Prepare the Food

After you've finished all of the the meal planning and grocery store shenanigans, you're ready to meal prep. Be sure to prepare at least part of your meal in advance, and have a few back ups for emergencies. I like to take Mondays to make as much of the food as I can. I cut up vegetables, split meats into different containers to be cooked during the week, and put together some foods to freeze in case I don't end up home until eight one day.

A great preparation is the easiest way to stick with your meal plan, so don't skimp on this one! After you grocery shop, be sure you have everything set up to just cook and serve throughout the week. Let's be honest, we all get hangry and don't want to cook when we get home after a long day. Preparaton is the best vaccine against a surprise fast food stop.

Try these easy ways to use prepped meals efficiently:

Crock pot
Crock pots are fantastic for super busy days when you get home late, but if you don't prepare in the morning, your crock pot won't magically have food in it later. I prep crock pot meals during my big prep day. Stick everything that you're planning on putting in the crock pot (meats, veggies, spices, liquids) into one container and freeze it. Then, you don't have to deal with all of that crazy mess in the morning. Just dump in the crock pot and turn on! This is great for pork roasts, enchiladas, or soups.

Skillets
Skillets can be an easy "uh-oh" meal. They're very quick to make, as long as you've chopped everything  up in advance. I tend to have a few skillet meals in mind, like fajitas or stir-fry, to have ready to go in a container in the fridge. That way, if I completely forget to turn the crock pot on in the morning, there are no worries! I just take my skillet mix out of the fridge, dump in a pan, and heat.

Freezing
Frozen meals are great, because you can have a whole bunch of them waiting for a dinner emergency. You can keep some zucchini lasagna, baked chicken, or soups frozen for long periods of time to pull out when your meal planning slacked or you just have a chaotic day that caught you off guard.

Raw
Having a couple of raw food meals mixed into your week is great, especially in the summer when prep days get less appealing. Have a few salads and extra veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds ready to go for situations when cooking just doesn't work.