Easy Paleo Meal Prep

There are several life experiences that led me to the paleo lifestyle and over the years I’ve learned how to make paleo meal prep easy. Let’s face it, most of us work during the day and our kids have activities when we get off work. Unfortunately, most people find themselves at a fast food window because they’re simply too tired to cook. Even if you do have time to cook you also see that bedtime isn’t too far off. You know that by the time you put dinner together the kids will start eating dinner when they should be getting ready for bed. I get it. I’m a mom. What I know for sure is that no one has time to make a Thanksgiving style dinner every night. The good news is that when you know a few tricks you’ll see how easy paleo meal prep is for your dinner ideas. It is easier than you might think. If I can do it, you can too.

Even if you’re not paleo all diets agree that fast food and processed food are unhealthy. In my early 20’s when I worked as an analytical chemist. I’d play with chemicals in the lab and then I’d see them in the grocery store? WHAT???? Each chemical has a safety sheet and I began to look at the numbers a bit differently. If X amount of a chemical kills 50% of mice what does that do to our cells? Sure they don’t put X amount in 1 box of food but what happens when you eat chemicals A-Z in random quantities over a lifetime? It’s a human experiment of the worst kind and we’re witnessing the effects.

When you decide to eat paleo you get to pull yourself away from a lot of the chemical nonsense. The best way to explain it is to eat as many single ingredients as you can such as: meat, fish, eggs, nuts & seeds (without vegetable oil), vegetables, offal, and a bit of fruit. I think where people struggle is that we’ve gotten used to letting food companies do most of the cooking for us. One of the best things you can do for your overall health is to cook for yourself.

Paleo Meal Prep Basics

I get it. I’m a mom. Weeknights are filled with drama classes, drum lessons, and Taekwondo. Protein with at least 2 sides is what most of us consider a “normal dinner.” Back in the day when moms didn’t work and they had the entire day to spend in the kitchen they could easily turn out 3-5 separate dishes for dinner. Today, most moms work, and then after work, they’re shuttling kids around. You simply don’t have the time to make a 3-course meal and that’s not even mentioning the dishes. I hate doing dishes. If you haven’t done any meal prep for the week there are simple paleo dinner ideas that will keep you out of the drive-thru. My other goal with these paleo meal prep dinner ideas it to keep your dish load light.

The Easiest Meal Prep Dinner Idea: A Paleo Picnic

This is one of my son’s favorite things and I love it because there’s no cooking involved. It’s also a great fit for any family because you can vary the ingredients, preferences, & size. Basically, I pull out a big platter and load it up with any of the following:

• Baby carrots
• Goat Cheese
• Simple Mills Crackers
• Uncured lunch meat, summer sausage, etc
• Leftover chicken or hard-boiled eggs
• Romaine leaves to make “tacos”
• Collard leaves to make “wraps”
• Pickled asparagus
• Pickles
• Apple slices & nut butter
• Fruit
• Cucumber slices
• Grape tomatoes
• Primal Kitchen Ranch Dressing

Basically, the options are endless. Raid the refrigerator and load up a platter. A healthy meal prep dinner idea really can be this simple.

Simple Baking Sheet Dinner

Back to my motto of: “I don’t want to do any more dishes than I have to,” I’ll put everything on a baking sheet and toss it in the oven. The most important thing to keep in mind is how quickly things cook. Root vegetables take longer to cook than things like zucchini or broccoli. I’m not saying you can’t mix the two together, just be mindful of that and maybe add the quick-cooking things a bit later. Once again the paleo meal prep dinner ideas are endless.

• Kielbassa, cabbage, onions, and kale
• Pizza toppings tossed with marinara, uncured pepperoni & sausage (cheese on top is optional)
• Chicken or beef, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, tomatoes, peppers, onions for quick fajitas
• Chicken thighs, potatoes, oregano, and tomatoes
• Meatloaf in the center surrounded by vegetables like carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, radishes, green beans, etc
• Chicken on top of a tray of vegetables like carrots, parsnips, cauliflower, radishes, potatoes, green beans, etc
• Pork chops on top of a tray of cauliflower rice
• Pork tenderloin surrounded by vegetables like parsnips, yellow beets, carrots, celery, radishes, onion, etc

How To Paleo Meal Prep On The Weekend

When I first learned about the weekly cook-up it simply made sense. Why spend an hour in the kitchen 5 nights a week when you can get most of it done in 1/2 the time? Work smarter, not harder. 

