Meal Prep Tips

I’m not sure about y’alls households, but in mine, we go through quite a bit of food! A lot, actually. With 3 fast growing boys, it’s often a struggle not just to keep them full, but to make sure they’re not constantly in the pantry eating junk! 

We all certainly enjoy a good, warm pop-tart as a treat, but I try really hard to make sure that our meals are filling and well-rounded before we break out the dessert after dinner (yes – we do dessert, EVERY night!). 

That being said, our life is busy and the grocery store isn’t just 5 minutes away so planning ahead each week, sometimes two, is my saving grace when it comes to meal planning and prep! 

While I’d love to just be a full-time rancher, we’re not there (yet)! I work from home full-time during the day, boys have sports, we have evening chores, and all the other things that quickly add up. 

With just a little bit of time spent planning on Saturdays, our weekday meals become SO much simpler. 

I lean into simple recipes that I can stretch a few different ways throughout the week to make my life easier and more practical!

MEAL MAKEUP

1. I loathe cooking every day! Especially during summer, it’s hotter than an oven, and I don’t want to spend endless time in the kitchen. I tend to lean towards casseroles or cooking large batches of meat at once that can be repurposed for other recipes since my boys can turn their noses up to leftovers.

2. Nearly all recipes will freeze well! So you can cook in bulk and save for later.

3. Each meal has meat (lots of meat), a grain, and a good serving of veggies. 

Meal Prep Tips

I know I said “Name of the Game: Meal Planning & Prep”, and yes, while this is essential for me, I also need to plan to be practical for our lifestyle! So, practicality, for me, is planning to be practical. Below are my tips for planning ahead.

• Make it Multi-purpose

  When I’m thinking about the menu, I also want to consider what protein I plan on using. If batch cooking chicken, I can do it all at once and find ways to incorporate that into various recipes.

  No one wants to necessarily eat the same thing for 3 or 4 days straight! But, if I can turn the same main item into something new, no one bats an eye. Prime example, pork shoulder! My family loves pork shoulder week because for us, this means, pulled pork carnitas, pork fried rice, and BBQ sliders. Get creative!

• Time-Saving Recipes

  This goes hand in hand with the above. If you’re cooking something in a large batch, you instantly save yourself a great deal of time.

  On weeks when I don’t do this, I’m finding dump and go recipes for my crockpot, sheet pan, or InstaPot to cut down on throwing my meals together. I also have a ton of freezer crockpot meals I can make well in advance and throw in for those busy weeknight meals!

• KISS...Keep it Simple Stupid

  Don’t overthink your meals or planning. I know my family so I know what’s typically going to go over well each week and what won’t so I use tried and true recipes during the week that I know will easily double and everyone will eat.

  Introducing labor intensive meals during the week for everyone to say they hate it, is not practical and defeats the entire purpose of planning ahead effectively.

  We absolutely love to try new foods in my house! I get excited to test out new recipes, it’s just on the weekend when I have the time to make the effort AND everyone else has the time to make themselves a PB&J if the experiment just comes out horribly wrong.

Try planning ahead one week and see how much easier your life becomes in the midst of work, kids’ activities, or anything else that may tie you up at the end of the day!

When I’m extra motivated, I do plan the ENTIRE month. I have a sample meal plan below! This is an actual Monthly Meal Menu I’ve used before!