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beginner meal prep: birthday coldfoam, breakfast sandwiches, waldorf chicken & cookies and cream poptart ice cream sammies
- Nicole Cappetta
- Apr 22
- 9 min read
each week I prep a coldfoam (for my coffee), breakfast, lunch & a silly little treat to make eating easier during the work week. It has been so helpful I've now made it my mission to inspire all my besties to meal prep. So I designed this weekly meal prep to be a perfect first meal prep for my bestie who is just looking to get started on their meal prep journey. my intentions were to keep the cooking to a minimum, not too much chopping & minimal steps to throw everything together the day of. and if I am being honest, I did just that!
cook time: 90 minutes to 2 hours grocery budget: $60-80 difficulty: beginner :)
this week's menu
coldfoam: birthday cake coldfoam
silly little treat: cookies & cream poptart ice cream sandwiches
as someone who has followed a ton of recipes before.
I hate having to scroll to find what I am looking for,
so before we get into things let me offer you a spot to jump to a specific part,
if that's your thing:
jump to:
meal plan & grocery list
we both don't need to write a grocery list and I already wrote one, so feel free to steal mine please.
the lore of the meal plan
each friday I sit down for 30 minutes and plan my meals for the week, including a coldfoam, breakfast and lunch for myself, and 4-5 dinners and silly little treat for the whole family. and then I write my grocery list!
this is essential because it not only makes a week of cooking at home easier, it also means less decisions during the busy work week & staying on budget (most times)
grocery list
I wrote down literally everything you'll need for this meal prep
download the grocery list below and get to shopping!
grab your own grocery notepad for future planning:
kitchen tools
here is a list of all the tools you'll need or want to complete this meal prep
blender
immersion blender or electric whisk
strainer
ice cream scooper
baking dish
square dish for breakfast sausage
rectangle dish for eggs
baking dish large enough for 2 chicken breasts
electric mixer (optional)
parchament paper
aluminum foil
storage containers (3)
glass jar with a top
meal prep step by step guide
don't worry bestie, I am going to walk you through this entire meal prep step by step! and I made sure to add them in expandable lists to hopefully help with the scroll and make things easier to navigate. if you prefer to watch the FULL 5 minute tutorial: click here
step 1: prep & begin baking chicken: waldorf chicken salad
my first instinct is to always get something in the oven first before diving into prep, I like to use the time while this first thing is cooking to chop and prep the remaining ingredients.
preheat oven to 400 degrees F
add 2 chicken breasts to a greased oven safe baking dish
season with salt, pepper and garlic powder on both sides
add to oven, once preheated, and bake for 30-40 minutes or until cooked all the way through
now you're ready to move to step 2...
step 2: get eggs & sausage in the oven: pesto breakfast sandwiches
starting the components of the breakfast sandwiches is the next step.
crack 1 dozen eggs in a large bowl
add 1/4 cup milk of choice & mix together
in a parchament lined baking dish - add 1 handful of spinach and pour egg mixture over the spinach
season eggs with salt and pepper
bake in the oven for 12 -15 minutes
add ground breakfast sausage to another baking dish. use parchament paper to smush down pork into patties thickness
bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes
be sure to keep your timers straight! If you get to prepping the eggs right after getting the chicken in the oven, the timer's can line up for the chicken & egg patties. then just add 10 or so minutes for the sausage to finish up after removing the eggs and chicken.
step 3: prep & store birthday cake coldfoam
while the chicken, eggs and sausage are cooking lets get the coldfoam knocked out!
in a blender or food processor: add 1 cup of milk and a slice of your favorite birthday cake. blend until fully incorporated.
strain milk to remove cake chunks (I like to strain it directly into the glass jar I'll be using to store the coldfoam)
add in 1 cup of heavy cream
use immersion blender or electric whisk to mix heavy cream until thick
cover and store in the fridge for the week
step 4: chop ingredients: waldorf chicken salad & fruit sala
**before getting started on the chopping, the eggs sausage and chicken may be ready to remove from the oven. if so, set aside and let cool for future steps.
prep the following for the waldorf chicken salad:
dice celery
dice 1/4 purple onion
slice grapes in 1/2 (add as many as you like)
prep the following for the fruit salad:
cut strawberries into quarters
peel and slice kiwi
remove grapes from stems
peel mandarin oranges and seperate pieces
step 5: make fruit salad
add in all prepped fruit to a large bowl:
mix together
add to a storage container with top and store in the fridge
*pro tip: mix all the fruit together in the same bowl you are going to store it in to save dishes.
step 6: prep & store pesto breakfast sandwiches
now that the egg and sausage patties have been cooling, it's time to prep and store the breakfast sandwiches
cut spinach egg patties into 6 similar size patties (you can use the glish muffin as a to ensure they arent too small or too big)
repeat process with sausag patties
lay out large sheet of parchament paper
split english muffins and lay them out on the parchament paper
starting on the bottom of the english muffin: add egg patty and then sausage patty, top with a slice of havarti
on the top half of the english muffin, spread pesto and add top the rest of the sandwich.
wrap each sandwich in aluminum foil or parchament paper and store in the fridge
step 7: assemble poptart ice cream sandwiches
pull ice cream out of the freezer to thaw a bit
line a large baking dish with parchament paper (I personally washed and reused the same dish I used for the egg patties)
remove poptarts from wrappers and lay out to cover the base of the baking dish. be sure to place the poptarts icing side down
use ice cream scooper to add ice cream to the top of the poptarts.
