Meal prep can seem completely overwhelming! I know, really…I totally get it! What if I told you I could meal prep an entire weeks worth of food in just 2 hours! Yep, 2 hours of actual work [another few hours for unattended cook time]. I do it every Sunday, and it saves me time, frustration and even money throughout the week. Our lunches and dinners are perfectly portioned out and tucked away in meal prep containers that are easy to grab and go or heat up whenever you’re ready to eat! No more hangry arguments AND the pre-portioned containers help us avoid overeating. That’s huge for us! We like to eat! We frequently found ourselves miserable from overeating before we started this weekly ritual.
I use every scrap to make nutritiously delicious meals my husband, and even young nieces love to eat. Yes, even kids love these meals!
We meal prep together, making it a fun family time. Throw on some tunes…or football if Kev gets his way and cook it up! Even the dogs love it! They get really excited when they see us pull out the roasting pan, rice cooker, and meal prep containers!
The staple to our meal prep is the Delicious Roast Chicken . The Roast Chicken can make 3 different dishes and feeds us a total of 6 meals!  Each recipe serves 4; there are only two of us on a regular basis, each dish can feed us for 2 meals. So…one Delicious Roast Chicken makes us dinner all week long!!! If you don’t feel like roasting your own chicken, you can substitute for a rotisserie chicken. Just pick one up at your local grocery store and your meal prep is half done! The recipes are also easy to adapt to larger families. After all, I learned a lot of it from my mom who successfully managed a family of five on a very small budget for years. The woman is a meal prep genius!
I currently do not meal prep breakfast.  I usually make a protein shake or some eggs. However, I’m exploring options and may add breakfast later.
For every meal we want protein, a healthy carb and lots of veggies. I generally cook in bulk and then mix and match. It’s the most cost-effective way to get all the nutrients you need while adding variety.
To show you how easy it is, I’m going to share our menu for this week. However, if you look on the Food page, we add new options often. Keep coming back for new ideas!
Monday
Lunch    Sesame Beef and Brussels sprouts
Dinner    Stuffed Peppers and garden salad with avovodo ranch dressing
Tuesday
Lunch    Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers and rice
Dinner    Chicken Slaw Tacos
Wednesday
Lunch     Thai Rice Bowl
Dinner    Taco salad with leftover taco goodness and garden salad
Thursday
Lunch    Sesame Beef, Brussels sprouts
Dinner    Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Friday
Lunch    Thai Rice Bowl
Dinner    Turkey Lettuce Wraps
On Saturday and Sunday, we eat whatever is leftover. This way nothing goes to waste. Sometimes we even eat out! Our snacks consist of salad and fresh fruit. We eat a lot of apples and berries.
Here is how I work the meal prep.
1. Get the oven preheated for roast chicken and start cooking it first! If you’re using a rotisserie chicken, you just need to debone your chicken and separate into 3 equal parts, usually about 2 cups each, set aside.
2. I always pick one dish that requires a crockpot. I can throw the ingredients together and let it cook while I work on other things.
3. Start rice; I use a rice maker. It makes perfect rice at the touch of a button.
4. Next, I make the salad. This doesn’t take long, and it gets a lot of clutter out of your way. Place in salad container.
5. Prep veggies. I set them aside in bowls.
6. Prep meat, set aside or refrigerate until ready to cook.
7. Cook veggies. Set aside
8. Cook meat. Set aside.
I cook the vegetables first so I can reuse the pans for the meat.
I usually have 4 burners, 2 ovens, 1 crockpot and a rice cooker all going at the same time.
9. Make dressings or sauces and refrigerate.
10. Relax until roast and crockpot are ready. Assemble meals in containers.
I clean up as I go. This is important. If you have a giant mess at the end, you’ll never want to do it again. Reuse as many cooking vessels as possible to limit dishes.
That’s it folks! Pretty painless. You really should give it a try. You’ll find your own rhythm and tricks.