How to Master Meal Prep as a Busy Parent

So, we just had another baby and I don't have any more time to prepare healthy meals. So, I [music] decided to tackle a much needed project. Master the art of meal prep. My goal was to add more healthy meals to my diet, get enough protein to build muscle, save time and money, and the big one, move all my lunches to autopilot. I bought a freezer, a bunch of food containers, lots of spices, and I removed the

smoke detector from our kitchen. It's all been very exciting, but also kind of boring. I'm not great at cooking, so I'm going to keep things as simple and boring as I possibly can. Anything else would just completely defeat the purpose. Like, I can learn how to become a world-class chef in another video. This video is just about getting the basics done right. So, I want to walk you through my initial game plan that I have, how

many meals I'm going to make, and what the macro breakdown is going to look like, hopefully. So, I bought 18 one L glass meal prep containers from Target. Two of them broke during shipping, so I'm left with 16. I'm going to split each of these containers, so they'll hold two lunches each. My target macros for these dishes is about 30 g of protein, 30 g of carbs, and 5 g of fat. My main protein is going

to be chicken for most dishes, but I'll add some steak for variety, also because it has more bioavailable iron, creatine, and other vitamins. I'll also be adding a side of greens and a grain or carb. I've also got 14 smoothie jars. So, my goal for these is to have about 30 g of protein, which I'll get from protein powder and Greek yogurt. And I also want a mix of fruit, veggies, and berries. If you're new here

or haven't watched my videos in a while, I live in Australia now. So, I'm going to be doing my shopping at Harris Farms. So, these right here are the best authentic Mexican tortillas made in Georgia. Kangaroo Phillip. What do you reckon? Nah, I'm not that bright. Let's grab some Aussie beef and some freerange [music] chicken. Happy days. Okay, so these are my lunch containers. They are one L containers. And then over here I've got my smoothie

prep containers with lids. A lot of people ask me if they crack in the freezer and they don't. I think it's because the lids aren't curved at the top. I've had no issues with these containers or my lunch containers. All right. So, I've got the oven preheating for my lunch. Right now, I'm going to be getting started with my smoothie prep. This is a pretty similar smoothie that I've made for years, but I have changed a

couple small details. I decided to go with kale for my smoothies instead of spinach. Spinach is one of the foods highest in oxalates, which can increase the risk of kidney stones. And since I have a family history there, I wanted to play it safe. Kale is much lower in oxalates, but still packed with vitamins [music] A, C, and K, plus fiber, antioxidants, and other good [music] stuff. Uh, so I have some leftover kale here that I'm

going to be using as a side for my lunches. By the way, that white stuff under the orange peel is called the pith. It's [music] got a lot of great fiber and antioxidants that help support gut health, heart health, and helps to also slow sugar absorption. It's a little bit bitter, but you [music] definitely won't notice it in your smoothies. And finally, a few teaspoons of chia seeds, hemp seeds, and rolled oats. Topping it off with

some frozen berries. Okay, smoothie prep is done. Another specific choice I made with these meals was swapping rice for quinoa. Rice, as a crop, tends to take up more arsenic from the soil than other grains because of how it's grown. That doesn't mean that rice is poisonous or that eating it is unsafe for most people, but if you are planning to eat it frequently as a base for your meals, some experts do suggest diversifying it with

other grains is a smart decision. Maybe I'm playing it extra safe here, but quinoa is a really easy replacement because it cooks quickly. It has more protein and fiber than rice, and it doesn't have close to the same levels of arsenic. Nat always adds bone broth to our grains and our rice for dinners. And so I'm stealing that [music] little tip here. It's a great bonus source of protein and collagen, plus minerals like potassium and sodium.

Mostly though, it just makes everything taste better. I've got a bunch of different spices here. Um, so I usually do about three batches of [music] chicken, each with their own spice. I've got these bougie spices from I think it's an Australian brand. got it as a gift. But if you were really looking to save money, it's pretty easy to recreate this by buying each individual ingredient and making a batch [music] yourself. This one specifically has cumin,

paprika, parsley, nutmeg, turmeric, [music] garlic, and cayenne pepper. So, this is all stuff that you could probably get for cheaper. And yeah, you can just make an all-purpose seasoning [music] mix yourself. Whenever I sear chicken or steak to then finish off in the oven, I feel like I always burn the chicken. Like the pan itself just gets very smoky. I don't know if I'm not using enough oil. I mean, the heat might be too high, but

then if it's not high enough, I feel like you're not getting a nice sear on the meat. I [crying] I feel like he's tired. >> At least he's calm, you know. Hi. All right, back to work. So, Nat said that I should try searing it at a lower temp. >> See, even this was like this is low, but it's still [music] like it immediately sticks to it. >> Well, you haven't swelled around the oil. >> I

did. I did the whole thing. I went like that. >> And then But did you like move it around? >> Yeah. I didn't know I needed to do that. Like if you guys are taking advice from me on on cooking, then we're all in trouble. So the pan is definitely burning just a little bit, but I'm getting a better sear on it now that it's low heat, and I also have much less smoke in this room.

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you're ready to launch, go to squarespace.com/mattella to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. It's a win-win. You get a great website and you help support my channel. So, thanks for considering. I feel like garlic is a pretty easy way to upgrade a dish without much effort. Not that I know what the [ __ ] I'm talking about. So, I think these steaks are actually a little bit too thin to even put in the

oven. I think like I was I was intending to only have it be a sear, but I feel like they're actually cooked now. So, I'm going to let them rest for a little bit. I'm not using a cooking thermometer cuz I find with like really thin meat, it's not super accurate. But, I'm going to let them rest for 10 minutes. I mean, look at this. You got to look at this pan. No stick. >> [music] >>

better. Look at that. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's [music] nice. [music] I'm just finishing up the chicken now. Got to make it look good for the thumbnail. I think that looks pretty good. Pretty boring. So, all done with the steak lunches. There they are. Pretty good. Pretty good. All right. So, meal prep done. I'm exhausted. Let's get all these in the freezer. Using the total food and ingredients used for these meals, I was able to calculate the

average calories and macros for each lunch. Each had about 529 calories, 48 g of protein, [music] 54 g of carbs, and 12 g of fat. So, for me, this is a great result with much more protein than I was originally aiming for. The lunches came out to $312 USD per meal. And my smoothies, when adding a scoop of protein powder and Greek yogurt, came in at 310 calories, 38 g of protein, 36 g of carbs, and

7 g of fat. My smoothies were a little bit more expensive at $5.32 USD. And that's mainly because of the yogurt and protein powder, which account for half of the cost of each. Thanks so much for watching this video. My meal prep is a work in progress. I'm going to be adjusting and improving this over time. So, if you have any suggestions, if you are a nutritionist, an [music] expert in the culinary arts, let me know

how I can improve this meal [music] prep, and I'll probably do a follow-up video later this year. As always, thanks for watching, and I'll see you guys soon. Bye-bye.