Healthy (and Realistic) Meal Prep Ideas for the Week

Real life isn’t pinterest-looking meal prep

Here is some real life food prep inspiration for making nourishment a little easier in your busy life

I used to hate cooking. There was once a time I could not imagine meal prepping and enjoying it. But in all honesty, it has become one of my favorite things to do. Not only do I get to nourish my family, but I can also support my health goals in a really tangible way.

And as much as I enjoy it now, I am also someone who relies on convenience. Running businesses, having two young kids, staying active, part-time homeschooling… There is just a lot on my plate in this season. If it weren’t for easy (like really, truly EASY) meal prep that helps make healthy eating the easiest option, our nutrition would seriously slack.

So here are some of the things I love to batch cook and keep stocked in my fridge for easy, grab-and-go-while-still-being-nourishing kinda convenience!

Food Prep vs Meal Prep

Whenever you talk about preparing food for your family ahead of time, the term most often used is “meal prep”. While this is a huge technicality and really does not matter, I think it is important to mention…

The term “meal prep” had me thinking that I had to be cooking a meal ahead of time for it to be worthwhile.

I never even really considered that I could be doing general food prep and preparing snacks.. and chopping veggies for later cooking, and pre-cooking protein options to have on hand.

While it truly does not matter what you call it, having healthy, nourishing food options that are on-hand and ready-to-go can be such an easy way to add convenience to your routine and make healthy living feel easier.

Why I Love Weekly Food Prep

Back when I was pregnant and stocking my freezer full of meals, I fell in love with this concept of “cook once, eat twice”. It has been a true game-changer in my home. Anytime that I am cooking something, I am bulking up the recipe to make more than just one meal.

What is leftover is either being warmed up and had for lunch the following day, or I’m throwing it in the freezer for a weeknight meal when we are busy.

But sometimes the idea of “meal prepping” is great, but it is hard to actually know what to prep. Here are some of my favorite quikc and easy things to have on hand for healthy, nourishing snacks and meals.

My Favorite Easy Food Prep Options

I’m no food blogger, so forgive the not-aesthetic photos… but these egg cup muffins are so easy! Literally one cracked egg, a scoop of cottage cheese, some salt and pepper! Cook at 350 until cooked through!

Breakfast-

I love me a hearty breakfast! And while I usually stick to a pretty standard breakfast lineup, I have been finding ways to make it more convenient and not have to cook breakfast every morning.

In comes, eggs pre-cooked in muffin tins.

I usually cook 1-2 dozen of these per week. Easy, protein-rich option for either breakfast or grab-and-go snacks!

I love eating these plain or throwing them into a tortilla for a breakfast burrito!

Some other easy things to prep ahead of time for breakfast:

• hard-boiled eggs

• baked oatmeal bars

• egg casserole

• sheet pancakes

Lunch-

For lunch, in particular, I don’t do a lot of specific food preparation other than cooking a larger volume of food for dinner. As part of my seasonal meal rotation, I do not plan lunches. Actually, I plan on having lunch be leftovers from the night before. Again, cook once, eat twice (or 3 or 4 times). 🤪

I always have sandwich or wrap options on hand in case we are taking lunch on the go, or if we need something a little different.

Dinner-

Okay, dinner food prep can make cooking dinner on busy evenings SO MUCH EASIER!! In the summer, we will heat up the grill and cook up tons of chicken and veggies to have on hand for throughout the week. And while we don’t do it as much in the wintertime, we still have the same mindset.

I personally know that cooking dinner can sometimes feel like there’s a lot of “friction” to get it done— the kids are fussy, im tired, Im ready for my husband to get off— so knowing myself, I need to be really intentional to set myself up for success! I never ever regret it.

Here are some ways I love to prep ahead of time

• pre-chopping veggies

• pre-cooking meat or grains

• having a set meal rotation of got to meals you love

Related Reads:

• My Nourishing Meal Rotation as a Family of Four

During this week, I knew I was going to make a pasta sauce with a lot of veggies. So I pre-cut all the veggies and threw them in a glass storage container so that meal prep is a bit quicker that night!

Snacks

This is another one of my favorite categories for making nutrition super easy! I found that my family goes through a lotttt of snacks. (Hi, having 2 young kids 😅) And instead of buying a ton of packaged snacks (don’t worry, I still buy some of our faves), I try to have more that are whole food-based and homemade. It is so much more affordable and honestly, you can make up some yummy snacks pretty quickly!

Here are some of our faves:

• protein muffins

• pre-cut fruit and veggies

• pre-cut cheese sticks— sure, you can buy string cheese, or you can just pre-cut a large block of cheese

• homemade granola

• homemade trail mix

more non-aesthetic “real life” food prep 🙃 chopped veggies, carrots and celery for my kids to snack on, egg and sausage and cheese breakfast casserole to throw in the freezer and have on busy school mornings, and double chocolate protein muffins (featuring a snatched muffin because my son just couldn’t wait)

---

I think we so often try to overcomplicate nutrition and meal planning— but sustainable nourishment can be really easy. Curious how you can simplify nourishment, without the stress? Keep following along!

Kaelyn

latest on the blog