To make paleo meal prep easy set aside 2-3 hours on the weekend to put your kitchen to work. Use whatever tools you have simultaneously. Fire up the oven,  Instant Pot, stove, and grill. The idea is to cook the time-intensive ingredients so that you can have them on hand for the rest of the week. Then it’s just a matter of heating and eating and very few dishes take longer than 10 minutes. This is the easiest hack for an easy paleo meal prep dinner idea.

The place where I get a little weird is that I don’t like to leave things in the refrigerator that long. I’m on team 3 days tops and then it becomes sketchy to me. The good news is that whatever you don’t see yourself eating right away you can freeze all or a portion of it to pull out later in the week. For example, my meatball recipe makes 3 lbs of meatballs. Maybe you leave 1 lb out and freeze the rest?

If you’re like me and not the biggest fan of leftovers, no worries, I got you. The trick is to make things seasoned but not over seasoned. What do I mean? Season your chicken so that it’s not bland but don’t put a load of spices on it. That way if you want to use it in an Italian, Mexican, or Indian dish you can.

Make sure you cook things that typically take a lot of time and will hold up in the refrigerator. Broccoli is a great example of what not to make in advance. Cauliflower on the other hand is useful because you can use the puree to make a soup or thicken a sauce or turn it into rice.

Cook Ahead Paleo Meal Prep Dinner Ideas

If you’re going to cook something that takes a lot of time, and will easily keep, make enough for leftovers. For a quick lunch or paleo dinner idea simply add some of your leftovers to a pan with fat and seasoning and you have paleo fast food. What if you don’t have any of these things already cooked? Opt for things that cook quickly. Throw some uncured bacon or ham into a pan with quick-cooking vegetables like green beans and onion for a quick one-pan dish that honestly reminds me of southern cooking.

Paleo cooking is an opportunity to flex your creativity. I’ve seen recipes for pizza veggies. Toss quick-cooking vegetables in Italian seasoning and avocado oil. Add slices of uncured pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, pre-cooked uncured Italian sausage, peppers, tomatoes, etc, and toss them in the oven. Eat them topped with Marinara and cheese if those ingredients work for you. Alternately you can make a Meatza.

Meal Prep Pro Tip: If It Takes Significant Time To Cook – Make Extra

• Root vegetables
  • Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Yams
  • Carrots, Parsnips, Rutabaga, Turnips
  • Celery Root, Radishes, Jicama
• Squashes
  • Butternut, Acorn, Spaghetti Squash, etc
• Protein
  • Chicken, Pork, Turkey, Ground Beef, Hard Boiled Eggs

During the week use this simple equation for a quick paleo dinner idea:

Pan + Fat + Protein + Veg + Seasoning = Paleo Fast Food Click to Tweet

Why People Think Paleo Is Difficult?

When a person first adopts the paleo diet they’re likely coming from SAD food. (Standard American Diet) The SAD diet is full of insulin-producing ingredients (grains, sugar, processed food, and fast food). In the beginning, your body is wired to crave quick carbohydrates and that’s not what paleo is. It’s normal to feel hungry more frequently; I know I did. I didn’t think I’d ever get full. The early weeks are the weeks that make or break a person’s success. Having quick paleo food in your refrigerator from your paleo meal prep can greatly affect your level of success. Late-night snacking is the perfect opportunity to eat “whatever” because who wants to fire up the kitchen just before bed? Focus on having a well-stocked refrigerator with lots of paleo things you can grab and eat.

As your body becomes more fat-adapted you’ll likely notice that you no longer get Hangry.  Hunger becomes a gentle reminder to eat. You’ll find that you won’t need snacks and your energy and mood will remain stable throughout the day. I began my paleo journey in 2014 so I have a number of years under my belt. Back then I did the weekly cook-up but I don’t anymore. It’s become so ingrained and normal that it’s no longer a challenge. Give it time, you’ll get there.

If You’re Still Struggling To Meal Prep

I recommend checkout out Real Plans. Even if you only use the service for a month or two they make meal plans to suit everyone. As an affiliate I can offer you their Free 10 Day Meal Planning Challenge and their Free Week of Plans that will add to your list of paleo dinner ideas. You can choose your family size, food likes, dislikes, and sensitivities. They turn around and give you the recipes, a shopping list, and a task list so you don’t forget to pull the meat out of the freezer. Watch the video below to see how the service works.

You can also search through my collection of recipes.

Originally posted on October 11, 2019 @ 16:38

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