Madness

This picture doesn't even really do it justice, but today was a meal prep day, and for a while there it was just absolute madness. The kitchen was a disaster, but based on what I ended up with, it was so worth it. After my last post, I have still been struggling to find the motivation to ditch the sugary, processed carbage. Like garbage, but with carbs ... see what I did there? Ha, aannnnyway. A lot of that had to do with being unprepared and just buying the wrong crap. For example, the past two times I've been to Trader Joe's, I've caved and bought this really tasty loaf of crusty sourdough bread. And nutella. And because they were there in my house, staring me in the face, that's exactly what I had for breakfast for about 3 weeks straight. The only reason I didn't have that today is because, well, we were out. So I had a simple, savory breakfast of sauteed kale and chicken breast. And it was satisfying and delicious! I realized if I just had the right stuff on hand, and didn't have the wrong stuff, that it would be easier to make better choices ... duh.

So I decided to make a list and head to Costco. I didn't exactly just make a list of things or ingredients, though. Normally I think in terms of ingredients and kind of throw things together from there. Ridiculous, I know. But today, I started by looking at the bigger picture. Starting with breakfast, I thought about what would make for an easy, grab-and-go meal. (I usually wake up hungry and read to eat, so this is more for the quick factor than because I actually have somewhere to be right away.) Ok, well what about snacks? Or treats? Lunches and Dinners? I thought about quick, easy, healthy meals and snacks. And I figured if I had healthier treats on hand, it might help curb my cravings for ice cream or peanut M&Ms or cookies or ... you get the idea.  Here's what I've got going:

Breakfasts:
Egg, zucchini and carrot casserole from Practical Paleo (I usually like to have this with some sauteed kale and avocado for some healthy fats). I also got smoked salmon, because yum.

Lunches:
I found two different premade bean/veggie mixtures (Yes, I know beans aren't Paleo, and I. don't. care.) to go along with some baked chicken breasts and a chopped salad mixture as the base.

Snacks/Treats/Misc:
I put portions of baby carrots into baggies and put them in the door of the fridge so that they were right up front/more visible. For some reason, we never seem to go through our carrots. I tend to completely forget we have them, only to find them at the bottom of the crisper drawer turned all white and gross. We already had hummus, but I also got some peanut butter for dipping. I also picked up some lunchmeat as a quick grab-and-go protein/snack for me or for my husband to put on sandwiches. I also roasted some broccoli in olive oil and a little bit of garlic salt. Soooooo good! Finally, I plan on making some homemade energy bars and these: http://www.ourpaleolife.com/2013/03/chocolate-brownie-bites/ for a good, chocolately treat.

Dinners:
I roasted some sweet potato bites in cinnamon and added that to some ground turkey and steamed kale.
I also made a curried sweet potato and red lentil stew I saw in an issue of Whole Living magazine.

So now I basically have a refrigerator full of delicious, healthy options! I recently read that failure to plan is like planning to fail. And now I can really see how true that is. Here's to hoping I can keep this up! I'm shooting for one meal prep day a week. We shall see!