Easy Healthy Meal Prep
Easy healthy meal prep to last you an entire week of breakfast and lunches featuring carrot cake date balls, chocolate granola, bbq collard wraps, easy veg curry with wilted garlicky greens and fresh local, in season fruit.
I typically meal prep over the weekend and in one fell swoop I can hammer out most of my meals for the week, saving time and money, not to mention I can put forth less dish washing effort. I am always all about that. It’s a great way to incorporate what I already have into recipes which allows me to feature fresh and in season produce more prominently and consistently. This is particularly important where I live in the caribbean where a lot of my veggies will go bad if I don’t use them early on in the week. This way, I don’t have to worry about it. No muss, no fuss.
Today, I’m bringing you carrot cake date balls, chocolate granola {that I often enjoy as a dessert/snack}, bbq collard wraps and easy veg curry with wilted garlicky greens. I was able to use my nuts and seeds for both the granola and date balls with the collards making an appearance twice for my entrees in very different ways while in season genips {think citrusy lychee} and mango that I literally have bursting through the seams were able to make their way into the meal prep.
Carrot cake date balls are a healthier, easier take on carrot cake. It’s less sweet with more substance and healthy add ins to keep you fuller longer. My favorite part of the chocolate granola is that it leaves you chocolate milk in your bowl. Both breakfast items can be jazzed up by adding maple syrup for added sweetness to the date balls or chocolate chunks to the granola.
The beginning of the week is when I’ll also pre-wash and store my greens and herbs for salads or smoothies, chop up fruit or veggie crudités, whip up sauces for those salads or veggie dippers and blend up homemade “mylk.” With an abundance of cocos, my standard fare is typically coconut milk. I make my own by blending together then straining mature coconut meat with filtered water…a few dates and a pinch of sea salt will make it in if the mood strikes but this is awesome because today, it was also part of my meal prep as additions to both the curry sauce and granola for later.
- 1 c shredded carrots + heavy pinch of salt
- ¼ c chopped walnuts
- 2 tb chia/flax/hemp
- 2 ts ceylon cinnamon
- ⅓ c packed chopped dates
- 1½ c oats
- 1½ c oats
- ½ c nuts/seeds
- 2 tb maca {or chia/flax/hemp}
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ c cacao
- ¼ c coconut oil
- ½ c maple syrup/coconut sugar
- ½ c bbq sauce
- 2 chicken breasts/4 slices tofu/1½ c young jackfruit
- 4-6 collard leaves, ribs removed
- ½ c each of: red cabbage, red onion, cilantro, carrots, sprouts, etc
- 1 diced onion
- 2-3 cloves minced garlic
- ½ ts freshly grated ginger
- 1 tb cumin
- 1 tb coriander
- 1 ts turmeric
- ½ c each of veggies of choice
- 2 c coconut milk
- Salt and pepper
- 10 chopped collard leaves
- 3-5 cloves of minced garlic
- Red pepper flakes, salt and pepper
- For the date balls, sprinkle the salt over the shredded carrots. Leave for 10 minutes. Squeeze out all the excess liquid and combine in a blender/food processor with the rest of the ingredients.
- When the “dough” comes together, roll out tablespoon portions. You should get a dozen.
- For the granola, mix everything together and spread out evenly on a lined cookie sheet. Bake at 300 for 30-45 minutes. Cook then break apart.
- For the collar wraps, cook the chicken/tofu or jackfruit in the bbq sauce until heated through.
- To assemble, lay each ingredient down and roll up like a burrito.
- For the curry, caramelize the onion and garlic. Lightly salt and pepper.
- Grate in the ginger.
- Toast all the spices for 5-10 minutes as the pan should now by dry at this point. Keep it moving so it doesn’t burn.
- Add in the veggies. Toss to coat. Lightly salt and pepper.
- Pour in the milk and simmer until it thickens. Taste of seasoning.
- For the wilted greens, heat the garlic in a pan with oil. The greens are ready to add when it gets a bit golden brown.
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to the greens. Heat until just wilted then turn it off.
‹ Rainbow Mochi Cake Korean Stuffed Cheese Pancake – Hotteok 호떡 ›
Hi! Just wondering: For the granola, Do I use 1/4 cup or tablespoon of cacao, and what about the coconut oil? Thank you for any clarification.
Hi, May! 1/4 cup each. Thank you =)