Meal Plan & Prep: Week 1 (2024)

As life gets busier, I’m trying to make things easier on myself by being on top of my meal planning game. I know that when I have some healthy meals ready to go in my fridge, I’m more likely to reach for something healthy when I’m starving and impatient!

Low-Carb Egg Roll in a Bowl, from The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook

I thought it might be fun to start a new series here on my website, where I share my meal plan for the week. That way I’m held accountable to have “a plan,” and you can follow along with me if you want to!

If you happen to follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you can also watch me do my meal prep LIVE(!) on Monday nights at 8:30pm CST. (9:30pm EST / 6:30pm PST)

After last week’s meal prep LIVE, I received several requests to post the meals I that I’m planning to make ahead of time– so that you can “cook with me” on Monday night at the same time, if you want to. I think it sounds fun, and it’s also a great opportunity to ask me any questions as we go!

In case you missed it, you can watch a replay of last week’s meal prep cooking demonstration here on YouTube, and you can watch me make my One-Pot Shepherd’s Pie LIVE in the Instant Pot here on YouTube. (I answer lots of Instant Pot questions along the way, too!)

Here’s my meal plan for dinners this week:

• Monday: Egg Roll in a Bowl (I make this low-carb meal in the Instant Pot– you can find the recipe for it in my Weight Loss Guide, which is a free gift you get when you pre-order The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook.) There’s also a vegetarian skillet version here on the blog!
• Tuesday: Leftover Eggroll in a Bowl, stir-fried with brown rice for an easy “fried rice”
• Wednesday: Vegan Lentil Soup (I’ll use leftovers for easy lunches until I run out)
• Thursday: Vegan “Sushi” Bowls (This dressing is addictive, so I use leftovers for salads at another meal)
• Friday: Curried Chicken Stew (I created this recipe for Whole Foods, and my husband is hooked! We serve the leftovers over rice for a second meal.)
• Saturday: Take-out (I always try to NOT cook one night each week!)
• Sunday: (Leftovers will get me through a couple of lunches, too.)

Monday Meal Prep:

If you want to “cook with me” on Monday night LIVE, I’ll be making the Egg Roll in a Bowl in the Instant Pot, along with a batch of Zucchini Hummus to have as a healthy snack all week long. (I love that the hummus is bean-free and properly combined!) My goal is to finish the LIVE cooking demo in under an hour, and since I talk to you so much as I go, I’ve found that two dishes is a reasonable goal. (Normally I’d get at least 3 things done in an hour if I were on my own, but it is more fun this way!)

Other Meals:

You’ll notice that I don’t plan my breakfasts and lunches as much, because I tend to have smoothies most mornings and I usually just use whatever ingredients we have on hand, or go by what I’m in the mood for. (Our go-to smoothies right now are this fruity one, this coffee smoothie, and my “Frosty Chocolate Shake” in No Excuses Detox.) If you want something warmer for breakfast, try Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats, Zucchini Oatmeal, or Sweet Potato “Toast.”

For lunch, I’ll usually have leftovers from the night before (or something I prepped even earlier, like a quinoa salad or soup) or I’ll just stick to a simple salad with a dressing that I made ahead of time. My go-to dressings to have on hand are my Apple Cider Vinaigrette and the Everyday Basil Vinaigrette in Everyday Detox. (Which is my all-time favorite dressing!) Sometimes I’ll chop several toppings, as pictured above, to have a “salad bar” in my fridge, and other times I’ll rely on store-bought toppings, like vacuum sealed steamed beets and bagged shredded carrots and leafy greens.

I also usually have something sweet on hand, but I don’t always have to make that every week. Last week I made the 5-Minute Freezer Fudge from No Excuses Detox, and that usually lasts me 2 to 3 weeks since it makes so many pieces!

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I hope you’ll enjoy this new Meal Planning series, and I’m hoping that it helps make my week easier, too. We make so many decisions on a daily basis, that it’s nice having one thing that you can put on auto-pilot.

Let me know what you think in the comments below, and I hope I’ll see you during my LIVE meal prep this Monday!