Meal Planners, anyone out there

lisahebert186

I'm trying to get into meal planning. I work full time and I have three kids. I have an hour and a half commute one way. I'm trying to start meal planning and cooking on the weekends so we have a healthy meal everyday Of the week. Does anyone else do this? What do you do to make sure everything is prepped and ready to go.

AmyG1982

I try to do this every weekend. Saturday I plan the meals (dinners and lunches) and do my shopping lists and Sunday I shop and prep. I try to pre-cook and cut up anything I can on the weekend. For example, if I'm going to make a shepherds pie on Thursday I'll brown the beef and freeze it so I can just reheat and season. I precook chicken breasts and cut it up and put into individual baggies and label them if they're for salads or soups or other meals. I also try and plan large meals so I only have to cook every second day. A huge pot of chili will give us 2 dinners and easily 2+ lunches each. I also try and plan how to use leftovers, if I make a beef roast one night I plan to do philly cheese steaks the next night. I try to plan a few crock pot meals,which you can prep ahead of time (Google crockpot freezer meals) so they're ready when I get home and I always have a crockpot meal planned for Fridays so I don't order out (if I'm tired after a long week I always want pizza or Chinese but if I have a meal ready I'll eat that instead) I also cut up veggies and put into individual baggies for easy lunches and snacks.

It seems hard and daunting and a little intimidating at first but it gets easier and is sooooo worth it!

kommodevaran

I just meal plan and prep components - portion and freeze raw meat/fish, slice and freeze bananas, bread, cut and box certain vegetables and fruit, make nut butters. I let meat/fish thaw and grains soak in the fridge overnight for any meals that require this. I keep a well-stocked pantry, freezer and fridge, and keep track of what I have. I write shopping lists based on what I need (ingredients+) minus what I already have, do my shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables twice a week. I supplement with other foods when needed. I rotate themed dinners through the week, alternating every 2, 3, or 4 weeks. With soup/casserole just one day of the week (and leftovers for another day), this becomes a 12 weeks dinner plan that I can repeat as long as I like.

Meal prepping as in preparing complete meals - I considered this but decided I like fresh foods too much and the planning part, the structuring, was what I really needed.

Capt_Apollo

rice is a very flexible filler. can be used on chili night, or as a side on taco tuesday...

that's another thing, start having theme nights. like meatless monday, taco tuesday, whatever wednesday (leftovers!), tuscan thursdays (italian night), fish friday, southern saturday, sunday dinner (for more leftovers!!)

get yourself a slowcooker. if you can, buy one that has a timer and can be programmed to switch from cooking to warming.

nixxthirteen

I'm always so so so tired after work. The thought of cooking after coming home starving and exhausted makes me sad. But I'm really busy lately on my days off, and am terrible at meal prep.

So we've started having a constant rotation of lean meat + roasted veg + salad + occasionally rice to make our lives easier.

For salads I chop up bagged romaine hearts, cherry tomatoes, cucumber. I make a big bowl that we can eat from throughout the week (and I typically use a balsamic vinaigrette that I made a large batch of, and keeps well). Used to buy spring mixes in a tub, but they spoil so quickly! Romaine hearts have a way better staying power in my fridge.

If we make rice, we make a large batch and I just weigh out 100g servings for myself each time.

Roasted veggies are lately either broccoli or asparagus, drizzled in oil, and cooked at 400*F for 15-20 min.

Meats = centre cut pork chops, or chicken breast, or chicken thighs brushed with honey, or lean/trimmed steaks done in a pan, frozen salmon fillets with lemon and dill, haddock quickly breaded in a light layer of flour... all stuff that cooks within the time it takes to roast the vegetables.

When I DO have the energy to meal prep, I make large batches of cooked chicken (for salads, wraps, tacos), tons of turkey and onion burgers that I freeze, huge pots of turkey chili that I also freeze, meatballs (awesome on spaghetti squash with tomato sauce)...

lisahebert186

I have started eating spaghetti squash and I'll prepare two or three of those a time. I did do a large batch of asparagus, summer squash and zucchini today. I figure if I start out small and add other items on a regular basis it won't be so over whelming.

cupcakesplz

I like to cook in bulk and to get 3 meals out of each one. Here are some of mine cottage pie, Mexican stack, Mexican rice (I add grilled chicken and salad when serving this meal)

Cheesy567

I'll cook in bulk on Sunday, everything at 350*F in the oven to keep it simple, or in crockpots. Several pounds of chicken (pre-cut into bite-size pieces for ease of measuring out portions later), a beef roast or two, "Canadian bacon jerky" for low-fat high-protein snacks, etc. I'll portion out my meals into covered trays, measuring out the meats, adding frozen veggies (after all they're freshest and pre-chopped!) and fats, then freeze them for an easy microwave meal or grab-and-go lunch. (I don't have kids, though, so you might have to put more effort into choosing your meals. I have an autoimmune disease and don't always have the physical ability to cook, so I make meals ahead of time for the week, and keep extras on hand for bad times).

Crockpots meals are great, too-- there are lots of "30 days of meals" out there on the internet if you search. Put it on a Christmas-light timer if you need the crockpot to turn on later in the day because of your long commute (from the freezer it will be ok sitting on the counter in the crockpot for a couple-few hours)

Make your kids help you in any way they can, they need to learn healthy meal prep skills too! Sometimes a friend will come help me with a batch-cook day, too-- more fun, and we only dirty up one kitchen.