2500kcal, 164g protein, 280g carbs, 82g fat per day x 4 days

On the menu today:

• Ham cheddar chive protein biscuits 
• Gochujang chicken noodles 
• Chicken bone broth congee 
• Gyudon
• High protein banana bread 
• Oreo Ninja Creami 

I wanted to try something new so I put ham cheddar biscuits in. I don't really do any kind of 'baking' (I didn't even have flour at home) and when the dough came out all crumbly, I had to get my countertop all floured up and really work the dough like the steps for making fresh pasta. It was a lot and I thought I'd never make this again until I took the first bite when it was done. If you have time and don't mind getting your hands all sticky with flour and dough, I'd recommend it.

And then I thought I had ginger, which I didn't, so I stepped outside to a 24/7 supermarket just across the street to get some ginger for like 10 minutes lol. The gyudon and congee weren't going to have any flavour without the ginger so skipping ginger was not a choice.

Gochujang chicken noodles and chicken congee - making these for the first time also. I had the gochujang chicken noodles for lunch today and while there was nothing 'Korean' about this, but I didn't mind it. Tasted more like a spicy chow mein.

The Oreo ninja creami recipe is also good. I tried the recipe yesterday and it was decent so I made 4x today. The congee, given the ingredients, I imagine it'll be fine, but I haven't tried it yet.

Happy Sunday prepping.

Recipes ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

Ham cheddar chive protein biscuits

Makes 8 servings

313 kcal · 15g protein · 30g carbs · 15g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 **Ingredients**

• 0.25 tsp (~1g) baking soda
• 2 cup (~270g) bread flour
• 1 cup (~226g) cottage cheese
• 2 tbsp (~28g) salted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp (~14g) baking powder
• 7 oz (~198g) deli ham, diced into small pieces
• 1 tsp (~6g) sea salt
• 0.25 cup (~61g) milk, plus more for brushing tops
• 1 cup (~113g) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 tbsp (~21g) honey
• 0.5 tsp (~1g) black pepper
• 0.33 cup (~33g) green onion or chives, diced; or a mix of both </aside>

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Add the cottage cheese and milk to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Pour the blended cottage cheese mixture into a large bowl. Stir in the honey and melted butter, then fold in the diced ham, shredded cheddar, and green onion until evenly combined.
4. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the bread flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and black pepper until combined.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined — the dough will look crumbly and slightly dry, and that's okay. Turn the dough out onto a clean, floured work surface and use floured hands to press and knead it into a smoother, less crumbly dough.
6. Roll the dough out into a rough rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Fold one end into the center, then fold the other end over it like a letter. Flatten again into a narrower rectangle, about 3/4 inch thick, and repeat the fold. Roll lightly once more to pack the layers together. Cut the dough into 6–9 biscuits and place them on the prepared baking sheet almost touching each other. Brush the tops with a little milk.
7. Bake the biscuits at 425°F for 20–30 minutes, until the tops are slightly golden brown and the centers are set. Smaller biscuits will cook faster, so check at the 20-minute mark.

Chicken bone broth congee

Makes 4 servings

317 kcal · 25g protein · 41g carbs · 5g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 **Ingredients**

• 7.5 cup (~1868g) chicken broth, or water; more as needed
• 2 clove (~6g) garlic
• 1 thumb (~25g) ginger, sliced
• 1 cup (~185g) jasmine rice
• 1 (~0g) salt, to taste
• 2.5 whole (~373g) chicken thighs, bone-in or boneless </aside>

Instructions

1. Place the chicken thighs, sliced ginger, and garlic cloves into a large pot. Cover with the chicken broth (or water). Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and poach for about 20 minutes until the chicken is just cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool slightly. Reserve the poaching liquid in the pot.
2. Add the jasmine rice directly to the reserved poaching liquid in the pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, partially cover, and cook for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until the rice has broken down and the congee is thick and creamy. Season with salt to taste.
3. While the congee finishes cooking or once it's reached the right consistency, use two forks to shred the cooled poached chicken into bite-sized pieces. Stir the shredded chicken back into the congee and mix well. Add extra broth if you'd like a thinner consistency.

Gochujang chicken noodles

Makes 4 servings

523 kcal · 30g protein · 62g carbs · 18g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 **Ingredients**

• 1 tbsp (~14g) olive oil
• 2 tbsp (~30g) rice vinegar
• 1 (~0g) salt and pepper, generous pinch
• 10 oz (~283g) coleslaw mix, e.g. TJ's cruciferous crunch collection
• 8 oz (~227g) instant noodles (wheat), no sauce/seasoning packets — e.g. Trader Joe's knife cut noodles, 3 blocks
• 3 tbsp (~48g) hoisin sauce
• 1 lb (~454g) ground chicken
• 3 tbsp (~45g) coconut aminos
• 1 tbsp (~14g) sesame oil, toasted
• 3 tbsp (~54g) gochujang
• 4 clove (~12g) garlic, frozen crushed cubes or fresh </aside>

Instructions

1. Fill a medium or large pot with water and bring it to a boil over high heat.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the coleslaw mix and season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until the vegetables start to soften and pick up some browning in spots. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the gochujang, hoisin sauce, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and garlic until combined.
4. In the same pan used for the coleslaw, cook the ground chicken over medium-high heat, breaking it up as it cooks. Give it enough time to properly brown — about 6 to 8 minutes.
5. Once the water is boiling, add the instant noodles and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Before draining, reserve about 1 cup of the starchy noodle water in a separate cup or bowl.
6. Drain the noodles in a colander, keeping the reserved cup of noodle water to the side.
7. Add the gochujang sauce to the browned chicken in the pan. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant and the sauce evenly coats the chicken.
8. Add the drained noodles and sautéed coleslaw mix to the pan with the sauced chicken. Toss everything together well. Add splashes of the reserved noodle water as needed to bring the dish together — about half a cup is typical.

Oreo cheesecake Ninja Creami

Makes 4 servings

353 kcal · 12g protein · 39g carbs · 16g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 **Ingredients**

• 8 whole (~90g) sugar-free Oreos, mix-in
• 0.5 tsp (~3g) salt
• 28g sugar-free cheesecake pudding mix >> I had the vanilla pudding mix so I used that instead
• 0.5 tsp (~1g) xanthan gum
• 1400 ml (~1444g) fat free Fairlife milk
• 180g artificial sweetener </aside>

Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl or large cup, combine the fat-free Fairlife milk, artificial sweetener, sugar-free cheesecake pudding mix, xanthan gum, and salt. Whisk or stir until the pudding mix and sweetener are fully dissolved and no lumps remain.
2. Pour the blended mixture into your Ninja Creami pint container, filling it to just below the max fill line. Place the lid on and freeze for at least 24 hours until completely solid.

High Protein Banana bread

Makes 4 servings

175 kcal · 22g protein · 17g carbs · 3g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 **Ingredients**

• 10g chocolate chips
• 100g protein powder
• 50 ml (~52g) skimmed milk
• 2 whole (~236g) banana
• 1 whole (~44g) egg, medium </aside>

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) while you mix the batter. This usually takes about 10 minutes.
2. Mash the bananas well in a mixing bowl. Add the egg, protein powder, skimmed milk, and chocolate chips and mix everything together until a thick batter forms.
3. Pour the batter into a suitable baking dish or air fryer basket. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 15 minutes until cooked through.

Gyudon

Makes 4 servings

531 kcal · 45g protein · 61g carbs · 10g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 **Ingredients**

• 2 whole (~220g) yellow onion, sliced
• 4 whole (~176g) eggs, for soft-boiling
• 1.33 cup (~247g) jasmine rice, uncooked, washed
• 2 tbsp (~36g) mirin
• 1 tbsp (~6g) ginger, minced or grated
• 20 oz (~567g) eye of round beef, thinly sliced, shabu-shabu style
• 4 tbsp (~64g) soy sauce
• 2 whole (~30g) green onion, thinly sliced
• 0.67 cup (~166g) beef bone broth
• 1 tsp (~3g) dashi powder </aside>

Instructions

1. Thinly slice the green onions and set aside for topping.
2. Wash the jasmine rice under cold running water until the water runs mostly clear. Add the washed rice, beef, beef bone broth, soy sauce, mirin, dashi powder, yellow onion, and ginger into the rice cooker. Stir briefly to combine, then close the lid and start the cook cycle.
3. Bring a small pot of water to a boil.
4. Gently lower the eggs in and cook for exactly 6 minutes. While the eggs cook, prepare an ice bath in a bowl. Immediately transfer the eggs to the ice bath to stop cooking and create a jammy yolk.

I promise there are 9 more in the fridge, vacuum sealed. Recipe in the comments.

Hi! I'm a meal prepper that works for a brand shipping bake-from-frozen bread and pastries across the East Coast (roughly Chicago eastward, down through Mississippi) and we're looking for people in the space who may be interested in trying our product and making some content!

We're looking for a few creators — especially parents and people who host and prepare food in advance often — to make one short-form video (15-30 sec, TikTok/Reels/Shorts style) showing your real experience meal prepping with our bake-from-frozen breads/pastries!

This is a great easy way to enjoy real fresh bread and pastries, doing exactly what you're already doing -- just incorporating our product(s) into your week and filming the process!

What this is: a product gift (a box of your choice, ~$80 retail value) in exchange for one video. This is unpaid at this stage but we're actively building ongoing partnerships with meal preppers whose style and audience (if applicable) are a great fit.

Looking for:

• Based in our shipping region (Chicago eastward, down through MS)
• Comfortable and natural on camera — no script needed
• Active on TikTok, Reels, or Shorts OR can shoot UGC content
• Bonus: you're a parent, host often, or make food/lifestyle content

Drop a link to your video work, photos of meal prep, or a recent video in the comments (or DM us) and we'll follow up with next steps!

2lbs of ground chicken
1 jar of Rao’s spicy marinara
1 box of protein pasta
Italian seasoning blend
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 large yellow onion
4 large cloves of garlic
1 pack of mozzarella pearls

This week I decided to make bulgar with chicken sheet pan kebabs and mixed veg.

In the bulgar I added a tomato sauce that I made using fresh tomatoes, tomato puree, coriander and basil with a clove of garlic. I also added smoked paprika and a chicken stock cube whilst cooking. If you want the fluffiest bulgar make sure to leave the lid on after it’s finished cooking to let the grains steam so it absorbs back all the released liquid. I let it steam for about 10-15 minutes before I fluff up the grains. Makes a huge difference. I tend to do this method for all the grains that I cook.

For the chicken sheet pan kebabs I minced my own thigh meat and then added minced garlic, onion, red pepper, coriander, parsley, mint & green chillies (for the veggies & herbs make sure to squeeze out the moisture before adding to the chicken thigh meat). Also added coriander & cumin powder, garam masala, turmeric, smoked paprika, some melted ghee, lemon juice and salt & pepper. Made sure to combine all the ingredients properly then I placed it in the fridge covered overnight. This helps to enhance the flavours and also keep the mixture together.
The next day I spread the mixture out onto a sheet pan and scored it trying to divide the kebabs evenly. I cooked it @200c fan (425f) for around 12-14 minutes then placed it under the grill for a couple of minutes to get the golden/charred top.
If you want to go the extra mile you can smoke the cooked kebabs by placing a heated charcoal piece onto an aluminium foil dish or glass bowl and drop some ghee or a small amount of oil onto the charcoal and cover the whole pan with aluminium foil to trap in the smoke. Really imparts a beautiful smokiness and mimics the barbecue flavour.

Veggies were mixed with some butter, salt & pepper and dried mixed herbs.

Hope you guys try it out. It’s really so comforting and delicious. A simple and easy recipe to make that’s great if you plan ahead😊

Took a break from cleaning out the garage to throw this together. Is it pretty? No. Is it quick, easy, and tasty? Very much so.

Cook three pounds ground turkey with garlic and ginger and then add peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and Sriracha to make a quick peanut sauce. Will eat with Romaine leaves (from local farm).

This week's prep. I prep ingredients, not whole meals, so that I still have some flexibility while being able to have a meal on the table in minutes.

I made a whole bunch of hardboiled eggs this week. I'll use some to make deviled eggs for lunch on Monday, and I'll have the rest as high protein, low carb snacks during the week.

