Beginners Guide to Weekly Meal Prep

310 Guide: Weekday Meal Prepping 101 

Especially during the weekdays, it may seem like you barely have enough time to complete your daily tasks. How in the world would you fit in meal prepping? The truth is, meal prepping is designed to give you more time, not take time away. 

And when you’re ready and prepared for your meal prepping sessions (like with the AMAZING essentials in our new all-inclusive Meal Prep Kit), the process can actually be fun and enjoyable!

In general, it’s a way to enjoy your time more during the week by preparing certain parts of your meals (or the entire meals in advance). This can actually provide you with much more freedom, joy and contentment. 

Let’s learn more about what meal prep is and how it can help you… 

What Are The Benefits of Meal Prepping? 

There are numerous benefits associated with prepping your meals in advance. For starters, you can save a good amount of money on your weekly grocery bills, and reduce your spending on take-out. However, my favorite benefit of meal prepping is that I always have “go-to” nutritious options waiting for me in the fridge.  

Often when we find ourselves eating “unhealthy” choices, it’s because we go for the easiest options available to us – ordering lunch on UberEATS, heating up a packaged frozen meal, skipping lunch and snacking instead; You get the idea. Doing a simple weekly meal prep allows you to switch up this system – making nutritious homemade meals the easiest choices to grab!  

When Should You Meal Prep? 

There is no perfect time or day to meal prep – it’s whatever works best for you. The key is to analyze your schedule and find (or make) one chunk of time you can devote to it weekly – making the rest of your week flow much smoother. Check out our Meal Prep Tips for ideas on creating a meal-prepping schedule that greatly enhances your quality of life. 

Let’s Start Prepping! 

We highly recommend you start your meal prepping with the right containers, such as our Meal Prep Containers (3 pack), which you can also find in our Meal Prep Bundle – along with many other tools to streamline your prepping process, recipes and more . Here are some of our favorite recipes for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, below! 

Breakfast: 310 Shakes 

Ingredients: 

• 5 scoops (or 5 single serve packets) of 310 Shake (flavor of choice) 
• 5 cups unsweetened almond milk 
• 2 1/2 bananas 
• 1 1/4 cups frozen fruit of choice 
• 5 tsp chia seeds, hemp seeds, or flax seeds 
• Optional add-ins: cacao powder, yogurt, nut butter, etc. 

Supplies: 

• Blender 
• 5 small meal prep containers or plastic baggies 

Directions:  

1. Place ½ banana, ¼ cup frozen or fresh fruit, and 1 tsp chia seeds in each of the 5 containers or baggies. Store in the freezer for easy use.  
2. Every morning, combine 1 scoop 310 shake, 1 cup almond milk, and the contents from one freezer bag or container in the blender. Blend until completely smooth. 
3. Transfer to a cup and enjoy!  

Lunch: Chicken & Veggie Bowls 

Ingredients: 

• 5- 4 oz chicken breasts 
• 1 butternut squash 
• 1 zucchini 
• 1 small onion 
• 15 oz spinach 
• 1 avocado  
• 4 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tsp garlic powder 
• 1 tbsp oregano 
• Salt & pepper 

Supplies: 

• 1 large non-stick pan 
• 2 baking trays 
• Foil or parchment paper 
• 1 large mixing bowl 
• Cutting board 
• Chef knife 
• 5 meal size to-go containers 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line the baking trays with parchment or foil.  
2. Cut the butternut squash into small 1-inch cubes and transfer them to the mixing bowl. Add 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil, half of the garlic powder, half of the oregano and a dash of salt & pepper. Mix well and evenly spread squash across one of the baking trays. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  
3. Once squash goes into the oven, chop the zucchini into thin rounds and chop the onion into large squares. Transfer zucchini and onion to the mixing bowl and add the remaining olive oil, garlic powder, oregano, and a dash of salt & pepper. Mix well and transfer to the second lined baking tray.  
4. When the butternut squash has about 15 minutes left in the oven, add zucchini and onion into the oven and bake for the remaining 15 minutes with the squash. 
5. While veggies continue to cook, heat a non-stick pan on medium/high heat. Once hot, add the chicken and cook 4-6 minutes on each side until chicken is fully cooked through (center is no longer pink). 
6. To assemble bowls: place a large bed of spinach in each of the containers. Evenly distribute the squash, zucchini and onion among the 5 containers and add a chicken breast to each. Store containers in the fridge to grab-and-go! 
7. Top each bowl with avocado slices at the time of consumption. Enjoy!  

Snacks: Fruit & Yogurt and Veggies & Dip 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup mixed berries  
• 3 single serve containers plain yogurt, plain Greek yogurt, or plain coconut yogurt 
• 1 cup carrot sticks 
• 1 cup broccoli florets 
• 1/4 cup mayo 
• 1 tsp dijon mustard 
• 1 tbsp unsweetened almond milk 
• ¼ tsp dried parsley 
• ¼ tsp dried dill 
• 1/8 tsp onion powder 
• ¼ tsp garlic powder 
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice  
• Salt & pepper  

Supplies: 

• 1 bowl 
• Mixing spoon 
• 5 medium size to-go containers 

Directions: 

1. Make your ranch dip: In a bowl, combine the mayo, Dijon, almond milk, parsley, dill, onion powder, garlic powder, apple cider vinegar and a dash of salt & pepper. Mix well.  
2. Place ½ cup carrot sticks and ½ cup broccoli florets in two of the containers. Push veggies to one size and add the ranch mixture to the other side.  
3. Add one serving of yogurt to each of the remaining three containers and top each of them with 1/3 cup berries.  
4. Store all containers in the fridge to grab-and-go!  

Looking for more healthy, mouthwatering recipes?! Check out additional nutritionist-approved 310 Nutrition recipes! Plus, don’t forget your Meal Prep Kit to make the process much simpler and more enjoyable.