6 School Lunch Food Prep Ideas

2. Dips and Dressings

Dips are such a great way to add a fun and healthy component to the lunchbox. We rotate between homemade ranch and hummus frequently in our home. The kids also love spreadable goat cheese as a dip for veggies–I know, an interesting choice. For homemade dips, prep them in advance to save time and then store them in the fridge for up to 5 days. This is a great grab-from-the-fridge option for the lunchbox and also snacking.

I also love to prep a homemade salad dressing in advance and use it throughout the week for dinner, my lunch (which is usually a big salad with some roasted veg, protein, etc.), and either a main or side salad for the kids’ lunchbox. This is the salad dressing you’ll usually find in my fridge.

3. Whole Chicken

If I had to choose just one thing to prep in advance it would be a whole chicken. A whole chicken is a food that keeps on giving.

Cook a whole chicken in advance, shred the meat, and use that meat to make soup, chicken salad, as lunchmeat in a sandwich, as the protein in fried rice, in enchiladas for dinner, or in a wrap. <–Just a few ways to use a whole chicken. After removing the meat from the bones, make a stock/broth with the bones for a future soup.

Want More Lunch Ideas? I’ve got you covered

1. 42 Easy Lunch Ideas Cheat Sheet Printable
2. 27 Easy Bento Box Lunch Ideas
3. 22 Hot Lunch Ideas
4. How to Keep Lunch Warm or Cold (and 36 Ideas)
5. 20 No-Sandwich Lunch Ideas
6. 22 Healthy Snack Ideas for School
7. 8 School Lunches You Can Make & Freeze

More School Lunch Recipes & Tips

SEE ALL

29 Healthy Snacks for School (Easy Kid Ideas)

37+ Easy Packed School Lunch Ideas for Kids

How to Make DIY Homemade Lunchables (8 Ways)

27 Easy & Healthy Kids Breakfast Ideas and Recipes

27 Bento Box Ideas For Kids & School Lunch (Easy to Make)

How to Keep Lunch Warm or Cold in The Lunchbox

The post 6 School Lunch Food Prep Ideas appeared first on Live Simply.

• Why rhythms and routines are important
• How rhythms and routines simplify real food meals
• My 15-minute meal planning routine
• How to use themes to simplify meal planning
• My weekly meal themes for breakfast and dinner
• How to use a rotational meal list to simplify meal planning
• My weekly grocery routine
• My weekly food prep routine
• Upcoming podcast episodes and guests

• Free Real Food Starter Guide and Crash Course
• Instagram
• What is Real Food?
• Fridge Tour Video 
• Pantry Tour Video 
• What I Stock in my Pantry 
• CSA: Community Supported Agriculture 
• Amazon Prime Now

Here’s the thing about real food: it requires work and effort. Processed food is so incredibly appealing because you don’t have to think about. If you’re going to eat real, you have to give it some sort of thought in advance–you have to prepare before you can enjoy real food. 

Some interesting facts: 

• In 1970, Americans spent 26% of their food budget on eating out. In 2010, this number was 41%. During this time, obesity rates more than doubled. 
• 60 years ago, the average dinner time was 90 minutes. Today, it’s less than 12 minutes.

I completely understand because we’re busy.  We live a very different life than our ancestors. 

• after a full day, thinking about what to eat and then cook is draining 
• time is needed to prepare food
• take-out is incredibly appealing
• processed food (take-out and packaged meals) meet the ever-growing need for FAST food

Dr. Mark Hyman, “Today, the food industry has hijacked our kitchens, not by accident, but by design. It has rebranded cooking as a chore, a burden, a drudgery. Cooking is what humans have done for millennia—transmitting the skills of gathering, preparing, and making food in community from generation to generation.” 

It’s important to talk about how to make real food work in our modern day. This is why it’s important that we share the routines and rhythms that are working to simplify real food for our family.  So, here’s what works for me in this season of life. 

My Weekly Real Food Routines and Rhythms

• Starts out Friday night
  • clean out the fridge sort, consolidate, take note of what I have. 
• Saturday morning meal plan 
  • Use themes 
  • Use rotational meal list 

• Saturday morning grocery shopping
  • first visit the market for meat, eggs, veggies, fruit, bread
  • Order from Whole Foods Prime Now grocery delivery to supplement with extra: butter, pasta, pantry essentials 
  • Sometimes Trader Joes for nuts and seeds

• Sunday Food Prep 
  • Take a look at my meal plan and determine what I can prep to reduce time in the kitchen
  • Some initial food prep for the week
  • Get kids involved: peel and chop carrots, wash fruit and veggies, make muffins, etc. 
  • Yes, takes time but greatly reduces time in kitchen throughout the week 
  • During the week prep naturally builds with leftovers 

Find routines and rhythms that work for you, in your current season of life. Be willing to play around with your routines and tweak them to simplify your life and how you approach real food. Create a flow and rhythm to your real food lifestyle. 

The post Podcast 051: Routines and Rhythms that Simplify Real Food appeared first on Live Simply.

Food Prep Meal Plan Example For Breakfast

Let’s talk about how to use your food prep throughout the week. Let’s say you choose to prep Instant Pot Hard or Soft Eggs on a Sunday afternoon. Based on preparing this one thing (which will take you about 15 minutes total), here’s what your breakfast meal plan may look like. I don’t include Saturday and Sunday on this plan because weekends are usually special breakfast days (meaning, you can spend more time in the kitchen, if desired).

Monday: Hard or Soft Cooked Eggs + Smoothies

Tuesday: Yogurt, Fruit, and Sourdough Toast

Wednesday: Hard or Soft Cooked Eggs + Smoothies

Thursday: Oatmeal (it only takes a few minutes to make on the stove-top) with nut butter and fruit

Friday: Oatmeal (double your batch on Thursday and reheat today with a bit of milk or water) with nut butter and fruit

If you have enough eggs, you could serve eggs with the oatmeal or pack eggs in the lunchbox. This depends on your family, how much they eat, and how many eggs you make. Eggs are one of the most versatile breakfast foods and they’re a nutritional powerhouse! There are over 15 different ways to cook eggs for breakfast, including make-ahead methods!

14 Breakfast Meal Prep Ideas

The Best Containers for Storing Food Prep

If you’re going to prep food in advance, you’re going to need the appropriate storage containers. I’ve tried a number of different storage containers over the years and have settled on a few favorites. I love these containers because you can see through the containers, which means food is visible. Everything mentioned is glass, too, so they’re reusable and eco-friendly.

