How to Eat Healthy Without Spending Too Much Time in the Kitchen

Are you eating real, whole food as much as you’d like?
 
I have found that the best possible way to live a healthy lifestyle and have healthy and delicious meals all week long is by meal prepping once for the whole week.

It saves me time, money, and stress, all the while allowing me to stay on track with eating healthy.

STEP 1: PLAN & SHOP 

I begin meal planning by making a list of recipes and meals for the upcoming week. I create a list based on what I will have for breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners. I use a weekly shopping list as my guide and then I’m off to the store!

STEP 2: PREPARE THE FOOD

When I get home from the store I keep out the items I plan to use for my meal prep. I pull up my meal plans and get to washing and cooking!  Throughout the week, I typically have a protein shake for breakfast, but I find that many of my breakfast recipes are great for mid-morning snacks, and/or if I am in need of a breakfast on-the-go.

I generally prepare big batches of veggies.  I start with washing the greens, then set aside to dry and move onto slicing, dicing, and dividing veggies into containers for use in cooking and salads. 

The new thing that I am planning to do for my family is, I am planning on making sautéed chicken or lean protein, I will cook it in big batches in my biggest pan or crock pot! (Fingers crossed on this considering I am a vegetarian).  That way, I am only prepping chicken and/or lean meat once for all the recipes!  I will store the extra chicken in the freezer for use later. It would be helpfull to have an extra freezer, ours is so small.

STEP 3: PUT EVERYTHING TOGETHER TO MAKE THE RECIPES

To keep it simple, I make a large salad in advance and then add the extras when I’m ready to eat it.  If I’m taking it to go, I divide it into containers or use as leftovers.

Also, as I have mentioned before I have veggies all cut up and ready to serve for dinner, snacks or to add to salads.  This makes meals so much more simple for us.

For dinners, I typically make two favorite main dishes, which allows me to prepare and freeze in advance making it easy for during the week. Now I am not saying I do this successfully every week but it is my goal :) 

STEP 4: PUT IT ALL AWAY! 

After all the food is prepped and the recipes are made, I put everything in containers and place it in the fridge! That way, I have delicious, fresh, whole foods for all meals during the week in minutes.
 
If you are still scratching your head, don’t let it discourage you!!! It can take time to learn and get in the swing of things. Also it takes time to find recipes that work for you and your entire family.  Take your time, try different recipes, make it fun!  Take a vote at the end of each meal on whether it is a keeper or not, and seriously the more you keep it a family thing the more everyone will be on board with changes that you make.