​About this recipe though... I wrote in parenthesis below, but I will typically increase the chicken amount to anywhere between 6-7 lbs since I am meal prepping for 3 people, and I love having extra for dinner when needed. If you don't need that much chicken though, just use the suggested 2.5-3 lbs as the recipe calls for below. No need to adjust anything else, although sometimes since I have so much chicken I'll increase the oil and spices some. This is a low fat and carb chicken recipe, so it definitely needs to be paired with a carb and vegetable of your choice, which you can then load with more fat according to your goals. I typically bake sweet potatoes to go with this buffalo chicken, and will roast some broccoli with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and salt to complete the meal. If you need even more fat, I suggest increasing the coconut oil in the buffalo chicken, throwing some ghee or nut butter on your sweet potato, definitely using EVOO (or bacon fat 🥓) to saute or roast your vegetable of choice in, or top everything with a fried egg or two. The options are endless! This meal is typically what I eat before I head to the gym, so it's higher protein and carb, and low fat. If all this macro talk is going over your head though, don't pay any attention to it. The point of this post is to show how incredibly easy bulk making something delicious for your lunches all week is. That knocks out one meal on track everyday! If you are looking for more specific guidance then check out the nutrition coaching tab and send me a message!

Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:

• 2.5 - 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (I use closer to 6 lbs)
• 1 bottle hot sauce (I used PaleoChef Wing Sauce, or you can simply use Frank's RedHot Original as well!)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne
• 6 sweet potatoes (or however many you need)
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch, mixed with 1 tablespoon water to create a slurry*
• Chopped green onions, for serving

Directions:

1. Place the chicken in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
2. Place coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup. Microwave until the coconut oil is melted (about 45 seconds), then stir until smooth.
3. Mix the the hot sauce, salt, garlic powder, and cayenne in with the coconut oil.
4. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the Instant Pot, place the vent to “sealing” position, and set it on manual for 25 minutes.
5. While the chicken is cooking you can bake the sweet potatoes: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork, then place them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending upon the size of your sweet potato. (I always buy large ones, so they can take me anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half to bake.)
6. When the chicken is finished cooking, you can either use the natural or quick stream release method. Shred the chicken inside the pot (it easily shreds when I press down on the chicken with my wooden spatula).
7. Once the chicken is shredded and while the sweet potatoes are baking, mix the arrowroot starch and 1 tablespoon water together to create a slurry.* Add it to the liquid in the Instant Pot, and mix around to combine. Put the Instant Pot on "Saute" mode and continue to mix the chicken around every so often until sauce thickens and reduces.
8. Split open the sweet potatoes, then top with the Buffalo chicken, and green onions. Enjoy!

Notes:
*You don't absolutely need the arrowroot starch - it just helps thicken the sauce some. If you do not use it, you can still put the cooked chicken on "Saute" mode in your Instant Pot to thicken the sauce. It usually takes me around 10 minutes when I don't use the arrowroot starch.

Original recipe found here

Oh my goodness this meal was seriously incredible! 100% worth purchasing the dried galangal, fish sauce, and coconut aminos if you don't have those more specialty ingredients. I linked them all to Amazon, but you can probably get them cheaper in stores, well at least the coconut aminos that is. I didn't chance trying to find the dried galangal in the store though and just got some off Amazon. The good thing is that this meal was THAT amazing that I will be making this again like next week, so I'll put these ingredients to use. I increased the chicken to closer to 6 lbs, so I doubled the ingredients below. Instead of putting 8 slices of bacon in the Instant Pot though, I fried 4 of them in frying pan, then wilted the baby kale in the leftover bacon fat. Super easy vegetable pairing, plus this gave me some extra crispy bacon to top the meal with. I also heated up a few bags of plain frozen cauliflower rice, which is hidden under all that chicken. If you couldn't tell already, frozen cauliflower rice is my go-to vegetable for meal prep. Remember not all frozen cauliflower rice is created equal though. Check the ingredients on the back of the package and make sure you pick one that just has vegetables listed. Also, for all those Instant Pot users who think we need to add at least 1 cup of liquid to the pot in order to cook (no, just me?), apparently we were wrong. Since the chicken and pineapple release plenty of fluid, no need to worry about adding more liquid. If you are a sweet and salty person, then this is the meal for you! If you like quick and easy one pot Instant Pot meals, then this is the meal for you! If you like really incredible tasting meals for meal prep, then this is the meal for you! But really, this was so delicious.

Instant Pot Pineapple Chicken
Ingredients:

• 3 pounds chicken breast
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 slices bacon
• 1 1/2 cups diced fresh pineapple
• 1 cup diced yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
• 3 1/2 teaspoons Red Boat fish sauce, divided
• 1 piece dried galangal or 2-inch piece peeled ginger root
• 4 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

1. Place chicken in Instant Pot insert. Sprinkle with sea salt and layer bacon on top. Add in pineapple, onion, aminos, fish sauce and galangal or ginger.
2. Seal the lid and set "Manual" pressure cooking timer to 25 minutes. Once timer elapses, release pressure valve and open the lid.
3. Carefully transfer contents of pot with a slotted spoon, leaving the liquid in the pot, to a large glass bowl.
4. Turn the Instant Pot “Saute” function on. Add the garlic and remaining 1 ½ teaspoons fish sauce to the cooking liquid. Allow the sauce to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, reduce slightly, and turn a golden yellow.
5. Meanwhile, shred the chicken with the pineapple, onions and bacon with two forks until finely shredded.
6. Pour the reduced sauce from the pot over the shredded chicken and stir well to immerse the meat. Serve warm with cauliflower rice, steamed kale, and fried plantains.

​
Original recipe found here

A really simple one pan meal prep! The recipe I followed below calls for ground turkey, but ground beef was on sale so I went with that instead. To shred the Brussels simply throw them in a food processor and pulse until they are shredded to your liking. To save some prep time I also threw the bell peppers in the processor too to dice up real tiny as well. If you don't have a food processor then check out the produce section for some already shredded Brussels, if you don't mind spending a little extra $$. I prepped all the vegetables the night before and that made this recipe even easier to throw together real quick. I thought this meal turned out delicious and loved that it had a little kick to it. You can also throw in some rice with this to get more carbs if you need it, Definitely a recipe worth making for meal prep!

Ground Turkey Brussels Sprouts Skillet
​Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons coconut oil, divided
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 pound ground turkey
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt, adjust to taste
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 bell pepper, diced
• 1 pound brussels sprouts, shredded

Directions:

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and stir-fry for 5 minutes or until the onions are soft.
3. Then add the ground turkey, garlic and spices and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the meat is completely cooked through and no longer pink.
4. Set some of the meat aside in a bowl to make room for the brussels sprouts.
5. Melt the remaining coconut oil in the skillet and add brussels sprouts and a bell pepper. Stir-fry for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
6. Add the meat back into the pan and mix well. Serve.

Original recipe found here

Oh my gosh!!! This was the BOMB. So much flavor, so many fun and tasty ingredients, and so not that hard to make! To make prep a little easier I bought matchstick carrots and frozen plain riced cauliflower. I also used dried unsweetened cranberries instead of cherries because I could not find dried cherries anywhere (well at least ones without sugar added). My recommendation is to go out and get your grocery shopping done the day or night before, prep this recipe first thing the next morning, and throw it in the slow cooker for the rest of the day to cook. My favorite meal prep days are the ones where I get something knocked out right away instead of waiting all day to get started on everything. Always a good move to find a way to break the cooking up instead of slaying it in the kitchen for 3 hours. Anyways though, this meal was seriously amazing. Don't be intimidated by all the ingredients and give it a try! I promise you will be  extremely pleased to eat this for lunch all week long!

