Plan and Prep for Healthy Eating

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It is a crazy hectic day. You are tired and there are only a few minutes to squeeze in supper before your child’s ball game. You open up the fridge and there is nothing you can make quickly. So, you load up the family and run through the drive thru on the way to the ball game. Sound familiar? We’ve been there.

On the flip side, you can have the same kind of day. But instead, when you open the fridge and it is stocked with cleaned, prepped healthy food and you have a menu planned for the week (this is the critical part). It is easy to whip something up quick and never even consider the drive thru.

Planning what to make and making simple preparations ahead of time helps me and my family make healthier choices all week even on our busiest nights.

Here are a few tips:

1. Plan out the week. Check the family calendar and figure out which days you have enough time to actually cook a meal and which days will be rushed. On our rushed or super crazy nights, I plan either quick portable meals or a night of leftovers. I actually plan both lunch and dinner this way.
2. Once you have your plan, make a grocery shopping list. Include healthy snacks on your list so you have those on hand as well.
3. After you return from the store – wash, chop, cook and store the foods so they are fresh and easy to use.
4. A couple items I like to prep:
   1. Clean, peel and chop veggies. It makes cooking or making a salad so less time consuming.
   2. Hard boil eggs for a quick protein snack or breakfast.
   3. Bake chicken breasts for sandwiches, salads, or a quick stir fry with your already cleaned veggies. If I am not going to use the chicken in a couple days, I cut the chicken into bit size pieces and freeze in single serving containers.
   4. I make extra rice and quinoa for future use.
   5. I make my own dressings. One recipe usually lasts several days.
   6. Lastly, whenever I am making soup or chili, I make a double or triple batch, and then freeze it in single serving containers for an easy lunch or quick dinner.

Planning ahead and prepping might sound like a lot of work at first, but with practice it becomes more intuitive and even kind of fun to figure out combinations for a week of healthy eating.