The Lean Green Bean

6 Months of Food Prep

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I challenged myself to 6 months of food prep. That means every weekend for six months straight, I spent at least some time prepping food for the week ahead. Here’s what I learned and why I recommend it.

I challenged myself to 6 months of food prep. That means every weekend for six months straight, I spent at least some time prepping food for the week ahead. Here's why I think you should make it part of your weekly routine.

Hi friends!

Can you believe we’re already halfway through 2017? I thought I would pop in today to tell you about a little goal I set for myself way back in January. You guys know I’ve been a huge fan of food prep forever right? I think that it’s something almost everyone can benefit from and it’s my number one tip when it comes to healthy eating.

When Little Miss was born in November of last year, I (not surprisingly) had several weeks where I didn’t do any food prep. I had stocked the freezer in preparation, my parents were in town, my husband was off work, etc so it wasn’t really a huge deal. However, as the new year approached, I knew I would need to get back on track at some point. I’m not a huge goal setter, but I challenged myself to do at least a little food prep every weekend for the first 6 months of the year to help make life a little easier.

In January, we had a 7-week old baby and a 2-year-old toddler. My husband and I were both working full-time, I was watching the kids full-time and we also owned a CrossFit gym. There’s no question we were busy but there’s also no doubt that food prep was a huge help.

Here’s what so many weeks in a row taught me:

  • It really does become a habit. Sure there were weeks when I didn’t want to do it, but for the most part, after a few weeks I just automatically started thinking of it as part of my Sunday schedule and making time to fit it into my day.
  • You just have to start. Some weeks were easy, some weeks were hard. There were weeks when I prepped food with a screaming baby in the Ergo and a screaming toddler at my feet. There were weeks when I had to prep on Monday morning because we were too busy or the kids skipped their naps. There were weeks when I was so tired that standing around in the kitchen was the absolute last thing wanted to do. But I did some. Every week. And most weeks I found that if I just committed to half an hour, it wasn’t so bad and I usually got into a groove and ended up doing more. And I never regretted it.
  • We struggle without it. There are a lot of different ways to food prep. You can prep whole meals, meal components, just one meal or snack, etc. I tend to focus a lot on snacks, breakfasts for Squish and dinner components. When I don’t do food prep, there are a lot more toddler meltdowns because I can’t get his meals and snacks ready as quickly. I find myself doing more mindless eating and grazing because I don’t have healthy snacks easily accessible to keep me full. And we often end up eating out much more frequently because I’m too tired or too busy or too lazy to put together dinner if I don’t have a food prep head start.

So, the bottom line is…anyone CAN do food prep. Even if you’re busy or tired…you just have to make it a priority. But I promise it’ll pay off.

Just to be clear, no I don’t think you need to do it EVERY single weekend to be successful. Take a weekend off here or there if you need to, but I do encourage you to make it part of your regular routine! If you want more food prep tips, check out my ebook: The Ultimate Guide To Food Prep or any of the other food prep posts I’ve written. I also have a Freezer Magic ebook full of freezer-friendly recipes.

I challenged myself to 6 months of food prep. That means every weekend for six months straight, I spent at least some time prepping food for the week ahead. Here's what I learned and why I recommend it.

I rounded up all 26 of my food prep photos in case you want a closer look at what I typically prep or need some ideas! I also linked to the blog post I wrote for each week. Some have further details about our week including pictures of what I ended up making for meals with the food I prepped so feel free to check them out!

food prep

Week 1

  • Tuna Salad
  • Sweet Potato Bites
  • Instant Pot Almond Butter Chicken (was just ok. never ended up perfecting the recipe.
  • Instant Pot Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
  • Squash Yogurt Dip
  • Carrots & Greek Hummus Topping for snacking
  • Salsa Verde – Just cut about 10 tomatillos in half and roasted them at 400 for 20 min, drained the liquid and put them in the blender with some chopped onion, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro.
  • Enchiladas – I mixed homemade salsa verde with pulled pork, black beans, red peppers, onions and cheese and used it as the filling for my enchiladas. Just portion it into a few tortillas, put some enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan, add the rolled up tortillas, top with more sauce and cheese and bake covered with foil at 350 for about 25 min.

