Meal Prep Ideas and Why it May Be Beneficial For You!

University is a place where individuals can become very lazy and can’t be bothered to cook well-balanced, healthy meals, or if you lead a busy schedule then you may not have time to dedicate time to preparing, cooking, and then consuming your meal.

This can all result in making pot noodles, toast, or grabbing something while you're out, which is not benefitting your bank account or your health in any way. Meal prepping allows you to control how much food you’re taking in, you will also end up having more time in the long run to do other things that you need to get done. The main benefit, of course, is that you will have food to come home to after your busy day and there will be no wastage. Below, I have compiled a range of breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas that are easy to prep at the start of the week.

Meal Prep Ideas:

Breakfast: Overnight oats

One of my go-to breakfast meals is overnight oats as there are a variety of ingredients that you can add to make them taste amazing, yet still full of nutrition to fuel you for your day ahead. 

Ingredients:

(One serving)

BASE:

1/2 cup of oats

1/2 cup of milk of choice

1 tablespoon sweetener of choice - honey or maple syrup (optional)

OTHER OPTIONS TO ADD:

A sprinkle of cinnamon 

Vanilla extract

Peanut butter

Strawberries 

Apple

Banana

Pecans

Chocolate chips

Method:

1. Place base ingredients along with other ingredients of your choice in a bowl and mix until combined.
2. Pour ingredients into a container and place in the fridge overnight.
3. You can add toppings before or after placing in the fridge
4. Enjoy the next day, and add some water or milk if too thick.

Lunch: Grilled chicken and hummus wrap

(One serving)

Ingredients:

Chicken

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

4 tortillas wraps

3 cups hummus

3 cups romaine lettuce

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 medium cucumber, chopped

1/2 feta cheese

Method:

1. Cook chicken in a pan, with oil and salt and pepper, until cooked through
2. To make the wrap, spread hummus over each tortilla, top with chicken, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and feta
3. Wrap the tortillas and enjoy!

Lunch/ Dinner: Two-cheese broccoli bake

Ingredients: 

(4 Servings)

250g penne pasta

350g broccoli florets

Cooking oil

1 red onion, diced

400g tin chopped tomatoes

Herbs

2 tablespoons tomato purée

200g drained roasted pepper in water, chopped

100g of feta, crumbled

50g grated

Method:

1. heat the oven to 190 degrees celsius
2. Cook the pasta in a pan, then add the broccoli to the pan for the final 3 minutes of the cooking time
3. Drain the pasta and broccoli and then chop the broccoli in smaller pieces
4. Oil another pan, and stir fry the red onions for 5 minutes and then add the tinned tomatoes and the tomato purée and cook for another 5 minutes
5. Combine the peppers, pasta and broccoli into the tomato mixture, and then pour everything into a large overproof dish. 
6. Sprinkle feta and edam over the top
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden