Are you sick of not having enough time to get dinner on the table? Or rushing to pull up Pinterest when you enter the grocery store to find some quick recipes? Then meal prepping might be for you. Meal prepping is precisely what it sounds like. Preparing meals ahead of time for the week, so you don’t have to scramble to make dinner when you have a million other things on your plate.
Even if you are someone who doesn’t have kids, you can still benefit from doing some meal prep. Today we are going to walk you through how to begin meal prepping and get more time back in your life.
Pick A Time, Anytime
Meal prepping happens one day a week, to prepare for the upcoming week. Pick a day that works best with your schedule. For many women, this is Sunday. But, if you have different work hours or responsibilities on Sundays, no one is saying that you can’t meal prep on a Wednesday. Pick the day that works best for your family and try to stick to it each week.
Plan Your Meals Out
On that day, or earlier in the week, take five to ten minutes to think about what you would like to make each week. I love to do this sitting next to my calendar, so I know if I will be gone this day or going out with friends that day. This will help you to identify how much to make and if you should save specific meals for when more people are home. If you have a busy week, you might want to have a more relaxed meal week, and vice versa.
Be Wise When Shopping
Now that you have your meals planned out for the week, you need to go to the grocery store to get your yummy supplies. Make sure that you utilize online coupons, newspaper coupons, and more before you buy anything. Check to see if what you are purchasing is on sale. That might influence if it’s a good time to make that meal or not. It’s helpful to go to the grocery store with multiple meal options and see which is the best deal.
Invest In The Proper Containers
Tupperware is going to be your new best friend. The point of meal prepping is that you have all the ingredients for that dinner ready to go in the fridge in a container. Make sure that you have containers big enough for your more complicated meals, or don’t be afraid to stack containers when necessary. It’s essential that you have enough Tupperware, trays, and foil for each day you are planning to meal prep each week. So, if you mostly eat out on the weekends, then you might only need to get five containers, and so on. Just make sure that you have enough supplies to get started.
Use The Crockpot
I know that I’ve said it before, and I will repeat it, the crockpot is every busy woman’s dream come true. And, it’s so much fun to go home after a long day to a meal smelling excellent and ready to be dished out. So, when you are thinking about what meals to meal prep for, check out crockpot recipes online and on Pinterest.
Think Healthy
The point of meal prepping is that you can think about what you are feeding yourself and your family. That means you have time to spice up your meals with healthier ingredients. When you are shopping at the grocery store, try to get the freshest and healthiest ingredients. Also, when you are looking at the recipes, if you don’t like something, see if it can be easily replaced with a healthier alternative.
Double It
If you live by yourself like I do, you might want to make enough to feed yourself for a couple of days. Don’t be afraid to double or triple a recipe when you are meal prepping. Just make sure that you have bigger containers or multiple ones that you can stack.
Multitask
For many of your meals, you are going to have numerous steps and dishes. To make that easier for you, try to have aluminum foil handy or separate trays to set completed meals on. This will help you to separate your meals, and store them easier in the freezer. Also, make sure that all the containers I mentioned above are microwaveable and freezer safe. This will make your meal prepping much simpler.
In conclusion, meal prepping is not that hard. It is not something for super moms and women that have their lives together. It works for people just like you and me. So, make a time to meal prep this weekend, and see if your week goes much more smoothly.
For some easy fall soup meals, we have your recipes here.
