By blog team member, Kiran. To learn more about Kiran, check out our team page!
I have a love-hate relationship with Sunday. It starts off kinda like this. The kids come down one-by-one as they wake up and come in to see us. As I lay in bed, my brain is already on overload thinking of what the next few hours entail. You see, Sunday is my food prep day for the week, and the benefits are huge, I tell you. There’s no turning back once you try it.
I’m not gonna lie. There is some organization and planning involved. But honestly, I couldn’t make lunches and dinners happen throughout the week if I didn’t do this. If you don’t already have a system in place, I highly recommend it. Yes, it takes some work, but you can absolutely do it. And I’m going to show you how.
Planning Meals
I generally gather recipe ideas throughout the week. You know the drill. You see a good recipe on a (ahem) blog that you follow or maybe one catches your eye on Pinterest. Or maybe you prefer cookbooks. Whatever it is, gather your recipes and get a plan together for what you want to make for the week. If you don’t enjoy this part of it or you don’t have time for it, enlisting in a meal plan service is a GREAT way to go. Determine what you need for these recipes and start putting them on a shopping list.
One resource that I’ve found to be beyond helpful when it comes to planning meals is our sponsor Plan to Eat. It’s an online meal planner that uses your recipes (instead of picking the meals for you). So, for all those times when you see something you want to make in an upcoming week or save for the future, you import it into the program. You build your calendar from there – for a week, a month, or whatever works for you. It then creates an automatically generated shopping list for you that you can print or view on your phone. Whether you are uber organized or just aspire to be, this is a perfect planning tool, and luckily all new users can try it out for free for the first 30 days!
Lunches and Snacks
What’s on sale this week at your local store? Or what’s in season that you can find at your local farmer’s market (or grocery store)? Think about what you may want to have for lunches and snacks during the week and add them to your list. Personally speaking, I also take into consideration what my kids have had in recent weeks. They do tend to get tired of the same foods if I buy them week after week. Did you bake homemade raisin bread last week? Change it up and make muffins. Kids muffined out? How about waffles, power balls, or some bars? Vary it up for the best results.
Food Shopping
I do my shopping on Friday or Saturday each week. Years ago, I found myself at the grocery store multiple times throughout the week. It made me nutty! Now I go just once a week, and by the time it’s time to go again, the fridge is bare and looking lonely. This secretly makes me happy, in a weird way. I know that we’ve done our part in finishing up and not wasting food.
And now for the good stuff…Prep Day!
Back to my Sunday mornings. Every Sunday I wash, peel, and cut carrots so that we have carrot sticks throughout the week. I do the same with celery and maybe cucumbers or peppers. I can’t tell you how valuable it is on busy school nights to just open the fridge and have snacks and lunch options available to simply grab and go. Move over pretzels made with white flour – we’ve got a better option than you! I seriously find that my kids are more apt to grab a bag of veggies to snack on vs. grabbing a cutting board and vegetable when hungry. It doesn’t take rocket science, right? A little leg work up front has loads of benefits.
I’ve broken down my Sunday work for you:
Veggies:
- Peel and cut carrots
- Wash and cut celery
- Cut cucumber or bell peppers (or both)
- Chop vegetables to roast during the week
- Wash and chop lettuce
Fruit:
- Cut (in-season) fruit for breakfasts and lunches
- Wash all apples/pears/etc. so that they are ready for little hands to grab and eat
- Freeze bananas for use in smoothies or banana ice cream (a fun treat)
Baking/Other:
- Make bacon for the week (great for salads, sandwiches, or by itself!)
- Bake one or two items for the week – muffins, granola bars, etc.
- Make a batch of granola
- Hard boil eggs
Food Preparation:
- Make marinade for chicken or other meat (when applicable)
- Cut chicken if necessary
- Mix up a salad dressing (when applicable)
- Make Monday’s meal so that Monday is ready to go
Keep in mind that this is not always the same. Yes, my veggies stay pretty consistent, but the actual food prep part will change according to what I have on the menu for the week. Also, keep in mind that different systems work for different people. Perhaps you work weekends and need to alter days. Or perhaps you don’t have kids and don’t need the quantity that I do. Regardless, a little work ahead of time is definitely worth the effort in my opinion.
I’d love to hear how you save yourself some time with food prep!
Do the cut fruit and veggies stay fresh through the wee? How do you store them? Thanks!
I store carrots and celery submerged in water. Fruits lasts for a good few days; I have 4 kids though so it doesn’t have much of a chance of lasting longer than that.
What about cucumbers they get slimy quickly?
I too am curious how long they last… Some veggies only seem to last a few days when cut up. (Maybe it’s how I store them?)
Definitely use water. In all honesty, my veggies mostly last up to 4 days and then I may need to cut another small bag of carrots – or even resort to the baby ones if time is an issue. But water will help out, for sure.
Can we see how you store them in store? Do you fill the water to cover them completely?
If you look at the pic above – you can see water around the celery. I’d fill it close to the top with water. Then for something like carrots, I put them in the giant Ziplock and submerge them in water, too. HTH!
One of my goals this year is to meal prep more. I usually get lazy to do it (it seems like a lot of work), but it is rewarding when you eat better and when you’re hungry and you can have some food ready to eat. I did some meal planning a few weeks ago, but I ended up stopping. Time to start again! Thanks for the advice!
How long d the veggies last already chopped up? What about cut fruit? And, when you hard boil eggs, do you keep them too? My littles are too little to peel the eggs themselves, so I’ve considered hard-boiling and peeling someeggs for them, but I don’t know how long hard boiled eggs last if they are peeled already.
How do you handle portions? I have one who really struggles with quantity of food. If I made snacks more available, I’m afraid that she would eat snacks all day and never eat dinner. How do you handle that? Is it a problem if its healthy foods? Do you limit how many snacks you put out at a time or anything?
Hi TG~
Let me see if I can answer some of your questions:
Hard boiled eggs … I make them but don’t peel them. I will peel them for my littlest one the night before if he’s taking one in his lunch, or his teacher assists if need be. I don’t think I’d peel them and let them sit for a few days, but that’s me.
Portions: We really don’t have them *out* all of the time, but I truly don’t ever care if my kids want to grab a piece of fruit or veggies. I also suggest nuts if it’s in-between meals, and of course they have a snack (that they pack) at school and they have an after-school snack. The way I look at it, if they don’t eat as much dinner as they may have eaten otherwise because they ate too many fruits and veggies, well so be it. Again – my opinion!
My thought is that snacking on carrots, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, etc is WAAAAY better than skipping meals or eating junk. So, go for it. I’ve also found that if I prep my breakfast & lunches, and do the chopping for dinner, I’m much less likely to nibble as I go. Its been a WONDERFUL change.
Most veggies will keep for a 4-5 days. Hard boiled eggs in the shell are good in the fridge for a week. Not sure about unpeeled. When my kids were little I had healthy snacks available whenever they wanted it. As long as the snacks are good for them there is not reason to limit them. I had one child who rarely snacked and was on the heavier side for awhile (he’s now a beanpole at 18) and the other who never stops eating and is rail thin. When I do buy treats I have always put them into portion sized baggies. Much less chance of overeating.
I started meal prepping a few years ago – consistently breakfast and lunches but I’m getting better at planning out dinners!
On Sundays, I make my menu [if I haven’t already] and shopping list and then I head for the store early enough that I miss the crowd. Then I spend about an hour to an hour and half prepping all my breakfasts [which various but is usually some form of carb, like muffins, and fruit, though sometimes I’ll do yogurt with fruit], and lunches. I make a big batch of soup for myself every week that becomes my daily lunch [and lunch/dinner for that day!] that I put up in mason jars because it seems to keep it fresher longer and is easier to take to work. Then I prep any snacks [putting them in individual baggies so it’s easier to take to work. I also make my husband’s lunch, though sometimes he’ll make it on his own.
When I’m being mindful, I make a weekly list for our dinners so whoever gets home first can start that night’s dish. Since we get home late, I always try to make weekday dinners easy with pre-prepped ingredients, like hamburgers or tacos. I’m more elaborate on the weekends.
Sounds like you have a great system down; kudos to you!
I found that cutting veggies nightly was to difficult (blame the arthritis flareups) so I started to buy the big bags of onion at Costco and chop the entire bag in the food processor. I then freeze them in about 1 cup portions – ready whenever I need finely chopped onion! I then make wonderful broth with all the skins. I even shredded carrots but I found that I prefer to used them diced instead of shredded.
Once a week grocery shopping/meal prep is one of my goals for this year, so this was super helpful! I have found myself rushing through the grocery store at 5pm or staring blankly into my fridge trying to figure out a school lunch far too often! Thank you!
This honestly is a life saver for lunches. Having food on hand to throw in is invaluable. Let us know if you try it!
Your blog is incredible! I have used your posts over and over again and recommended your blog to so many friends. Thank you for what you do and the quality of the information you share. Happy New Year to you and yours! Thank you.
I love these ideas! I don’t even have kids yet, but these tips are helpful for my husband and me as well. Thanks so much for sharing!
I take it one more step and make little baggies of the veggies and other snacks. This allows my kids to grab a fruit, a veggie, a snack and a protein for school quickly.
Thank you I love this! How do you store all your cut up fruits and veggies?
Great! Hope it’s helpful.
I use Pyrex for some. I love that you can see into it in the fridge and it keeps it organized. For others, I honestly use large Ziploc bags. I know, I know; it’s not environmentally friendly, but I’m just being honest.
Aw! I was hoping you re-used your ziplocs. I mean, how much mess can raw veggies make?
LOL – I have been known to wash and reuse them! My husband thinks I’m a bit nutty, but you will often find them drying in my kitchen:).