MEAL PREP: TERIYAKI CHICKEN THIGHS, QUINOA FRIED RICE, STIR FRY VEGGIES

This is one of my favorite go to ideas for meal prep - it is easy to prepare, all tastes great together, and a good balance between meat, veggies, and healthy carbs. Also maybe it's because I love teriyaki chicken ... but who doesn't?! ​I prepped this exactly as below and brought it to work for 5 days of lunches and it was good until day 5 (made on Sunday - last ate on Friday)! If you make this exactly as I did I would recommend starting with the quinoa so you can allow it to cool (per instructions) while you work on the chicken for best use of your time! I hope y'all enjoy this easy meal prep as much as I do! 

MAIN: TERIYAKI CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 chicken breast or 2 chicken thighs per day. 
• 1/2 cup teriyaki marinade
• 1/4-1/2 cup teriyaki glaze
• Optional: sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400'.
2. While oven is preheating (or up to a night before) place chicken in a large ziplock without about 1/2 cup marinade. Shake up to season the chicken. 
3. Place tinfoil or silicone mat over a baking tray (teriyaki tends to burn in oven, so this keeps your pan clean but is not a requirement). Place chicken on baking tray & set timer for 20 minutes. 
4. Cooking time for chicken will depend on if you are using breasts or thighs and how thick they are - for the most tender meat I recommend checking at 20 minutes and using a meat thermometer to see if it is done. Your chicken should be 165'. If it's under cooked leave it in after the 20 minutes, checking every 3 minutes or so until at temperature. 
5. Remove from oven and baste some of the teriyaki glaze on top of your chicken. Sprinkle sesame seeds optionally. 
6. Add to meal prep containers & set aside to cool. 

SIDE 1: QUINOA FRIED RICE

For the full blog post on this recipe click here!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup quinoa, dry
• 1 tbsp olive or sesame oil
• 1 egg
• 1/4-1/2 16oz. bag frozen veggie blend
• 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

*Note, pictured is a double recipe. 
1 cup dry quinoa prepares 3 cups cooked. You can easily double this recipe to get the 6 cups as pictured. 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook quinoa per package instructions and set aside to cool for 30 minutes. (We don't want to move on to frying the quinoa until it has cooled a little bit as it tends to get mushy)! 
2. Add olive oil to a medium / large skillet and turn up to medium heat. Add in frozen vegetable mix and saute a couple minutes until defrosted. 
3. Scoot veggies to one side of skillet and crack your egg in the other side, stirring up into a scramble. 
4. Stir scrambled egg and veggies together and add your quinoa to the skillet. 
5. Evenly sprinkle your soy sauce over the quinoa and stir up. 
6. Turn skillet to medium high, stirring quinoa constantly to fry just a minute or two- we don't want it to burn, but just get that slightly fried taste. 
7. Remove from heat, serve up, and enjoy! 

SIDE 2: STIR FRY VEGGIES

INGREDIENTS:

• 3-5 cups stir-fry vegetable blend. You can typically find these prepacked in vegetable section of your grocery store, exact quantity here just depends on how much you want per day! 
• OR chopped broccoli, cauliflower, and sliced carrots. (Feel free to substitute for vegetables of choice). 
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp stir fry sauce, or soy sauce. 
• Optional: pinch of red pepper flakes to add some spice! 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add olive oil & veggies to a skillet (*hint: if you like your veggies on the softer side, also add about 1/2 cup of water to your skillet to steam them a bit). ​
2. Cook over medium heat until water boils out, OR if you prefer your veggies with more crunch just saute until olive oil is evenly distributed. 
3. Add in stir fry sauce or soy sauce - you can always add more of these for taste preference. 
4. Saute of medium heat until veggies start to brown. 
5. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes if you like a little heat. 
6. Divvy up amongst containers & enjoy!