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⋆˚࿔ an angels guide: meal prepping + healthy eating
hi angels! eating healthily is always a priority for me, especially in the new year. here’s a little guide to how you can do the same in a quick, easy way perfect for anyone working or in school and looking to make easy changes! this post will detail meal prepping/planning, my personal tips, a look at my weekly shop and food essentials + a little look at what i eat in a week + some of my fave meals.
meal prepping + planning
meal prepping can be a little stigmatised. its sometimes considered to be something gym bros fixate on or something that takes lots of time and investment for a meal that’s not the best… but meal prep can be a really easy, affordable way to ensure your diet fits your individual health goals. whether its to build muscle, eat more fibre or just have a healthier lifestyle meal prepping is perfect! as a busy university student, i love to meal prep at the weekend to get me ready for the week ahead.
overall advice
- look for meal inspo from pinterest/tiktok. find chefs, blogs or cook books that you like and enjoy following. create a folder on your phone or a notes page full of the recipes you love so you can make them again and again! bonus - you could even get creative and make your own recipe book, whether digital or physical.
- find recipes that have similar ingredients. for example, if im having broccoli one night ill find ways to include that in other meals, saving me money and preventing ingredient waste!
- make a vision board/pinterest page/mind map with all your health and meal goals to help keep you disciplined and on track.
- figure out your goals and activity level for the week and plan around that. do you have a particularly busy weekend? ensure your meals fit your predicted energy levels and the amount of activity you intend to do.
- identify for your diet goals. at the moment im trying to up my vegetable + fruit intake, eat more fibre and reduce the amount of processed foods + sugar i eat, so my meal plan reflects that.
- 80/20 is more sustainable than ‘cheat’ days. for me this isn’t supposed to be a crash diet, its a lifestyle and you don’t cheat on a lifestyle. i like going out and i love baking, i enjoy going out for dinner so i prefer to eat in line with my health goals for 80% of the week with an allowance for a potential 20% where i don’t. its unsustainable to believe you can immediately eliminate x food group or eat x amount of calories. the goal should be to allow yourself the grace to create a new lifestyle.
- figure out just how far you want to prep/plan. i personally prep my lunches in advance, breakfasts when i do plan on having breakfast (usually not hungry enough to have breakfast in the mornings) and rarely if ever my dinners. but for some people with less time, prepping every meal may be extremely helpful and completely doable!
- get good quality containers, especially for in the fridge/freezer. my favourites tend to be anything made of glass or that’s fairly durable - bonus points if its link of course
my personal tips
- have easy snacks prepped on hand. i always pre wash and prep fruits and veggies to keep in the fridge and sometimes make a special healthy treat for during the week!
- choose recipes you know you’ll enjoy. for example, if you love ramen, find a recipe that allows you to make it healthily and easily at home. its a waste of time and ingredients to cook something you know you’ll end up hating. find or make healthier versions of snacks you love!
- pre-prepare ingredients where you can. mince garlic or onions in advance, pre peel veggies and prep any ingredients the night/morning before.
- bring your own lunches/snacks to school or work, do what you can to make your diet transitions as smooth and easy as possible! i often make little study snack boxes for long sessions in the library to keep me on track and energised!
- make healthy swaps where you can. i used to drink alot of coffee and energy drinks and while im still prone to the occasional sugar redbull, i now make my own healthy gatorade and drink matcha and green tea instead. not only has it helped my skin and sleep but i feel so much more positive!
weekly food shop + food essentials
i always focus on five key groups when i plan my food shop. ill break down the 5 here. just a quick note - these are suggestions of what works best for me and what i really enjoy eating! they might not work best for you - all of our health requirements and bodies are completely different!
1. vegetables/fruits
this is probably my fave section - im such a fruit girl! i love eating as many veggies as i can and most of my meals tend to be vegetable/fruit heavy.
example shopping list:
- cucumber (an essential for me).
- broccoli
- sweet potatoes (so so versatile!).
- carrots.
- kale.
- rocket/a leafy green.
- peas (especially frozen!).
- fresh ginger. + garlic.
- avocado.
- fresh herbs.
- grapefruit.
- berries.
- kiwi (so good for digestion!).
- pineapple.
(obviously my list switches every week! but these are some staples for me).
2. protein sources
- chicken breasts (basically always in my fridge/freezer).
- salmon.
- prawns (a staple for me! can be frozen, super versatile).
- tofu.
- eggs.
- beans (chickpeas, lentils, black beans etc i love beans!).
- tuna.
- cottage cheese.
- turkey bacon (not always a staple but something i really enjoy).
- skyr or fage 0%.
- edamame beans.
3. carb sources
- sourdough (my fave! fermented foods for the win).
- oats.
- quinoa.
- rice (rice bowls are a staple for me).
