I originally planned to make one long post about my recent meal prepping shenanigans, but there has been so much recently that I needed to split it up a little bit more!
**Stay tuned for a post in a couple days about how Wildtree has continued to help me with my meal prepping 😃
If you have read any of my last posts, I am still pretty new to the meal prepping game but I am getting so much better! Generally speaking, I use my weekends to think through what I will be cooking/eating for the week. When I grocery shop, I think about my meals and try to think ahead for a few dinners (so I can go a good couple weeks before having to go again).
I usually make one large meal for the week and then plan for some leftovers but those leftovers also sometimes get used for lunches. The way I get the "one large meal a week to work" is because of a few factors. I am lucky enough to join my fiance's family on some of the weekend days for dinner which saves me a little bit! I also take the time, however, to cook/plan out single size dinner meals.What I mean by this, is that I'll intentionally cook up meals on the weekends and split it into 3-4 single serve meals to pull out for that random Thursday night...it's too late in the week to cook up another big thing and I'm usually tired so I can just quickly reheat it!
Single-Serve Dinners
I will make up a pack of chicken or a few pork chops and then roast a pan of veggies and voila! With a few good seasonings and oils - this is a fantastic meal that is easy to reheat and tastes great. Plus it changes up my meals enough since I have one every couple weeks!
Anything but Sandwiches
As you may remember, I don't like to eat sandwiches. A good sub is always great but plain sandwiches can get really boring after a while and I could never use the lunch meat fast enough so I knew I needed to start planning other things.
Chickpea Bowls
- Chickpeas seasoned with olive oil, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and whatever else I feel at the time!
- Veggies seasoned with olive oil, garlic, and a salt blend (I typically roast sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, zucchini/squash, beans, etc.)
This recipe is inspired by your typical "Buddha Bowl." I found the recipe on Pinterest and it sounded delicious! Typically these bowls also come with a homemade dressing except I didn't want to add the extra calories or take the time to make it haha. So instead I just roasted up the chickpeas and veggies for a great and healthy lunch option that is super filling.
With a whole pan of veggies and 1 can of chickpeas, I made up to 4 servings - which means 4 weeks of lunches done if I plan to have 1 each week! *Yes I freeze the other bags until I am ready to use them!
An additional perk of this prep is that if you make 2 trays of roasted veggies then you can split that up for even more lunches! If you mix up some shredded chicken or stir-fry style meat with brown rice or veggies, you have another great lunch that was easy to prep!
Stuffed Shells (Alfredo & Marinara)
Alfredo - ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, broccoli, Italian and garlic seasoning, egg and alfredo sauce
This is a meal that people typically whip up for dinner - me included! However, a week later I still had some leftover ricotta cheese and I didn't want it to go to waste. On a quick whim and with about 15 jumbo shells left I whipped up the rest of the ingredients with the intention to pack and save them for lunches. Simply saving 2-3 makes a great lunch and uses the rest of your ingredients haha! Plus it's super easy to make and flexible enough to change up too!
My prepping has gotten a lot better over the last several months. It's amazing that on Sunday I can pull out 3-4 things for lunches during the week and then make side salads to go with it - and then I'm done. I like that I have saved some single meals so on the nights I am exhausted it is easy to pull out.
I do think through a couple weeks (or a month at a time) which does take some serious thought. I'll think about what big meals I want to make coming up and things I want for lunches. Once I grocery shop, I intentionally plan an additional hour to prep some of the actual food and get it in the freezer. As I have gotten better, I can make a couple different things at a time and stay on budget since I'll use a lot of the ingredients in different ways!
I'm all about finding ways to prep several meals at the same time and it really only takes a couple hours to make up several weeks worth of food!
If you have any questions or ideas to share please comment 😊
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