The Bachelor’s Complete Guide to 5 Days of Easy, Delicious & Healthy Meals

Men, men, men, men! I figured that I would reach out to all of the single men out there and inspire them to eat something other then chips, salsa and beer for dinner this week.  Men, if you’re single and getting bored of the same three dinner options every night of the week (whole foods sandwich, Chipotle burrito bowl, chips and salsa) and you can count the number of kitchen utensils you own on one hand, then good sir, this is for you!

I have been issued a challenge by none-other than the founder of elephant journal himself,  the great Waylon Lewis, to create a meal plan for a single, live-alone bachelor for an entire week’s worth of meals. The qualifications of this challenge are as follows:

1. The plan must include FIVE MEALS (Monday – Friday) to get a hungry young buck through a grueling work week.
2. The recipes must be SIMPLE & EASY to create (i.e. able to make them with one frying pan or pot, and the oven or microwave if necessary.)
3. Each recipe must have LESS THEN FIVE ingredients.
4. The entire shopping list cannot be OVER 20 separate items.
5. The meals must TASTE GOOD.

After running this meal plan by various men in my life and receiving their seal of approval (thank you guys), I finally feel confident in the following weeks worth of delicious and easy meals for the hungry, health conscious bachelor…with one caveat…men, I want your FEEDBACK! This guide is by no means the be all, end all bachelor meal plan. Contribute and help your fellow man. Let me know what works, what doesn’t and what I forgot to include. Let’s end the chips and salsa epidemic once and for all and get you back in your element, handing out long-stemmed red roses to throngs of suspiciously beautiful, single women and taking romantic, moonlit walks on the beach.

A few notes before we begin:

1. Most grocery stores have pre-cut veggies! If you’re the ultimate bachelor, and cannot be bothered to spend your time chopping up produce, then opt for the easy route. Trader Joe, Ralphs and Whole Foods each have a great variety of pre-cut, pre-washed fruits and veggies. Make this as easy for yourself as possible.
2. Think outside the box. If you don’t have one of the ingredients listed, and you don’t want to go get it…then see what else might be lying around your kitchen (check expiration dates!) and try to incorporate it into your dish instead.

1. That’s a wrap (Vegan)

Ingredients

• Whole wheat tortilla (if you want extra credit, try a sprouted whole grain tortilla)
• Easy Brown Rice from Trader Joes (microwave it in less than a minute!)
• Hummus (store-bought or if you’re up for it, make your own!)
• Avocado
• Spinach
• Optional: feta cheese, olives, olive oil, bell peppers, pepperoncini, cold cuts (turkey?)

Directions

• Spread hummus on tortilla (option to pre-heat tortilla in frying pan or microwave)
• Add in all the fixin’s
• Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste
• Wrap it up and go!

2. Fried and Saucey

Ingredients

• Easy Brown Rice from Trader Joes (microwave it in less than a minute!)
• Broccoli (or other favorite green veggie…kale, green beans, spinach, asparagus, bok-choy)
• Bell peppers
• Rotisserie Chicken, pre-made from your local grocery store. Whole Foods has organic free range rotisserie chicken breasts that are pretty affordable. If you’re a veg/vegan try replacing the chicken with tempeh, egg, lentils or beans.
• Your favorite teriyaki, peanut or garlic chili sauce. I like to use House of Tsang Bangkok Padang Peanut Sauce

Directions

• Microwave brown rice for 1 min
• Cut up veggies and add to a frying pan with a little olive oil and your favorite sauce
• Sautee for about 5 minutes on medium/low heat
• Combine rice, veggies and chicken…devour

3. *Breakfast Burrito for Dinner

Ingredients

• Eggs (preferably free range and organic)
• Spinach
• Bell pepper
• Whole wheat tortilla
• Avocado
• Optional: tomatoes, salsa, pinto beans, brown rice, cheese (go light if you’re using dairy)

Directions

• Cut up veggies and avocado
• Sautee veggies with olive oil for about 5 min, push to the side of the frying pan
• Scramble 2 eggs in the pan with olive oil
• Add all ingredients into your tortilla & top with avocado

*Other breakfast ideas for dinner

4. Kitchen Sink Man Chili (serves 3-4)

Ingredients

• Can of black beans, rinsed and strained
• Can of pinto beans, rinsed and strained
• Can of fire roasted chunky tomatoes
• Veggie broth (or chicken broth) less = thicker, more = thinner…you decide.
• Spices (recommended but not required: cilantro, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper)
• Optional: Left over rotisserie chicken (removed from bones), left over veggies from the week, corn, zucchini, bell peppers, jalapeno, garlic, onion, olive oil, cilantro, BBQ sauce, beer, scallions and/or avocado for topping. Basically, anything you want to throw in there!

Directions

• Throw all ingredients into a large pot or crock pot
• Cook on medium to medium high for about 30 minutes, until mixture is warm
• Add brown rice if you need more substance
• Avoid social gatherings the rest of the evening (you know who you are!)

5. Something Fishy

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound tilapia (easy white fish)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• Spinach
• Left over veggies from the week
• Salad dressing or sauce
• Optional: Easy Brown Rice from Trader Joes (microwave it in less than a minute!)

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
• Please fish in a pan, lightly coated with olive oil and seasoned with salt/pepper or other desired seasoning (lemon and dill are great)
• Bake fish for 8-12 minutes. Fish will be flakey and easy to separate when finished
• While fish is baking, make spinach salad with left over veggies salad dressing, or olive oil and vinegar
• Heat up brown rice
• ENJOY! This is one of those recipes to keep in mind as the ladies will be quite impressed if you whip up a nice fillet of fish for them. Just sayin’…

~

Pair this mindful beverage with your bachelor dinner: