Week 2: Meal Prep & Planning

This week, I decided to break meal prep into two smaller chunks—Friday and Sunday—so it didn’t feel overwhelming all at once. Just a little work each day makes life run so much smoother during the week. I also want it to fit into our already busy schedule, it just so happened our weekend was a tad more busy than usual.

Lunches? Done. We’re set with DIY lunchables—grapes, cucumbers from the garden, ham, and shredded cheese (because that’s their favorite way to eat it).

Snacks? Ready to grab. We have hummus with carrots, yogurt, diced home-canned peaches, plus chips and pretzels portioned into individual bags for quick grab-and-go moments. To stay within budget, I buy larger bags of snacks and portion them out myself according to serving size—cheaper than buying pre-packaged, and I can control the ingredients this way, giving the kids healthier options than the typical prepackaged junk food.

Breakfast? Prepped and waiting. Chocolate chip mini muffins are packaged and ready to go, along with a big batch of egg bites. I even made extra egg bites and vacuum-sealed them so they’ll be an easy breakfast later in the week—or even next month!

It’s amazing how much smoother the week goes when the fridge is stocked, meals are prepped, and there’s one less thing to think about each day. A little planning really does go a long way.