- Do you struggle with making healthy lunches for the week?
Never fear, the meal prep queen is here.
Hey guys. Welcome back to my channel.
It's Taylor from The Girl On Bloor.
If you're new here, welcome.
My channel is all about showing you
how to eat healthy, delicious foods
that you can live your best life.
You know, feel good, look good, that sort of thing.
So I've been meal prepping pretty consistently
since my final years of university.
And one of the things that
has made the most difference to me
in sticking to a healthy diet
has been having a set of lunches meal prepped for the week.
All you gotta do is grab a bowl out of the fridge
and carry on with your busy day.
No matter what your schedule looks like,
having a healthy lunch on deck at all times
can be such a game changer.
It'll give you more energy during the day,
so you can avoid that afternoon slump,
and you'll feel so empowered and motivated
knowing that you're saving at least
10 or 15 bucks a day on lunch out.
Whether you're just getting started
on your meal prep journey,
or want to eat healthier meals during the week,
you've got to check out these five healthy lunch ideas.
I'm talking fiesta chicken rice bowls, spring roll jars,
homemade instant noodles, buffalo chicken wraps,
and the delicious sheet pan Greek chicken.
All of these meals come together in less than an hour
so you can get in and out of the kitchen,
but still have healthy lunches
to help get you through the work week.
Okay, enough talk.
Let's dive right in.
So first off, we're going to start
with one of the first lunches
I ever prepped ahead for the week.
And that's because the meal comes together in one skillet.
Say hello to my famous fiesta chicken rice bowls.
All you need is some cooked brown rice, chicken breasts,
bell peppers, onions, salsa, and some spices.
It's super quick and easy.
Start by making your rice.
Add one cup of brown rice to a rice cooker
followed by two cups of water,
one teaspoon of butter and a pinch of salt.
You don't need the butter or salt.
They're there mostly for flavor
and to keep the rice from sticking,
I highly recommend using a rice cooker
because the rice cooks pretty much hands-off
while you prep the rest of your ingredients,
but you can also make it in a pot on the stove
stirring every now and then.
While your rice is cooking,
dice up one pound of chicken breasts,
then slice up two small red onions or one large one,
and dice up one red pepper, one yellow pepper,
and one green pepper.
Finish by chopping up some cilantro.
You can leave this out
if you're one of those people
who think cilantro tastes like soap.
Now get a large frying pan out and heat one tablespoon
of olive oil over medium high heat.
Add your diced up chicken to the skillet
and stir fry for two to three minutes
until lightly browned.
From here, you'll add one tablespoon of chili powder,
one teaspoon of cumin,
one teaspoon of garlic powder and one teaspoon of salt
tossing to coat.
Continue cooking for another five minutes,
then add in your sliced red onion,
your diced bell peppers, and half a cup of corn,
sauteing for another couple of minutes.
Around this time,
your rice should be finished cooking.
So go ahead and add that in,
along with three quarters of a cup of fresh salsa,
tossing to coat.
I prefer to use the fresh salsa
that you'll usually be able to find
in with the fresh salad dressings and dips
like hummus at your local grocery store
in the produce section,
but you can totally use dried salsa
if that's what you have on hand.
Cook everything up for another five minutes
and you'll mix in your chopped cilantro
if serving, and remove from heat.
Divide everything up among four meal prep bowls.
And then you can garnish with a bit of feta cheese
if you'd like, and that's it.
Easy peasy skillet meal that comes together in a little
over half an hour, and makes the most delicious lunches.
All you have to do is sprinkle a bit of water over top
before reheating in the microwave for a couple of minutes.
It's a dish I still meal prep for lunch to this day
because it's reliably delicious and oh so easy.
Okay. On to our spring roll jars.
This is such a fun one to throw together and guaranteed,
everyone's going to be asking you for the recipe
when you make it.
So what you're going to do is heat one tablespoon
of Sesame oil over medium high heat
in a large skillet.
