Meal Prepping for Dummies

For us, meal prepping is simply cooking all of our meals for the week on Sunday and storing them in the fridge or freezer for a grab and go convenience. We usually prep for two meals per day – one recipe for lunch and one for dinner. If you cook for Monday – Thursday, that’s eight meals that require washing the dishes only once. You can customize how you meal prep to what works best for you. Maybe it’s just lunch and not dinner or vice versa. Either way, you’ll feel great after it’s all done. The feeling of accomplishment looks a little like this.

We have three awesome recipes that work for any day of the week but double as a great meal prep! Our Turkey Taco Bowl is great because it’s very simple to make and full of flavor! The Italian Sausage & Veggies recipe is perfect if you don’t have a lot of time to make your meals for the week. Plus, the man in your life will appreciate the hearty meat and veggie dish. All you have to do is chop everything up, put it on a baking sheet, and let it cook in the oven! Last but certainly not least is our favorite Greek Chicken Salad. This is perfect if you’re looking for something light and refreshing for these hot summer evenings.

Meal prepping can have a lot of benefits and our favorite is saving money. Who doesn’t like that? Did you know that the average American will spend roughly $3,000 on takeout and restaurants a year? That breaks down to about $250 month! Now, we all like to go out occasionally because it’s a good social scene, plus the cooking and cleanup is done for you. But most food establishments will markup the charge of food by 300%. Which means that $15 eggs benedict you just paid for only cost them about $5. You can save money by grocery shopping for all your food and making your meals at home. You’re able to budget your meals out for the week or even the month if you’d like, and grocery shop at the store accordingly.

Not only are we trying to save money, we’re also working on staying healthy. Meal prepping can keep us away from that drive-thru we always stop at because it’s so conveniently located on our way home. If we have meals already planned out and in our fridge just waiting for us, we’re not going to stop. You can also save your calories because you won’t stop by that office vending machine or rummage through the junk food drawer. Come on, we’re all guilty of it. Another bonus is knowing exactly what’s in your food and being able to customize it to your health needs or food allergies.

Convenience is key, but don’t sacrifice healthy options and your money! If you only spend a couple hours on Sunday shopping and making your food, you can go to bed that night with the satisfaction of your meals being ready for the week. You can check that off your list! Cooking can be fun, social, and sometimes even therapeutic. Plus you’ll have a big sigh of relief after it’s all done. All that time you normally spend during the week cooking meals or going to get takeout you can now use to enjoy the moments with family and friends.

We hope this encouraged you to start meal prepping! Being intentional has its benefits when applied to cooking. Let us know which one is your favorite by commenting below or posting a picture and tagging us on social media!

Happy prepping!