Meal Planning & Prepping For Busy
People
If you are like many people, you
have such a busy life, that making homemade, healthy meals each day is a
constant struggle. Instead of just giving in and going through the local
drive-thru or ordering pizza three nights a week, why not give meal planning
and meal prepping a try? Here are some things to know about each of these
options to help save time, money, and still prepare healthy meals each day for
your family.
What is Meal Planning?
Before you can start on your meal
prep, you need to plan your meals. Naturally, this is what you are going to
focus on with meal planning. Meal planning is nothing more than figuring out
what meals you are going to make in the near future. It can be as detailed as
you want, though the more information you include in your meal scheduling, the
better off you will be.
By starting with meal planning,
you will then know what and how to better meal prep. This is going to help save
you time because you aren’t running to the supermarket every day trying to
figure out what to get for dinner that night.
You already know the meals for at
least a week beforehand. Here is a rundown of how meal planning works, though
keep in mind there is a lot of room for variation.
How Many Weeks to Plan For
The first thing you should decide
is exactly how much meal planning you want to do, in regards to how many days
or weeks to plan ahead of time. This really depends on you and a number of
factors should be considered. Think about how much time you have for meal
planning and prepping, how often your family likes to switch up recipes, and
realistically what you can spend at the supermarket for planning these meals.
You should also consider how much
room you have in your refrigerator and freezer. Planning for 3 weeks ahead of
time is fine for the schedule, but you might not be buying food for this long
if you don’t have somewhere to put everything.
When you are just starting out,
try to plan for just one full week and see how it goes. This should include all
meals and snacks your family will eat for that entire week, including
breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts.
It includes meals you will
prepare at home with leftovers, lunches your kids and you will bring to work or
school, and any extra items you need, such as bringing brownies to the local
potluck or any other special occasions.
A Good Way to Start Meal Planning
If you’re not sure where to start
with planning your meals, you can make it easy by taking stock of what is in
your kitchen. Take note of everything in your pantry and refrigerator, write it
down, and see what meals you can make from those ingredients.
This should be a good start, and
then all you might need are some filler ingredients. You may have almost all of
the ingredients you need for homemade biscuits, so you know you can have a meal
that uses those biscuits as a way of saving money and time.
Once you know everything you
already have, start considering what the different meals are that your family
will be interested in, but don’t forget about considering how each of those
meals will be prepared. If you know you will be pressed for time, try to think
of meals you can make ahead of time or that can be made in the slow cooker all
day while you are at work.
How to Be Detailed in Your Meal Plans
Once you have started noting down
some meals you would like to make during the week, try to be as detailed as
possible. If you think you will have leftovers from a chicken dinner in order
to have lunch for 2-3 days, note that in the plan!
This helps you reduce how many
lunches you need to prepare, which further saves you a lot of time when it
comes time to prepare your different meals for the week. After listing the
meals, make another list with all the groceries you need to purchase, minus
what you already have on hand.
Leaving Room For Flexibility Throughout the Week
While planning every meal is a
great way to save time during the week, there are going to be some situations
where it doesn’t go quite as you planned out. Make sure you leave some room for
flexibility in your meals and meal planning.
For example, you might have a day
where you want to go out to dinner because your spouse got a big promotion and
you want to celebrate. Don’t hesitate to celebrate just because you planned to
make spaghetti that night. Just readjust your schedule and make it another
night. Meal planning is meant to simplify the process, not restrict yourself
too much.
Include Leftovers in Your Plan
Always try to think about
leftovers or using certain ingredients in your meal planning that can be used
for multiple meals. If you know you want to make chicken and dumplings and are
going to buy a pack of chicken breasts, buy more than you need and freeze them.
This lets you have enough chicken for that meal, but also for chicken soup,
salads, sandwiches, or other dinner ideas. You are going to save money and time
by having the extra chicken on hand.
How is Meal Prepping Different?
Meal planning and meal prepping
are often confused, but these are actually two entirely different things. With
meal planning, you are simply deciding what the future meals will be. When you
meal prep, you actually buy those ingredients, then start getting certain
aspects of the meal prepared, so that very little needs to be done each day
when cooking time arrives.
