In a deep pot, combine the brown rice, sea salt, and low sodium chicken broth. Heat this over high heat until it begins to boil, then reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for another 25-30 minutes, or until the water is all absorbed and the rice is tender.
To cook the quinoa, combine uncooked quinoa with sea salt and water, in a deep pot, and then bring to boil. Then, reduce the heat to medium-high and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes. Once all the liquid is absorbed, fluff with a fork and set aside to cool as well.
Next, let’s get our lentils started. Add the dry lentils to a pot, followed by water. Be sure to use a large enough saucepan as the lentils will double or triple in size. Bring this to a boil over high heat, then cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until the lentils are tender. For whole lentils, it should take about 15-20 minutes. Then, drain the lentils and set aside for later.
To make the Beef with Broccoli, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add thinly sliced flank steak and cook until it’s well-browned, about 6-8 minutes. Once it’s well-browned, remove from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, add minced garlic, chopped shallot, and green onions. Cook one minute, stirring frequently.
Then, add the broccoli florets and cook for 5 minutes until the broccoli turns bright green and becomes mostly tender. Since we’ll be storing this meal, we don’t want to cook the vegetables completely through or they’ll be super mushy when we reheat them later.
To make the sauce, in a mixing bowl, combine low sodium soy sauce, coconut sugar, fresh minced ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes. Add arrowroot starch and water and stir until no longer lumpy.
To make the cauliflower fried rice, heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add some sesame oil.
To make the cauliflower rice, grate a head of cauliflower using a kitchen grater (or you can also use a food processor or buy pre-riced cauliflower).
Push the fried chicken cauliflower rice mixture to one side of the skillet and add a couple eggs into the empty side of the pan and then scramble. Once the eggs are mostly scrambled, break up with a spatula and combine with the rice mixture. This is now done and can be removed from the heat and set aside.
To make the roasted salmon recipe, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
In a small mixing bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper. Pour this mixture over the salmon and asparagus.
To make the dressing for the kale and quinoa salad, combine freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, raw honey, dijon mustard, sea salt, ground black pepper, and olive oil in a small mixing bowl, and whisk together until well combined.
To prep the kale for the salad, we’re going to add it to a large bowl with a little olive oil and rub all over the kale, massaging it until the kale reduces in volume and becomes less stiff. (This makes a huge difference in the texture of the kale and makes it much easier to eat. I like to buy pre-cut kale when I meal prep because it’s just easier and takes one less step out of the process.)
To assemble the salad, combine 3/4 cup of the cooked quinoa, 3/4 cup of the cooked lentils, the kale, garbanzo beans, diced cucumber, diced carrot, grape tomatoes, finely diced red onion, and raw sunflower seeds in a large mixing bowl. Toss to combine.
Then, drizzle over a few tablespoons of the lemon vinaigrette, and toss once more. This is so dang good.
To make the chocolate peanut butter overnight oats, add the bananas, dark cocoa powder, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and unsweetened almond milk to a kitchen blender and blend until smooth.
Divide this into four mason jars because we will be using it for breakfast four of the days. Then, close, and then place into the fridge overnight or for at least 4-6 hours. (You can heat them up each morning or just eat them cold right out of the mason jar. When the oats are ready, I like to top them with some dark chocolate chunks.)
To prep our mango green smoothie, divide fresh or frozen mango chunks, banana, and baby spinach into either ziplock freezer bags or mason jars. When it’s time to blend this all together, you’ll add in flaxseed meal, protein powder, and unsweetened almond milk for a tasty smoothie.
Our snacks for four of the days will be raw almond with fresh strawberries. This can be prepped in a mason jar or a reusable bag. (This snack is roughly 200 calories. If you don't like almonds, you can replace wit cashews or walnuts. Fruits can be switched out as well.)
To store the salad, you can either use a meal prep container or mason jars.
To pack our beef with broccoli, add it to one side of the meal prep container and then add in the steamed brown rice on the side. Top with sliced green onions. This meal is roughly 500 calories and will make a tasty dinner for four of the nights.
To pack up the chicken cauliflower fried rice, add it to one end of the meal prep container, and next to it add some fresh snap peas. I like to have a crisp veggie along with the fried rice for a little texture. This will serve as a lunch for three of the days and is roughy 400 calories.
Now for our salmon meal, make a layer on the bottom of the container with the asparagus and then top it with one of the salmon fillets. If you wanted to add some quinoa to this meal, that would be a good option if you find you’re still somewhat hungry.
- Remember that every person is different and requires slightly different calorie intakes to lose weight at a healthy rate. If you’re combining this with a workout routine, you can increase the amount of calories easily by adding in another 200 calorie snack to find what best suits you and your needs.
- Nutrition facts are for 1 day of the meal plan, including breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner