This is how I prepare a work week’s worth of food for my husband and myself.
First I make a list of what I already have in my kitchen. I use those ingredients to plan meals first. Then I look at my grocery store’s sales flyer to see what meats are on sale. Then I plan more meals based on that. I use Pinterest to search for recipes. I like to plan a few new recipes and keep the rest pretty simple. Think meat+veggie+sauce/spice. I write up a plan for breakfasts (always simple stuff), lunches and dinners. I type mine up in a table in Word.
Once I have all my meals planned, I create a shopping list. I shop at three stores: Aldi, Safeway, and my local produce market, Baughers. On my shopping list I make a note of what is on sale and at what store. I typically buy pantry staples, some produce, eggs, and dairy at Aldi. I buy meat and anything Aldi didn’t have at Safeway. Then I buy remaining produce at Baughers. This saves me a lot of money. Aldi and Baughers sell produce for at least half the cost of Safeway. I really like Safeway’s Justforu program and use that a lot.
Once I get home from my shopping trip I start meal prepping for the week’s lunches. First I cook meats. I almost always cook a big batch of boneless skinless chicken breast. Put chicken breast in a large pot, cover it with water, and boil for 15-20 minutes. The chicken should be cooked through and tender. Drain and let it cool completely. Then you can chop it or use a Kitchen Aid mixer with a paddle attachment to shred the chicken. You can use this chicken in a lot of recipes – bbq chicken, chicken salad, tacos, chicken pot pie, chicken soup, and much more.
While chicken is boiling, I will cook any other meat. Often I’ll brown ground beef to use in recipes.
Once all your meats are cooking, you can prep all your vegetables. Look at all your recipes and decide how much of each vegetable you will need. I use a food processor to finely chop veggies that will go into meat (chicken salad, meatloaf, tuna salad, meatballs, etc.)
Now that your meat is cooked and your veggies are prepped, start going through recipes and finish preparing everything.
Then it’s time to assemble all the lunches. I use Ziploc Divided Containers and Rubbermaid’s Divided Containers. Put the entrees into the large section. Then cut up fresh fruits and veggies to complete the lunches. Stack them up in the refrigerator.
This is also a great time to clean and prepare fruits and veggies for snacking and to prep dinners.
Meliss Cooks 