Mini Meal Prep Method

Five shortcuts to help your body clear excess estrogen and feel balanced all week long.

Welcome back to the Mini Meal Prep Method — where we skip the marathon cooking sessions and focus on a handful of smart shortcuts that make the whole week easier.

This week's prep has an estrogen focus, so If you deal with PMS, bloating, mood shifts before your period, or just feel like your hormones are working against you, this one is for you.

Everything on this list was chosen to support your body's ability to clear excess estrogen through your liver and your gut. Everything is simple, everything has a purpose, and none of it will take you more than an hour.

Let’s get into it.

Lemon Ginger Juice

I’ve been making this on repeat and it’s become a non-negotiable part of my mornings. I use it two ways — as a morning drink diluted with water, or as the base for an olive oil shot, which I just started doing and I’m honestly kind of obsessed.

Here’s why the olive oil shot matters: olive oil taken on an empty stomach stimulates bile flow. Bile is what your liver uses to package up and excrete excess estrogen. If bile isn’t flowing well, that estrogen gets reabsorbed instead of eliminated and that’s when things start to feel off. Lemon supports those liver detox pathways, ginger brings the anti-inflammatory support, and together they make something that’s sharp, functional, and actually delicious.

Ingredients

• 3-4 lemons, peeled

• 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled

• 1 cup filtered water

• Optional: 1 tbsp raw honey

• Optional: 1 tbsp high-quality extra virgin olive oil (for the olive oil shot version)

Instructions

1. Juice lemons and ginger through a juicer, or blend with water and strain through a fine mesh strainer or nut milk bag.

2. Store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.

3. Morning drink: pour 2–4 oz over ice or dilute with water.

4. Olive oil shot: combine 2–3 tbsp lemon ginger juice + 1 tbsp olive oil in a small glass, stir, and take on an empty stomach.

How to use it:

• Morning drink on its own (diluted with warm water)

• Base for an olive oil shot on an empty stomach

• Add a splash to a smoothie for a ginger kick

• Mix into salad dressing for extra brightness

Carrot Ribbon Salad

If you are not already doing the raw carrot salad, this is your sign. This is one of the most underrated nutrition strategies for estrogen balance and it takes five minutes to make.

Raw carrots contain a unique indigestible fiber that binds to excess estrogen in the gut before it gets reabsorbed back into circulation. This is especially relevant if you deal with estrogen dominance symptoms like PMS, bloating, breast tenderness, or heavy periods. You’re not just eating a salad. You’re actively supporting your body’s ability to clear estrogen the way it’s supposed to.

I make mine into ribbons with a vegetable peeler and toss with a simple tamari-vinegar dressing. It goes on everything — bowls, alongside protein, straight from the container at 3pm.

Ingredients

• 5 large carrots, peeled

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar

• 1–2 tbsp tamari

• ¼ cup chopped parsley (optional)

• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Use a vegetable peeler to create long, thin carrot ribbons into a bowl.

2. Whisk together olive oil, vinegar and tamari.

3. Pour dressing over ribbons and toss to combine. Season with salt to taste.

4. Store in the fridge up to 4 days. Dress as you go to keep them crisp.

How to use it:

• Alongside any protein as a quick side

• Added to cottage cheese bowls

• On top of avocado toast

• Layered into grain bowls

• Straight from the container as a snack — seriously, it’s that good

Sriracha Chicken Salad

Protein for the week…check. Getting enough protein at every meal is one of the most impactful things you can do for your hormones. Protein supports hormone production, keeps blood sugar stable, and is essential for liver detoxification — all things your body needs to be doing consistently, not just when you have time to cook a full meal. The goal is about 30g per meal, and this chicken salad makes that genuinely easy.

I know it looks just looks like pink chicken but the sriracha base is creamy, a little spicy, and works on literally everything. Use coconut yogurt to keep it dairy-free, Greek yogurt for extra protein, or mayo if that’s what you’ve got. And yes, I used an organic rotisserie chicken and I am not apologizing for it.

