When talking to people who are “dieting” everyone seems to have their thing. Some people swear by the paleo diet, some people swear by diet shakes, some people cut carbs, etc. A few years ago I ate the same meals for breakfast (overnight oats) and lunch (salad with chicken) every single day and it helped me lose 30 pounds. With still a good chunk of baby weight left I tried the same meal plan as we kicked off a new fitness contest at work.
This time, it didn’t work.
Enter Instagram Food Bloggers
I was still hungry. Three years ago, I was done nursing and didn’t have 500 extra calories to factor in. This time, I needed to change it up. Instagram, which always leaves me hungry, pointed me in the right direction. People I follow kept posting pictures of roasted vegetables and suddenly I found myself craving roasted carrots.
What? I hate cooked carrots.
Funny how your mind works sometimes. I hit up Meijer one day at lunch and my husband came home to 3 pans of different vegetables roasting in the oven. To change up my lunch, I decided to put together my own vegetable and chicken quinoa bowl. Suddenly cooked carrots turned out to be a regular in my lunch time routine, along with brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes and green beans.
I became hooked.
The best part is that it is easy to cook a full week’s worth of vegetable and chicken quinoa bowl ingredients on a Sunday afternoon. I don’t have to worry about making food every night for the next day at lunch.
Our kitchen smells like cooked vegetables for a good hour each Sunday night and I love it. For some reason meal prepping leaves me feeling accomplished before Monday even starts. I love being able to grab a container each morning and throw it in my lunch bag without worrying too much about time.
Vegetable and Chicken Quinoa Bowl
The best part about the vegetable and chicken quinoa bowl is that you can mix and match however you want each week. Tired of brussel sprouts? Throw in some broccoli instead. Tired of chicken? Turkey meatballs are a great substitute.
It’s been four weeks now and I have yet to get bored eating a vegetable and chicken quinoa bowl at lunch every day. Hungry yet? Make one for yourself!
Vegetable and Chicken Quinoa Bowl
- Prep Time: 30m
- Cook Time: 30m
- Total Time: 1h
- Serves: 5
Ingredients
- Parchment Paper
- 2 Chicken Breasts
- 1 cup Uncooked Quinoa (Plain)
- 10 Brussel Sprouts
- 10 Carrots
- 3 Regular Size Sweet Potatoes
- 2 1/2 cups Green Beans
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons Sea Salt (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon Rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 425
- Using 1 TBSP of olive oil, drizzle over both sides of the chicken breasts. Season with your favorite chicken seasoning. Set aside.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Slice brussel sprouts in half. Toss in 1/2 TBSP olive oil and then lay them out on the baking sheets.
- Cut ends off of carrots then slice them in half. Toss in 1/2 TBSP olive oil and then lay them out on the baking sheets.
- Peel the sweet potatoes. Cut them into 1 inch cubes. Toss in 1/2 TBSP olive oil and then lay them out on the baking sheets.
- Cut ends off of green beans. Toss in 1/2 TBSP olive oil and then lay them out on the baking sheets.
- Cook vegetables & chicken in the oven for 30 minutes at 425 degrees. Chicken may need extra time. Slice open to make sure no pink is left. Cook additional time if necessary.
- While the vegetables and chicken are cooking, follow directions on quinoa to cook one cup of dry quinoa.
- Split cooked quinoa and cooked chicken evenly between each of your five meal prep containers.
- Add in 4 pieces of brussel sprouts, 4 pieces of carrots, a handful of sweet potatoes, and a handful of green beans.
There is no doubt that my lunch routine has changed with this bowl. Each week I switch it up a little bit with new vegetables or different meat. For the most part, this has been my go to. Not only am I snacking a lot less, but I’m finally getting in the vegetables I’ve been avoiding.
Do you meal prep? What is your go to food?
That looks good! We like to do a similar meal with rice and it’s one of our favorites! 🙂
Abbey recently posted…Decorating A Nursery: On A Budget
I would be perfectly content eating this for the rest of my life! I just hate cooking meat, but I can buy some pre-prepared chicken breasts at Trader Joes which is nice!
I love the combination of vegetables you suggested in this meal! I love sweet potatoes and I think the roasted Brussels sprouts sound so tasty. I will be trying this out on my family very soon!
Oh I love this combo. Delish!
This looks so tasty! I don’t think I have ever cooked with Brussel sprouts though…
This is such an easy recipe to follow. I’m planning on meal prepping anyway so I’ll bookmark this!
Diana recently posted…First Impressions: What I think about the Editor’s Box from FabFitFun
Lovely recipe, the dish is a balanced meal with vegetables and chicken. A way I lost weight was to try not to have snacks and miss meal sometimes.
Leo Tat recently posted…13 Foods to Eat While You’re Pregnant
Cutting back on snacking is a good idea, although I always try and make sure I get my three meals in!
[…] My quinoa bowls have very quickly become a staple in my lunch bag. They are so filling and I never have […]