Meal Planning Part 2

So you've made a meal plan and you've purchased all the groceries you need to complete said meal plan. NOW comes the prep. If you are like us and have packed schedules almost every day of the week, then you might be in need of some meal prep.

The guy who bagged this week did not impress me. 

For us, breakfasts for the week are all made on Sunday and either put in containers in the fridge or freezer. Lunches are all prepped ahead of time as well. Since I am a toddler teacher, when the older kids are gone for the Summer our cafeteria closes and my free lunch floats away. I am so lucky to have a million lunch options during the school year but am always rusty at packing lunch when Summer rolls around. So right now, I am packing until school starts again. T has had the same thing for lunch for literally years. It is painful for me to imagine that regularity but he likes it and it keeps his lifting goals on track. At least one dinner a week is pre-made because I'll be at work when T gets home and is starving and then I come home late and starving. Since my second job is in retail, the holiday season gets really nuts and I have to pre-make meals for most of the week. That is another post entirely. For now, I am just prepping dinner for Monday nights.

In order to prep efficiently I need:

1. everything on my grocery list 
2. a clean kitchen (all dishes done and put away before cooking begins)
3. plenty of food storage containers
4. time (hence the need for Sunday)
5. caffeine (hit me.) 
6. T's ipad mini (put on Netflix or Youtube and I will just cruise)

So what do I make/prep? Well this weeks meal plan is as follows:

Sunday
B BRUNCH OUT! Julian's on Broadway in Providence. I'd kill for eggs benny any day of the week.
L Stuffed from brunch
D Crock-pot meatballs in red sauce w/ green beans

Monday-Saturday
B: oat flour banana pancakes/egg bake
L: ground turkey & sweet potatoes for me/ roasted chicken breast/spinach/brown rice for T

The size of each pancake I made. 1/4 C of batter. 

I didn't freeze these because they are for immediate consumption the next 5-6 days and will be fine. 

Dinners
M crock-pot bbq beef/over rice & spring green salad
T mexican & brussel sprouts
W burgers/buns & collard greens
Th chicken sausage/buns & kale
F steak & beer night (& broccoli) for T while I work
Sa eat out for Date Night

And this is what I physically cooked on Sunday for the week:

Egg bake
Oat flour banana pancakes
Meatballs for the crock-pot
Ground turkey
Roasted sweet potatoes
Roasted chicken breast
Brown rice

Pre-cooked homefries with day old baked potatoes for egg bake.

Also pre-cooked bacon for egg back because if you don't its soggy bacon.

                                         

Poured 18 whisked eggs over the homefries. Hack: I cooked the bacon in this Pyrex so its already greased...in bacon fat. COMMON how good does that sound?!

I baked that sucker at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

When it came out I sliced it into twelve squares and put it in a plastic storage container for the week. This is T's breakfast of choice whereas I of course prefer the sweeter pancake option with egg whites.

What do you find helps your kitchen efficiency? Do you meal prep? Pre-cook dinners for the week?