The concept of spending ridiculous amounts of time pre-preparing meals has always been unappealing to me, made worse by the fact that I don’t think I do it right because by Wednesday I’m always stuck eating sad, soggy veggies that I have to power through for two more days. So when I started seriously tracking what I eat and trying to save money by packing lunch, I came up with this lazy “bowl” type of meal that is semi prepped in advance, but still somewhat flexible.

I cook a bulk amount of chicken breast in the crock pot/instant pot with some sort of seasoning or broth (I got real fancy this week with leftover canned tomatoes and Moroccan spices, but it’s usually water and a couple shakes of whatever seasoning blend I see first). Then every morning I measure 4-6 oz of chicken (depending on how much protein I think I’ll need), 1 cup of frozen spinach and 1/2 cup of some sort of beans or starchy veggie (soy succotash from TJ pictured). Sometimes an additional vegetable, sometimes more spinach. It’s quick enough to assemble every morning but also allows for some more flexibility. Sometimes I put BBQ sauce on it, but lately I’ve been packing it plain and adding hot sauce at work to save calories (although TJ Sriracha garlic BBQ sauce is like 50 calories and delicious).

I haven’t gotten sick of it yet and it’s pretty filling and a lot more satisfying and nutritious than the sad, dry salads I used to pack. One day I’ll experiment with different proteins and sauces, but I kind of crave the chicken when lunch time rolls around. Plus, I’ve mixed up my vegetables enough that each week they’re a little different (I used butternut squash in the fall and it’s always a treat to mix in chick peas as my beans)!

I don’t prep dinner ever, that’s a meal that my husband and I like to enjoy together and he likes variety and fun things (hello, homemade pizza)! But eating these bowls for lunch leaves my eating plan for the rest of the day pretty open to whatever we’re craving for dinner because this one lunch is pretty high in fiber and protein, but low in fat and carbs.

One day I’ll incorporate roasted brussel sprouts into the mix (my all time, hands down favorite vegetable and probably one of my favorite foods in general), but the pre cooked chicken and frozen vegetables has been a life saver for the past 5 months (20 lbs down, body composition changes, etc).

This dish… where do I begin. I’ve made variations of this for almost four years. It started with a sauce recipe from a good friend, but has sort of evolved over time as I substitute ingredients and add new flavors I think would go well with it. I made it tonight and it has turned into something new and I needed to document my creation so it can be duplicated. For the first time I used coconut oil, which really added to the flavor and helped keep the sauce from soaking into the noodles and drying up. 

The very nature of this dish is that it’s not an exact science. The measurements for the sauce are estimates and can be adjusted according to taste. The trick is to add enough (maybe even too much) peanut butter to get that strong peanut flavor, while thinning it out with coconut oil and water so you have enough sauce to cover your noodles. Be careful with the soy sauce, as I’ve made it wayyy too salty before and that’s never fun. This dish goes well with lo mein noodles, spaghetti noodles and even the cheap ramen (minus the prepackaged seasoning)!

Serves 4-6 

Main Dish Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into thin slices
• 3 tbsp coconut oil (this sounds like a lot, but it becomes part of the sauce too)
• 1 tsp curry mix
• dash of salt
• Mixed veggies 
• Spaghetti or other long noodle

Sauce

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp teriyaki suace
• 1/3 cup Tonton Ginger dressing and marinade 
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 tbsp sugar or sweetener (like stevia)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• A couple dashes of ginger powder

1. Heat coconut oil on medium heat in your pan and start to make the noodles according to package.
2. Slice the chicken into thin, sort of long pieces. Sprinkle curry and salt on it and cook in the coconut oil. You can add a small amount of peanut butter to the chicken as it cooks.
3. Once chicken is fully cooked, turn the heat down to low-medium and add ingredients for the sauce over the chicken in the same pan. I add peanut butter about a third at a time so it can melt and mix in more easily. 
4. If mixture is too watery, let it simmer for about 10 minutes to reduce.
5. Add frozen veggies as you’re mixing in the sauce and cover for several minutes to cook all the way through. Don’t let the veggies cook too long or they can wilt and get mushy. I used California blend because the broccoli and cauliflower really soak up the sauce. I’ve made it with fresh veggies too, the frozen ones are just quicker!
6. Serve over noodles and go back for seconds!