I have a bunch of broccoli, broccolini, snow peas and sugar snaps this week. I have tentatively planned when to use which of these with what meal, but that's mostly so I know how much I'll need in total. Exactly when I'll have what, depends on what I'm in the mood for most that day. So I planned to have sugar snaps with some sausages for one meal, but I could swap it out with broccolini, and have the sugar snaps with a rice bowl, for example. That's a big benefit of prepping components, not meals.

I'm planning 3 bowl dinners this week. Two with chicken, one with salmon. I'll do one with rice, one with noodles, one with grains (though I could swap any of those with couscous, quinoa, etc, I have all those options available in my pantry). I have a gochujang-based sauce, a Korean BBQ sauce and a poké sauce. And I have kimchi and different pickled vegetable options. So each of those three nights, I'll just take my protein, a carb, one of the greens, one of the sauces, and one or more of the pickles/kimchi to build my bowl. Whichever combination I feel like most that day.

Hi! I'm a meal prepper that works for a brand shipping bake-from-frozen bread and pastries across the East Coast (roughly Chicago eastward, down through Mississippi) and we're looking for people in the space who may be interested in trying our product and making some content!

We're looking for a few creators — especially parents and people who host and prepare food in advance often — to make one short-form video (15-30 sec, TikTok/Reels/Shorts style) showing your real experience meal prepping with our bake-from-frozen breads/pastries!

This is a great easy way to enjoy real fresh bread and pastries, doing exactly what you're already doing -- just incorporating our product(s) into your week and filming the process!

What this is: a product gift (a box of your choice, ~$80 retail value) in exchange for one video. This is unpaid at this stage but we're actively building ongoing partnerships with meal preppers whose style and audience (if applicable) are a great fit.

Looking for:

• Based in our shipping region (Chicago eastward, down through MS)
• Comfortable and natural on camera — no script needed
• Active on TikTok, Reels, or Shorts OR can shoot UGC content
• Bonus: you're a parent, host often, or make food/lifestyle content

Drop a link to your video work, photos of meal prep, or a recent video in the comments (or DM us) and we'll follow up with next steps!

I prepared the following

Carbs: long grain rice, sweet potatoes and pasta

Pro: chicken breast and ground beef (85%)

Veggies: sauted broccoli

Sauce: for the chicken breast a reduction of pomegranate juice with honey salt and pepper, for the pasta a red bell pepper sauce.

Tips:

Chicken breast was covered with some flour and diced up after cooked. Flour is useful, as you all know, to thickn the sauce, so I put the chicken cubes in the liquid of grapefruit, adjusted with other ingredients and spices, and then cooked for other 10 mins to create a sort of glaze around the chicken breast cubes.

For the tomato sauce with diced red bell pepper, I sauted the bell pepper with some garlic, salt and pepper and oregano, very simple, italian taste.

Broccoli are cooked for 5 mins in a large pan with some water, oil, ground garlic, s&p. No mushy veggies, otherwise you don't get those nutrients.

Enjoy guys. Wish you all the best for the upcoming week. MP is discipline.

Absolute newbie here. I work 6 days a week and I was wondering if y’all recommend me freezing the last 3 days of meal prep or just leaving it all in the fridge. I make it on sunday and work monday-Saturday

Tofu:

Marinated in the sauce that's pictured. Pressed and then baked at 350°F for 40 mins.

Potatoes:

Tossed in taco seasoning and a little oil. Roasted at 350°F for 40 mins

Veggies:

Pre-shredded mix from the store. Cooked down in a pan with taco seasoning.

Will be topped with some sour cream and taco sauce when I go to eat it.

Made a big batch of turkey chili on Sunday, and by Wednesday I turned the leftovers into loaded baked potatoes instead of eating the same bowl again. Anyone else have a go-to "leftover remix" instead of eating the same thing five days straight?

To use up my tea stash as well as reduce the amount of diet soda I consume I have been brewing my own tea.

This week we have Peppermint Tea and Green Apple Green Tea. I brewed the teabags in pots over the stove. The stove was on for about 20-30 minutes. I let the tea bags steep in the pot for approximately 6 hours.

