the week and instead of eating what I brought to work, I would eat out, inevitably something not great for me, and then the spiral from there. Although I do work from home now, I still like to prep something for the week for lunch so that I can spend that time doing other things. Recently I have been buying a pound of ground chicken, good price and great protein, and cooking it with diced peppers, onions, and tomatoes, seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. My thought for not getting too complicated with how I seasoned this mix is now when I make my lunch for the day, I can decide what toppings or sauces I am feeling that day.

Okay protein is prepped, now what to do with it? I always aim to add more veggies to the meal and of course a fiber filled carb to give me energy for the rest of the day, check out the 2B Mindset to find out more about this meal planning strategy. Here are a few examples of what to do with the ground chicken mix:

1. Quesadilla: I love using hot sauce on the ground chicken to make it more of a buffalo chicken and a little bit of cheese (my favorite carb balanced wraps, flour and wheat options).

2. Loaded broccoli tots: I cook the tots first in the air fryer, then I top them with the ground chicken mix, other veggies, beans, and cheese, toss it back in the air fryer for a few minutes. I like to line the air fryer basket to make it easier to get everything out and to a plate.

3. Pizzadilla: Because why wouldn't you want to put pizza and quesadillas into one?? A little sauce, ground chicken mix, whatever your favorite pizza toppings are and of course mozzarella cheese.

My goal in the kitchen is to make yummy food and fuel my body with what it needs, which contrary to popular belief, is possible! Let me know if you tried any of the options above and if you made any of your own tweaks, have fun with it!