Types of Meal Prepping
There are two basic elements to
meal prepping: chopping vegetables and putting ingredients for meals into
containers, and actually cooking some aspects of the meal and freezing them.
You can do one or both of these options depending on how much time you think
you will have. Some people simply do the prep work, such as getting all their
veggies chopped up, rice measured, and snacks into portion baggies to be used
during the week. Others actually cook the casseroles and chicken, and then
freeze them so that dinner just involves popping them in the oven.
Containers to Use
When you are planning on prepping
meals, you need to be careful with the types of containers you use. These
containers are not just storing the ingredients and cooked food items, but meant
to keep them fresh in the refrigerator or freezer for an extended period of
time. You need to be careful what you choose to store items in and how they are
stored. Here are some recommendations for food storage containers:
Choose containers with airtight lids.
Make sure that your containers
keep the food fresh with airtight lids. If you intend to use Tupperware-type
containers, try filling them with water, then turn them upside down and make
sure no water leaks out. This is a good way to tell how fresh your food will be
in the containers.
Try storing items in mason jars.
Mason jars are perfect for
storing certain items and meals. For example, if you like to take salad to
work, try putting each day’s salad in a separate container. Choose the
wide-mouth containers and add the denser items at the bottom. The greens should
always be at the top so they don’t get wilted or weighed down. Keep your salad
dressing in a separate container.
Be careful with plastic storage items.
Plastic is fine to use, but you should
know what type of plastic you are using. Make sure it is refrigerator, freezer,
microwave, and dishwasher-safe first of all. Also check that the plastic
containers don’t have any BPA, which can be dangerous when adding or cooking
food in these containers.
Consider casserole dishes that work for baking and storage.
When you are actually cooking
bigger meals ahead of time to just be reheated each evening, you want to use
multi-purpose casserole dishes. Use glass dishes that you use for baking, but
that can also be used for storing them in the freezer. Just make sure you leave
them out in room temperature after cooking to cool down before freezing them,
or they might crack.
Tips For Meal Prepping
As you get started with meal
prepping, there are some other things you need to keep in mind. Follow these
simple tips for prepping your meals after you are done with meal planning:
·
Cook all your meat at
once.
·
Label every container
so you know when to use it by.
·
Note what prepping is
being done for leftovers.
·
Use ingredients that
can be prepped for multiple meals.
·
Get freezer bags
together with ingredients that will go in the slow cooker.
Meal Ideas For Prepping
Here are some different meal ideas that work perfectly with meal planning and meal prepping.
Put together different overnight oatmeal jars.
To get some healthy breakfasts
prepared, add overnight oats to multiple jars, one for each day of the week. In
addition to the oats, you can add different toppings for each day. Some
toppings to consider include cinnamon, sugar, slivered almonds or other nuts,
dried fruit, berries or fresh fruit, raisins, and granola.
Roast your vegetables beforehand.
To get vegetables ready for
lunches and dinners throughout the week, spend one day roasting all the
vegetables at one time. Choose vegetables with about the same cooking time,
roast them together, then place in containers and freeze them.
Use a vegetable spiralizer instead of pasta.
To make healthy, low-carb meals
and meal prep at the same time, consider using a vegetable spiralizer. This
takes vegetables like zucchini and squash and creates pasta out of them. Spiralize
your veggies on a Sunday, then save them for the week’s ‘pasta’ meals.
Bake all of your meat, then freeze portions for each meal.
Decide what meat you want to use
for multiple meals, then bake or cook it all at the same time. Do this in the
oven or your slow cooker. Meat like chicken breasts, fish filets, and strips of
steak work great for this.
Keep salad veggies and toppings in one container.
For your salads, you can make it
faster to put them together by having all of the greens and vegetables together
in containers. Keep all your greens in one big container, and all the chopped
veggies, cheese, and other toppings in another container.
With these tips, you will be on your way to both meal planning and prepping. This is going to save you a lot of time, not to mention help you make healthier meals for your family.
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