Meal Prep

Meal Prep is crucial to success in following any type of nutrition program. It also will save you money because you will frequent the stores and restaurants less often. Honestly, my biggest trick to saving money on food is by preparing it myself. Moving out to the semi-country where there are few excellent restaurant choices close by has really helped me save my pennies.

When I first started meal prepping it would take me hours. I would match my meals to what was on sale at the stores and try to get the most bang for my buck. It was very tedious and I dreaded it. I have come to learn where the best deals usually reside (Aldi, Sam's, and Wal-Mart) and don't really look at store ads anymore. Instead, I buy the best deals when I see them on sale and utilize my freezer!
I always leave a little extra space on my list for when I get to the store and discover our favorite yogurt is BOGO or Chicken is only $0.99 a pound.

Now, I sit down with my spiral bound notebook and my favorite cookbooks. I list out the days I am planning for and how many meals/snacks I need for each day. The first thing I do is shop my pantry and freezer. I build my meals around what I already have. I also take stock of items we frequent (peanut butter, honey, oatmeal, salsa, etc) so that we never run out. If I need an ingredient that is out of the ordinary, I try to find more than one recipe that uses said ingredient, so that I use it all up and nothing goes to waste. I typically plan for one to two weeks at a time. If my family LOVES a meal, I add it to my master list and after doing this for several years, we have a pretty great running list. Because I like to cook and try new recipes, I usually allow for one or two new recipes every two weeks.

Shrimp and grits, veggie blend, and watermelon

I write out all the meals/snacks for each day and then add the ingredients to my shopping list. I try to put meals with fresh ingredients during the earlier part of the week just in case those fresh fruits and veggies run out before I can get back to the store. I hate running out of things before the next big trip. But, with a family of 7, that is bound to happen. Good thing there's a Publix on the corner when milk is low and we don't need anything else.

How do you Meal Prep?