• Ball Mason Jars: I purchase my jars at Target. I find the wide-mouth jars work best for food storage. The metal lids are awful for storage. Trust me, buy the plastic lids! You can find the plastic lids on Amazon or at Target. I use these for storing overnight oats, parfaits, and granola.
• Snap Ware or OXO (Snap Ware-Like) Containers: You can also find these containers at Target, sold individually. These come in small and large. These are great for storing granola, breakfast meats, hash, sweet potatoes, eggs or an egg dish (omelette cups or frittata slices), or baked oatmeal squares.
• Pyrex: You can find these on Amazon in a set or individually from Target (3 cup size and 6 cup size). These are great for storing granola, breakfast meats, hash, sweet potatoes, eggs or an egg dish (omelette cups or frittata slices), or baked oatmeal squares. The larger size is great for storing pancakes, waffles, and muffins.
• Ziplock Bags: I use gallon-size bags for storing waffles, pancakes, burritos, and muffins in the freezer. Quart-size bags work well for smoothie packs. I don’t have the freezer space for large containers, so I find the flat bags work best. If you don’t want to use plastic, Stasher bags are the best reusable option.
• Parchment Paper: Parchment paper works great for dividing up multiple layers of food in a storage container or bag. You can also use parchment paper to wrap breakfast burritos before placing in a bag and freezing.

Want to see how I store prepped food in the fridge? Watch this video for a complete fridge tour, including helpful food storage and fridge organization tips.

More Food Prep Meal Plans

I’ve created three (free) food prep plans which include breakfast and lunch ideas, as well ideas for carrying your food prep over to dinner. These plans are designed to help you reduce the amount of time spent in the kitchen throughout the week.

Food Prep Plan 1:

In this plan, you’ll make chicken, pancakes, eggs, Ranch dressing, and chop veggies for the week. I’ll walk you through a timeline for prepping, ideas for how to use that food prep, and provide you with recipes.

Food Prep Plan 2:

In this vegetarian food prep plan, you’ll make a soup, baked oatmeal, crispy chickpeas and hummus, a vinaigrette dressing, and chop veggies. I’ll show you how to prep each component and also offer ideas for how to use these components to build multiple real food meals.

Food Prep Plan 3:

In this food prep plan, you’ll make homemade pesto and chicken, cook pasta, bake muffins, and roast up some sweet potatoes. I’ll show you how to prep each component and use the components to build multiple nourishing meals.

More Breakfast Recipes

SEE ALL

Easiest Instant Pot Boiled Eggs (Hard or Soft)

Cinnamon Baked Oats No Banana (Easy Recipe)

Brownie Chocolate Baked Oats (No Banana)

Tropical Overnight Oats With Coconut Milk

Meal Prep Overnight Oats With Frozen Fruit

How to Make Chai Concentrate (From Tea Bags)

The post “Real Food” Breakfast Meal Prep Ideas (Freezer-Friendly, Egg-Free, and Gluten-Free Options) appeared first on Live Simply.

Three weeks ago, while sipping my coffee on a Sunday morning, I decided to create a few Instagram Stories, showcasing exactly what and how I was food prepping for the week ahead. Friends on Instagram loved that series so much, I decided put together a quick blogpost that weekend. That blogpost then turned into an email to the Live Simply Family. Everyone loved the ideas and the written food prep plan.

My food prep isn’t mega creativity, but it is practical. It works for me. For me, food prep is about making a few nourishing components that I can mix and match with other foods throughout the week to build breakfast and lunch. I don’t focus on dinners, usually, since I find dinner is easy to piece together and I enjoy spending more time in the kitchen in the evening. That said, sometimes my food prep naturally rolls into dinner, like a broth becoming a soup or extra chicken becoming a stir-fry or fajitas or quesadillas.

I mention the lack of mega creativity because I think it’s important to note. I want variety, but also consistency and routine. Variety keeps our meals from feeling meh and routine allows me to get in a groove without overthinking the act of prepping food. For me, routine looks like having some staple ideas that are rotated often. For example: oatmeal, eggs, muffins, protein, grains, veggies. Within these capsule ideas, a lot of variety exists:

For oatmeal, I can prep a tray of baked oatmeal, oatmeal cups, overnight oats, or standard oatmeal (made on the stove-top).

For eggs, I can make hard or soft cooked eggs in the Instant Pot, scrambled eggs (you can prep these in advance), egg burritos, a frittata, or mini egg omelette cups.

For muffins, I can make a variety of different muffins depending on what’s in season or in the fridge.

For protein, I can make beans, chicken (Instant Pot or stove-top method), meatballs (Instant Pot or oven), ground beef browned with spices, or a roast on Sunday with plans to use the extra meat throughout the week.

For grains, I can make rice, quinoa, barley, a mixture of grains, einkorn berries (cooked like rice), millet, or pasta.

And finally, for veggies, I can cut up raw veggies, roast a tray of veggies, cook potatoes, make a slaw to enjoy throughout the week, or make veggie fried rice.

Sometimes I like to make a dressing or dip for the week. Usually this is a salad dressing, pesto, or a dip like hummus or ranch (which can also be used as a salad dressing).

You’ll notice this theme of consistency and variety echoed throughout the three food prep plans now on the blog. I’m not planning to make this into a long-term series, but I’ll definitely create a few plans to give you a source of inspiration and practical tools for your own food prep. My hope is that with a few plans, you’ll have the inspiration to create your own food prep plans–using the method of consistency and variety.

Okay, with all that said, let’s talk about this week’s plan…

I like to view food prep in terms of components versus full meals. These foods can be mixed and matched with other foods to make a complete meal or snack, and some may be enjoyed alone. I generally focus on breakfast and lunch foods.

• Make Muffins: Make any muffin recipe desired. There are a bunch of options on the blog: gluten-free, whole wheat, einkorn, and spelt. Serve muffins in the lunchbox, for breakfast with smoothies or yogurt and fruit, or eggs. For extra prep, make a double batch of muffins and freeze the extra for later. Here are a few options: Master Einkorn Recipe, Einkorn Banana Muffins,Einkorn Pumpkin Spice Muffins, Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (Einkorn), Homemade Naturally-Sweetened Blueberry Muffins (Spelt), Blueberry Almond-Oat Muffins (Gluten-Free), Whole Grain Morning Glory Muffins (Whole Wheat), Spiced Applesauce Oat Muffins (Whole Wheat)
• Roast Sweet Potatoes: Roast up a few sweet potatoes. Serve with a salad for lunch or enjoy as a veggie in the lunchbox. Or, toss some shredded (cooked) chicken with barbecue sauce and serve on top of the sweet potatoes–add broccoli or salad for a complete meal. For breakfast, top with nut butter, cinnamon, butter, and/or hemp seeds. Serve alongside eggs, toast, sautéed spinach and bacon, yogurt, or muffins. Or, add some of the sweet potato to a smoothie along with fruit. Get the recipe for the best sweet potatoes.
• Cook a Whole Chicken: Cook a whole chicken in the Instant Pot. Shred and/or cube the chicken and store in the fridge. Use the meat for sandwiches, wraps, on salads, to make chicken salad or chicken noodle soup. Or, serve as a lunchable-style lunch with crackers, cheese, and chicken. Mix with pasta and pesto. Mix shredded or cubed chicken with pesto and then serve in butter lettuce cups with a tomato, or serve on bread for an open face sandwich. Make quesadillas for lunch (or dinner) with cheese, spinach, and shredded chicken. For a dinner idea, mix the shredded chicken with sautéed veg (like cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, snow peas, broccoli, garlic, and ginger) and soy sauce to make a quick stir-fry. Serve the stir-fry with rice or quinoa. So many possibilities! Get my recipe for Instant Pot chicken, or use your oven to cook a whole chicken.
• Make Pasta: Cook your favorite pasta. I like to go with a spiral pasta or macaroni-shaped pasta. My favorite pasta is from Jovial. Mix reheated pasta with pesto, fresh tomatoes, and/or chicken. Or, toss with fresh tomatoes, olives, and torn mozzarella cheese to make a cold pasta salad. If you’d like to reheat the pasta, use the microwave or add a small amount of water to a saucepan and reheat the pasta over medium heat.
• Blend Pesto: Make a traditional basil, pea shoot, or spinach pesto. Mix pesto with prepped pasta for a quick lunch (serve with cherry tomatoes or chicken), or toss with shredded or cubed chicken or spoon on lettuce lettuce leaves and top with tomato. If you want to roast up some extra veggies, you could even make this make-ahead meal. Use any remaining pesto at the end of the week to make pesto pizzas or flatbreads. I also love to use pesto as a dip with raw veggies or crackers. Get my recipe for basil pesto or pea shoot pesto (can also use spinach).
• (Extra Bonus) Make Broth: Turn your chicken bones (from cooking a whole chicken) into a nourishing broth to use later in the week for soup or to cook rice. If you don’t want to use your broth soon, store it in the freezer. Get my Instant Pot broth recipe or slow-cooker recipe.

1. First, make the muffins in the oven. 
2. While the muffins cook, prepare the sweet potatoes: cut in half and rub with oil.
3. Once the muffins are done cooking, increase the oven temperature. Cook the sweet potatoes.
4. Meanwhile, add the chicken to the Instant Pot and cook.
5. While the chicken cooks, cook the pasta. Once cooked, drain the pasta and add to a storage container. 
6. Blend pesto in a food processor. Spoon into a storage container. 
7. Remove the chicken from Instant Pot and shred. Place the shredded chicken in a storage container. 
8. Place the bones back in the Instant Pot and make broth.
9. While the broth is cooking, pour yourself a glass of wine and clean up the kitchen. By now, the muffins and sweet potatoes should be cool. Add the muffins and sweet potatoes to storage containers. Once the broth is ready, spoon into mason jars. Once fully cool, store in fridge or freezer.

Store the food in the fridge, in storage containers, and use throughout the week to build meals.

Breakfast: Cook up eggs and serve with the roasted sweet potatoes (reheat in a skillet or microwave) and top with nut butter (maybe even this homemade nut and seed butter) and banana slices. You could also serve this with a muffin.

Lunch Ideas: (Top Photo) Serve a muffin (or two), cook up some hard or soft boiled eggs (Instant Pot recipe), and serve with yogurt and fruit. (Middle Photo) Salad made with shredded chicken, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. Served with a dressing of choice. Make the salad the night before with dinner and add chicken for a lunch the next day. (Bottom Photo) Use shredded chicken, lettuce or baby spinach, and cheese to make a wrap.

More Lunch Ideas: (Top Photo) Pasta salad with tomatoes, olives, feta cheese or mozzarella, and homemade vinaigrette. (Middle Photo) Pasta with parmesan cheese, butter, and peas. (Bottom Photo) Shredded chicken used to make a homemade chicken salad.

Lunch or Dinner: Use the shredded chicken paired with baby spinach and cheese to make quesadillas. Serve with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and/or cilantro. Use this recipe as a guide for cooking the quesadillas.

Dinner: Make grilled pesto flatbreads. For this meal, you’ll need shredded chicken (or cook chicken breasts later in the week just for this dinner), pesto, and einkorn flatbreads. This is a fun meal to make for dinner as the weather warms up. Get the recipe.

Dinner: Make a soup for dinner using the homemade chicken broth. Explore all the soup possibilities on the blog. The soup pictured is a veggie barely soup made in the Instant Pot.

Tour My Fridge

Now let’s talk about storing this food in your fridge. In this post (and video), I share a tour of my fridge, my number one organization tip, how to store food (from prepped food to individual ingredients), and the best food storage containers.

Food Prep Storage Containers

I’ve gone through my share of food storage containers over the years. I’ve settled on a few brands that I love and work very well for me. I love these containers because you can see through the containers, which means food is visible.

• Ball Mason Jars (with plastic white lids): I purchase my jars at Target. I find the wide-mouth jars work best for food storage. The metal lids are awful for storage. Trust me, buy the plastic lids! You can find the plastic lids on Amazon or at Target. I use these jars for storing so many things: ranch dip, broth, soup, cut carrots, etc.
• Snap Ware or OXO (Snap Ware-Like) Containers: You can also find these containers at Target, sold individually. These come in small and large. Great for shredded chicken, berries, cooked grains (like rice, quinoa, etc.), soup, and eggs.
• Pyrex: I have the 3-cup size and a 6-cup container (perfect for large berries or soup). You can find these on Amazon in a set or individually from Target (3 cup size and 6 cup size). I have 6 3-cup containers and 1 6-cup container. Also great for shredded chicken, berries, cooked grains (like rice, quinoa, etc.), soup, and eggs.

School Lunch Food Prep 

The Simplified School Lunch Kit provides you with food prep ideas and recipes for the lunchbox. This kit will also teach you how to confidently plan and pack lunch in a way that’s strategic and enjoyable. Plus, this kit includes ready-to-use lunch plans and printable cards for over 20 fully-packed lunches.

The post “Real Food” Food Prep Plan: 5 Foods To Make Now and Enjoy All Week appeared first on Live Simply.

Food prep has become a form of self-care for me and my family. It’s a way of saying “yes!” to our health and wellness in an intentional way.

My goal in sharing a few food prep plans is to show you exactly how I food prep. It’s taken me time to develop a routine and find my groove, but now food prep is second nature.

Before sharing another food prep plan, I think it’s important to note that you don’t have to “food prep” to enjoy a real food lifestyle. Food prep isn’t a required real food lifestyle activity. When I was a stay-at-home with little kiddos, I had more time to spend in the kitchen and loved the ability to make food in the moment. Food prep wasn’t something on my radar. It wasn’t a necessity in our life.