- potatoes.
4. other essentials
- kimchi or sauerkraut (again fermented foods always!!).
- honey.
- matcha.
- chia seeds.
- herbal teas (constantly drinking).
- dark chocolate.
- miso (just one of my favourite flavours).
- almond milk.
- pickles (fave snack).
- corn/ricecakes.
- sugar free granola or nuts/seeds (to top yogurt bowls).
- nut butters.
example - what i eat in a week
remember! everyone’s bodies need different things and this isn’t how every week of eating looks like for me! if you like the sound of any of the meals let me know - i can share recipes/links. i didnt include snacks but those will normally be fruit, veg etc. if you’d like a fully detailed breakdown of what i eat in a separate post let me know!
breakfasts (did not eat every day of the week but alternated between)
- vanilla chia seed pudding topped with berries + skyr.
- strawberry and banana overnight oats with cottage cheese.
lunches (alternated)
- zesty feta salad.
- ‘jennifer anniston’ salad.
dinner
- monday: salmon broccoli caesar salad.
- tuesday: spicy tunacado bowl.
- wednesday: tuscan white bean soup.
- thursday: buddha bowl.
- friday: bibimbap.
- saturday: kale and salmon salad.
- sunday: ‘sushi’ bowl
thank you for reading angels! i hope you enjoyed this and got lots of inspo - let me know if you want any recipes or have any questions/queries!
love, m.
🌟 Start Here: FOOD Plan Guide Before you dive in, a quick note: Not all of these lunch plans are designed with beginners in mind. Some are
This drive is constantly being updated.
Current as of 07/27/2026
Breakfast
Build a Breakfast Sandwich
Build a Breakfast Bento
Lunch
Over 100 one week lunch plans (I stopped counting) -Dietary Keto(7*) -Dietary Vegan(20*) -Dietary Vegetarian(13*) -Dietary Common Health Support(3) - Dietary Naturally Gluten Free (33*) - Disney Princess Lunch Series (18/18) w/ Infographics - Check the Tag "Princess Lunches" I have break downs of cost for some of them - D&D class Lunch Series (13/13) - Check out the tag "dnd lunch" I have the breakdown of cost for some of them - Fantasy Races Series (12/??) w/ Infographics - Historical "Warrior" lunch series (12/12) w/ Infographics - Enchanted Garden(Plant Based) (12/18) w/infographics - Zodiac Lunch Series (12/12) w/ Infographics - Main Character Energy Series(12/12) w/ Infographics Made with my youngest sister in mind. - Athletic Club Series (3/12) - World Food Markets(GF) (12/12)
Build a sandwich guide
Dinner
How to stretch a steak that's on sale(Or really any pound of meat)
Fresh and Low Budget Dinner plan
Dinner plans (2 servings, scale as needed) - 12 monthly 1-week plans - 12 monthly 1-week vegan plans - 4-week build-on-itself Dinner plan. w/ Infographics
Dorm
5 dinner plans
1 lunch plan
ramen remix guide
Low Spoons - ranked 1-5 spoons. Spoon ranking are for the prep day not the reheats Please note: Most of my meal plans are 4-5 spoons, the ones in my Low Spoons folder are 1-3
🥄 "From Packaged"
🥄🥄Rotisserie Chicken
🥄🥄 Ground Beef Plan
🥄🥄🥄Sheet Pan Sausage
Also there are other folders accessible from here. There's a Job, Health, Money, and Car folder if you click back to Adult Shit. * means there are plans in here that are repeats from other places in the drive. Example: A Vegetarian Meal in DnD would be copied to the Vegetarian folder
Do you like or dislike the various tasks involved in choosing what to eat each day? (Grocery shopping, meal planning, picking a restaurant, ordering off a menu, etc)
I always/nearly always like these tasks
I usually like these tasks, but occasionally dislike them
Approximately equal amounts of like and dislike
I usually DISLIKE these tasks, but occasionally like them
I always/nearly always DISLIKE these tasks
I don't view these tasks as a thing to like or dislike
Other/not applicable
Anon prefers getting to decide what they're going to eat, but they know multiple people who like not having to make that choice, who say it's hard to pick and it would be nice if they didn't have to think about it.
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We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.
This Easy to Make Recipe Keeps Me Going While I’m Living In a Car
So, everybody’s food situation is different, both in what they can obtain ingredient-wise and in what they need to/can eat. Take this recipe as an example of how to work with what you can get to make what you want to eat and apply that wisdom to your food situation. This recipe is intended for major mealtimes and is flexible enough that it can be breakfast, lunch or dinner. If you’re clever re-using your containers from other food you got, and you grab a few plastic utensils from a grocery store deli, you’ve got enough dishes to make it.