Add one pound of ground chicken,
and then two tablespoons of soy sauce,
cooking for two to three minutes
until your chicken is lightly browned.
Add in two cloves of minced garlic,
and one tablespoon of freshly minced ginger
and saute for seven to eight minutes
until your chicken is fully cooked through.
Okay, you've got your meat.
Now it's time for the veggies.
Remove the ground chicken mixture from the pan
and add one bag of store-bought coleslaw
along with two teaspoons of soy sauce,
sauteing for two to three minutes
until the slaw is slightly wilted.
While that's cooking,
you'll fill a kettle with water and boil it
before pouring all the water into a large bowl
over top of 200 grams of rice vermicelli noodles.
Let the noodles soap for two to three minutes
and then drain them.
They don't take very long to cook,
so make sure that you watch them closely
and test them with a fork.
Now you'll add half a cup of sweet chili sauce
and divide that amount among the bottom
of four 16 ounce mason jars.
It ends up being about a couple of tablespoons
of sauce per jar.
You can just eyeball it if you'd like,
that's usually what I do.
Now divide the ground chicken mixture
among the jars, followed by the cooked coleslaw.
Add in some sliced cucumber and red pepper,
then top with your vermicelli noodles.
Finish the jars off with a medley of fresh herbs.
I usually go for a mix of cilantro and mint,
along with sprinkling some Sesame seeds over top.
These jars will keep in the fridge for up to five days
and you can microwave them to reheat or enjoy them cold.
I know the cucumber is a bit of an odd choice,
especially when it comes to reheating.
But bear with me.
This was one of the first ever recipes on my site,
and I do enjoy the crunch of the cucumber.
So leave it to the side when reheating, if you'd like.
You're going to be obsessed with these spring roll jars.
Okay, speaking of obsessions,
here's another one of mine
and that's these Mason jar instant noodles.
Leave those cheap packets of ramen behind,
and upgrade your noodles.
I especially love this idea because it's perfect
for using up leftover veggies about to go bad.
To make them you'll start by making some shredded chicken.
Boil one pound of chicken breasts in a large pot of water
for 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the water,
then let it cool for about 10 or 15 minutes
before pulling apart with your hands or with two forks.
While you're waiting for the chicken to cool,
you can prep the rest of the ingredients.
I usually use up some broccoli stems
to help reduce food waste.
And then I'll also usually peel and grate a carrot,
then slice up a bell pepper and slice some green onions.
Really any, and all veggies can go in here
besides root vegetables and mushrooms,
as they take longer to cook.
We'll essentially be cooking these veggies
with boiling water.
So cut them all up pretty thinly.
Once your chicken has been cooled and shredded,
divide it among four one liter Mason jars,
then add about a teaspoon each of soy sauce, sriracha
and lime juice to each jar.
I just tend to eyeball it.
So drizzle a little bit of each in your jars
and then drop in a bouillon cube and divide your veggies.
Now here's the messy part,
and that's getting the rice vermicelli in each jar.
It's kind of awkward, but just do your best.
This is another thing I eyeball.
You'll be dividing a one pound package of noodles
among the jars,
then topping with herbs if desired.
Keep these jars in the fridge until ready to enjoy.
And then you'll basically just boil some water.
Let them sit and eat just like instant noodle cups,
depending on how finely chopped your veggies,
you may also need to microwave the jars for two minutes
to get the liquid hot enough to cook everything.
When your jars are ready, just pour into a bowl and enjoy.
These are so fun and much healthier
than the processed instant noodle cups
you see on the market.
Now lunch idea number four
is buffalo chicken in wrap form.
Wraps are a lunch classic.
They're so versatile and today,
we're adding buffalo chicken to them.
So start out by making the shredded chicken.
You'll do exactly what I just showed you
with the instant noodle soup jars.
I also give instant pot instructions on my blog
if you want to switch it up.
