Two Day Meal-Prep
Meal prep doesn’t have to be a daunting all-day task! I like to break it into two days so that I have variety in what I’m eating and flexibility in my schedule. I’m going to give you my recipe for success in meal prepping so that you can remove stress from your week!
Is it just me or are weekends becoming more and more packed with fun activities? Sometimes that means that weekend meal prep is NOT happening or I need to be flexible. We usually go grocery shopping on Saturday so I’ll try to meal prep a bit that evening or I’ll do it Sunday afternoon if we’re busy on Saturday. This is the bigger prep of the two. I like to:
roast potatoes and other in-season vegetables
cut up bananas and freeze them for smoothies
throw rice in the rice cooker
bake chicken breasts
maybe make a protein like ground beef or turkey for some variety
prepare my sourdough starter to bake a loaf of bread
make granola if I’ve run out (recipe coming, it’s tasty ;))
A lot of these things can be done simultaneously. I like to throw on some good music or a podcast to make the time pass more quickly. I don’t prep much for breakfast because I like to make that in the morning but you can easily add in overnight oats, a huge batch of Kodiak Cakes, a frittata, or even hard-boiled eggs. Now, this should hold me over until the middle of the week and that’s when we start to run out of options. Onto prep two! This is usually my rest day so I have more time to devote to it. This day I will:
make more potatoes (I love them, ok?!)
sautée or bake more veggies
see what’s in the freezer. Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi?! Ok!
check my pantry. I can always come up with something creative with garbanzo beans so I may air fry them for a crispy component for salad or make them into hummus for delicious sandwiches.
It’s a much more manageable and less time-consuming prep but it’ll hold me over until the weekend. I can also opt to make half of the veggies I bought in each prep to provide a variety of nutrients and flavors.
Bonus tip: double up, buttercup! We don’t have all the time in the world so sometimes we need to get creative. I might make extra servings of dinner one night so that I have leftovers for a few days after that. It saves me time and money to know that I have delicious food ready for me for lunch.
This bowl took me 5 minutes: prepped rice, canned salmon, defrosted frozen mango and edamame, and seaweed salad from the store.