A Saturday of Meal Prep & Setting Up Sunday
Today turned into one of those Saturdays where I got quite a lot done in the kitchen without really deciding that I was going to have a big meal-prep day.
Pedro was working for at least half of the day, and I was going to have a Norwegian online class, so I wanted to use the time at home well and prepare a few things that would make the rest of the weekend easier.
I needed to cook 1.5 kg of chicken breast for Pedro and me. I wanted something that required almost no work, so instead of marinating the chicken first, I cooked it directly in seasoned water and let it do its thing while I got on with everything else.
I started with a little olive oil in the pan and added 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp dried onion, 1½ tsp colorau/paprika, ½ tsp black pepper, 1 tsp thyme, 1 bay leaf and ½ tsp chili. Lemon peel or a little squeeze of lemon can also be added if I want a slightly fresher finish.
It is a very simple way of cooking chicken, but it does not have to taste simple. This gives it that familiar Portuguese flavour that I grew up with, while still leaving me with chicken that is versatile enough to use in completely different meals over the next few days.
And that is the advantage of having a big batch ready. It does not necessarily have to become the same meal every day. I can take the same chicken and build completely different meals around it depending on what I feel like eating.
I also went to the supermarket with Blue. I wanted to take her for a walk and, as I was pressed for time, I took her backpack with us. While I was inside the supermarket, she stayed in the backpack.
I stocked up on plenty of frozen fruit while I was there, especially because I like having it available for snacks, Ninja Creamis and things like chia pudding.
I also made my favorite vegetable quiche today.
For this one I use 250 g dough, 450 g sautéed broccoli, 450 g sautéed spinach, 4 eggs, 150 g egg whites, 150 g light cottage cheese and around 30 g light mozzarella on top.
That is 900 g of vegetables in one quiche.
It sounds like a lot written down, but that is exactly what I like about meals like this. There is a lot of food, plenty of vegetables and a good protein base, but it still feels like eating an actual quiche rather than something that has been assembled purely because it is supposed to be healthy.
When Pedro arrived, we made a light version of the Portuguese tosta mista.
A traditional tosta mista is very simple: toasted bread, ham and melted cheese. Ours had light cheese and kyllingpålegg instead.
It still gave me exactly what I wanted from it: hot toasted bread, melted cheese and a savoury filling, just using ingredients that fit more easily into the way I normally eat.
That is the kind of adjustment I actually find useful. I do not want to turn the food I like into something unrecognisable just because I want a lighter version of it.
And since the quiche was already there, there was absolutely nothing wrong with having both.
I hopped on the chia pudding train late. I think it was only last month when I made my first one, and we quickly became fans. It is versatile and a really handy option to have ready whenever you want a late snack.
This batch started with 25 g chia seeds and 200 ml protein milk.
The best part is that I can change the toppings depending on what I have at home.
Today I topped it with frozen raspberries and mango from my supermarket haul, and next time it can be completely different.
Cottage cheese also works as a topping if I want to make it a little more substantial and add more protein.
My mother has another version: she makes gelatin, cuts it into little cubes and puts the cubes on top of the pudding. It gives it a completely different texture and makes the whole thing feel more like a dessert or parfait.
However, tomorrow morning the chia pudding can stay in the fridge, because Sunday breakfast is something else entirely.
Pedro has the day off, so tomorrow is what we call our slow morning breakfast.
We will make a big batch of scrambled eggs with egg whites, I will bake my protein scones and the protein bread. The bread comes from a package, but I added some Mediterranean spices to the mixture this time to see how it turns out.
The dry ingredients for the protein scones are already mixed and ready, so that is one less job for tomorrow morning.
That is much more my idea of a Sunday breakfast.
And this is the kind of slow breakfast I mean: eggs, something freshly baked, coffee and enough time to actually sit down and enjoy it.
This is generally what meal prep looks like for me.
It doesn’t need to be seven identical containers of chicken, rice and broccoli.
It is having seasoned chicken ready that can become several different meals. A vegetable quiche in the fridge. A chia pudding parfait ready when I want a snack. Frozen fruit available for toppings. Bread prepared for the week ahead, as well as protein scones ready to bake.
Tomorrow I will also put a new Ninja Creami recipe in the freezer, so let’s see how that one turns out.
That is the part of nutrition that matters most to me in real life: making good choices easier without making food boring.
Planning ahead helps, protein helps, vegetables help — but so does actually wanting to eat the food you have prepared.
