Yesterday was a sensational Sunday! It was one of those days when I felt like Super Mom! I managed to do laundry for LilKsby, hold a Mary Kay consultation, and prep for the week. Days like this make me feel like I can conquer the world as long as I have eye cream to assist with the bags and dark circles from lack of sleep (this is where being a Mary Kay consultant comes in really handy)! Here’s my secret to feeling this way as often as possible: meal prep!
Seriously, to me there is no question more exhausting – other than one about budgeting – than, “What do you want for dinner?” In our house, this has been a conversation more than once:
“What do you want for dinner?”
“I don’t know. What do you want?”
“I don’t care. What do you want?”
This can go on for rounds, and more often than not it leads to it being an hour later with no decision made and feeling hangry.
Thus, my secret to feeling like Super Mom? Meal prep!
For me – as a working mom – breakfast and lunch prep is key. To keep from being bored, I like some variety. Some weeks my meal prep for breakfast is putting cereal in one container and to go portions of milk in another. Sometimes breakfast meal prep is buying sausage biscuits for the week. My favorite breakfast meal prep is breakfast casserole!
My Breakfast Casserole
- Eggs (however many you feel like – yesterday there were 7 left in the carton, so 7 it was!)
- Shredded Cheese
- Meat (usually bacon or sausage for me)
- Rotel (optional)
- Scramble the eggs in a bowl, assemble casserole as desired, cook in the oven on 350 for 35-40 minutes.
My lunch prep is similarly simple. There are weeks when my lunch prep is buy 5 frozen dinners or 5 single serving soups and crackers. I do have other favorites though including chili, tuna salad, and chicken salad.
My Chili
- Ground Beef
- Ground Pork
- Canned Chili – No Beans
- Canned Diced Tomatoes
- Canned Rotel
- Portions are however much you want, or in my case however much can fit in my crockpot.
- Cook meat
- Dump everything together in crockpot
- Mix it all up
- Leave in crockpot for several hours
My Tuna or Chicken Salad
- Cannes Tuna or Chicken
- Mayo
- Pickle Relish
- Put however much you want of everything in a bowl, and stir the daylights out of it so to speak.
- Put in fridge, serve chilled
Dinner meal prep for me is more tricky, this is where Mr Kisby is a great help. He came up with a list of several simple to cook or prep options that we rotate through. Some of our favorites include: pork tenderloin, buffalo chicken bites, low carb pizza, frozen pizza, chicken nuggets and fries, bunless burgers, grilled chicken Caesar salad, pork chops, and spaghetti (or any other pasta). Typically, we will plan a week of dinners and have them ready to easily cook or cook them in advance. This keeps the “What do you want for dinner?” issue at a minimum!
So now you know my Super Mom secret: meal prep! What are your favorite meal prep tips?
XOXO,
The Great Kaysby