Meal Prep & Planning
It is the start of the week so I am making my plan for the week. I am a pencil & paper kinda girl. I love to sit down & write out my “Plan” - and I use “ “ because its more like a “guide” because my personality needs room for flexibility.
So many women I talk to struggle with meal prep & planning more than any other part of their wellness journey. They get overwhelmed. They hate sitting down to do it. They dont like cooking, have too crazy a schedule to attempt a plan and it is not worth it.
Well, I hope today I can help you adapt to the idea of planning…
For starter, meal prep & planning will help you stay on point with your nutrition & I guarantee it will make your week go so much smoother. Trust me on this one.
Would you agree that there are few things worse than coming home from work, school or sports and everyone is hungry, and they look at you or through the pantries only to say “what’s for dinner?” or worse yet, “there is nothing in this house to eat!” Just typing this makes my blood boil. lol
So where to start? I have put together a few tips to help you get started with your meal prep & planning.
First, take an inventory of your pantry, freezer & fridge. You need to know what you have & don’t have.
Second, make a list of your top 5 go to meals.
Next, create a Staples grocery list. These are items that you keep stocked. If your goal is to eat whole food nutrition and you are not sure what to stock, I am including a video on how to stock your pantry that I made last spring for a local library who was doing a video series on healthy habits. Click here to watch this video!
After you have these essential steps done, then the application part begins.
Before you can create a meal plan you need to know what your week looks like. When are you going to be home? How much time will you have to cook or are you willing to spend in the kitchen? Be honest. I write out our week on my calendar and then decide what I am making.
If you do not like to cook or find you have very little time then I suggest you choose to only cook 2-3 times but make large amounts that allow for leftovers or so you can recreate meals.
For example. I made taco soup last week. We had it 2 nights in a row. One night I served it as was - soup & a side of fruit. The next night I turn the soup in enchiladas & served with rice. Then last night I tried to extract all the chicken broth & juice out as best as I could & made quesadillas with the soup in our panini press. They were so good! I cooked 1 meal & it gave us 3 different meals! Cook smarter.
Tools such as the Instapot or crockpot are so helpful for those busy nights. I also find it very helpful to batch meal prep. Batch meal prep is taking 2-3 hours on Sunday to prep our food for the week. Last week I browned the ground turkey & cut up all the peppers & onions for the taco soup it on Sunday. That way Wednesday morning I literally threw everything in the crockpot within 5 minutes and dinner was cooking.
My Sunday meal prep usually includes -
make hard boiled eggs - we put these in salads, eat for breakfast or snacks
clean, cut & bag all fruit & veggies so they are ready to go
chop up any veggies needed for the week & put in baggies - if I am roasting veggies one night I get them all chopped & bagged up so I just dump on the pan, add olive oil & spice and throw in the oven.
grill meat or brown any burger/ground turkey for the week.
These steps help so much & reduce the amount of time in the kitchen.
Lastly, take advantage of things that make life easier, especially in busy seasons of life. For example, buy bagged salad vs a head of lettuce that you have to clean & chop. I have been known to buy a veggie try during baseball season because I don’t have the time to clean & cut all of it. It is ok to do this! I also love precooked chicken, especially a rotisserie chicken! They are great for soups, pasta dishes, enchiladas and salads!
Remember planning is so very important. It doesn’t have to be a perfect plan friends...but at the very least have a few ideas, write them down or post them in house where others will see them, and make sure to stock up with the ingredients for those go to meals.
What category do you fall in with meal prep & planning?
Love it or Loath it?
If you need ideas & inspiration like & follow me on Instagram - I will be sharing my favorites each week!
Cheers,
Melanie