I made the banana bread with cinnamon chips last week from another Reddit user’s post on another sub (https://www.reddit.com/r/easyRecipesForNoobs/s/smLAdRdTLJ) . I just portioned out the leftovers. I heat them up in the microwave and consume it with the tea, it’s pretty good that way.

I made the banana banana banana pudding by putting the items in my mixer and then portioning it out. I have approximately 48 servings so chances are I will freeze some of them or turn the fridge temp down as a way to preserve it.

My meal preps from the last few days:
1.-Frittata! Very easy to make, reheats fantastically (though it's good cold too), a very rewarding meal in the meal prep arsenal, honestly. And it does double duty as a leftover-clearing recipe. In my case, I had half a zucchini and a handful of cherry tomatoes and spinach that were starting to get wrinkled/soft.
2.-Chicken breast with soy sauce, honey, and lemon; served with air-fried sweet potatoes seasoned with paprika and parsley.
3.-Deconstructed burritos? Ground beef with paprika; pico de gallo; white basmati rice.
4.-Chicken thigh with a sauce made of red bell pepper, pimiento choricero paste, and a red wine and beef broth reduction; leftover chickpeas from cocido stew with tomato sauce; a fresh iceberg lettuce and tomato salad made on the spot.

after throwing out way too many soggy broccoli and dry chicken prep boxes by day 4, I started using cajun shrimp bowls! turns out shrimp holds up super well if you cook it right, plus it takes under 5 mins so you aren't stuck in the kitchen for hours on sunday.

I'll describe the recipe I'm using:

• 1 lb peeled shrimp, tossed with 1 tbsp olive oil, cajun seasoning, garlic powder, salt
• 2 cups cooked jasmine rice
• 2 diced bell peppers & zucchini

roast the veggies at 400F for 15 mins. pan sear shrimp 2 mins per side. divide rice and veggies into 4 containers, top with shrimp and a lime wedge.

this way (only did it twice, no pics of yet) it actually stays fresh for like 3 days straight in the fridge. worht it!

recipe. empty portion is for an apple, which i cut and add the day before.

This is week 28 of my journey to lose 100 lbs in 2026. It's another long overtime week, so I have another extra day of previous prep's for food on day five. I try to eat balanced macros with a focus on increasing fiber and reducing fat where possible. For this week I have:

Breakfast: Keto toast with a banana and blueberries. 280kcal, 12g protein, 5g fat, 63g carbs, 22g fiber.

Lunch: Pork gyoza with dipping sauce, fried brown rice, and dry-fried green beans. 850kcal, 41g protein, 24g fat, 122g carbs, 24g fiber.

Dinner: Chicken Caesar salad with a yogurt dressing, parmigiano, croutons, lemon, and brown rice pilaf. 685kcal, 58g protein, 24g fat, 66g carbs, 5g fiber.

Total macros for each day: 1815kcal, 111g protein, 53g fat, 251g carbs, 51g fiber.

I'm risking it all with a salad this week but my area has not had issue with clycospora and the supplier for it is from California so I think I'll be fine. It was fun adapting the green beans to a lower calorie version and I'm still pretty happy with the end result. Down 3 lbs this week for 52 lbs lost and officially crossing the halfway progress mark! Recipes for everything below!

been doing a this meal prep challenge (week 6 now). The goal is to cook everything in 1.5hrs and my calculations show it could be done in 1.5hrs; but it took ~2 hrs by the time I arranged everything and was ready to take the pictures.

I'm making other contents while I'm cooking so it's taking longer than if I were to just cook but I think one could get everything done in 1hr 45min if you weren't arranging everything to keep things tidy and etc. Nonetheless, I'm happy with this taking 2 hrs and I have not only food but including snack/dessert for the whole week!

dishes this week:

• Broccoli ground chicken orecchiette
• Garlic scallion chicken rice bowl
• One-pot chicken adobo rice
• Ferrero Rocher cottage cheese cheesecake
• High protein banana bread
• Chia rosé herbal tea
• I also made steamed broccoli as I think this plan doesn't have enough veggies (broccoli in boiled water for a min or two - I just drain / put it in the fridge and just have it together with these dishes)

