Healthy Shortcuts for Meal Prep
By Sara Butler
It would make life for your family a lot easier throughout the week if all your meals were prepped already. Imagine it: You come home from a long day with the kids in tow, everyone is hungry, and it's time for dinner. Wouldn't it be great if you got home and half the work was already done? That's where meal prep comes in handy. Here are some tips to help make your weeknight family dinners easier that the whole family can get involved in.
Pick One Recipe
Instead of trying to make a bunch of different things for the week, start slow by trying to focus on one recipe. Pick something the whole family will enjoy and create it in bulk over the weekend. Get the whole family involved and give everyone something to do to help make meal prep easier.
Plan It Out
When you begin meal prepping, don't try to do the whole week at once -- it's not healthy. Choose only something to create for four days. This helps to ensure food safety since food needs to be eaten within four days to make sure it's safe for you and your family's consumption.
Focus on Fruit (And Vegetables Too!)
Make it a habit to prep loads of fruits and vegetables for the week. Having lots of prepped vegetables and fruits on hand makes throwing something together easy. They also make great grab and go snacks.
Have a Salad on Hand
No matter what your main course is, it's always a great idea to prep a salad for your side dish to munch on throughout the week. Create a simple salad at the beginning of each week. You can also make your own salad dressing to help keep it healthy and keep costs down.
Create Basics in Bulk
If you can make large batches of easy things to use over the course of the week for meals, it's a great way to prep for the week. Try steaming some brown rice in bulk or baked potatoes and dried beans. You can use these ingredients in multiple meals throughout the week and maintain a variety so your family doesn't get bored eating the same thing each night.
Make meal times easy by following these tips and you'll never rush to throw together a weeknight dinner again!
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