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There are different seasons of our lives where things we do that are needed change
When there are too many tasks in your day that cannot be ignored, you might be wondering how do busy moms meal prep
Is meal prepping worth the time and effort?
I only meal prepped for about a year, but I learned a lot during that time
And now I want to help you as well!
What is the difference between meal Prepping and meal planning?
Meal prepping and meal planning are both methods of preparing your meals ahead of time.
The biggest difference is how far you prepare
When I was working three jobs and going to college, I did not have time to cook every night
So I would cook everything I needed for the week on Sundays
It would take me about three hours and I would have everything cooked and separated into individual meals
That is meal prepping
All you have to do after that is reheat a meal and eat
I don’t do that anymore mainly because I don’t have the fridge space anymore
But I do meal planning
That means that I sit down every Wednesday and plan out what we will eat for the week
I do Wednesday because I shop on Thursday
Since I know what I will be making every day, I get everything I need and start the week on Thursday
That is meal planning
I know what I am going to make and I know I have everything I need to make it
But I do the actual cooking every day
Why meal prep might be helpful for moms
There are a couple of major advantages to meal prepping for busy moms
- There are fewer dishes
- You spend less time cooking per week
There are fewer dishes because you make more of one thing and wash it once
For example, I might have three meals that involve rice
Instead of making rice and washing the pan three times that week, I make enough for all three meals once and wash the pan once
I found that I did not make that many more dishes when I made dinner for a week than I made when cooking for that one night
Same concept for spending less time
You will spend more time cooking on your prepping day than you would if you only made one meal, but the overall time for the week is less
Let’s say that you spent 4 hours cooking on your prep day, and one meal took you 1 hour to make
That means that you spend 3 hours more a week when cooking every day
Instead of spending 30 minutes cooking rice three times that week, you only did it once and spent 30 minutes once
Meal prepping may make eating heathier easier as well!
While meal prepping can be amazing, it isn’t for everyone
You need to be able to spend some time in the kitchen once a week, and you need supplies to store the food for the week
I don’t have enough food containers or fridge space to meal prep right now
Because of that, meal prepping doesn’t make sense during this stage of my life
Meal planning has some of the same benefits (easier to budget and no daily stress to find food) and doesn’t have some of the restrictions (No need for storage)
So take a look at your life and see what makes sense for you
How long does it take to meal prep every week?
It takes different time depending on your circumstances
When I did meal prep, I really focused (with my husband’s help…)
I was able to get 7 dinners and at least 5 lunches down for 2 or 3 people in about three hours
Some weeks took longer because the food I was preparing took longer
Other weeks were simple and did not take long
Estimate how long you will need and then add some wiggle room on top
After a few weeks, you’ll have an idea of how long it takes you
You’ll also get faster as you practice
5 Busy mom’s meal prep ideas
There are unlimited options when you start meal planning
Try things out and see what works for you!
Here are some types of meals that worked well for me
- Foil meals
Foil meals are fun if you don’t want to fully cook the meal but you want it done enough to be fast
You can cook them when you’re camping, on a BBQ, or in the oven
Since I was only feeding 2 or 3 people, I did one foil pack per meal and we shared it
But you can make individual meals too
- Chicken
Chicken was one of my favorites to meal prep with because it was what we mainly ate
We would make a ton of chicken and then make different meals
I would shred some and add BBQ sauce for sandwiches
I would cube some and have it ready for tacos
Chicken is super versatile so it was easy to plan many meals with the same ingredient
- Rice
Rice is another ingredient that can be used in many meals
I use rice
- alone,
- for burritos,
- for wet burritos,
- with shredded chicken,
- With orange or teriyaki chicken
- And more
It is also the same effort to make a small batch as it is to make a large batch
Which makes it perfect for meal prep
- If you do seafood, plan for within a couple of days
We didn’t eat a lot of seafood but I can plan when we did
Seafood needs to be consumed within a couple of days
So we ate seafood meals at the beginning of the week
Pay attention to the requirements of the meals you choose to cook so you don’t end up with spoiled food
- Get microwave-safe containers
Microwave safe containers were a little pricey upfront but so worth it with meal prepping
When it was time to eat, we would just grab a container, heat it, and enjoy
There were fewer dishes and taking lunch to work was easier
Sure, it wasn’t pretty
We did use a plate instead of the container sometimes (like if we had steak and needed a knife)
But generally, we used the containers