Week 2 - EK Vitality Tip of the Week, Exercise & Recipe!
Week 2: Meal Prep
One of the best and most helpful tips to aid my clients with their nutrition is to meal prep. This doesn’t necessarily mean planning out every single meal and snack ahead of time, rather choosing a few different recipes or things to do in advance to make life a bit easier throughout the week. Carve out time during your week (Sundays work best for myself but not for everyone) to meal prep. While it may seem like a lot of time to set aside at first (1-2 hours), week after week it will become more efficient and save more time in the long run. Meal prep goes something like this for my household -
1. Choose two different recipes to make (I love making the spaghetti squash spaghetti I’ve listed below). I tend to make chili or some type of stew that can go into the crockpot!
2. Create a grocery list - go shopping!
3. Meal prep - hard boil a carton of eggs, wash & cut up veggies, bake or bbq potatoes (either sweet or baby potatoes), bake or bbq several sources of protein (mainly fish & chicken) and work on both recipes (example - Chili & Crustless quiche in muffin tins).
With your children’s help, not only will it go by faster and account for some time together but help them (peeling potatoes, applying spices, cutting up vegetables etc.) better understand how much work goes into creating healthy meals!!
Training Circuits -
5 Rounds (complete for time if you and your child want a challenge)
10 Bodyweight Squats
10 Squat Jacks (low in squat position, bring legs in and out like jumping jack)
10 Pushups
10 Plank Jacks (in plank position from your hands or elbows that are placed directly under your shoulders, bring legs in and out)
5 Rounds (complete for time if you and your child want a challenge)
10 total Walking Lunges
10 Sit ups
10 Burpees
50 total High Knees
Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti - Gourmet Nutrition Cookbook by Precision Nutrition
Ingredients
Spaghetti squash, 4 cups
Coconut oil or butter (melted), 1 tbsp
Salt, ¼ tsp
Pepper, 2 pinches
Cinnamon, 2 pinches
Olive oil cooking spray
Ground sirloin or extra lean ground beef, 12 oz (340 g)
Onion (small diced), 1 cup
Tomato sauce, 2 cups
Cashews (crushed), ¼ cup
Parmesan cheese (grated), ½ cup
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut squash in half and clean out the center and seeds. Place cut side up on a baking sheet and drizzle with oil or butter. Season with salt, pepper and cinnamon and then place in the oven. Bake squash for 45 minutes or until tender enough to stick a fork into it with minimal resistance. Remove from oven and allow it to cool a little. While the squash is baking, preheat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat, lightly coat with spray and add the ground sirloin. Sauté the sirloin in batches if necessary, until lightly browned and cooked all the way through. Add onions and sauté for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat, add in the tomato sauce and cashews, and set aside. Once squash has cooled a little, scoop the flesh out of the skin with a spoon, measure and add it to the meat sauce. Next, reheat in the frying pan on medium until warm. Garnish with the parmesan. Serves 2 large or 4 small.