The Meal Plan #8
Full week of easy high-protein recipes featuring a healthier Charcuterie Board!
Hey everybody! Thanks for stopping by to read the latest edition of The Meal Plan series. Sorry for the delay with this week’s newsletter. I had family in town and remembered that spending time with loved ones is precious.
Since I was busy entertaining, this past week has been cooking on lazy mode. Every now and then I just need some food that doesn’t require a lot of steps. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we don’t have all the time in the world to put together culinary masterpieces. That’s why I’ve chosen these foolproof meals for the lazy cook in all of us to make life easier and keep things interesting. Let me know if you end up making any of these!
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Breakfast
Premier Protein Chocolate Almond Cereal
52G Protein Per Bowl | 525 Calories
I’m always on the hunt looking for protein cereals that are actually edible. Some part of me just doesn’t want to give up, even after trying multiple protein cereals that gave my taste buds trauma. I found this one recently at Walmart and it’s actually pretty decent considering the macros. The particular ones I tried were the chocolate almond and mixed berry almond version. Both were successful at erasing my cereal craving. Don’t get me wrong though, this cereal isn’t amazing by any stretch of the imagination. It’s pure protein, low sugar, and has very little fat so you can only expect so much with that setup. I’d much rather have this though than consume morning protein shakes, so it’s perfect for my needs.
Lunch
Charcuterie Board
32G Protein Per Serving | 560 Calories | 10 Minutes
Chances are if you love wine then you also love a good charcuterie board to pair it with. It’s like an adult version of Lunchables. You’ve got the freedom to decide how you want to eat your food. There are no rules because a charcuterie board is all about playing around and discovering the combinations that you like.
The best part is there’s no actual cooking involved since it’s just a compilation of finger foods. On paper, it sounds like the perfect meal but the high amount of fat from the usual cured meats and decadent cheeses is not ideal for a weekday lunch. That’s why this version has most of the ingredients swapped out with relatively lower-calorie alternatives. The ingredients in the list below are just my suggestions, so feel free to get creative and add your own spin on it.
If you don’t have a cutting board, you can easily add this to a larger-sized meal prep container, or flat serving dish.
Ingredient List
2 10 Ounce Packs Multigrain Crackers
12 Ounces of Sliced Ham
8 Ounce Container Neufchatel Cheese
8 Ounce Container Pub Cheese
1 Jar Cornichon or Gherkin Pickles
1 Can of Sliced Black Olives
1 Jar of Apple or Fig Butter
1 Jar of Low-Sugar Fruit Preserves
1 Jar Ajvar (Red Pepper Spread)
Prep Instructions
Make The Board 🧀
Lay your slices of meat down the middle of a cutting board into three separate lines.
Place your cheese, spreads, and olives to the right of the meats in three small piles.
Add your preserves, butter, and pickles to the left of the meats in three small piles.
Serve your board with multigrain crackers on the side and try mixing different ingredients together as you eat!
Dinner
Dolsot Bibimbap
41G Protein Per Serving | 608 Calories | 40 Minutes
When I was a kid, I absolutely hated eating vegetables. During dinner, I went as far as putting them in the corner of my mouth and leaving it there like I was a chipmunk hoarding nuts. Later on, I would check to see if the coast was clear in the kitchen and presume to get rid of the evidence by kindly showing them the trash. For many years I just assumed vegetables were gross until I eventually tried Bibimbap. It was then I realized I like seasoned vegetables, rather than the overly salty or slimy variety that I had previously encountered.
Bibimbap, in my humble opinion, can make anyone love vegetables because it doesn’t use your run-of-the-mill canned vegetables. There’s a mix of fermented, earthy, and fresh vegetables that are sure to please the eye and palette alike. Dolsot Bibimbap is basically the same as regular Bibimbap, but with rice that has a crispy bottom. This is done by briefly frying the rice in a bit of oil. In the picture, you may notice I’m using a black clay pot which is a common way to make the rice crispy and serve the dish. It’s a nice-to-have tool for this recipe, but not absolutely necessary. There will be instructions below to make the rice in a similar manner.
Another thing to note is that the vegetables and meat are customizable. If you don’t like kimchi for example, you can swap it out with another vegetable like sauteed spinach or zucchini.
Ingredient List
Vegetables and Rice
4 Cups Cooked Jasmine Rice
2 Packs of Sliced Shitake Mushrooms
1 Pack of Shredded Carrots
1 Container Kimchi
1 Pack of Chopped Green Onions
Avocado Oil Spray
Salt and pepper to taste
Marinated Meat
2 lbs Lean Pork Loin Chops Cubed
2 1/2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Mirin
3 Tsp Swerve Brown Sugar
2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
Gochujang Sauce
3 Tbsp Gochujang
2 Tbsp Sugar-Free Maple Syrup
2 Tsp Rice Vinegar
1 Tsp Honey
1/4 Tsp Sesame Oil
1 Tsp Water
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
Sprinkle Sesame Seeds
Cooking Instructions
Marinate The Pork 🐷
Combine all ingredients under the marinated meat list. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 20 minutes or so.
