I’m finally trying to take the advice I’ve been hearing for a long time – that you should spend some time on the weekend prepping food for the week ahead. I’ve been guilty of not planning for snacks or meals during the work week very well lately. I’m making a concerted effort to change that!
First up this weekend I made some almond date balls from a recipe I found in an Active.com article.
I followed the recipe exactly as written, but next time I’d be inspired to try adding apricots and coconut. Or dried cherries! The possibilities are endless and they were so easy to put together. Now they are in my fridge at work, ready for when I need a healthy snack at work.
I also took the time to prep some breakfast. I put everything that I need for some overnight oats into individual containers.
I have oats, cinnamon, almonds, dried cranberries and chia seeds in there. All I have to do is add in milk the night before and allow to soak in the fridge overnight. They are hanging out on the counter, just waiting for me!
What are your favourite easy snack and breakfast ideas? Do you prep them ahead on the weekend?
I like granola most mornings, with a various mixture of nuts and fruit on top. On swim mornings. I’ll put the granola and nuts in one container. In another snap lid I’ll put some yogurt and jam. Then I’ll mix them at work.
I’m terrible for planning ahead. That’s why when i’m hungry I’m a crazy maniac running around the kitchen opening and closing cupboards until I find something acceptable. I was way better when I was working but now I’m just hopeless. What are those things in the first picture? Health balls?
Usually after grocery shopping, I will portion out fruits and veggies into containers for the week. As well, I like to make a huge salad and portion it out into three seperate containeres (any more than that and I get sick of salad). For lunches as well, we try and cook extra during the week so we just take leftovers for lunch. Anything like chili, pasta or soup, we make LOTS extra and freeze it for lunches. For breakfast I usually eat a bagel or instant oatmeal… not the best choice, but it works. A lot of the yummy looking stuff I am unable to have due to allergies (Like I really want to try hemp hearts, but I can’t find any that are processed in a peanut/nut free facility. Most dried fruits have coconut oil, etc.)
Yum! Those date balls look awesome! I try to get all of my veggies cut up, peeled and washed on Sunday so that when I’m looking for a quick snack during the week I just have to open the container.
I prep my salads for lunch a couple times a week. It keeps me from buying lunch and works quite well for me.
Over the summer I was very good about making these for breakfast:
http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal
I’d make 4 or so at a time, that seemed to be about as long a fresh fruit would stay nice all mixed up. I’ve stopped, because I love fresh fruit so much more than dried, but they were GREAT breakfasts.
I also make these quite often for 3pm snacks at work, just when my head is starting to bob and I think I could nap under the desk:
http://smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.ca/2011/08/no-bake-energy-bites-recipe.html