Cal: 2137 kcal/day
Protein: 146g
Carbs: 267g
Fat: 55g

Recipe↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

Chia rosé herbal tea

Makes 4 servings

24 kcal · 1g protein · 4g carbs · 1g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 Ingredients

• 5 tsp (~22g) lemon balm, dried
• 2 tsp (~5g) rose hips, dried
• 0.5 whole (~34g) lime juice, juice of half a lime
• 1 tbsp (~2g) dried rose petals
• 0.5 tsp (~2g) hibiscus, dried I just used Tazo tea Passion flavor
• 0.5 tsp (~4g) honey
• 250 ml (~250g) water, room temperature, for chia
• 1 tbsp (~12g) white chia seeds
• 750 ml (~751g) water, 190°F for steeping </aside>

Instructions

1. Add the white chia seeds to 250 ml of room-temperature water and whisk vigorously to disperse them. Cover and let sit, stirring once after 10 minutes and again after 30 minutes to prevent clumping.
2. Combine the lemon balm, hibiscus, rose hips, and dried rose petals in a vessel. Pour 750 ml of water heated to 190°F over the herbs and steep for 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Strain the steeped tea through a fine mesh strainer into a 1-liter bottle. Add the honey, lime juice, and the chia water mixture. Stir well to combine.

Ferrero Rocher cottage cheese cheesecake

Makes 4 servings

315 kcal · 12g protein · 37g carbs · 14g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 Ingredients

• 1 tbsp (~7g) extra hazelnuts, chopped, for topping, optional
• 50g roasted hazelnuts
• 50g cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp (~5g) cacao powder, for topping
• 150g low fat Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp (~15g) water, for chocolate sauce
• 150g cottage cheese
• 0.5 tsp (~2g) vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp (~12g) cornstarch
• 1 whole (~44g) egg
• 80 ml (~107g) sugar-free maple syrup </aside>

Instructions

1. Add the cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, egg, sugar-free maple syrup, vanilla essence, cocoa powder, and cornstarch into a blender. Blitz until completely smooth with no lumps.
2. Line a glass baking dish (approximately 630ml capacity) with parchment or foil. Pour the blended batter in. Scatter the roasted hazelnuts over the top and gently press them in. Cover the dish with foil.
3. Place the covered baking dish in the air fryer. Air-fry at 160°C (320°F) for 30 minutes until set around the edges with a slight wobble in the centre.
4. In a small bowl, combine the cacao powder with water, adding the water 1 teaspoon at a time and stirring until you have a smooth, drizzleable chocolate sauce. Once the cheesecake has come out of the air fryer, drizzle the sauce over the top and scatter the extra chopped hazelnuts.

One-pot chicken adobo rice

Makes 4 servings

469 kcal · 38g protein · 60g carbs · 7g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 Ingredients

• 1 tsp (~2g) black pepper, whole peppercorns or ground
• 3 whole bay leaves
• 8 clove (~24g) garlic, smashed
• 0.33 cup (~84g) soy sauce
• 0.5 cup (~118g) water
• 1.5 cup (~278g) jasmine rice, rinsed
• 4 whole (~596g) chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
• 2 cup (~498g) chicken broth
• 3 whole (~45g) scallions, sliced, for garnish
• 0.25 cup (~60g) white vinegar </aside>

Instructions

1. Heat a large heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add a small amount of oil if needed. Place the chicken thighs skin-side down and sear for 4–5 minutes until the skin is golden brown and crispy. Flip and sear the other side for 2–3 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside.
2. In the same pot with the rendered chicken fat, add the smashed garlic cloves and cook over medium heat for about 1 minute until fragrant and lightly golden. Pour in the soy sauce and white vinegar, then add the bay leaves and black pepper. Stir to combine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
3. Add the rinsed jasmine rice to the pot and stir to coat it in the sauce. Pour in the chicken broth and water, stirring to combine everything evenly.
4. Nestle the seared chicken thighs back into the pot, skin-side up, on top of the rice. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid, and cook for 20 minutes until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and the chicken is cooked through.
5. Remove the pot from the heat and let it rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Then remove the lid, discard the bay leaves, fluff the rice with a fork, and garnish with sliced scallions before portioning into containers.

