I have to admit…I am not great at meal prep. I have a hard time getting ahead for the week when it comes to meals, and I've been trying to be better about that. Especially when it comes to lunches at work, it can get expensive to get take-out or delivery every day. I don't always have enough leftover dinner from the night before to pack for lunch, so I made it a mission to get better at that and starting by doing it in a way that feels more manageable. Today, I've partnered with Blue Apron to share this Garlic & Soy-Glazed Shrimp with Charred Broccoli & Hot Green Pepper Sauce recipe by Chrissy Teigen for Blue Apron that I made for 5 days of work week lunches. (And as a bonus to all our Oh Joy! readers, we have a special offer from Blue Apron for $50 off your first two weeks for the first 50 people to claim it HERE!)

See how I turned one of these meals into my whole week of lunches…

When I saw that Chrissy Teigen was bringing six of her original recipes to Blue Apron menus this summer…I knew these would be perfect for me. I am Thai and she is part Thai, so I love that some of her recipes are inspired by her Thai heritage with flavors that all spoke to me! So I made a family-sized portion (feeds four) of this Garlic & Soy-Glazed Shrimp with Charred Broccoli & Hot Green Pepper Sauce because it seemed like a good dish that would keep and reheat well. Plus, everything is delivered in just the right portions, so I'm not wasting any extra ingredients and using only what I need to make this dish.

Cooking for me can be relaxing when I have blocked out enough time to do it. So when I'm prepping these meals for the week, I like to do it after my kids have gone to bed, and I can focus on making the main dish and getting it just right. I love that I can make something that a chef would cook all at home in 40 minutes or less. While the rice is cooking, I'll cook the broccoli and shrimp.

Directions are my friend! I love cooking off-the-cuff when I'm making my own dishes. But when I am making someone else's recipe, I love having clear instruction with photos. The recipe card has a photo for each step of the process which is helpful for a visual person like me to know that I'm doing that step right.

Then, I plated (in reusable glass containers) the rice, broccoli, and shrimp…added some bread crumbs and sauce to top it all off. OMG, I'm drooling right now thinking about how good this dish was. And, so much healthier for me than the delivery I would have otherwise had for lunch!

It's so, so satisfying divvying them up into my containers for the week! I usually add sauce to the first one and then pack any sauces separately for the rest of the week. I loved this one so much that I'm excited to try Chrissy's other recipes with Blue Apron which goes through the week of July 9, 2018, and includes a selection of Chrissy’s favorite home-cooked meals from her first cookbook Cravings. I'm trying to get into a habit of doing this regularly, to save me money and time. Starting at $7.49 per serving, it's way better than take-out and way healthier, too!  And there we go, here my meals for the week ready to go! 

P.S. The first 50 readers will get $50 off their first two weeks Blue Apron! Click here!

*This post is brought to you in partnership with Blue Apron. All words are my own.

{Photos by Lily Glass. Styling by Wilmarose Orlanes, styling assistance by Jess Hong.}