Today, I work full time, Dustin works a demanding job in terms of travel and a weird schedule, and we have kiddos in school. This is a season that requires pivoting in terms of how we embrace real food. I still love being in the kitchen, but I don’t have as much time to spend in this space. Food prep is the key to keeping our real food lifestyle possible. As Robin Long said in our recent podcast chat, “There are seasons to our life and we need to remember to adapt to our seasons.” Adding food prep to my Sunday schedule is my way of adapting and pivoting in our current season of life.

That said, if you’re interested in adding food prep to your weekly schedule, I hope these posts are helpful. I’m not going to make food prep plans a weekly thing. My goal is to provide you with a few plans you can rotate regularly in order to simplify your food prep routine.

• Make Soup: Make any soup in the Instant Pot or on the stove-top and enjoy throughout the week for lunch. There are many soup recipes to choose from on the blog. Right now, I’m loving this Cauliflower Baked-Potato Soup. Choose a soup recipe from the blog.
• Make Instant Pot Chickpeas: Make chickpeas in the Instant Pot. Once cooked, use half the chickpeas to make hummus and the other half to make roasted chickpeas.
• Make Hummus: Use half the chickpeas to make homemade hummus. Use as a dip with cut veggies or crackers. Or, use as a spread on sandwiches or wraps. Get my recipe for hummus and crispy chickpeas (and how to make chickpeas in the Instant Pot).
• Make Roasted Chickpeas: Use the other half of the chickpeas to make roasted chickpeas. Heat oven to 400F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread the chickpeas on the paper. Toss with a splash of olive oil and sprinkle of salt. Roast until crispy. Store in fridge. Use on salads and enjoy as a snack. Get my recipe for hummus and crispy chickpeas (and how to make chickpeas in the Instant Pot)..
• Cut veggies: Store carrots and celery in water. Sweet bell peppers and cucumbers are also great to cut in advance–don’t store in water. Use for snacking, lunches, chop smaller for soup or salads later in the week. Check out how to store carrots and celery in water.  
• Make a Salad Dressing: Make an all-purpose vinaigrette to use as a salad dressing. You can also use this as a marinade for chicken breasts for dinner later in the week (you can grill, bake, or cook the breasts on the stove-top). Get my master vinaigrette salad dressing recipe.
• Baked Oatmeal: Make a pan of baked oatmeal and serve the squares throughout the week for breakfast. Pair the oatmeal with scrambled eggs, green smoothies, yogurt, bacon or breakfast sausage, or alone. Get my baked oatmeal recipe. Or, you could make baked oatmeal muffin cups.

1. First, cook the chickpeas in the Instant Pot. 
2. While the chickpeas cook, make the baked oatmeal in the oven. 
3. Drain the chickpeas from the liquid. Increase the oven temperature. On a sheet pan, toss half the chickpeas with olive oil and salt. Roast the chickpeas in the oven. 
4. Peel and cut the veggies. Or, ask a family member to help. My kids are master peelers and cutters at this point.
5. Make the soup (of choice) in the Instant Pot.
6. While the soup cooks, make the hummus in the food processor using the remaining half of the chickpeas.
7. Make salad dressing.
8. While everything cools, pour yourself a glass of wine and clean up the kitchen.
9. Store food in storage containers and place in fridge.

Tour My Fridge

Now let’s talk about storing this food in your fridge. In this post (and video), I share a tour of my fridge, my number one organization tip, how to store food (from prepped food to individual ingredients), and the best food storage containers.

Food Prep Storage Containers

I’ve gone through my share of food storage containers over the years. I’ve settled on a few brands that I love and work very well for me. I love these containers because you can see through the containers, which means food is visible.

• Ball Mason Jars (with plastic white lids): I purchase my jars at Target. I find the wide-mouth jars work best for food storage. The metal lids are awful for storage. Trust me, buy the plastic lids! You can find the plastic lids on Amazon or at Target. I use these jars for storing so many things: ranch dip, broth, soup, cut carrots, etc.
• Snap Ware or OXO (Snap Ware-Like) Containers: You can also find these containers at Target, sold individually. These come in small and large. Great for shredded chicken, berries, cooked grains (like rice, quinoa, etc.), soup, and eggs.
• Pyrex: I have the 3-cup size and a 6-cup container (perfect for large berries or soup). You can find these on Amazon in a set or individually from Target (3 cup size and 6 cup size). I have 6 3-cup containers and 1 6-cup container. Also great for shredded chicken, berries, cooked grains (like rice, quinoa, etc.), soup, and eggs.

School Lunch Food Prep 

The Simplified School Lunch Kit provides you with food prep ideas and recipes for the lunchbox. This kit will also teach you how to confidently plan and pack lunch in a way that’s strategic and enjoyable. Plus, this kit includes ready-to-use lunch plans and printable cards for over 20 fully-packed lunches.

The post “Real Food” Food Prep Plan: 7 Foods To Make Now and Enjoy All Week appeared first on Live Simply.

Food prep has become a form of self-care for me and my family. It’s a way of saying “yes!” to our health and wellness in an intentional way.

Today, I want to give you a food prep plan.

• Cut Veggies: Store carrots and celery in water. Sweet bell peppers and cucumbers are also great to cut in advance–don’t store in water. Use for snacking, lunches, chop smaller for soup or salads later in the week. Check out how to store carrots and celery in water.  
• Make Homemade Ranch: Make a bottle of homemade ranch and use as a dip for lunches and snacks (alongside your cut veggies) and as a salad dressing. Get the recipe for homemade ranch.
• Pancakes: Make pancakes and double the recipe. You can even add a cooked beet or a handful of spinach when blending the batter in a blender. Enjoy the pancakes throughout the week—even serve as a sandwich (with nut butter or cream cheese and fruit or jam) in the lunchbox. Get my recipe for gluten-free pancakes or einkorn pancakes.
• Cook a Whole Chicken: Cook a whole chicken in the Instant Pot. Shred the meat and store in the fridge. Use the meat for sandwiches, wraps, on salads, to make chicken salad or chicken noodle soup. Don’t forget to save the bones. Get my recipe for Instant Pot chicken, or use your oven to cook a whole chicken.
• Hard or Soft Cooked Eggs: Finally, make yourself a batch of hard or soft cooked eggs. I like to use the Instant Pot. Store the eggs in the fridge for about 5 days. Enjoy with breakfast (serve alongside smoothies, toast, fruit, or pancakes), make an egg salad, top on salad, or serve in the lunchbox. Get my recipe for the best Instant Pot eggs.
• (Extra Bonus) Make Broth: Turn your chicken bones into a nourishing broth to use later in the week for soup or to cook rice. If you don’t want to use your broth soon, store it in the freezer. Get my Instant Pot broth recipe or slow-cooker recipe.

