You’re busy, I’m busy; we’re all busy and none of us want to spend any more time in the kitchen than we need to.
But we still need to eat.
I’m still waiting on Rosie the robot to take over my household duties, but until she does, I’ll keep preparing meals for my family. I typically run out of steam by the time I get home and the thought of preparing a full course meal does not excite me.
There must be a quicker way to get a meal on the table and keep it healthy.
Meal prep to the rescue.
I can take a little extra time over the weekend and prep my meals for the week ahead. My daughters like to come over and get in on the fun and we’ll spend time together prepping away. When we’re done, we’ve got meals ready to go for a week.
You may or may not have grown children that can come and share in the meal prepping fun, but you can always invite some other stressed out busy friends to join you for an afternoon of prepping.
Let me share my favorite hacks to meal prep with less stress.
Plan your meals
Planning your menu ahead of time will make your meal prepping go a lot faster.
Whether it’s “meatless” Monday or “meatloaf” Monday, decide what your main dish will be for each day and plan your side dishes to compliment. Keeping your side dishes simple will keep your prepping time down to a minimum.
Prep Your Ingredients
Grab your cutting board and knife and get to chopping your ingredients for the week.
Pre-wash and chop your vegetables, cook a batch of brown rice or quinoa, and wash and portion your fruits. Then, you can mix up the meals and season them with whatever you’re in the mood for. The washing, cutting, and cooking take the longest when you meal-prep, so if you do that all in one go, the rest of the week should be smooth sailing.
Cook enough for leftovers
This is my favorite hack.
I’ll cook enough on Friday and Saturday to make sure I have leftovers for the week. Just double your portions while you’re cooking, so that you’ll have some leftover for another meal or two. This will save you a lot of time.
Make a variety of sauces and dressings
Meal prepping is not about eating the same meal day after day. It is all about convenience without the loss of variety and flavor.
You’ve chopped your veggies and your fruits for the week. Now, decide what sauces and dressings you want to flavor your meals with. When it’s time to prepare your meal, just add your favorite seasoning, sauce or dressing to keep your meals flavorful.
Prep your sauces and dressings too. Homemade condiments are so much more flavorful than commercial ones. Make a massive jar of different salad dressings or even pasta sauces to have for the whole week.
Meal prepping is only as good as your planning. Take time during the weekend to plan your menu for the next week. Grab this free Meal Planner and use it weekly to make meal prep a breeze.
Click the image below to request your meal planner.
