Tag: Meal Prep

Meal-Prep Monday

Today was such a great day! Hellaciously long – but great! I made my day much easier by packing my breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner (that’s right – freaking dinner) before leaving for class this morning.

Mondays are my long days. 14 hours on campus. 9am-11pm. Brutal. The key to making it through such a time-intensive day, is to plan for meals. I’m basically a rogue honeybadger, and completely fit for a Snickers hangry commercial, when I lack sustenance. In an effort to keep myself from fast-food lunch runs, or snapping at my peers for chewing too loudly, I made the effort to pack my lunch.

I’m trying to eat healthy, without breaking the bank. Student loans are enough debt for me to be in, without adding in eating out and coffee runs. Don’t get me wrong – splurging every now and then is awesome; I simply can’t live every day that way. My world would crumble and my credit score would, presumably, implode.

Foregoing chaos to my financial situation, it made much more sense to prep my meals. It’s simple. Either pack something you made for dinner the night before; or, put together a set of five protein boxes on Sunday night. My inspiration came from the Starbucks box, which is tiny and compact. I needed a bit more oomph in my meal, so I added turkey and an extra cheese stick instead of the grapes.

4 slices of turkey + 1/2 apple + 2 Mozz sticks + 1 egg + grape tomatoes + Cucumber slices
That’s all.

Since I don’t like eating the exact same thing every day for a week (unless that something happens to be Chicken Alfredo with Broccoli), I made 3 boxes; there are just enough to get me through the hectic part of my week. On Wednesday night, I’ll make sandwich pinwheels!

In addition to my protein box, I packed some snacks! They were perfect to munch on during class. I did feel a bit like a chubby squirrel though, and I’m not entirely sure I wasn’t making too much noise while trying to woodchuck the pretzels. No one complained. Hopefully.

See? Meal prepping is easy! Don’t let the “prep” scare you. Just pick a few things you love to eat, place them into a portable container, and voilà! Personally, I do not enjoy eating the same thing every day – which is why small-batch cooking works well. I’ll be sure to post some recipes for breakfast sandwiches, tacos, and lunch boxes – SOON!

In the meantime, tell me – what are you planning on taking with you this week?

Tags #LawSchoolEats, #MealPrep, healthy living, Meal Prep, weekly meal plan

Daily Dose Reviews

Meal Prep for the Busy Law Student

Post author By cerebellumchef
Post date April 13, 2017
No Comments on Meal Prep for the Busy Law Student

Usually, I meal prep on Sunday. However, I was quite disenchanted with the mere thought of cooking then, and the kitchen passion didn’t quite hit me Tuesday, or today either, hence – I continued to procrastinate. [law school daze, right]

Put if off until tomorrow…I was happy with this decision.
Until I opened the fridge in the morning to pack my lunch and realized – I didn’t have lunch! Well, damn. Joke’s on me.

With assignments, study groups, reading, and trying to have a semblance of a social life (let’s face it – this one is definitely on the back burner right now) – time quickly passes. I chose to be law school lazy. My couch called my name, the dogs begged for tummy rubs, and I simply refused to cook.

Here I am, Wednesday evening, running on a cup of coffee, a bagel, and a pack of plain m&ms…the tummy grumblings arrived.
You know all too well how difficult it is to study on an empty stomach.
Sometimes it’s easier to pick up a meal on the way home; that option (for three adults) racks up a pretty penny, and fast!

Most weeks, I meal prep. Our pantry is stocked with everyday basics: rice, beans, pasta, risotto, polenta, cereal, Triscuit, bread, tuna….the list goes on with pretty much any canned or dried good you can imagine (even baby corn – yep, I make sure we have it in case a stir-fry craving hits)! But Finals are upon us – which means I’m in study mode and too nervous/busy/panicked/tired to spend that much time in the kitchen (aside from sress baking, of course)!

Thank goodness for meal prep services!
Last week, we opted to give FRESHLY a try!
We got to pick 12 meals, FRESHLY cooked and pre-packaged them, then delivered them directly to our front door.

Is this unbelievably convenient? YES.
Will we splurge on this every week? Likely, no.

However if the meals are good – then we can order them for busy weeks!

restaurant-delivery-site-reviews

Tonight we tried two of the meals: [Jerk Chicken] & [Southwest Chipotle Bowl]

Pros: The food was not disgusting. I’ll be honest, I was terrified it was going to be awful. Then, I found myself pleasantly surprised with the plated meal. I was not over-the-moon about my meal option, but I’m glad I tried it.

Cons: The meals are drastically different in calorie count. :/ This was a major bummer. The meal I chose (Southwest Bowl) was 740 calories, while Angel’s Jerk Chicken meal came in at 500 calories. What. The. Heck?!

I ended up storing half my meal for lunch tomorrow, which means there’s a little bit of a “pro” in the “con.”

Adding Cilantro to a dish does not make it “Southwestern-style”

Overall, this first round was not half-bad. I’m excited to try the rest of the meals we ordered. I truly appreciate the convenience of this delivery service, but I’m not completely sold on the flavors or the price. Further recon necessary.

Have a great week!

Tags #CleanEating, #ProTips, 1L, @getfreshly, Freshly, Law School, law student, Meal Prep, review

Daily Dose Reviews

Law Student Reviews: Hello Fresh

Post author By cerebellumchef
Post date January 30, 2017
No Comments on Law Student Reviews: Hello Fresh

jogging

Balancing a schedule is beyond hectic in law school. I imagine it’s similar to actually practicing law. There are deadlines, meetings, prep sessions, after-hours events – the list continues…

What I find particularly challenging is working out and eating well between reading and briefing cases. Since I’ve been sorely lacking in the “workout plan” department, I felt I should pick up the slack on the healthy eating. Because, I can get pretty comfy with Mountain Dews and a granola bar. That’s sorta healthy – right?

Honestly, I will zone out pretty much anything and everyone while I’m reading and prepping for class. If my stomach growls, I usually have a protein bar on hand. That’s the extent of fancy. For this simple reason – I meal prep. Funnily enough, I don’t meal prep the same thing five days in a row. I love leftovers, but not three meals in a row.

So I plan meals for the week and make a few on Sunday. If I forget to prep, my wallet takes a huge hit. Since classes are downtown, I can get virtually anything delivered via Favor, UberEats, or DoorDash; a marvelously quick way to eat through my coffee budget. :[

In an effort to help me balance my life a bit better, I decided to try Hello Fresh
Plus, this week we’re getting back into the GYM! #summergoals

I surprised the Beau [mostly because he paid for it and had no clue until the box arrived]. He seemed pretty excited to open the box, though. HelloFresh sends all the ingredients (aside from Salt, Pepper, and Oil) in one refrigerated package. It sits patiently on your doorstep until you get home to tear it open and exploit its yummy goodness. Um, you know – cook the things.

I was happy with the packaging. Each meal fits perfectly into rectangular boxes, but the meat is packed separately (for obvious health reasons). The box includes a recipe book, which is usually about 6 steps or less and includes pictures! Super neat.

We started with the Broccoli Beef recipe. What made me chuckle is that I already had nearly all of the ingredients in my pantry for this dish. It’s clearly a family fave! I was happy with the overall turnout, but I think the flavor could have packed a bigger punch – possibly improving the beef seasoning.

Following the recipe was simple and satisfying. If you are new to the kitchen, or maybe not so comfy with your current chefiness, then HelloFresh is perfect for you! If you’re already adept, then I’d say you should try a box anyhow! I enjoyed the speedy delivery (waited only 3 days for my first box) and the convenience of groceries delivered straight to my home. Sure, Tom Thumb and Sprouts (partnered with Amazon) are providing home delivery options – but the terrible experience with Sprouts has me worried about any other grocery delivery methods.

We will likely only use HelloFresh on a monthly basis, or during weeks when I know my schedule will be off the charts. The Beau can even follow instructions and cook our dinner for a change of pace! Wouldn’t that be scrumptious?