1. First, cook the eggs in the Instant Pot.
2. While the eggs cook, make homemade ranch.
3. Allow the eggs to rest on the counter until fully cool. Meanwhile, add the chicken to the Instant Pot and cook.
4. While the chicken cooks, make the pancakes. Once fully cool, add the pancakes to a bag or storage container.
5. Peel and cut the veggies. Or, ask a family member to help. My kids are master peelers and cutters at this point.
6. Remove the chicken from Instant Pot and shred.
7. Place the bones back in the Instant Pot and make broth.
8. While the broth is cooking, pour yourself a glass of wine and clean up the kitchen.

Resources to Help You Rock Food Prep

Family Survival Meal Plan

The Family Survival Meal Plan is the fast-track way to put real-food meals on autopilot with the easy-to-follow meal plan, time-saving cooking methods and food prep hacks, and recipe book. Nourishing your family becomes one less thing to stress about.

Tour My Fridge

Now let’s talk about storing this food in your fridge. In this post (and video), I share a tour of my fridge, my number one organization tip, how to store food (from prepped food to individual ingredients), and the best food storage containers.

Food Prep Containers

I’ve gone through my share of food storage containers over the years. I’ve settled on a few brands that I love and work very well for me. I love these containers because you can see through the containers, which means food is visible.

• Ball Mason Jars (with plastic white lids): I purchase my jars at Target. I find the wide-mouth jars work best for food storage. The metal lids are awful for storage. Trust me, buy the plastic lids! You can find the plastic lids on Amazon or at Target. I use these jars for storing so many things: ranch dip, broth, soup, cut carrots, etc.
• Snap Ware or OXO (Snap Ware-Like) Containers: You can also find these containers at Target, sold individually. These come in small and large. Great for shredded chicken, berries, cooked grains (like rice, quinoa, etc.), soup, and eggs.
• Pyrex: I have the 3-cup size and a 6-cup container (perfect for large berries or soup). You can find these on Amazon in a set or individually from Target (3 cup size and 6 cup size). I have 6 3-cup containers and 1 6-cup container. Also great for shredded chicken, berries, cooked grains (like rice, quinoa, etc.), soup, and eggs.

The post “Real Food” Food Prep Plan: 5 Foods to Make Now and Enjoy All Week appeared first on Live Simply.

I quit.

I knew there must be some kind of balance to be found with meal prep–a way to prep without feeling overwhelmed each week.

In today’s short podcast episode,  I’m sharing my practical approach to food prep. Let’s talk the why, what, and how long of food prep. 

Listen Here

You can listen to the podcast episodes here on the blog, iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play.

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Show Notes 

• Download Your Food Prep Action Plan
• Episode 013: Debunking Meal Planning Misconceptions and The One Thing You Need to Simplify Meal Planning
• My Favorite Storage Containers for Food Prep and Storing Real Food 
• Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

Food Prep Ideas…

• How to Cook a Whole Chicken (Spatchcock Method)
• Roasted Vegetables
• How to Prep and Store Cut Carrots and Celery 
• Salad Dressing: Ranch (a favorite dip/dressing in our house) or lemon tahini (a favorite vinaigrette) 
• Soup
• Favorite Prep-Ahead Muffins: Master Einkorn Muffins, Banana Einkorn, Almond-Banana Blender Muffins (Gluten-Free), Almond-Oat Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-Free), Almond-Oat Carrot Cake Muffins (Gluten-Free)
• Instant Pot Hard or Soft Boiled Eggs 
• How to Make Beans in the Instant Pot 
• Smoothie Packs 
• Parfait 
• Waffles (Gluten-Free or Einkorn)
• Pancakes 
• Oatmeal 
• Overnight Oats
• Baked Oatmeal Cups (portable oatmeal “muffins”)
• Pesto

Why food prep?

First, I believe most of us know all too well about real food frustration. You know, it’s 8am and you suddenly realize you have to pack lunches for the day, or your family needs to eat breakfast pronto. When we don’t have a plan or anything prepared, it’s easy to throw our hands up in the air and wave the white flag of surrender.

When it comes to processed food, you don’t need much of any plan. Food goes from a box to the microwave in seconds. But when it comes to real food–food that nourishes and sustains us–we’re talking about ingredients. And these ingredients need to be prepared in some way.

A meal plan allows me to strategically create a plan for the week. This plan tells me what we’ll eat for the week, using the ingredients purchased, and then allows me to strategically think about what I can prep in advance based on our schedule and our biggest stressors–we’ll talk more about this in a minute. Prep time reduces stress and the amount of time throughout the week spent in the kitchen.

When I intentionally take the time to prepare a few food components for the week (like: cooked chicken, a cooked grain, veggies, waffles, pancakes, muffins, or hardboiled eggs), our days are smoother and we’re nourished with real ingredients. When I’m not intentional about both planning what we’ll eat and preparing a few things to help simplify the week to come, real food becomes a burden, stressful, and something that just doesn’t happen.

What exactly should I prep?

Food prep is simply the act of preparing for the week ahead. This act of preparation is based on your family’s schedule and your biggest stressors; not an image on Pinterest or Instagram. In fact, what food prep looks like for me will probably be very different than what food prep looks like for you.

Each week, after creating my meal plan (which comes from a list of rotated favorite meals, and occasionally a new meal to try. You’ll want to go back to episode 13 to learn more about this–it will change the way you approach meal planning, promise!), I sit down with my plan and calendar and ask myself, “What can I do right now to simplify our meals and life this week? What are my biggest stressors and what can I do to eliminate these stressors with some intentional prep?”

Mornings are extra busy and my biggest stressor, particularly during the school year, so preparing a food that will simplify breakfast is usually my first answer. I also pack lunches in the morning. This means getting a jump-start on lunch is typically my second answer. Dinner prep isn’t a priority for me, unless we have an usually busy evening on the calendar. If that’s the case, I’ve already planned to make something in the Instant Pot, or an easy dinner like burgers, quesadillas, or fajitas.<–Nothing that requires a ton of prep work.

Once I know what to focus on, based on our schedule, it’s time to take action and write down the food(s) to prep based on my meal plan. Usually this includes muffins or something that’s easy to serve alongside another breakfast option (i.e. yogurt, smoothies, or eggs). And for lunch, I like to focus on meal components, such as: cooking a whole chicken for shredded meat, cutting or roasting veggies, cooking a grain, making a salad dressing/dip. The idea is to make meal components that may be used in a variety of ways throughout the week. Other times, I may choose to prepare an actual prepped meal that can be stretched across multiple lunches.

