Weekly Meal Prep

Now that school is back in session it's time to buckle down and get organized.  Hubby and I were pretty relaxed this summer with the meal planning and unfortunately it shows both in the wallet and the waistline.  I took some time yesterday to prep our food for the week.  Typically I pack my lunchbox and a few snacks for the week, but haven't prepped beyond that.  Yesterday I did anything I could ahead for meals.  Hopefully it will pay off.  Hubby says I was a little overzealous and that this much food will last us longer than just a week, but better to be over-prepared than under, right??

I picked up lots of containers similar to these for breakfast and snacks and a few bigger containers like these  for some of the dinner prep.  Ideally, if this is successful, I'd like to replace these with glass containers like these.  But thought I'd see how things go first.....

For breakfast I packed Greek yogurt and Costco's cherry mix.  I also hard-boiled a dozen eggs, which can be used for breakfast, snacks, or in lunches for Hubby.

Lunch includes baked chicken breast, quinoa, apple, and cranberry salad, and roasted Brussels sprouts.

For snacks I packed peppers or carrots with hummus and celery with peanut butter.  I also cut up a cantaloupe.

Our menu this week includes bison burgers, fajitas, lamb chops with spinach, and tilapia.  (I know that's only four meals, but we have plans one night.)  I formed the burgers, chopped the peppers for the fajitas, chopped mushrooms, and trimmed the green beans all in hopes that I stick with the plan instead of feeling like I don't want to cook....

The biggest tip I can give is to start with all the items that will take the longest.  I put the chicken in the oven first, then started the eggs, and then the quinoa.  While those items were cooking I was able to prep everything else and the come back to packaging them.  After lining up the containers assembly line style, it was a breeze.  Here's to hoping an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Wishing you all a great week!

Happy Organizing!