Hey everyone! Ok, so I know meal prepping can seem SO overwhelming and time consuming that you don’t even want to attempt it! I know, I’ve been there. Just making it to the grocery store and back is enough for me to feel tired and want to order a pizza! haha. However, this year I told myself I was going to try it. So I wanted to share this with you all and we can learn together!
I think for me, the best way to get started meal prepping is to find some good recipes that I know I’ll eat, plus look GOOD to eat. If they don’t look appealing, chances are I’m probably less likely to eat it. If a recipe has stuff that you don’t like, substitute it for something else! (It’s a lot of work to go to waste if you don’t!). TONS of people have already done the hard work for you and give you the recipes. Some also include how many calories are in each, and the health benefits. I have a couple that I like to use! But don’t get me wrong. There are literally THOUSANDS of meal prep recipes for free online! Pinterest is one of my go to’s! I have a board on my Pinterest page full of them, you can find them HERE if you need ideas! I personally really like themealprepmanuel recipes! That’s where I found the one pictured!
Next, after I had the recipes I wanted, I made grocery store check list of every single item I needed for my home and my meal prep meals. If you want to learn more about how I organize my grocery list so you shop smart you can read. It will help you out a ton I promise!
The nice thing is after you do this, you don’t have to do it again! Unless you want to add more/different meals after you try them to your list. I usually try to get my groceries stocked for the month. Yes I said a month! But I also usually go back in the middle of the month just for fresh produce. It’s really whatever system works for you. But like I said, MY GROCERY LIST POST will help you get an idea of how to get started!
I knew I wanted to get some nice containers that I could take with me on the go and for my husband to take to work with him. (Which literally saves us a TON of money from our monthly expenses). I have written a post about how to save on your monthly expenses HERE if you are interested! I bought my containers from amazon HERE but really whatever works for you! Lot’s of people like to just use tupperware, but I like to keep my foods separated sometimes if there are items that could get soggy (I HATE soggy things, just writing soggy gives me the creeps! haha).
Then I picked a day I knew I would have the time to do it. Sometimes I find it easier to just wait until my daughter goes to sleep and cook at night! I like to watch my shows, listen to podcasts, books or conference talks! It’s a really good way to get some me time while also being productive. But sometimes I’m WAY to tired for that so I do it on a Saturday or Sunday when my husband can look after our little one!
After that you really just follow the recipes! It takes me an hour or two depending on how many meals your making. Usually the recipes with the least amount of ingredients take the least amount of time. I usually start making the ones that will take the longest first and then while those are cooking/baking start making the other less complicated ones next.
So I know that was a lot of information so here are the steps again:
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- Get some containers for your meal
- Choose your meals before hand
- Make a grocery list
- Find a day to do your meal prep
- Get cookin while you watch your favorite show!
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Really after you do the first three, all you have to do is make them! I love after you find the meals that work for you most of the work is done which is SO nice. I know I feel WAY better eating them and feel a lot less stressed throughout the week.
I hope this helps you guys get motivated to maybe try this for yourselves! If you guys have any tips or tricks that have worked for you I would LOVE to hear them!
xo, Jamie