I like to focus on components that can be mixed and matched with other foods, or food that will stretch across multiple days. 

Food prep is something that helps us simplify our week, not something I’m doing just to do. It’s about intentionally thinking, “Okay, here’s what we’re planning to eat this week, what can I do right now that will simplify our week and eliminate our biggest stressors?”

Some ideas for what to prep (see links under “Show Notes”–above):

Make muffins, waffles, pancakes for multiple breakfasts, snacks or lunches

Marinate meat for tomorrow’s dinner 

Cook a whole chicken for shredded meat for salad, sandwiches, etc.

Make hardboiled eggs

Cook beans (beans freeze well) for nachos, quesadillas, “refried” beans, etc.

Make soup, for easy grab-n-go dinner or lunches

Make smoothie packs

Make parfaits or overnight oats

Wash and chop fruits and veggies

Cook rice, quinoa, grains, etc.

Make a dressing that can be used in multiple ways: in a salad, as a dip, etc.

Make pesto that can be tossed with pasta and a meat or veggies throughout the week for lunch

How long does it take me to food prep?

I’m often asked how long it takes me to prep food for the week to come. The answer: one to several hours, depending on the priorities for that week. Some weeks are jam-packed, so spending a few hours in the kitchen on the weekend is a sacrifice I’m willing to make. And some weeks are more on the chill side, which means very little food prep needs to be done on the weekend. 

Here’s the key: Make food prep work for you.

Forget all the images you’ve seen on the internet and just focus on what will work for you and your family. Think about your schedule and what you can do right now to help simplify the upcoming week. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all way to prep. Don’t let Pinterest fool you, like it did me. The goal of prepping is to simplify life; not complicate it.

Food prep is a routine. It’s part of our life now. It’s not something I always love doing, but I love the benefits: a simplified week, less chaos in the morning, nourishing food staples ready to grab in the fridge.

The post Podcast 022: Let’s Talk About Simplifying Food Prep appeared first on Live Simply.

In today’s episode, Renee shares about simplifying busy school mornings with a breakfast routine (it’s a game-changer), nourishing breakfast ideas, and how to pack simple real food lunches. She also answers your questions about real food.

Listen Here

You can listen to the podcast episodes here on the blog, iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Leave a Podcast Review

Leave a Review
Reviews are critically important for a new podcast. Reviews tell iTunes that people are listening and also helps new people find the podcast. To leave a review, click on the button above and then click “Write a Review” (you’ll have to scroll down to see this option). Also, while you’re over in iTunes, be sure to hit the subscribe button to be notified when new episodes launch.

Show Notes

Simplifying school lunch packing is near and dear to my heart. That’s why I created the Simplified School Lunch Kit. My goal is to help you simplify packing school lunch and feel confident each morning when you approach the lunchbox. Use code: simplelunch at checkout to receive 25% off this kit.

• Renee’s first podcast episode: Live Simply, The Podcast 015
• Renee’s website: Raising Generation Nourished 
• Renee’s Cookbook: Nourished Beginnings
• Instagram: @raisinggenerationnourished
• Renee’s breakfast routine
• Kristin’s heart-shaped waffle maker
• #rgnschoollunch: Renee’s Instagram hashtag for school lunch ideas 
• Real food packaged snacks
• PlanetBox 
• Omielife Thermos Bento Box 
• LifeFactory Water Bottles 
• Keeping Kids Healthy Blogpost
• Homemade Elderberry Tincture
• Homemade Elderberry Syrup

Q1: On your blog you talk about the need to keep school mornings as low-key and low-stress as possible, and also the importance of feeding your family a nourishing breakfast. You’ve used a breakfast routine to make this possible. Can you share more about this routine.

Q2: What are your favorite breakfasts to rotate?

Q3: If parents want to create a similar breakfast routine, what are your tips for starting and implementing such a routine. 

Q4: You share daily lunch inspiration on Instagram (##rgnschoollunch). The lunches always look so appealing and nourishing. How do you approach packing real food lunches for your daughters? (do you plan out meals, use leftovers, etc.)

Q5: What do you aim for in a balanced, nourishing lunchbox?

Q6: I think a lot of us experience burnout when it comes to packing lunches. What are your tips for packing nourishing lunches that are full of variety but don’t feel too complicated to put together?

Q7: What your favorite lunches to pack? And your kids’ favorite lunches?

Q8: What are your favorite tools for packing lunches right now? 

Q9: What are the first food changes you’d recommend people make when switching to real food? 

Q10: Do you give your kids any vitamins, supplements, or probiotics?

The post Podcast 016: Simplify Breakfast and School Lunch with Renee from Raising Generation Nourished appeared first on Live Simply.

In today’s podcast episode, Renee shares what real food looks like for her family, her balanced and practical approach to planning and putting real food meals on the table, and ways to get your kids involved in the kitchen–including age-appropriate ideas.

Listen Here

You can listen to the podcast episodes here on the blog, iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Leave a Review

Leave a Review
Reviews are critically important for a new podcast. Reviews tell iTunes that people are listening and also helps new people find the podcast. To leave a review, click on the button above and then click “Write a Review” (you’ll have to scroll down to see this option). Also, while you’re over in iTunes, be sure to hit the subscribe button to be notified when new episodes launch.

Show Notes

• Renee’s first podcast episode: Live Simply, The Podcast 015
• Renee’s website: Raising Generation Nourished 
• Renee’s Cookbook: Nourished Beginnings
• Instagram: @raisinggenerationnourished
• Renee’s Meijer Real Food Shopping Guide on Live Simply
• Renee’s blogpost about age-appropriate kitchen tasks for kids
• Kid-safe knives
• Weston A. Price Foundation
• Nourished Kitchen blog 
• (AD) Simplified School Lunch Kit: 20% off with code simplelunch at checkout

As I mentioned in episode 14, Renee and I talked for almost 3 hours during this interview. In order to keep this interview bite-sized, but also not cut out any of Renee’s incredible insight and encouragement, I’ve decided to divide our chat into a 3-part series. In the next episode, the final part of my interview with Renee, we’ll talk about simplifying school mornings with a breakfast routine, breakfast ideas for busy school mornings, packing a real food school lunch, and she’ll answer your questions.

Q1: What does a real food lifestyle look like for your family in real life?

Q2: You’re a busy momma. How do you make real food work among the chaos of mommy-hood?

Q3: Your kiddos help you a lot in the kitchen, and they started helping at a young age. How did you get them involved and also excited to help prepare meals?

Q4: Can you give us ideas of age-appropriate ways kids can help in the kitchen, from young children to older kids?

Q5:  What resources have helped you the most on your real food journey? (Taught you how to cook, challenged your ideas about food, or inspired you to make changes, etc?)

The post Podcast 015: Getting kids involved in the kitchen with Renee from Raising Generation Nourished appeared first on Live Simply.

Over the past year, I’ve been in a consistent routine of prepping food on Sunday afternoon. When I first added this activity to my schedule, I made a lot mistakes. These mistakes were important learning lessons. They helped me simplify this time. From these mistakes, I’ve developed a few unspoken rules for my prep time. Well, unspoken until today. 

1. Set intention by consulting your calendar and meal plan.

In order to be intentional about prep time, you’re going to need two things: your calendar and a meal plan. Take a look at your calendar and meal plan, and ask yourself, “What’s the most important food to prep based on my schedule? What’s going to simplify my life this week? What’s going to make the biggest impact?”

If upcoming mornings are going to be busy, prioritize making one or two breakfast meals based on your meal plan. Think about meals that may be served multiple times (pancakes, granola, smoothie packs, etc.). If you notice that what you’ve planned isn’t going to work for your schedule, tweak your meal plan. Make your meal plan–and what you’re going to prep–work for you. 

2. Write down your prep plan.

I find that it’s helpful to make a note of what I’m going to prep on the side of my meal plan, or on a note card. This note keeps me focused during prep time. I’ve also found that a written plan helps me establish a good flow for prepping–what to make first, second, and last.

3. Start with a clean kitchen, fridge, and food prep containers.

There’s nothing more discouraging than prepping for an hour or two, and then spending an additional hour cleaning up the mess. To minimize the mess, clean your kitchen before prepping. Clean any dishes sitting in the sink. Clear any clutter (extra knives or food from earlier) from the kitchen countertops. Even better, ask your kids or your partner to help you clean up before prep time begins. A clean kitchen will give you more room to work, keep prep time organized, and minimize the after-prep mess.

Before you create a meal plan and prep food, clean out your fridge. Toss or compost anything that’s spoiled and wash your food prep storage containers.

4. Keep your next meal simple.

Have you ever prepped food for the week ahead only to realize that you’re too tired to actually make your next meal (usually lunch or dinner)? **sheepishly raises hand**

I’ve made this mistake more times than I’d like to admit.

To fix this mistake, I keep our Sunday night dinner simple. We either have soup from the Instant Pot (which can also serve as more prep since leftovers are inevitable), quesadillas, or hamburgers on the grill. Another option is to make prep day a family night out. Go out to Chipotle or your favorite restaurant. The idea is to keep this meal simple so you don’t feel overwhelmed by the idea of preparing and cooking a time-consuming lunch or dinner.

5. Double check your ingredients.

Finally, before beginning your food prep, make sure you have all the ingredients needed to make your recipes (or food components). Also, make sure you’ve defrosted any meat you’ll need (unless, of course, you’re cooking something from frozen in the Instant Pot). I like to sort my ingredients on my counter based on what I’m making (i.e. all the pancakes ingredients together, soup ingredients together). This little step, which takes about 10 minutes, keeps my prep time organized and focused.

The post Real Food Prep: 5 Rules to Simplify and Succeed at Food Prep appeared first on Live Simply.

Some seasons bring a calm stillness, when you can breathe, spend extra time in the kitchen, and even cuddle up with a good book at night. And then there are full seasons.

Full may also appear as busy, but I shy away from that word because it indicates a sense of chaos. I’m talking more about living a full season of life. For us, this looks like doing life with two kids and a growing food photography and recipe development business (a natural by-product of Live Simply).

Last month, our full life got extra busy. Yes, I’m going to finally use that word, busy. We had taken on some giant food photography and recipe development projects with short deadlines, and the kids had just started back at school. I did my best to keep up by making sure that everyone was dressed and loved before school each day, and keeping real food a consistent part of our life.

Preparing and serving real food day after day over the course of the last six weeks has been a challenge at times. If it weren’t for a few life-saving (literally, these hacks saved my sanity and kept real food being served in our home day after day), then I probably would have resorted to nightly take-out at the best option in town, Chipotle. We love Chipotle, but our bodies need a bit more than rice, beans, and guac seven nights a week, and so does our budget.

Last Friday, we completed the last big project we’ve been working on, which means that once again the seasons are changing. This time I can feel the calm approaching, or, at least, the “calm” that also involves raising active kids. Parenting means accepting a new kind of normal and calm, right?!

Let’s talk about the “hacks” that save our real food lifestyle during the busy seasons.

1. Make a Busy Weeknight Meal List: 

I keep a Busy Weeknight Meal list on my fridge. This is my go-to list for meal planning during the busy seasons of life. Each week, I simply glance at the list on my fridge, which is compromised of meals that may be cooked in less than 30 minutes and/or lots of prep may be done in advance, and create a meal plan from these recipes/ideas. This list also includes no-recipe-required ideas. For example: Burgers, hardboiled eggs, scrambled eggs, roasted vegetables.

How To: 

First, print my Busy Weeknight Meal printable, or simply pull out a piece of notebook paper. Think about the criteria you’ll use to determine the meals that go on this list. For me, the meals must require less than 30 minutes to cook and/or lots of prep may be done in advance (such as: quesadillas, soup, and tacos). Just remember, the goal during this time is nourishment and simplicity.

Next, sit down (this does require about 30-45 minutes of time, but this is a one-time activity), and jot down every recipe and/or meal idea that you know will work on a busy day. 15-20 meal ideas is ideal, divided between breakfast and lunch/dinner. This may be an on-going list. Next time you try a great recipe, or think of a meal idea, and it meets your criteria, jot it down on this list.

2. Use That List to Meal Plan: 

Yes, I know life is busy right now. And I completely understand that meal planning is probably the last thing someone wants to think about during the busy seasons of life. Well, that is a pull-from-Pinterest-and-every-cookbook-ever-created meal plan. I like to take a different approach to meal planning, which simplifies the entire process.

I use my Busy Weeknight Meals list to create meal plans during busy seasons. This list means that I don’t have to use mental energy to create a meal plan each week. And we all know just how valuable mental energy is when you’re busy.

How To: 

Use the recipes found on your Busy Weeknight Meals list to fill in empty spaces on your weekly meal plan calendar. And if you want to take the simplifying a bit further, save your weekly meal plans (I use my workbook.). If your schedule is extra busy one week, simply look through your old meal plans and find one that appeals to you, and voila…your family’s meal plan is ready!

3. Cook Once, Eat Twice: 

“Cook once, eat twice” simply means doubling a recipe or meal to create two meals. For me, this looks like only planning to cook 3 times a week on my meal plan, doubling those recipes, and then enjoying the leftovers on the “off” nights. And remember, the recipes on the Busy Weeknight Meals list are easy, so doubling them won’t take much time at all. 

How To:

Simply plan, and shop accordingly, to double the meals on your meal plan. 