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken with Chopped Almonds, Apricots and Cauliflower “Couscous”
Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, skins removed (I used boneless)
• Salt and pepper (to initially season the chicken)
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper
• 1/2 cup unsalted chicken stock
• 1/4 cup unsalted natural almond butter
• 6 ounces unsweetened dried apricots
• 1 pound baby carrots

For the Cauliflower Couscous

• 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened dried cherries (I used dried unsweetened cranberries)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Zest of one lemon

For the Garnish

• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted (I omitted these)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper then add half of the chicken to the pot. Cook for 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Transfer the chicken to a slow cooker and repeat with remaining chicken.
2. Return the pot to the stove and add onion and garlic and sauté for three minutes or until tender. Add the ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper and sauté for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
3. Stir in chicken stock and almond butter, scraping pot to loosen any browned bits. Pour contents of pot over chicken into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for five hours.
4. Add the apricots and baby carrots to the slow cooker, cover and cook an additional hour.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the cauliflower “couscous.” Grate cauliflower by running the florets through a food processor with a grating attachment or use a box grater to create rice-like pieces. Pick out any large fragments that didn’t get shredded and save for another use. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for 2 minutes, then add the cauliflower, salt and pepper. Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender. Stir in the cherries, basil, cilantro and lemon zest.
6. Garnish the chicken with toasted, sliced almonds and fresh cilantro. Serve over cauliflower couscous.

Note: To toast almonds, spread them in an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 5 minutes.

Original recipe found here

This turned out absolutely delicious! I do want to note that there was some prep for this one though and you do need to let the chicken marinate before throwing in the Instant Pot (or slow cooker). I totally forgot about having to marinate the chicken, so just wanted to throw that disclaimer out right away to help make sure no one else makes the same mistake. Nothing worse then picking an Instant Pot recipe thinking you'll be quick in the kitchen, only to find that you needed to do a little more prep ahead of time. Anyways though, the ingredient's below are based off 8 servings, but the original recipe link also below gives you the option to change serving size if you need to adjust. I love any recipes that have a lot of sauce to it because I can simply heat up some bags of riced cauliflower (for this meal I tried Green Giant® Riced Veggies Cauliflower with Lemon & Garlic) and easily pair that with the meal to make for an extremely easy meal prep. You can also throw in regular rice as well to get some more carbohydrates if you need them. Overall, I thought this Indian Chicken Vindaloo turned out amazing and I will definitely be making it again!

Instant Pot Indian Chicken Vindaloo 
Ingredients:

• 2 cup diced onion
• 10 cloves garlic
• 4-6 slices minced ginger
• 2 tablespoon coconut oil
• 0.5 cup white vinegar (I used coconut vinegar)
• 2 cup chopped tomato
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon Garam Masala (or make your own: 1 part cumin plus 1/4 part allspice)
• 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 - 4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to desired spice level)
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 pound chicken thighs, boneless skinless
• 0.5 cup water

Directions:

1. In a large microwave safe bowl, heat the onions, garlic, ginger and oil for 5 -7 minutes until the vegetables are browned on the edges. (I threw in a stir fry pan on medium-low heat until soft instead.)
2. Pour this into a blender and combine with all other ingredients except turmeric, water and chicken. Blend this to a smooth paste.
3. Place chicken in the bowl you used earlier, and pour the spice and vegetable mix it, mixing well to coat the chicken. Wash out the blender bowl with the 1/2 cup water and pour that over the chicken as well.
4. Add turmeric now (adding it earlier could stain your blender bowl) and marinate for 30 mins to 8 hours.
5. Pour the chicken and marinade into your Instant Pot.
6. Cook on High Pressure for 10-15 minutes, and allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes. Release remaining pressure.
7. Depending on your chicken and how much water it releases, you may need to remove the chicken pieces and evaporate some of the water by using the Sauté function to cook the sauce down.

Original recipe found here