Meal prep is one of those things that can seem daunting at first, but in reality it will make your life easier in more than one way if you can manage to make it a part of your routine.
While it’s a little bit of an investment on the front end, on the back end it will save you a whole bunch of time, money, and brain power.
Maybe you’ve seen pictures of people who have prepped a whole week or month’s worth of food and that overwhelms you.
But meal prep doesn’t mean you have to prepare a stockpile of entire meals for your family.
There are lots of smaller, manageable things you can do to cut down on the amount of time you spend preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner for your family while also giving them healthier options at the same time.
Here are eleven things you can do to be more successful with meal planning and preparation:
1) Prep your protein. Even if you don’t have time to cook it, you can get your protein ready to cook. As soon as you get home from shopping, especially if you have purchased chicken/ground beef/steak in bulk, take it out of the packaging and separate it into portions. Throw chicken in a Ziploc bag with some Italian dressing or other marinade. It can stay that way for a few days until you are ready to cook it, and the longer it marinates, the better it tastes. You can also freeze it portioned out this way and take it out when you are ready to use it.
2) Pre-cook meat for the week. Grill up a bunch of chicken breast. You can slice it up for salads or sandwiches or eat it as is with a bunch of grilled veggies. Brown a few pounds of ground turkey/beef/chicken, separate into containers, and to use later in the week in tacos, chili, lasagna, etc. Or portion it out into gallon Ziploc bags and freeze it if you won’t be ready to use it immediately.
3) Slice up and portion out fruits and veggies. Then you have a healthy grab and go snack ready whenever you need it. Slicing up your own fruit and veggies saves you a whole bunch of $$$ and costs a fraction of pr-sliced fruits and veggies from the store. This also gives you a quick and healthy option for your kids when the kids are “starving to death” before dinner is ready.
4) Make a bunch of hard boiled eggs. They keep for at least a week, you can eat them as a snack or at any meal, and they are great to have sliced up in salads.
5) Roast three or four different vegetables that take the same amount of time to cook at the same time. Then you have some variety for the week. This size of the vegetable obviously affects the cook time, but here is a rough guide:
10 – 15 minutes: asparagus, peppers, broccoli, yellow squash, zucchini
15 – 20 minutes: brussels sprouts, mushrooms, slice carrots
20 – 30 minutes: whole baby carrots, cauliflower
30 – 40 minutes: butternut squash, potatoes
6) Portion out smoothie ingredients. Then all you need to do is dump them in the blender! This is also a great way to use up fruit that may be a little too ripe to eat. Cut up super ripe bananas and put them into plastic bags and freeze. Then just take out however many banana pieces you need for a smoothie. These are especially good natural sweeteners for smoothies and “nice” cream!
6) Portion out smoothie ingredients. Then all you need to do is dump them in the blender! This is also a great way to use up fruit that may be a little too ripe to eat. Cut up super ripe bananas and put them into plastic bags and freeze. Then just take out however many banana pieces you need for a smoothie. These are especially good natural sweeteners for smoothies and “nice” cream!
7) Make sure you have containers of various sizes that work for you. It’s tough to prep food if you don’t have containers that are the right size or if they don’t fit into your lunchbox. Make sure you have the sizes you really need and use!
8) Invest in a decent lunch box. I have(affiliate) this neoprene one and I love it. It’s big enough to fit multiple containers in, and it’s super sturdy. The kids love these, too.
9) Put prepped food in clear containers. It’s way easier to see what you have when you can see inside your containers!
10) Cook in bulk and freeze it. There are lots of dishes you can double or triple easily and then freeze. When you are already making something, it doesn’t take that much longer to make a double or triple batch. Soups, chili, grilled chicken breast, turkey burgers, meatloaf and meat balls all freeze really well.
11) Prep salads for the week. You can use plastic containers or mason jars. Layer your containers with the dressing on the bottom, then the heavier ingredients that won’t absorb the dressing like whole cherry tomatoes on top of that, then lettuce on the top. When you are ready to eat them, all you have to do is mix them up and eat!
There you go! 11 things you can do to make meal prep easier.
If you struggle with meal prep, try incorporating just one thing on this list into your routine, and once that becomes a habit, you can add another.
Before you know it you will be saving yourself a whole bunch of time and money, and you’ll be getting a little bit (or a lot) healthier in the process.
Love theses tips! I’ve been roasting vegetables for months now and love having that done so I can focus on the protein each day!