You know the drill.
After practice, you come barrelling into the kitchen like a bull in a china shop knocking over boxes of cereal and bags of chips in your desperate search for food. You’re blindly shoveling things into your mouth until you crunch down on something hard and realize…
“Wait. Was that a Lego?”
Not that I’ve eaten a Lego.
I haven’t. Okay?
The point is that after we’ve skated (or strength trained) for any significant amount of time, we need to refuel. Your body runs on food. It will literally die without it. And honoring your hunger is an awesome way to practice self-care.
In no particular order, here are 5 easy to prep foods to have on hand when you come home ready to eat the countertops.
PROTEIN BARS
Oh gee, Prime. How brilliant.
Settle down, alright. Protein bars make the list because they are the easiest of the lazy post-practice foods. It’s like an ambrosial mixture of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. All the things your body is craving after vigorous physical activity. And you buy it. PRE MADE.
The only thing standing between you and post-practice sustenance is a flimsy wrapper. You could get that off while still wearing your wristguards.
Protein bars are, by and large, pretty much the same. So find one that fits your nutritional needs (a solid mix of carbs, protein, and fats) and tastes alright. Although the taste can still sometimes be 🤢 🤢
You can also get the something similar by throwing protein powder, a banana, and some milk (cow, almond, whatever) into a blender. The taste will be much better probably. But that might be too much wait time.
CHILDREN’S TAPAS
I’ll admit that I would never have started eating this post-practice if I didn’t have a kid. Mostly because I wouldn’t have these things just sitting around in my fridge.
But I DO have a kid. So I DO have these things sitting around in my fridge.
Children’s Tapas sound much fancier than they actually are. The preparation steps are as follows:
- Put a plate on the counter.
- Place cold lunch meat onto the plate.
- Unwrap a string cheese to lay beside the lunch meat.
- Pile on some veggies or fruit of your choosing.
- Add crackers if you’re nasty. (But actually add crackers. You need them!)
The good news is that it’s easy to make and easy to eat. The bad news is that it’s basically the food you buy for your child, so if that little demon is still up they’re going to come over and eat half of it.
There are vegan alternatives to deli meat and string cheese that you can supplement here if you like the taste/texture.
WORLD’S FAKEST CHEESECAKE
It’s not cheesecake. And calling it cheesecake is kind of an insult to cheesecake.
That being said, it is pretty good. It can meet your sweet tooth craving (if you have one). And it’s only slightly harder to put together than a plate full of deli meat.
You’ll need Greek Yogurt (or a vegan version of yogurt), Mio or make sure your yogurt already has flavor, your favorite type of berry, and some graham crackers.
Mix it all together into a mashed berry/graham cracker pudding and dig in. It tastes better than it looks, promise.
Some tips on the Mio:
- Avoid the coffee flavors if it’s a late night practice since they have caffeine.
- Orange Vanilla tastes like a creamsicle.
- If you use Sweet Tea, we can’t be friends.
CURRY CHICKEN SALAD
The actual meal prepping begins. Sorry.
However, this is super quick to get ready and have in the fridge. As well as put together before you tear the house apart after practice.
Here’s what you need:
- Chicken (I buy the chopped up rotisserie chicken at the grocery for increased ease.)
- OR Chickpeas (Again, buy them canned for extra ease points.)
- Mayo
- Celery
- Curry Powder
- Grapes and/or Cashews if you’re extra
Chop up the chicken. Rinse the chickpeas. Throw them in a bowl. Add mayo. Chop celery and toss in. Sprinkle with curry powder. Stir. Done.
I also like this recipe because you can eat it in a lot of different ways:
- Dig into the bowl as is.
- Put on bread, rice cakes, crackers.
- Use as “dip” with veggies.
- Throw into a green salad.
It also keeps pretty well in the fridge, so you can have it on hand when you’re hangry.
Chicken Salsa Crockpot
As the name suggests, this requires the most prep time out of all the recipes on this list. I actually didn’t try it for the longest time because I’m VERY lazy and VERY anti-food prep.
My friend Melissa of Proshape Fitness posted this on her Instagram account and I decided to finally try it.
She’s not lying. It’s pretty much the easiest chicken recipe ever.
I literally dumped 2 half frozen chicken breasts and a jar of salsa into the crockpot. Turned it on low for 6-8 hours. Shredded it up with a fork and feasted like a queen for 4 days.
Even if you’re not sold on it’s post-practice uses, at least give this a go for your next #tacotuesday.
I’m serious.
If you have a good, easy, quick vegan crockpot recipe, POST IT BELOW.
Stop the Hangry Hurricane
Next time you’re about to tear through the contents of your kitchen — possibly hungry enough to eat Legos — do yourself a favor and eat these instead.
It’s the fuel your body needs. And not nearly as rough on your teeth.
Want more?
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