use a spoon or rubber spatula to spread out ice cream
place remaining poptarts, icing side up, to the top. ofthe ice cream
place baking dish in the freezer for 15-30 minutes
step 8: assemble & store waldorf chicken salad
shred chicken - either with 2 forks or if you have a an electric mixer
add the following to the shredded chicken: 1 cup mayo, 3 tb dijon mustard, 1 tb lemon juice as well as all the chopped ingredients (celery, grapes and onion)
season with salt pepper and garlic powder
mix together until everything is incorporated
cover and store in the fridge for the week
step 9: cut & store poptart ice cream sandwiches
take ice cream sandwich baking dish out of the freezer
cut ice cream sandwiches into desired sizes (I typically cut each poptart ice cream sandwich in half)
cover pan and keep in the fridge or seperate each ice cream sandwich and wrap in parchament paper.
step 10 (FINAL): pat yourself on the back & make a silly little drink
you did it! you meal prepped and did a kick ass job. now it's time to reward yourself with a silly little drink.
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recipes
if your looking for a specific recipe, expand the sections below.
birthday cake coldfoam
of course we could make a birthday cake syrup with a bunch of flavors of that taste like cake but there is something about blending the actual dessert to make the flavor you are looking for (and maybe some of it is just that it pisses all the internet trolls off soo much) this technique also really captures the nuance flavor of the cake itself.
ingredients
1 slice of birthday cake
1 cup of milk of choice
1 cup heavy cream
glass jar with a cover
recipe
in a blender or food processor: add 1 cup of milk and a slice of your favorite birthday cake. blend until fully incorporated.
strain milk to remove cake chunks (I like to strain it directly into the glass jar I'll be using to store the coldfoam)
add in 1 cup of heavy cream
use immersion blender or electric whisk to mix heavy cream until thick
cover and store in the fridge for the week
pesto sausage egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches
we all love a breakfast sandwich but I wan't to add a little something EXTRA to take it to next level. so I switched out the american cheese for havarti and add a little pesto. next time I will also be opting in for a giant heirloom tomato slice and some flaky salt.
ingredients:
1 dozen eggs
1/4 cup milk
handful of spinach
1lb ground breakfast sausage
6 english muffins
6 slices of havarti cheese
pesto
recipe
crack 1 dozen eggs in a large bowl
add 1/4 cup milk of choice & mix together
in a parchament lined baking dish - add 1 handful of spinach and pour egg mixture over the spinach
season eggs with salt and pepper
bake in the oven for 12 -15 minutes
add ground breakfast sausage to another baking dish. use parchament paper to smush down pork into patties thickness
bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes
cut spinach egg patties into 6 similar size patties (you can use the glish muffin as a to ensure they arent too small or too big)
repeat process with sausag patties
lay out large sheet of parchament paper
split english muffins and lay them out on the parchament paper
starting on the bottom of the english muffin: add egg patty and then sausage patty, top with a slice of havarti
on the top half of the english muffin, spread pesto and add top the rest of the sandwich.
wrap each sandwich in aluminum foil or parchament paper and store in the fridge
waldorf chicken salad & fruit salad
recipe
preheat oven to 400 degrees F
add 2 chicken breasts to a greased oven safe baking dish
season with salt, pepper and garlic powder on both sides
add to oven, once preheated, and bake for 30-40 minutes or until cooked all the way through
prep the following for the waldorf chicken salad:
dice celery
dice 1/4 purple onion
slice grapes in 1/2 (add as many as you like)
shred chicken - either with 2 forks or if you have a an electric mixer
add the following to the shredded chicken: 1 cup mayo, 3 tb dijon mustard, 1 tb lemon juice as well as all the chopped ingredients (celery, grapes and onion)
season with salt pepper and garlic powder
mix together until everything is incorporated
cover and store in the fridge for the week
cookies & cream poptart ice cream sandwiches
poptarts make one of the best ice cream sandwich ? because they actually soften in the freezer with the ice cream. I used cookies and cream for this combo but you can get creative and mix up the poptart and ice cream flavors.
ingredients:
cookies and cream poptarts (2 boxes)
cookies and cream ice cream (half gallon)
recipe
pull ice cream out of the freezer to thaw a bit
line a large baking dish with parchament paper (I personally washed and reused the same dish I used for the egg patties)
remove poptarts from wrappers and lay out to cover the base of the baking dish. be sure to place the poptarts icing side down
use ice cream scooper to add ice cream to the top of the poptarts.
use a spoon or rubber spatula to spread out ice cream
place remaining poptarts, icing side up, to the top. ofthe ice cream
place baking dish in the freezer for 15-30 minutes
take ice cream sandwich baking dish out of the freezer
cut ice cream sandwiches into desired sizes (I typically cut each poptart ice cream sandwich in half)
cover pan and keep in the fridge or seperate each ice cream sandwich and wrap in parchament paper.
full meal prep tutorial
here is the full 5 minute walk through of this week's meal prep
bestie if I have now converted you to a meal prepper and you're looking for more ideas the mello meal prep subscription is available ! for $3 a month get weekly meal plans just like this sent right to your email every week
LOVE this beginner friendly collection :) perfect for a v. busy season in our lives.