Once or twice a week,
I take 2 hours to cook meals for 3-5 days at a time.TIME is my biggest asset
so I try to manage it well. Being
organized helps me do this. I start with planning my meals and my family’s
dinner for the week. I am married with 3
children and I work full-time from home. I have a pretty full life and planning is
NOT
my strongest trait. I used to be pretty organized but once we had children, our days can change in the spur of the moment.
My mealplan is in line with my fitness goals. I typically plan for Mon-
Fri. The weekends are a time when we may eat a special breakfast, dinner or try
new recipe. I recommend finding a time that works for you. I work better when everyone is in
bed, so I can prep quickly and in peace.
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| I may begin prepping at 11 pm sometimes. |
To make a mealplan, I generally look through the meal guides that come with my fitness programs. Once I have a plan. I look over my pantry, fridge and
freezer to see what I need to add to my grocery list in order to make the
meals on the meal plan. And once the grocery
list is made, I head to the grocery store. If its early, I get to shop and prep on the same day. That way, everything is ready to go, once it hits the fridge or freezer.
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| Groceries |
Before prepping my kitchen is pretty clean. My countertops are clear because I will need to use all the space I have. I use both the stovetop and the oven at the same time. This is a BIG TIP- USE BOTH THE STOVE AND OVEN. First, I preheat my oven to 400-425. Then, I put on the grains because QUINOA and BROWN RICE usually take about an hour to
cook. While the grains are on a low
simmer and covered, I wrap a few sweet potatoes in foil and put them in the
oven. They need about 45 mins to cook. The foil keeps them contained.
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| sweet potatoes |
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| Quinoa and Brown Rice beginning to boil |
Next, I move on to the meats. Chicken breast, Ground Turkey,
Steak and Shrimp are easily prepped for the week and are usually easy to make a
variety of FAMILY MEALS from. I take 2-3 chicken breasts, remove fat and rinse them. For one,
I may do a taco-like seasoning. The others may be something simpler like pink salt
and pepper. I put them in baking pans,
cover them and put them right in the oven.
Steak follows the same method. I season and cover it and put in
oven. Now my oven work is done.
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| Seasoned Chicken Cutlets |
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| A few seasonings that I normally use |
Moving back to stovetop, I cook and brown 1-2 pounds of
ground turkey seasoned with pink salt and pepper. The shrimp is precooked, so I season it well
usually with something spicy, wrap it in foil and put it in the oven later to
bake the seasonings in. At this time, 10-12
eggs are put in a pot of cold water and on the burner to boil.
Lastly, I chop any fruit that needs chopping and by this
time everything is fully cooked and ready for the next step.
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| Peppers and Asparagus Medley |
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| Fresh Pineapple |
Now the FUN PART…..
The ASSEMBLY LINE!
Here is where I line up all my containers and storage bags.
I do measure my meats using a food scale that cost me about
$7 or I use my 21 Day Fix containers for portion control. In this example, I am using the colored
portion containers.
Breakfast this week will be fruit and yogurt with All Bran
cereal. I measure out all fruit and cereal and put in a baggie or container.
Making it easy to grab without thinking in morning. Lunch for me is simple- SHAKEOLOGY. I usually blend with a low calorie almond milk or water and then add my favorite extracts, almond or caramel.
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| Mixed fruit in 21 Day Fix Purple Container |
Snacks- 10 baby carrots/2 boiled eggs/almonds/fruit –
Measured out and put in bags. I put a different meat in each dinner container and then add veggies and a grain/potato of choice to each. For added flavor, I toss in a lemon wedge, spray Braggs liquid amino acids, or squirt hot sauce on top. My dinners are complete.
My Meals Are DONE!!
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| Meals prepped for the week. |
And now for what I call the "Mama's Touch."
This is done to make sure
NO ONE TOUCHES MY FOOD.
My children and husband all eat pretty healthy and if its fresh, it doesn't last long in our fridge. So in order to protect what's mine, I have to do a little extra. I bag my Breakfasts, Snacks and Lunches in larger Storage Bags and store all my food on the top
shelf of the refrigerator, heehee. Since my freezer is at the bottom, the top shelf is normally ignored. '
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| Bagged Breakfasts, AM and PM Snacks |
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| My meals on the top shelf of the refrigerator |
(Here are some meals that can be prepared for a Family using the foods I prepped earlier in the week.)
And For My FAMILY MEALS-
Ground Turkey, Brown
Rice, Peppers and Asparagus= Tacos with Rice and Veggies
Chicken Breast and Carrots/Zucchini= Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
with Veggies
Steak, Quinoa and Broccoli and Cauliflower= Steak!!! They
love Steak
Shrimp and Broccoli and
Cauliflower= Shrimp Alfredo with Veggies
Chicken/Steak, Quinoa
and Peppers and Asparagus= Chicken or
Turkey Wraps with Quinoa Pilaf
***Keep in mind that I do wash my hands frequently during prep
to prevent any contamination. I actually
think I keep water running the whole time.
And my kitchen may NOT look so pretty during the process. But, I love the way
it looks when everything is on and cooking simultaneously because I know that
my load during the week will be much lighter. I do freeze some meats after cooking, if it will be consumed later in the week and veggies are cooked only slightly to
preserve a little crunch.***
I hope this helps you to see how easy it is to
prep.
If I can do it, I'm sure you can.
Once you do it a couple times, it will
be a breeze.
