Cooking for the Week Ahead

Life can get hectic and it often feels like there isn’t enough time in the day. But I’ve found a way to gain a few hours: Sunday Meal-Prep. Doing a weekly meal prep allows me to have an entire week of delicious, home-cooked meals ready to go. No more last-minute scrambling or resorting to takeout for dinner. Instead, we can enjoy a stress-free week with meals we’ve prepped in advance. I’ve been doing this for the last few weeks and it has been a big help.

The Magic of Meal Prep

A weekly meal prep isn’t as large a time commitment as a weekend of freezer cooking, which is my other favorite way to save time in the kitchen. By dedicating a few hours on a Sunday afternoon, you can save loads of time during the week. Think about it: if you usually spend an hour each night cooking and cleaning, that’s over five hours a week!

Meal-prepping not only cuts down on this time but also reduces the stress of daily decision-making. No more straining your brain with the dreaded “What’s for Dinner?” dilemma. Plus, having dinner ready earlier allows more evening time for relaxation or family activities. I’m looking forward to gardening season, when I’ll be spending my evenings working outdoors in our new garden area.

Doing my meal planning and grocery shopping for the whole week is a great way to minimize all those in-between trips to the grocery store, helping me save time and money. I plan my meals for the week, do an online grocery pickup order, have Grampy pick it up, and start cooking!

It doesn’t stop at time savings. Make-ahead meals mean fewer dishes to wash each night, less food waste, and less processed, more healthy meals. You’re not just saving time; you’re simplifying your life. And who doesn’t need a little of that?

My version of meal-prep this time was part preparing meals for the beginning of the week, and freezing the meals we’ll be eating later in the week. So kind of a meal-prepping/freezer cooking combo.

Preparing to Meal-Prep

I started my meal prep by browning 3 pounds of ground turkey in my electric skillet. This, with a bit I had in the freezer was enough to make all of the meals containing ground turkey. You could substitute ground beef in any of the recipes. Ground turkey is less expensive for us.

Cooking meat in a big batch helps you spend less time on cleanup on busy weeknights. While the meat was browning, I used my veggie chopper to chop vegetables I would need for all the meals. The veggie chopper is my favorite tool to use when I’m doing a big batch cooking day. It saves so much time and makes the pieces all uniform in size so they cook evenly. I used it to chop onions, bell pepper, carrots and celery. It makes the prep work go quickly.

The Menu

Here’s a peek at our meal-prep menu for the week. Since we have a home daycare, I often make enough for dinner so that it can be served for lunch the next day. I just set aside the portion I’ll be serving for lunch.

Goulash

I used this recipe from The Pioneer Woman. Our whole family loves this one. We are having it for dinner on Sunday and lunch on Monday. We will have a salad with dinner, and the kids will have mixed veggies with theirs for lunch.

While I worked on the main dishes, Grampy was busy shredding cheese we’d bought on sale. We used to buy our cheese pre-shredded in the bag, but we’ve found we prefer to buy blocks of cheese and shred it ourselves. It has much better flavor and melts much better. Grampy made his own cheddar/Monterey Jack mix. We found our shredder/slicer on clearance at Walmart for $11.00, and it works great!

Chicken and Rice Pilaf

I just seasoned and baked some boneless skinless chicken thighs we’d gotten on sale. I used this recipe for rice pilaf as a guideline, but I added extra veggies, some extra seasonings, and I used homemade broth powder instead of chicken bouillon from the store. Again, I kind of adjusted the seasonings in the broth powder, using what I had in my spice collection. It is delicious and I doubt I will buy bouillon powder or cubes again.

This will be Tuesday’s dinner, Wednesday’s lunch. If there is any chicken left over, I’ll dice it and freeze it to use in a casserole later. There won’t be any rice left over. It’s delicious!

Hamburger Stew 

Hamburger stew is a favorite freezer meal at our house. It’s easy to prepare and I just let it simmer along in the crock pot while I’m doing other things. And it smells so good! We’ll be having it in the middle of the week with some fresh homemade bread. It was the perfect meal for this week as it’s cold and snowy, and what is more cozy than a bowl of stew on a snowy day? It makes a lot, so we will freeze part of it for later. 

Philly Cheesesteak Sliders

This Philly Cheesesteak Sliders recipe uses ground turkey, which I like because it’s easier for the daycare kids to eat than steak (and it’s less expensive). They love sliders. I’m freezing the sliders and then thawing them and baking them in the oven the day we are having them. I will serve Parmesan Potato Wedges with the sliders. I’ll adjust the seasonings on the potatoes to give them a little more flavor.

Chile Relleno Casserole

Grampy loves this Chile Relleno Casserole so much, he asked me to double the recipe. If you do double it, bake in two pans, not one big one. It takes a long time to cook in the middle if you use a big pan. We let it cool completely and then cut it into meal-sized portions and froze them. It works well for Fridays or Saturdays, which are usually “Make-Your-Own” days.

Meal Prep Tips and Tricks

• Double Up: When you cook, double the recipe. This way, you can freeze half for later use. You’ll be thanking yourself on those nights when cooking feels like a chore.
• Label Everything: Use freezer-safe containers and label them with the meal name and date. This helps you keep track of what needs to be eaten first and avoids the dreaded freezer mystery meals.
• Prep in Stages: Break down meal-prep into manageable steps. Chop all your vegetables first, cook proteins next, and then assemble meals. This assembly-line approach streamlines the process.

Was It Worth It? Yes!!

With these meals prepped and ready to go, our weekday dinners are set. We have our meal plan posted on the refrigerator, so we know which meal we’re eating when. We just have to be sure to take the frozen meals out of the freezer ahead of time so they are ready to heat. This not only saves time but allows us to enjoy a homemade meal without the usual weekday stress.

Meal prepping is a way of taking control of your time, reducing daily stress, and ensuring you and your family have nourishing meals. So, next time you find yourself overwhelmed by the week ahead, remember: a little prep on Sunday can go a long way in making your life simpler and more relaxed.

Until next time, happy cooking!

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