The problem we’ve been trying to solve while living homeless is how to prepare a regular meal with no kitchen or cooking equipment, using only shelf-stable ingredients obtainable via SNAP/food stamps/food pantries that can be bought at stores that are nearby. It turns out the most consistent protein we can get is canned or packaged cooked tuna, followed by canned/packaged cooked chicken. There’s a variant of canned tuna/chicken that comes in a plastic pouch and has no water/oil that you have to drain, and it’s what we prefer most. (Draining canned goods is one of the most annoying parts of cooking on the road, especially when it’s cold and no one wants to open the vehicle/tent to let out the warm air. It also leaves residue on the ground that can cause sanitation problems, attract pests, and make your presence in the area more conspicuous.) You can get the tuna/chicken in a pouch in many grocery stores, including Dollar Tree. The chicken can be harder to find.
What we ended up with is tuna/chicken salad with some variations. The most important thing is that we can serve it a variety of ways that keep it from getting boring. We usually get a loaf of bread from the food pantry, so obviously we have sandwiches sometimes. We keep a pack of flour tortillas on hand so we can have the tuna/chicken salad as tacos. Serving it on Pringles or the Dollar Tree equivalent makes for another good variation, and then you’re getting potatoes! I got a pack of crackers from an event I went to this week—it goes great with this recipe! By the way, some of our ingredient choices have to do with practicality. The Pringles tend to be the best chip/cracker due to their packaging protecting them so well, and you don’t have to worry about not squishing tortillas the way you have to be careful about not squishing a loaf of bread.
Another element of our food strategy is that we have some other go-to meals that we rotate into the meal plan so that this doesn’t get too dull and so that we have important variety in our nutrition. There are functions we can go to sometimes where they serve hot meals. Sometimes we each have a beef/meat stick as our protein for one meal instead of doing anything complicated. There’s a few other things we do. Sometimes we get eggs at the food pantry or we get some pre-boiled eggs from the store and we can throw that into the salad for a bonus. (If you need to figure out how to boil eggs while homeless then you're in luck because I already wrote about that!) As for sides, we tend to vary a few veggie-based snacks. And by the way, Doritos do have enough corn in them to count as a vegetable.
My biggest tip is to frequent the deli section of the grocery store for the non-hot meals and see what’s marked down. We often find macaroni salad or potato salad marked down for a couple bucks or even 99 cents. Those are eligible for SNAP in our area and the containers they come in are great for making tuna/chicken salad in. Also, you can add tuna or chicken to macaroni salad or potato salad and have a brand new protein-including meal with very little modification needed.
Seasoning! We keep mustard, mayonnaise, a pepper grinder, dill relish and italian dressing in our travel pantry. Vary these up depending on what you think is right. I’ll give some measurements for you but these are all estimates. No one has time to mess around with measuring spoons when they’re homeless. Anyway, keep these and a few other basic seasonings and condiments on hand and you can do a lot with whatever food happens to come your way.
Time to make food! Get your empty container and put the contents of the tuna/chicken pouch in it. (If you have a can instead, make sure to drain it first, and also, cans tend to have two times the food in them that pouches do, so keep in mind that the portion size will be affected.) By the way, if you have a boiled egg, you can toss it in at this step. Mash up the tuna/chicken (and maybe egg?) so that you don’t have chunks that are too big.
Next, add the pepper, mustard and relish. Mix them up. You do this before the other ingredients so that the seasoning actually contacts the protein more and flavors it. If you add the oily ingredients too early then the seasoning doesn’t actually get into the meat.
Put in the italian dressing next and then the mayonnaise. Stir those in. Taste test to see if you want to add some more of any given ingredient. We often add more pepper. The pepper has been the real savior of our recipes and it’s amazing how much a little seasoning can make something so much more edible. Flavor is important!
Something else that’s important before I get to the ingredients list: I have a tip jar and it’s one of my only sources of income right now. If you found this article useful then please tip me if you can!
Ingredients:
1 packet/can of tuna or chicken (if using a can, the recipe’s size is almost doubled)
1 boiled egg (optional)
1 tbsp mustard
1 tsp ground pepper (black or rainbow)
1 tbsp dill relish
1 tbsp italian dressing
3 tbsp mayonnaise
Bread/tortillas/chips/crackers as desired
That’s it! Go forth, my friends, and eat! Be inspired to make food that is better for you than a gas station hot dog! And good luck on your journey, wherever life’s taking you.
Choose one food to eat with every meal for the rest of your life:
bananas / plantains
beans
chicken
corn
eggs
milk / cheese
oats
onions
potatoes
rice
wheat
yams
* You can also eat other foods in addition to this one. You can eat this food in any form including products and refinements (oil, powder, broth, etc). If you fail to eat this food for 12 hours you will die.
