Stocking your freezer with a few make-ahead meals can make life much easier (and may we suggest healthier) after baby arrives and you're pressed for time.
What are healthy make-ahead meals
These make-ahead meals are full of flavor and nutritious ingredients that can be prepared in one day for a week's worth of lunch or dinner (or both!) Here are our 5 favorites from across the web.
1. Marinated Kale and Chicken Bowls With Sun Dried Tomato Sauce
Looking for a kale dish that isn't blah? This marinated kale bowl with tons of zesty flavor, healthy quinoa, and homemade sun-dried tomato sauce(!!!) is the perfect dish for a week's worth of lunches. Not to mention, it's so beautiful to look at!
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Bowls
- 2 cups uncooked quinoa
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 avocado
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- sesame seeds or crushed red pepper flakes for topping
For the Sun Dried Tomato Sauce:
- 1 16 ounce jar sun dried tomatoes, drained
- 1–2 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
- juice of one lemon
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup almonds
Photo via Half Baked Harvest
Related: 10 Healthy Pregnancy Meals For Each Trimester
2. Meal Prep: Chicken Shawarma and Sweet Potato Fry Bowls
Nutritious, deliciously flavorful, and packed with oh-so-good-for-you ingredients like sweet potato, asparagus, olives, avocado, and more. It also takes less than an hour to prepare lunch or dinner for a WEEK! It doesn't get better than that.
Photo via Simply Recipes
3. BBQ Chicken Burrito Bowl
Keeping ingredients for grain bowls on hand is the perfect way to assure you eat healthy all week long! Bonus when they include BBQ chicken. You can make preparing these bowls even easier by purchasing a healthy pre-made BBQ sauce from the store. Just make sure it is low in added-sugar!
Photo via Gimme Delicious
4. Meal-Prep Shrimp Taco Bowls
Shrimp makes for a perfectly easy (and tasty!) mid-day meal, especially when combined with smoky, spicy Tex-Mex flavors. These bowls are full of protein, fiber, and yummy veggies like tomato and corn. Throw a little avocado on there for extra healthy fats and nutrients!
Photo via Life Made Sweeter
5. One Pan Teriyaki Chicken With Vegetables
One pan, 5 lunches. Have you ever heard more beautiful words? They're make prep time easier and clean-up is just as simple because it's...ONE PAN! You can even prep a big bowl of grains at the beginning of the week for an even more satisfy meal.
In Closing
Would you like more easy, healthy prenatal recipes formatted for easy printing? Click here to download A Day of Recipes for Each Trimester: