Quick Healthy Meal Prep Ideas for Weight Loss
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| Quick Healthy Meal Prep Ideas for Weight Loss |
With these simple meal prep ideas, breakfast, lunch and dinner are all taken care of. With just three steps or less, these recipes can also be made ahead of time, making them perfect for busy weeknights. Plus, these foods are high in fiber and low in calories, a combination that can help maintain your weight loss if that's your thing. Recipes like our Slimming Cabbage Soup and Mocha Overnight Oats are nutritious and filling meals that can help you reach your nutritional goals.
Weight-Loss Cabbage Soup
This healthy cabbage soup recipe with cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes and lots of spices is packed with flavor and incredibly filling. This easy recipe makes a large portion for lunch or a veggie-filled snack throughout the week. If you want to increase the satisfaction factor even more, top it with cheese or avocado.
What's in a Cabbage Soup Diet Recipe?
There are tons of dietary cabbage soup recipes out there, and they all have one (obvious) ingredient in common: cabbage. Cabbage is low in calories and high in fiber, which can help keep you full and feeling satisfied. Culinary-wise, cabbage is relatively bland compared to some of its cruciferous cousins such as cabbage and broccoli. These, along with other non-starchy vegetables like bell peppers, celery and carrots, make them the perfect addition to low-calorie soups. To cut calories even further, a diet cabbage soup recipe like this one includes stock. The sodium in this recipe is maintained by using low-sodium broth and a small amount of salt. White wine vinegar adds a bit of nutty flavor which helps balance the taste.
Can I make cabbage soup for weight loss?
When you try the cabbage soup diet, you will quickly find that you want to have lots of cabbage soup. Luckily, it's easy to get ahead. Soup can be made four days in advance and refrigerated or frozen for up to three months. You can cut it into individual serving sizes before storing it so it's ready to serve.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon ground pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
8 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 medium head green cabbage, halved and sliced
1 large tomato, chopped
2 teaspoons white-wine vinegar
Directions
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables begin to soften, 6 to 8 minutes. Add bell pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning, pepper and salt and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Add broth, cabbage and tomato; increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, partially cover and cook until all the vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar