Photo by Kate Trifo on Unsplash
I've been meal prepping ever since I moved to Austin, Texas in 2013, and my husband and I have been meal prepping together for 3 years. How we prepare batches of meals has evolved over time, but here's how it all goes down for us right now.
Thursday
We get almost all of our protein and the bulk of our fruits and vegetables from Imperfect Foods. This element of our meal prepping started during the pandemic when my motivation to leave the house to do any kind of errand was at an all time low. I used to say there are two kind of people in this world: those who love to go to the grocery store, and those who hate it. I used to be in the former camp, and would wander the aisles with no sense of urgency. I legit looked forward to going to the grocery store, and would go once or twice a week. Now I just notice how blindingly awful the florescent overhead lights are, and am aggravated by the oblivious shoppers parking their carts in the middle of the aisle while they contemplate what kind of mustard they want (lol, that used to be me). Anyways, back to the method behind our meal prep madness. Since we have an Imperfect Foods subscription, we get access to start selecting our groceries on Thursday afternoons for our Monday morning/afternoon delivery.
Once I get the email from Imperfect that it's time to shop, I head to the website and start to browse what's new, what's on sale, or what's sounding good. Sometimes I'll start by looking at the produce, and sometimes I'll start by checking out the protein options for the week. Once I find an ingredient that piques my interest (oooh, butternut squash...) I head to my Pinterest account and search for the ingredient that I want to include in my recipe for the week. If I don't have a recipe already pinned or I have already made that recipe recently or it doesn't sound appealing, I'll search all of Pinterest and find some recipe inspiration. I try to narrow down my options to easy to make recipes, like a soup or stew that I can make in our instant pot, a salad or bowl that's easy to assemble, or a casserole.
Now that I have a recipe, I head back to the Imperfect website and add the ingredients from the recipe to my cart. Sometimes Imperfect Foods doesn't have every single ingredient that I need for the recipe, and if the ingredient isn't necessary, I may skip it. If the ingredient is crucial or I know that I can find it for cheaper at my grocery store, I'll add it to my grocery store run list.
We have one recipe down, now time for a second one! I head back to the Imperfect Foods website and cross-reference Pinterest to find inspiration and order the ingredients I will need for the second recipe for the week.
Next, time to check in with the husband and see what he plans on cooking for the week, and add his ingredients to the Imperfect order.
Usually by Thursday or Friday we have our Imperfect Foods order placed, and a list for the grocery store.
Friday
Typically on Fridays I'll run to the grocery store for pantry staples like a loaf of bread, rice, snacks, frozen fruit, bananas, canned goods, and any other non-food items like laundry detergent or toilet paper. When possible, I try to opt for fruits and vegetables that are heartier and will survive in the fridge for up to a week. If I'm on top of my meal prep planning, I may only need to do a grocery store run once every other week.
Photo by Franki Chamaki on Unsplash
Monday
The Imperfect Foods delivery usually gets dropped off between 10 am - 1 pm, and I'll unload the ingredients and put them away in the fridge before I head off to work. The husband gets home after work around 3 pm, and he'll cook his meal prep meal. Once I'm home from work around 8:30 pm, I'll get to enjoy round one of his meal for the week!
Monday evening the husband will prep his lunch to bring to work with him for the next day, which may be a cold cut sandwich or a serving of the meal he prepped.
Tuesday
For lunch and dinner on Tuesdays I'll have the meal my husband made on Monday, and my husband will usually do the same. My husband is from South America and is used to (probably for the best) not having such a big, heavy meal for dinner, so he may opt for hot chocolate and an arepa for dinner.
Depending on what my husband's feeling and how much leftovers we still have, he'll pack a sandwich or a serving of his prepped meal to bring to lunch on Wednesday.
Wednesday
I'm off of work on Wednesdays, so they're my day to cook my batch of meals. More often than not I'll kill the last of the leftovers from our first meal of the week, and then I'll cook my first recipe in the afternoon. My husband and I will get to enjoy round one of meal two together for dinner on Wednesday nights.
Thursday
I'll eat the meal that I cooked for my lunch and dinner on Thursdays, and more often than not the husband will too.
We still have a fridge full of Tupperware full of my meal prep recipe, but it's already time to start thinking about what we're going to cook for next week! Just like the week before, I'll choose my recipes and put in my Imperfect Foods order.
Friday
Typically my first meal prep meal will last through lunch or dinner on Fridays. Depending on what we're feeling, we may may a quick pasta recipe, or go out for dinner on Fridays.
Saturday
We like to chill on the weekends, so our prepped meal (my second recipe I picked for the week) is usually something super easy that we can make together, or is a quick snack that we can enjoy Saturday and Sunday. Sheet pan nachos have been a current favorite.
Sunday
I'm back to work on Sundays, so I'll usually have a portion of whatever we made on Saturday for lunch. For 2 years we would have a frozen pizza for dinner every Sunday night, but we've had to change things up now that we're currently on the low FODMAP diet :( For now, we've replaced our Sunday night frozen pizza with Fodmap-friendly pasta.
And that's how we make meal prepping happen each and every week! What do you think? Could a schedule like this work for you?
Photo by Kate Trifo on Unsplash
This blog is not sponsored by Imperfect Foods, but it's where I get a lot of my groceries. Getting a box of Imperfect Foods delivered to my door has been unbelievably helpful during the pandemic when my energy to go to a grocery store has been at an all-time low.
If you want to give it a try, use my referral link to get $20 off your first 4 boxes of groceries (that's $80 off total). This is my personal referral link as a customer of theirs.
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