During the middle of October I given the opportunity to take part in a 6 month “virtual internship” working with Allison Stevens, a Registered Dietitian based out of Austin, Texas. Allison started off her food and nutrition journey by attending culinary school before earning her masters in Nutrition Communication and becoming a Registered Dietitian. She now runs her own personal chef company, and recently expanded upon it further to include a weekly meal plan service, PrepDish, available to virtually anyone!
At the beginning of each month, Allison sends out an email that has every week’s plan attached. Each week comes with the list of meals, a grocery list, and planning and preparation instructions to make meal prep seamless and easy! The basis behind the meal plans is focused on taking just 1-2 hours on a Sunday to prep everything you need for the week, eliminating the stress of having to come up with dinner plans after you get home from work/school throughout the week. It takes the simpleness and ease of meal prep one step further, as you don’t even have to use any brain power to come up with what to make!
Each week’s plan covers 4 meals (lunch or dinner), breakfast for the whole week, salad, snacks, and even dessert! The individual meals aren’t set out to eat on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, so you can eat “Meal 4” on Monday if you want, “Meal 3” on Tuesday…you get the picture. I also like how it doesn’t cover every meal, as its flexibility takes into consideration that you may have other plans to eat out, cook your own meal, etc. The plans make enough for about 4 people, so if you don’t have that many mouths to feed leftovers would be great for lunch!!
All of the meals offered are gluten-free or Paleo, placing the focus on the consumption of “real, whole, and unprocessed foods”, which I think is something everyone can benefit from. Allison makes sure to plan the meals around items and produce that are in season at the time, making the meal plans more cost efficient and seasonal. I myself have been trying to focus on consuming more real and whole foods as opposed to processed foods, and these meal plans grant me an easy way to do so.
As an intern of Allison’s I was interested in trying out a meal plan for myself, so throughout this upcoming week I will be posting the yummy meals that I make from the first week of her November plan on both my Instagram (@foodfitnessandfaith), as well as a few blog posts!
As an idea, here are some of the meals from the month of October:
- Chicken, Mushroom, & Red Potato Bake
- Baked Chicken with Pesto & Roasted Mushrooms, Broccoli & Tomatoes
- Mixed Greens with Apples, Cherries, Cheddar & Almonds
- Turkey Taco Soup
- Almond Butter Brownies (yes, desserts are included!!)
It all sounds so delicious and fancy, but doable at the same time, right? Signing up is easy if you head to her website; month to month meal plans are $14/month, but if you buy a whole year up front for $99, it averages out to $8.25/month!
However, Allison has offered a super sweet and generous GIVEAWAY to my faithful Instagram followers! One lucky follower will win 3 MONTHS WORTH OF FREE MEAL PLANS–gluten-free or Paleo!
On Sunday (November 2nd), I will post a picture on Instagram that counts as the official giveaway post. All YOU have to do is:
1) follow my foodie instagram @foodfitnessandfaith
2) “like” the giveaway post
3) leave a comment answering the question “What is your favorite thing about the holiday season?” 🙂
That’s it! The giveaway will be over Saturday, November 7th at 11:59 PM, and the lucky winner will be announced NEXT Sunday, November 8th and will then receive their first month of free meal plans!!! I’m super excited that Allison is allowing me to take part in this giveaway, and hope that everyone takes the opportunity to enter the giveaway! If you don’t win and find that you want more information about what she has to offer, give her site a visit at PrepDish.com.
