Weekly meal prep

The last while my anxiety levels have been through the roof. Everything seems to be out of control: I just can't seem to stay on top of the house work, there are toys lying EVERYWHERE, my kids seem to be moany and nagging all the time...the list goes on and on. And the fact that winter has set in doesn't help that bluesy feeling. The control freak / neat freak in me is FREAKING OUT which leads to emotional eating. So, in an attempt to gain control over the entire situation, I have decided to do a bit of meal planning and weekly meal prepping. I have done it in the past and it works brilliantly!

Sunday would probably be the best day of the week to do this, but for us Sundays are usually quite busy with family gatherings, church etc. My plan is to do all our meal prep on a Saturday. 

Being the Pinterest addict that I am, I headed over and searched for a bit of inspiration. Initially I only intended to prep our main meals but one seems to able to prep ALL your meals in advance. Below is a pin from www.peanutbutterandfitness.blogspot.com where she has prepped even her breakfasts in advance! How organised is that!?! 

The benefits of doing a weekly meal prep are:

Helps keep you within your budget.

You eat more fresh, whole foods and less processed rubbish. 

Minimizes food wastage.

Ensures correct portion control.

Limits temptation to head to the drive through on busy/lazy days.

Some foods that are easy to prepare in advance:

Snacking veggies / fruit

Hummus 

Salad greens

Lean proteins like chicken, fish (I would eat the fish meals first though, just to be on the safe side) and turkey

Grains such as brown rice, quinoa etc

Roasted veg

Hard boiled eggs

Overnight oats 

You'll need to invest in some good Tupperware (YAY! A trip to Plastics for Africa!) and set aside a day to do all the prep work and cooking. 

Make a menu plan of what you would like to eat each day - breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Have a look at which of these meals can be made in advance and either frozen or stored in the fridge. Write your grocery list and then put on your most comfy pair of shoes and hit the shops. Remember not to shop on an empty stomach to avoid being tempted to buy things that are not on your shopping list! 

Now, once the shopping is done, the chopping, baking, grilling and boiling can start. Portion your meals into each bowl. I have found it handy to label what is in each bowl and the date it was made. 

It takes almost the whole day from start to finish but the effort is totally worthwhile.

I recently read a quote that said: if you have good food in the fridge, you will eat good food.

 

So, on that note, I'm off to do some meal prepping and ensure I have only good food in my fridge. I'll post pics and more details of what I made on my next blog post.

Until next time, 

XX-L