Power Hour Meal Prep Plan

The CNC Power Hour Meal Prep Plan is a series where I help you get in and out of the kitchen in 1 hour or less. I’ll show you how I meal prep quickly and efficiently to set up our family for healthy eating success. Every plan is different and will change from week-to-week. Feel free to customize ingredients and recipes to fit your lifestyle and dietary preferences!

You don’t need to spends HOURS in the kitchen to eat healthy or prep a whole week of meals in one day. Sure, it looks cool on Instagram, but it’s not realistic for a lot of us. I’m ALL about keeping it simple with meal prep!

My meal prep routine varies week to week depending on how much free time I have on Sundays. It’s never perfect, but it works for us! And I’ve learned that even on weekends where I only have a small amount of time, there’s still a lot I can accomplish. I maximize my time by using recipes and ingredients that require minimal prep and little-to-no hands-on cooking. And, of course, multi-tasking and prepping a bunch of things at once.

Long story short, I finally got my act together and planned out my meal prep in a way that YOU can follow in your own kitchen. It’s super easy and realistic! Hopefully, this rundown will help you prep a week of breakfasts and lunches while giving you a jump-start on dinner so you don’t have to start from scratch every night.

Meals This Week

Breakfast

• Avocado Toast with Everything but the Bagel Seasoning
• Teddie Peanut Butter + banana on rice cakes

Lunches

• Air Fryer Cauliflower Gnocchi with broccoli (frozen), chopped spinach (frozen), and Parmesan
• Roasted salmon with veggie hash (potatoes, onions, zucchini, and carrots). I used the Fullstar Cutter-Veggie Spiralizer + Vegetable Pro-Food Chopper and Dicer to cut up the vegetables, and it was a GAME-CHANGER. I cut 2.5 pounds of potatoes and the veggies for the hash in less than 5 minutes!

Dinners

• Mediterranean Bowls made with rice (or cauliflower rice), cucumber, tomatoes, lemon, crumbled feta, and Italian dressing (optional, but delicious)
• Crockpot Chicken Ole
• High-Protein Artichoke Parmesan Pasta
• Air Fryer Shrimp Tacos with guacamole, red cabbage, and lime

Meal Prep Overview

Time: 1 hour or less!
Feeds: 2 adults + 1 child (5 years old)
Meals included: Sunday – Wednesday; Thursday and Friday are typically leftovers or a go-to pantry/freezer meal from below; Saturdays are often dinner out

Grocery Shopping List

Below are the ingredients I bought or used for this meal prep plan. I also relied on staples and condiments already in my pantry and freezer, so be sure to double-check the recipes to make sure you have all of the ingredients required.

• Produce: celery (for celery juice), bananas, onion, lemon, parley, arugula, broccoli, cucumber, tomatoes, limes, red potatoes, pears, guacamole, blueberries
• Meat: ground Italian sausage, chicken breast, sliced herb turkey breast
• Dairy: yogurt smoothies, crumbled feta
• Frozen: cauliflower rice, cauliflower gnocchi
• Grocery: pita bread, jarred salsa, applesauce, jarred bruschetta, PB & J Bars, cheddar crackers, balsamic drizzle, jarred artichokes
• Pantry: Rice cakes, peanut butter, Everything But the Bagel Seasoning

Meals I Ate

Rice cakes with Teddie Peanut Butter and banana slices 

Roasted salmon with cucumber, tomato, and feta salad (also included lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper)

Roasted salad with veggie hash and arugula

Gluten-free toast with chive cream cheese and roasted salmon on top

Power Hour Meal Prep Plan

My approach to meal prep is all about multitasking and efficiency. My goal is always to finish in an hour or less, so I’m ALL BUSINESS in the kitchen. I always start with the tasks that take the most time or seem the most overwhelming during the week when my cooking motivation begins to wane. My Sunday afternoon meal prep “game plan” is as follows:

Make roasted potatoes and veggie hash: Preheat oven, wash and dry veggies, chop veggies with Fullstar Cutter-Veggie Spiralizer + Vegetable Pro-Food Chopper and Dicer, place on baking sheet with silicone mat, drizzle with your favorite cooking oil, and season with salt, pepper, and any other spices you like.

Cook rice and/or cauliflower rice for Mediterranean Bowls and Chicken Ole: Pack away in the fridge for later.

Slice grape tomatoes and chop cucumber into 1/4-inch pieces for Mediterranean Bowls: Combine with freshly squeezed lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Pack away in fridge for a throw-together meal later in the week.

Make sauce for High-Protein Artichoke Parmesan Pasta: Pack away in a glass container with lid in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

If you have time…

Make Crockpot Chicken Ole and pack away for a quick dinner that you just need to reheat

Roast salmon in oven and pack away for lunch later in the week 

Go-To Pantry or Freezer Meals

• Tuna melts
• Salmon salad with rice crackers
• High-Protein Veggie Burgers from Trader Joe’s
• Turkey burger patty from freezer
• Homemade pizza
• Banza pasta
• Banza mac & cheese with broccoli florets (frozen)
• Sandwiches or paninis using deli meat or leftover chicken breast

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