Ingredients

• 1 organic rotisserie chicken, shredded (about 4 cups)

• 1/2 cup coconut yogurt, Greek yogurt, or mayo (adjust to creaminess preference)

• 2 tbsp sriracha, to taste

• 1 tbsp rice vinegar or lime juice

• Salt + pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Shred rotisserie chicken into a large bowl (I like using a stand mixer for this).

2. Mix together yogurt or mayo, sriracha, and rice vinegar or lime juice.

3. Add dressing to chicken and toss well to combine.

4. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Store in fridge up to 4 days.

5. Serve in lettuce cups, on buckwheat toast, in a wrap, or over greens.

How to use it:

• In lettuce cups with rice for a quick lunch

• Stuffed into seaweed sheets (my fav!)

• On toast with sliced cucumber

• Stuffed into a wrap with the carrot ribbons

• Over greens with avocado for a full dinner bowl

Baked Sweet Potato Halves

I have been roasting sweet potatoes like this for years and it’s truly the best shortcut: cut them in half lengthwise before baking. It cuts the cook time almost in half and you get this gorgeous caramelized bottom that a whole baked potato just can’t compete with.

But here’s the hormone friendly tip: let them cool before putting them in the fridge or eating. When cooked sweet potatoes cool it increases their resistant starch content. Resistant starch feeds your beneficial gut bacteria, supports blood sugar regulation, and improves insulin sensitivity. All of that matters enormously for hormone balance. And yes, you can reheat it gently and it still maintains the resistant strach, don’t worry!

Ingredients

• 3–4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed

• 1 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil

• Flaky sea salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

2. Slice sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Brush cut sides with oil and sprinkle with salt.

3. Place cut-side down on baking sheet.

4. Bake 25–35 minutes until fork-tender and caramelized on the bottom.

5. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. Store up to 5 days.

How to use it:

• Topped with the sriracha chicken salad for a full meal

• With eggs and greens for a savory breakfast

• Simple side alongside any protein at dinner

• Pull a Courtney Cook and stuff it with cheese for a snack

• Drizzle tahini or almond butter for something sweet

• Use them to make sweet potato brownies

Protein Cookie Dough Stuffed Dates

We always need something sweet. Always.

These are genuinely one of my favorite things I make. My kids are obsessed, I’m obsessed, and they pull triple duty as a pre-workout snack, an afternoon pick-me-up, or dessert. The Medjool dates give you natural sugars and fiber so your blood sugar doesn’t spike and crash. The nut butter and protein powder filling slows the glucose response even further. It’s a treat that actually supports your hormones rather than working against them.

Make a double batch and store them in the freezer. I’m telling you right now — twelve dates will not be enough.

Ingredients — makes 12

• 12 Medjool dates, pitted

• ½ cup nut butter of choice (peanut butter, almond butter, tahini)

• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• Pinch of sea salt

• 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Mix together nut butter, protein powder, vanilla, salt a chocolate chips. Mix until a thick, scoopable dough forms.

2. Slice each date open lengthwise and remove pit if not already done.

3. Stuff each date with about 1 heaping tablespoon of cookie dough and press gently to close.

4. Refrigerate 20 minutes before serving. Store in the fridge up to 1 week or freezer for longer.

How to use it:

• Pre-workout fuel 30 minutes before movement

• Afternoon snack when the 3pm slump hits

• Dessert that won’t spike your blood sugar

• Kid’s treat — my kids love these!!!

That’s it for this week, friend. Five shortcuts, all with purpose. Your liver, your gut, your blood sugar, and your hormones are going to feel the difference.

If you make anything from this week’s prep, send me a message or tag me on Instagram. I genuinely love seeing these in your kitchens. And if you’ve been curious about what’s actually going on with your hormones underneath the surface, my functional lab testing portal is live. We can run real panels and actually look at what your body is doing.

See you next Saturday.

xx, Jess