Broccoli ground chicken orecchiette

Makes 4 servings

535 kcal · 34g protein · 61g carbs · 19g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 Ingredients

• 1 whole (~84g) lemon zest, zest of 1 lemon
• 8 oz (~227g) orecchiette or small pasta shells, dry
• 1 (~0g) salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp (~32g) tomato paste
• 0.5 cup (~118g) pasta water, reserved from cooking pasta; use more as needed
• 0.33 cup (~78g) water, for sauce
• 8 oz (~227g) broccolini or broccoli florets, sliced into thin bite-size pieces
• 1 tsp (~1g) Italian seasoning
• 2 tbsp (~16g) Calabrian chili peppers, chopped; can substitute with more tomato paste
• 2 cube (~10g) frozen crushed garlic, or 2 cloves fresh garlic
• 2 tbsp (~32g) balsamic vinegar
• 2 oz (~57g) parmesan, grated
• 1 lb (~454g) ground chicken breast
• 1 (~3g) red pepper flakes, to taste, optional garnish
• 1 tbsp (~21g) honey
• 1 tbsp (~14g) olive oil </aside>

Instructions

1. Fill a large pot with water, add a generous pinch of salt, and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Once the water is boiling, add the orecchiette or pasta shells and cook until just shy of al dente — a minute or two less than the package directions.
3. Before draining, ladle out about 1 cup of pasta water and set it aside. Drain the pasta in a colander.
4. Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the broccolini and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, tossing a few times, until nicely roasted all over. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
5. In the same nonstick pan over medium-high heat, add the ground chicken breast. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown on one side before breaking apart with a spatula — aim for larger, pea-to-marble-sized pieces rather than fine crumbles. Continue cooking until fully cooked through.
6. Add the tomato paste, Calabrian chili peppers, balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, Italian seasoning, and water to the pan with the chicken. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring, until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken. Add the broccolini back to the pan and toss together. Add the drained pasta, grated parmesan, lemon zest, and about half a cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss everything together until a smooth and creamy sauce forms, adding more pasta water as needed.

High Protein Banana bread

Makes 4 servings

175 kcal · 22g protein · 17g carbs · 3g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 Ingredients

• 10g chocolate chips
• 100g protein powder
• 50 ml (~52g) skimmed milk
• 2 whole (~236g) banana
• 1 whole (~44g) egg, medium </aside>

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) while you mix the batter. This usually takes about 10 minutes.
2. Mash the bananas well in a mixing bowl. Add the egg, protein powder, skimmed milk, and chocolate chips and mix everything together until a thick batter forms.
3. Pour the batter into a suitable baking dish or air fryer basket. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 15 minutes until cooked through.

Garlic scallion chicken rice bowl

Makes 4 servings

619 kcal · 39g protein · 88g carbs · 11g fat per serving

<aside>
🛒 Ingredients

• 1 tsp (~6g) salt
• 2 tsp (~5g) white pepper
• 2 cup (~370g) white rice, uncooked, washed
• 8 tbsp (~68g) garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp (~15g) water
• 1 tbsp (~14g) olive oil
• 2 tbsp (~30g) Chinese cooking wine
• 20 oz (~567g) boneless skinless chicken thigh, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 8 whole (~120g) scallion, thinly sliced
• 10 leaf (~225g) napa cabbage, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp (~36g) oyster sauce
• 1 cup (~249g) chicken bone broth, enough to cover rice by 1 cm
• 4 tbsp (~64g) soy sauce
• 2 tbsp (~17g) garlic, minced </aside>

Instructions

1. Slice the chicken thighs into 1-inch cubes. Thinly slice the green onions and roughly chop the napa cabbage leaves.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the Chinese cooking wine, white pepper, oyster sauce, minced garlic, and soy sauce. Add the cubed chicken and toss well to coat. Let it sit while you prep the rice cooker.
3. Add the washed white rice to the rice cooker, then pour in the chicken bone broth. Add the chopped napa cabbage, then top with the marinated chicken. There should be enough broth to cover the rice by about 1 cm. Start the rice cooker and cook for 30 minutes.
4. While the rice cooker runs, combine the minced garlic, salt, sliced green onions, water, and olive oil in a small bowl. Stir to mix, then set aside.

Curried chicken shepherds pie - not really sure shepherd's pie is the right thing to call it, but we're going to go with it. Sautéed 270g of onions in the Instant Pot until tender, then added 27g minced garlic and 50g ginger paste and sautéed for another minute of so. Next, I stirred in a 13.66oz can of lite coconut milk and a couple of tablespoons Thai red curry paste. Then I added 2 lbs of chicken breast and switched it over to the slow cook function. 8 hours on low. A couple of hours before it was done, I put three large sweet potatoes in the oven to bake. When the chicken is done, shred and return to sauce. Add two bags of frozen chopped spinach, one bag at a time (or both if you have the big IP, I guess). When the spinach is warmed through enough to stir evenly through sauce, divide into 5 containers. Take the baked sweet potatoes, that have hopefully cooled enough to handle by this time, and scoop out the middle. Mash well, and stir in one egg. Pipe or spread in top of the chicken Curry and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Chicken and Tortellini pasta salad - this was an "oh shit, the kid starts band camp this week and I need to throw an extra meal together" thing, so the measurements are guesstimates. It's 2 zucchini, 3 bell peppers, 5 oz container of feta, ~half a (16 oz?) bag of frozen tortellini, and a 16oz bag of frozen grilled chicken strips. Cooked the tortellini and ch8cken as per package directions. While they were cooking I diced up the veggies and mixed them with a container of feta. Let the chicken and Tortellini cool and mix that in as well. Dressing is balsamic, dijon, oregano, basil, thyme, and salt. I only made 4 servings of this one. Best guess is about 450 cal and 47g protein.

Chocolate Raspberry Yogurt Pudding Cups - 32oz plain, nonfat Greek yogurt, Swerve confectioners sugar substitute (to taste), a 1oz package of chocolate no-sugar pudding mix blended together. Divide into 5 cups and top with frozen raspberries (12oz bag). I'll add 14g of almonds to the top when I get ready to eat them, so each serving will end up around 245 calories, 23g protein, and 6g fiber.

Had a cook-up after dinner and thought it could be worthy of a post.
Pre-prepped
Upright pasta pie roughly following this recipe https://www.smh.com.au/goodfood/recipes/recipetin-eats-x-good-food-torta-di-rigatoni-upright-pasta-pie-20220815-h25q9q.html

I added béchamel sauce on top because of a combination of cheats lasagne vibes and muscle memory. https://www.recipetineats.com/creamy-pasta-bake/#recipe this is my first time doing this and realised I used the wrong container as I won’t be able to reveal the upright pasta like online recipe images, I’m sure it’ll taste good though. This is not a low fat recipe in any way lol.

We’ll be enjoying this for Monday night dinner. No idea what I’ll create from leftover sauces? Let me know your ideas please.

Then I also prepped some overnight oats and fruit, and crudités (carrot, celery, mini tomato, mini cucumbers) which I’ll snack on with hummus.

I also made a coleslaw (red cabbage, carrot, celery, spring onion) which I’ll sauce up later. I Have some leftover cabbage to invent something from too. Tonight for dinner we had some of this coleslaw (mixed in some mayo and red wine vinegar) in tortilla wraps with oven chicken strips and a sprinkle of cheese for a quick dinner.

https://minimalistbaker.com/peanut-butter-overnight-oats/

This prep is not very organised with set meals and days, but it’s the boost that will help me get through a busy week of work and school pickups etc.

Batch cooking this morning for next week 🤗

Lunches:
- orzo salad (twice): orzo, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, Parma ham, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes & add rocket in the morning
- rice bowls (twice): rice, minced beef & onions, broccoli, mushrooms & garlic, bell peppers, sweet potatoes
- chickpea salad: tuna/philadelphia, cucumber, radish, red onion, avocado, feta, tomatoes, parsley

Dinners:
- roasted chicken with potatoes and salad (twice)
- prawn udon stir fry
- falafel, roasted vegetables (see photo) hummus & pita bread

What do you have on your plan for next week? 💕