Yes, that may sound overly dramatic and maybe it is slightly. But I have to say that I have loved every minute of my life as a "Meal Prepper"!
I have a family of 5, I am the mom in the group. I have 3 kids, 21 months, 9 years, and a 13 year old. I wasn't always a mom, no this just happened less than 3 years ago now, yes you heard me correctly. Saving that story for another time if you haven't already read it somewhere. So getting used to this mommy thing was no walk in the park. I was delighted to have all my children but figuring out how to make enough food to feed us all on our budget and without me slaving away behind a stove was a challenge. Leftovers were not common unless it wasn't a fan favorite meal.
I watch many athletes and workout vids on Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat, and meal prep often came up to keep them on track with their macros. I thought, hey this might be for me.
So I started by picking a day that works best. I am a stay-at-home mom and life is very unpredictable with a baby so day to day it's hard to say if I will have the time, strength or mental clarity to do anything I want or need to. Sundays are a good day because daddy is home to either help with wrangling the troops or helping me in the kitchen if all the kids can get along with each other for a few hours hahahah.
I then sat down and wrote down what foods we already had and came up with a meal. I like to make sure our meals include a healthy grain or starch like rice, quinoa, pasta etc or potato; adding a whole lotta veggies, and popping on some high protein like beans or tempeh.
I think our favorite and best meal to make is chili. There so many different ingredients and I can make a huge pot of it. Serve it even on rice or with tortilla chips so that the kids get full and you still have some leftover for the bread winner to take to work and me to eat for lunch with the baby the next day. Soups are probably one of the easiest because it's hard to go wrong and you can always use bread on the side.
I am working on writing an eBook. Its really...I don't know how to describe it, it's like I am really scared of being judged which I know will happen no matter what but I also am afraid of failing and putting something out there that I worked really hard on but still not living up to its potential. I used to draw all the time and never felt like my art was complete and I kept tweeking things, so I know I have to find an end point or it'll never get published.
Making my dreams come true here, one small step at a time. Hopefully I can get it out there for you all to read and get ideas from. Hopefully it will spark some new found interests in not only cooking but in finding time to do other things you love because you will end up with so much more free time!
Meal prepping saved my life by reducing stress in my brain and body. I no longer have to wonder what dinner or lunch is going to be. Sometimes even snacks are made! I love making banana bread and orange cranberry bread. I also have a recipe for fig and date balls that are so delicious you'd forget they're nutritious.
Ok so hang in there and although I don't have a single follower on this blog page besides my own family, I'm just putting the word out that a book is coming and it's going to be great! So sign up to be a part of my slow evolving journey already! I promise it will make you feel better about yourself lol.
Have a great week!
Juliette Ries