“I used to spend a full day every weekend prepping food for the week.  It was exhausting.”

I hear this from clients all the time.  What they don’t say is, “And please don’t make me do that again,” but luckily they don’t have to.  I help make eating easier so you can focus on what matters most to you!

By taking the stress out of meal planning and prep, you can set yourself up to actually enjoy healthy eating.  Here are a few of my favorite tips to help you get started:

1. Plan ahead: Whether it’s 2 – 3 days ahead of time, a week at a time, or a full month of meals, planning ahead and getting the groceries you need ahead of time sets you up so it’s easy to stick to your plan.
2. Make meal planning easier: Consider theme days (ex: Meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, Salad Wednesdays, Crockpot Thursdays) and systems that keep your favorite meal ideas and recipes convenient to access.
3. Prep is key: Spend 15-20 minutes on your weekend prepping ingredients for the week. Wash and chop vegetables, cook grains in bulk, and pre-marinate meats.
4. Batch cooking: On the weekend, cook a large batch of an ingredient like chicken or rice, or a meal like soup or chili, then portion it out for meals throughout the week.
5. Simple is delicious: Focus on mastering a few simple meals that you can whip up quickly on busy weeknights. Think stir-fries, pastas, and sheet-pan dinners.
6. Leftovers are your friend: Cook double portions for dinner and enjoy the leftovers for lunch the next day. This saves time and money.
7. Embrace the slow cooker: Slow cookers are lifesavers for busy cooks. Throw in your ingredients in the morning and come home to a ready-made meal.
8. Frozen is your friend: Frozen vegetables and fruits are a great time-saver and just as nutritious as fresh.
9. Get creative with canned goods and pantry staples: Canned beans, lentils, and tomatoes can be the base for many quick and healthy meals.  My favorite quick meal to make if I don’t have something else planned and I don’t want to order is pasta with canned white beans or frozen meatballs in a marinara sauce.
10. One-pot meals: Opt for one-pot meals like soups, stews, or pasta dishes to minimize cleanup.
11. Utilize kitchen shortcuts: There’s no shame in using pre-made ingredients like rotisserie chicken or pre-chopped vegetables to save time.

And my final tips:

*Don’t make too many changes to your routine all at once. Taking one small change at a time and practicing before adding a new change will help with learning what works well for you without getting overwhelmed. Give yourself time to get into new routines.

*Fed is best. Don’t put pressure on yourself to cook every single meal. On days when you don’t feel like you’re doing it right, remember that the goal is to feed yourself. Even on days when you wanted to prepare dinner at home and you had a bowl of cereal instead, give yourself credit for putting some fuel in your system.