Make The Sauce 🥣
Mix all ingredients under the sauce list in a bowl. Set aside.
Saute The Vegetables 🍄
Preheat a wok or pan over medium-high heat with avocado oil spray.
Add in the sliced mushrooms. Season lightly with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Set aside on a plate.
Repeat the previous step with the kimchi and then the carrots. Make sure to add additional avocado oil spray each time.
Cook The Pork 🍖
Preheat the same pan over medium-high heat and add the cubed pork.
Let the meat sear for about a minute and then begin stirring the meat.
Continue to cook the pork for 4-5 minutes until it reaches 145 degrees and there is no pink showing.
Fry Egg & Rice 🍳
Preheat a pan with avocado oil spray and crack in an egg.
Fry the egg to your preferred doneness. Set aside.
Add one tsp of sesame oil to the same pan.
Press the rice to the bottom of the pan and let it fry for 5-6 minutes. Take out of the pan once the bottom is golden brown.
Assemble The Bowl 🍜
Place the cooked rice in a shallow bowl. Top with the cooked pork, vegetables, and green onions.
Add the fried egg on top and spoon a tablespoon or two of the sauce into the bowl.
Mix everything together and enjoy your Bibimbap!
Alternate Meal
Chicken Caesar Wrap
25G Protein Per Wrap | 449 Calories | 20 Minutes
America loves to eat chicken that’s in a wrap and it’s evident just by looking at fast-food menus across the country. Every major fast-food place I’ve seen has had some version of a chicken wrap at one point or another. This very month, Wendy’s released a new set of chicken wraps that look oddly similar to the ones they’ve had on their menu previously. I’ve never understood why these places consistently discontinue their wraps only to mysteriously bring them back later. Perhaps, it’s because the same item ends up having a new hefty price tag, without an additional hefty serving of chicken.
Needless to say, I tire of these games that they play with us as consumers. Some chicken in a wrap doesn’t need to be over $6 bucks and it certainly doesn’t need to be a calorie bomb. Using frozen chicken tenders with decent calories, an appropriate-sized wrap, and low-calorie Caesar dressing will give you that same fast-food experience in no time.
Here are a few options for low-calorie dressing to get you started: Bolthouse Farms, Ken’s Steak House, and Trader Joe’s (my favorite).
Ingredient List
8 Nine Inch Tortilla Wraps
2 lbs Frozen Breaded Chicken Tenders or Filets
20 Ounces Romaine Lettuce
1 10 Ounce Pack Chopped Cherry Tomatoes
1 Bottle Low-Fat Caesar Dressing
1 4.5 Ounce Pack Croutons
2 Tsp Olive Oil
1 Tsp Black Pepper
3-4 Tsp Parmesan Cheese
Cooking Instructions
Prep The Chicken Tenders 🐔
Cook the frozen chicken tenders according to package directions.
Slice the cooked chicken tenders into bite-sized pieces.
Create The Salad 🥗
Add the romaine lettuce, chopped cherry tomatoes, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and black pepper in a mixing bowl.
Toss everything together with 1/2 cup of Caesar dressing.
Make The Wrap 🌯
Damp a paper towel by briefly running it under water from the sink.
Add two tortillas to a plate and cover it with a damp paper towel. Microwave on high for 30 seconds.
Put 1 Tbsp of the tortilla and spread it down the middle.
Add your salad, followed by the chicken, and then a few croutons.
Top with an additional dressing if desired. Wrap everything together and enjoy!
Dessert
Lenny & Larry’s Complete Cookie-fied Bar
12G Protein Per Bar | 170 Calories
Similar to protein cereal, I like trying different protein bars that I can use as grab-n-go desserts. There are so many protein bars flooding the market at this point that not even Noah’s Ark could save you from the choice overload. At one point, Lenny & Larry’s was one of the only choices for protein goods. The only issue is that their flagship products like Complete Cookies were always too high in sugar and calories for me. The whole cookie is over 400 calories with 25g of sugar! That’s why I was presently surprised to find this downsized version of one of their protein cookies.
It’s not the highest protein bar out there, but it tastes pretty good considering it’s a fully plant-based and vegan bar. If I had to describe to you how it actually tastes, I’d say it’s somewhere between a brownie with cookie mix-ins. Doesn’t taste like an actual cookie, so if you’re wanting something more akin to that then I’d pass on this. All in all, I could see myself keeping these in my weekly dessert rotation.
If you’ve made it this far, you’re the best! Thanks for being here. I hope you enjoyed reading this newsletter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Check out my last newsletter for more meal ideas which include this wonderful high-protein Hummus Plate.
Eat Well,
Marcus Matkins
Thanks Marcus, I tried these meals and I love them. The wrap is the bomb!!!!