I don’t know about you, but planning out my meals can be super stressful throughout the week. After a long work day, the last thing on my mind is the exquisite dinner I’m going to prepare. More often than not, dinner consists of take out on these nights. 

But, there’s a solution out there for you and me both, girl–meal prep!!

This is new for me, too. But my Studio Manager, Jackie, is a pro at it! So, I’m going to give this a try. I know it may seem like a chore at the time, but your future self will thank you. Not having to worry about what you’re going to eat throughout the week is amazinggggg. 

Jackie told me that it’s always good to have some staples on hand to make meal prep (and cooking in general) easier to manage. She keeps up on her spices (always have salt, pepper, garlic, smoked paprika, cumin, cinnamon, and thyme), and pantry items like olive oil, sugar, flour, pasta (GF if that’s your thing!), etc. But you should also consider having evaporated milk in the cabinet, buying meat when it’s on sale for freezing, and getting veggies with long shelf-lives like cabbage, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc. Having these options around can be helpful when you can’t make it to the grocery, but still need to eat this week!

So, let’s take some time to make food that’ll last us all week.

Portion it out.

Take the same ingredients, but flavor them differently for each meal.

Rice, chicken, and veggies?

That can be a Chinese Fried Rice, a Taco Bowl, and a Cheesy Baked Casserole all in the same week.

Have fun with it! Fill up those plastic tupperware bowls I know you have, and then voila–you don’t have to think about lunch again for a whole week (except for when you’re eating it of course, but by then, all you’ll be thinking is mmmmm.) 

Also, if you’re like me and meal prepping is going to be a process, it’s still okay to get delivery sometimes! Even Jackie takes some nights off. 🙂