Photo courtesy of The Roasted Root
The pandemic has highlighted the courage and commitment of our nurses and the important role they play in the community. For National Nursing Week 2021, check out my Daily Healthy Habit every day this week to support our nurses mental and physical health and well-being.
Planning and prepping healthy meals is one of the most important habits for living a healthy lifestyle! It ensures that you nourish your body with healthy homemade meals and snacks on a regular basis and feel your best!
Fail to Plan - Plan to Fail: if you don’t have a meal plan and grocery list, you'll end up buying ingredients that you don’t really need or know what to do with, which ultimately leads to throwing out food, wasting money and resorting to ordering take-out.
Make time to plan and prep. Add weekly meal plan and prep times into your calendar to keep you accountable. For example, meal plan for the weekend and following week on Thursdays, and set a prep time for Saturday and Sunday afternoons for 1 hour on each day.Â
Plan according to your schedule. If you know you will have a shift over lunch or dinner make boiled eggs, chicken or tuna salad and quinoa to last you a few days. Buy pre-washed, packaged greens & coleslaw to make a salad easily. Shift over breakfast? Prep a batch of healthy muffins and grab some plain yogurt & berries to go with it, or make overnight oats (recipe below). Tip: make double dinner like chicken thighs, sweet potato or beets and roasted broccoli or cauliflower so you have lunch lefties!
Overnight oats are one of my favourite make ahead healthy grab and go breakfasts!
Yogurt Overnight Oats with Nuts & Berries
Makes 4 servings (lasts four days in fridge)
1 cup Nut Milk (unsweetened, plain)
1 cup oatsÂ
1 1/3 cups Plain Greek Yogurt
2 tbsps. Chia Seeds
1 tbsps. Honey, Maple Syrup, Monkfruit or Coconut Sugar
1 tbsp. Cinnamon
1 cup Strawberries (chopped), or blueberries or raspberriesÂ
1 cup walnuts, pecans or almonds (chopped)
Method
Add the milk, oats, yogurt, chia seeds, honey, and cinnamon in a large container. Stir well to combine. Seal and place in the fridge overnight, or for at least eight hours.
Store in the fridge until ready to eat. Serve with berries and nuts enjoy!