Week 2

  • Carrots
  • Asian chicken noodle soup. (Another recipe that’s still on my list to perfect enough to share – basically chicken noodle soup except with extra veggies, ginger, some soy sauce and rice noodles)
  • Zoodles for this Chicken Sausage Skillet
  • Lettuce for salads
  • Sweet potatoes – just slice a few slits and microwave 2 at a time for 6-7 minutes
  • Double batch of these Paleo Turkey Sweet Potato Meatballs – stuffed w/ mozzarella cheese
  • PB Banana Oat Muffins – in a mini muffin tin
  • Whole Wheat Yogurt Waffles – prepped for the freezer

Week 3

food prep

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

  • Roasted squash
  • Cheese stuffed meatballs – just basic meatballs with chunks of cut up string cheese in each one
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Hummus topping
  • Roasted green beans – tossed in Italian dressing and roasted at 425 for 10 minutes or so
  • Homemade guac
  • Carrots for snacking
  • Popcorn Snack Mix

Week 7

  • Bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin
  • Instant pot shredded chicken
  • Roasted sweet potatoes
  • Carrots
  • Lettuce for salad
  • Coconut Oil Banana Muffins
  • Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

Week 8

food prep

Week 9

  • Instant Pot Hummus Chicken
  • Cottage cheese bisquick pancakes- just replaced 3/4 cup of the milk with cottage cheese to make Bisquick pancakes as directed
  • Roasted sweet potatoes
  • Tuna salad
  • Egg Wraps
  • Hummus topping
  • Meatloaf- random recipe my sister chose to make while she was here
  • Sweet Potato Protein Cookies
  • Chopped veggies and lettuce

food prep

Week 10

Week 11

food prep

Week 12

Week 13

food prep

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Week 17

Week 18

Week 19

  • 5 Minute Breakfast Hash
  • Carrots
  • Turkey Tenderloins in this marinade
  • Lettuce
  • BBQ Chicken for lettuce wraps – just baked chicken, peppers, onions, corn and black beans mixed with bbq sauce.
  • Hummus topping
  • Ground beef & mushrooms for tacos
  • Corn on the cob and sweet potatoes for sides

food prep

Week 20

1 hour of food prep

Week 21

food prep

Week 22

Week 23

food prep

Week 24

Week 25

  • Carrots and cucumbers for snacking
  • Green beans with tomatoes and Italian dressing
  • Lettuce for salads
  • Baby bok choy sauteed with bacon, peppers and corn
  • Sweet Potato Bites
  • Hummus topping
  • Grapes
  • Microwaved sweet potato
  • Roasted potatoes
  • Extra bell peppers chopped and ready to be frozen for later

Week 26

 

Comments

  1. I am with you! i struggle when i don’t meal prep. I’d rather spend 2-3 hours a week than having to think or cook everyday!! Btw, i look forward to reading your food prep and bean bites posts every week! 🙂

    Reply

  2. I’ve gotten way out of the habit and literally am just eating a lot of salads and cereal, so you’ve got me inspired! Next weekend, it’s time to get back to it

    Reply

  4. food prep has been a majorrrrrrrr priority for me within the last few years and it definitely pays off. its been helpful with $$$ as well as intentionally eating balanced meals. this post is even more so inspirational. loved it.

    Reply

  5. Wow, this is impressive! I can’t live without meal prep, honestly. Life is way too busy to start dinner from scratch every night and this is amazing the amount of work you’ve done for it! I always roast some chicken each weekend (to put on top of salads) and wash/cut up veggies also for salads. If I don’t prep, I’ll eat unhealthy crap!

    Reply

  8. THIS IS INSANE!!!! You are so good at food prep! I do a little here and there sometimes but other times I go for the whole shebang! I don’t even think about it nowadays because it’s so ingrained in daily life.

    Reply

  9. Love this!! I do this all the time each week with some weeks I can take off. Shop the local farmer’s markets in season to prepare for winter eating. It’s the healthiest way to go. Even if you make double batches of a dish for freezer meals. I am always thankful in those times that things pop up & can’t cook.

    Reply

    • i often spend my prep time making things we eat for breakfast or lunch and snacks and then make quick dinners during the week. sometimes i do prep dinners ahead of time or i prep components that can be put together quickly to make dinner.

      Reply

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