4. Prioritize What to Buy Versus Make: 

There are so many great real food options in stores these days, which means I can skip making mayonnaise and purchase a quality jar from the store (that’s just one example), or I can purchase a quality bread instead of making a loaf at home. I use a few simple questions to help guide my decision about what to buy versus make. 

How To: 

The next time you’re at the store and/or market, take a look at the real food options that are available for staple foods in your home. If there are real food options available, take a mental note for future shopping trips. Staples may include: cooked (canned) beans, spaghetti sauce, bread, yogurt, mayo, pre-cut fruit and/or veggies (many stores offer this convenience), and even a cooked whole chicken. What you buy versus make will vary with your budget, weekly needs/schedule, and the sources in your area.

Don’t feel ashamed that you’re not making homemade bread, yogurt, or the perfect apple-spiced cake on the weekends. Friend, the goal is getting through the busy season with a nourished body. The homemade bread, yogurt, and apple cake recipes will still be there in a few months, if you want to make them ;).

5. Make Use of Kitchen Helpers:

We live in a day when there are so many wonderful helpers ready to help us out in the kitchen…electronic helpers! A few of my kitchen helpers, include: a crock-pot, food processor, blender, and freezer. These appliances help me get meals on the table with little to no effort.

My crock-pot cooks broth and whole pieces of meat while I’m away working on projects. My food processor allows me to quickly chop veggies or form salmon burgers. My blender blends pancake batter and smoothies in under sixty seconds. And my freezer allows me to freeze leftovers for future meals.

How To:

On your Busy Weeknight Meals list include a few crock-pot or Instant Pot recipes. If you don’t have any favorite recipes yet, look online for “real food crock-pot recipes” or “real food Instant Pot recipes.” There are a handful of crock-pot options here on Live Simply, like: pulled pork, whole chicken, broth (for soups), and beef stew. My absolute favorite slow-cooker/crock-pot cookbook is Quick Slow Cooking. Renee from Raising Generation Nourished shares real food Instant Pot recipes on her blog.

How do you make real food work during the busy seasons of life?

The post 5 Life-Saving Real Food Hacks When Life Is Busy appeared first on Live Simply.

Last week I showed you exactly what a real food shopping trip looks like for me (watch the video). Once I shop for our food, I spend 1-2 hours on a Sunday or Monday prepping for the week ahead.

Now, I’m not talking about an extreme prep time. I’m sure you’ve seen the extreme prep times plastered across Facebook and Pinterest. The prep times that make you think, “Woah! That’s amazing!” And once you give it a go, you realize a prep time like that will require surrendering your entire weekend to cooking and dishes. Oh no! Nothing extreme here. What I am talking about is a dedicated time each week (or multiple times throughout the week) reserved for prepping important foods/ingredients based on your schedule.

My prep time looks different each week depending on the food I purchase and what our schedule looks like. My goal is to spend just a couple of hours in the kitchen to help jumpstart our real food meals.

My Meal Plan

My weekly prep time is determined by my meal plan. If you’d like to learn more about planning real food, I highly recommend taking the Real Food Planning Challenge. Here’s my meal plan for the week…

Monday- Breakfast: Green smoothie //  Dinner: Roasted Herb Chicken Thighs with White Beans and Rosemary (crock-pot)

Tuesday- Breakfast: Yogurt with Granola (already made from last week’s prep time) and Fruit + Hardboiled Eggs // Dinner: Salmon Burgers (salmon already in the freezer from my Costco trip) with Tuscan Kale Salad (add chickpeas)

Wednesday- Breakfast: Smoothie (green or fruit-based) and Muffins //  Dinner: Sheet Pan Flank Steak Fajitas with Peppers and Onions (tortillas already in the freezer)

Thursday- Breakfast: Oatmeal and Fruit (chopped apples) // Dinner: Quesadillas with leftovers from fajitas (tortillas already in the freezer)

Friday- Breakfast: Oatmeal and Fruit (cinnamon pears) + Eggs // Dinner: Cheese pizza + Pear and Arugula Pizza (adults)

Saturday- Breakfast: Eggs in a Hole (sheet pan style) and Fruit (probably pears or grapefruit) //Dinner: Cobb Salad (add chickpeas) with Homemade Bread (maybe)

My Prep Time

After planning our meals and shopping, I determined my top prep activities. Based on my meal plan, there are many different foods/ingredients I could prep in advance. Before determining what I would prep for the week ahead, I thought about everything I could prep: marinate chicken thighs, create lunch options for Piper, wash and chop greens, make coffee creamer (a 60-second recipe), make cinnamon pears, shred cheese for pizza, par-bake pizzas, boil eggs, make muffins (I’m out of my freezer stock), chop vegetables for the fajitas and possibly the salad, make almond milk for smoothies.

My mental list may not seem like a lot of activities (or maybe it does), but realistically those activities could consume an entire day! If I had all day to spend prepping, then by all means I would prep everything. Instead, I only spend 1-2 hours prepping each week, so I prioritize based on the foods that can be used in multiple ways and our weekly schedule.

Mornings are super busy for us, so making breakfast food is always high on my priority list. Piper is always hungry when I pick him up from school, which means food that can double as a snack is a huge bonus. We also keep snack time super easy with just a piece of fruit most days. Dustin and I enjoy leftovers for lunch, but packing lunch for Piper can be a challenge so I like to make easy lunch food (pasta, chicken and rice, beans, make-ahead jelly and seed butter sandwiches). Finally, anything that will be used for multiple dinners is considered a top priority. Based on these “rules”, here’s what I decided to prep this week:

No. 1: Wash and chop greens for salads, lunch sandwiches-if needed, smoothies, fajitas, quesadillas, kale salad, and arugula pizza. This activity also extends the life of leafy greens.

No. 2: Cook chickpeas in the crock-pot. Also, make hummus with the chickpeas for snacks and lunch.

No. 3: Boil eggs for breakfast and Piper’s lunch.

No. 4: Cook pasta with frozen peas from the freezer. I top the pasta with butter and parmesan cheese for an easy lunch. A great alternative to the mac and cheese so many of Piper’s friends consume at lunchtime.

No. 5: Bake muffins for breakfast, lunch, or a snack. I usually double the muffin recipe so I have plenty for the freezer.

No. 6: Make almond milk for smoothies.

Normally I keep my prep time limited to five activities. Since cooking the chickpeas, boiling eggs, and cooking pasta were very easy activities, I added almond milk to my list.

Your Turn

To help you get started with prep time, I created a printable resource, Prep Time Action Plan, to help you prioritize your prep choices. I also recommend reading Prep Day: The Why, What, and How To of Prepping Food In Advance.

The post Weekly Food Prep: A Real Life Video Guide appeared first on Live Simply.