Easter Brunch: 10 Healthy Takes on Your Favourite Festive Dishes
This article is written by Line Arias.
The first step to eating healthy is by making a healthy meal plan. Without a meal plan, you will find it challenging to organize your eating habits. This is important, especially for people who go to the office because usually, you don’t have access to healthy food when you are working. There are several dishes you can use in your meal plan. For example, try to find amazing Italian recipes, so your meals are not only delicious, but they are filled with nutrients as well.
Meal plans are also beneficial because they save time and money. You don’t have to spend the entire day deciding what to eat. In addition to that, a meal plan will keep you from buying unnecessary snacks that you don’t need.
What is a meal plan?
In a meal plan, you cook all your day’s or week’s dishes beforehand. These dishes are usually made of foods that can last a few days in the fridge.
You can adequately prepare your next week’s meals, or you can only cut the vegetables. In the latter case, when you have to make something, it hardly takes you five to ten minutes. You can choose the approach that best suits you and your meal plan. For example, if your dishes include sauces in them, do not add them in the dish until the day comes. This keeps the food from becoming extra soggy.
7 Healthy Meal Plan Ideas
Do not fall under the impression that making a mean plan is exhausting work. Something that is meant to benefit your health shouldn’t be made complicated. We are here to give you some ideas about meal plans that can simplify your life!
1. Oatmeal for Breakfast
If you want a healthy breakfast, then eating oatmeal is the best way to start the day. It is also a meal that you can bring to your work in case you don’t have enough time for breakfast at home.
You can easily make this oatmeal within ten minutes. All you need is gluten-free rolled oats, some apples, flaxseed, walnuts (if you are fond of nuts), and more. This meal can be prepared with a slow-cooker, but if you don’t have one, you can make in on a stove as well.
This instant oatmeal in a jar can last for up to four days in the fridge. That means you can easily prepare one or two jars at the start of the week, and there won’t be any need to prepare for breakfast for the next few days.
2. Rice with Beans
Rice and beans complement each other, and if you haven’t had them yet, you are missing out on a lot. Rice and beans together is also a very popular healthy dish among people who are aspiring to start a diet.
If you are fond of eating spicy food, a combination of rice and beans with spicy chicken sounds about right! This dish is not only filling, but it is also full of proteins. You can use a simple pan for cooking this meal if you don’t want to use an instant pot, it will just take a bit longer. After preparing your meal, you can store it in a glass container with dividers.
3. Greek Salad
Salads are one of the healthiest foods to have for snacks. In fact, it is best to eat salads instead of munching on processed/sweetened foods and beverages.
However, the salads we are talking about are made of vegetables. Veggie salads can also last for longer periods. If you add items like cream in your salad, you will have to consume it within a few days.
We recommend trying the healthy Greek couscous salad. It is healthy and is extremely delicious. This salad is perfect to take to your work for lunch.
4. Chickpea Curry
If you are on a strict diet plan, you should try chickpea curry. It is gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan. We guarantee you that once you have a taste of this meal; you will never stop cooking it!
Chickpea curry is rich and spicy, but the flavors are not too overpowering. You can prepare it in ten minutes. Eat the chickpea curry separately or use it as a filling in tacos. It is also very cheap to make, so you can call it cost-effective as well.
You can cook a big batch of this item and put it in the freezer. You can then use it for the next week easily.
5. Taco Salad Lunch Bowls
Once you start taking taco salad lunch bowls to work, you won’t be able to wait till lunchtime! This salad is the mix of yummy and healthy so that you can get the best of both worlds.
Making taco salad lunch bowls doesn’t take much time, and you can do it within half an hour. For the recipe, you have to use ground meat with taco seasoning. After you make this meal, store it in zip-tight bags so you can use it for a few days at least.
6. Grilled Cheese
We are not sure about other recipes, but this Caprese Grilled Cheese has basil pesto, garlic butter tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese. All of this makes it a fulfilling and scrumptious treat! All the above-mentioned ingredients are used on grilled sourdough bread. Try out this sandwich for a perfect vegetarian lunch!
7. Salad in a Jar
If you are running late, but want to prepare something for the next day’s lunch, you can make a salad in a jar! It is a lunch that you can take anywhere easily without the risk of it getting ruined. You can throw in some corn, peppers, cucumbers, chopped carrots, cabbage, and leafy greens that you love.
With these recipes, start preparing your meal plans today. Good Luck!
Author bio: This post is written by Line Arias who has been working as a nutritionist for ten years now. She recently collaborated with health and fitness spa, NYC, and since then, she has been working on weight loss’ meal prep plans.
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