In the meantime,
wash and chop up half a bunch of romaine lettuce,
dice up half a cucumber, dice up half of a red onion,
and then crumble have a cup of blue cheese or feta cheese.
Once your chicken is cooled,
shred and then add your chicken to a large bowl,
tossing with one cup of Buffalo wing sauce.
Frank's red hot is my favorite.
Then you'll add a bit of romaine lettuce,
some buffalo chicken, some blue cheese,
your cucumber and red onion to your wrap of choice,
being careful not to overfill them.
Roll them all up, tucking the ends in,
and then rolling away from you.
I like to cut the wraps into thirds
then place them in a meal prep bowls
because they're more fun to eat this way.
And yes, I do recommend that you eat cold.
Serve them up with some carrot,
celery and dip of your choice.
Now, if you're worried about the wraps getting soggy,
which is sort of inevitable,
you can keep all of the ingredients separate
and then assemble the day you're going to eat them.
Et voila! Best lunch ever.
Who doesn't love buffalo chicken?
Keep in mind you can always make this recipe,
but toss the chicken in a different sauce,
like barbecue sauce or honey mustard,
or even garlic or Chipotle Mayo.
So you have options to switch it up.
Okay. I've just showed you four amazing lunch options.
And now here's our final recipe.
My favorite sheet pan Greek chicken.
I love making sheet pan meals for lunch
because they always come together so quickly
and relatively hands-off.
And they're also great for using up all the veggies.
The marinades or sauces are usually made with ingredients
you already have on hand at home too.
So for this recipe,
you're going to preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
While that's preheating,
add all your ingredients to a sheet pan and toss.
It's that easy.
Cut up one pound of chicken breasts into one-inch pieces.
Then chop up one red pepper and one yellow pepper.
Thickly slice one zucchini,
and then thickly slice a red onion.
Now add some parchment paper to a baking sheet,
add your chicken and veggies on there.
Then you're going to drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil
over everything along with two tablespoons of lemon juice.
Mince four cloves of garlic
then add that to the mix.
Then add one tablespoon of oregano
followed by one teaspoon of salt
and half a teaspoon of pepper.
Toss everything gently to combine,
and bake for 18 to 20 minutes
until the chicken is cooked through.
It doesn't take a super long time
because the chicken is cut up into small pieces.
Remove from the oven, divide among your meal prep bowls.
And you've got four lunches.
If you want to make this dish more filling,
you can serve with some rice or roast some potatoes
as you're chopping up the rest of the ingredients
since potatoes will take a bit longer to cook.
Finish your bowls with some feta cheese and that's it.
These bowls tastes good cold, but I usually microwave them
for a couple of minutes
when I go to eat them during the week.
They're so good and so easy.
Okay guys.
You've seen pretty much the best lunch recipes of all time.
And the nice thing about all of these recipes
is that they also make really good dinners.
Whether you prep one or prep them all,
you're going to love all this deliciousness
and truly realize that healthy meals can also taste bomb AF.
Get ready to make everybody around you
jealous of your lunch.
If you're looking for more lunch ideas,
I've linked to a huge roundup
where I've gone ahead and categorized
every single lunch idea by wrap, sandwich,
rice bowl, soup, salad, sheet pan, vegetarian,
et cetera, et cetera.
I'm also offering a free recipe ebook
for all of my most popular lunch recipes.
You can find those links in my description.
So head down there,
give this video a thumbs up
and tell your friends and family about me.
Seriously. Every referral counts.
So if you found this video helpful
in your meal prep journey,
please share, share, share.
Also if you try any of these recipes, snap a pic,
and tag me on Instagram at The Girl On Bloor.
I love sharing your pics and it makes my day
to see what you're cooking up.
Okay. Go run and grab your free lunch recipe ebook.
I'm going to throw all of these recipes in the fridge
and eat good all week long.
Thanks for hanging with me today,
and I will see you in the next video.