Before I had my second child I was a hard pass on meal prepping. Spending my Sundays cooking a couple meals was not something I was interested in, it seemed time consuming and no matter how hard I try cooking is not something I enjoy. When I returned to work and had two kids in daycare I quickly realized buying lunch every day at work needed to stop, if I put the work in it was an easy way to save a significant amount of money each week. I tried taking leftovers at first or bringing a frozen meal but often wouldn’t end up eating it and would grab something from the cafeteria, which meant I was wasting food and spending money. Double fail. So I starting making an extra meal on Sunday just to bring for lunch each day. Here are some things I’ve learned…
- CHOOSE WISELY: Almost all of my recipes I use are Skinnytaste (www.skinnytaste.com). The recipes are healthy, easy to portion and don’t taste like they are on the lighter side. There’s also a lot of variety which I love. It can be overwhelming with so many websites out there and wondering if the meal will actually taste good, so I like the familiarity of using the same site each week.
- CREATE A ROUTINE: I make sure to build in time each Sunday to make my grocery list for the week, grocery shop and make my meals. It can be hard when I have other things going on but making time to get it all done makes me feel more relaxed Sunday night before the work week begins.
- START SMALL: Right now I cook three meals on Sunday, a meal for my lunches, breakfast (I love egg muffins!) and a meal for dinner on Sunday, usually enough to have leftovers during the week. Even if you just prep one meal it really does help throughout the week and for me eliminates the desire to pick up something unhealthy.
What recipes do you use for meal prepping? I’m always looking for new ideas!
Happy Monday! Find me on instagram @thestrugglingworkinmama