I know we’ve been talking a LOT about meal planning lately and today I have a bite-size tip to help you utilize your time in the kitchen more efficiently so you can spend less time prepping healthy food and more time living your life.
I want to challenge you to think ahead and get a few, easy things knocked out during the time you spend in the kitchen, saving you from resorting to less-than-healthy choices later on due to being short on time.
One of my favorite ways to save time is by portioning off dinner leftovers into lunch containers right from the pan. As I'm serving dinner I will plate up, then grab my glass Pyrex dishes and pack up the leftovers into lunch-size portions that we can take to work/school the next day.
Another busy-mama time saving tip is to pack kids' lunches as soon as we get home from school. Our old pattern was to unpack lunch boxes and put all the containers in the sink (one trip to the kitchen), later that night we would wash the dishes (trip #2), and then the next morning re-pack lunches (a third time dealing with those lunch boxes).
Now when we get home from school I rinse out the lunch containers and re-pack the next day's lunch in the same trip to the kitchen. This is often while I'm getting the kids an after-school snack and doing some dinner prep (chopping veggies or pulling meat out to thaw). Sooooo much more efficient!
Saturday mornings is when I do my meal planning and make my shopping lists. As I'm writing down what I need to shop for, I use that time to clean out the fridge and toss anything that is old or expired, or better yet, freeze those fruits & veggies that are on the edge! I pull things we need to use in the next few days to the front of the fridge so we can spot them easily.
When you get home from grocery shopping, can you use that time to pre-wash and pre-cut veggies? Having all that fresh food out is a great time to assemble some baggies with raw veggies, or cups of fruit salad. Having these ready to go makes packing healthy lunches take less time.
As you're working towards making sure every meal has healthy fat + protein + fiber + color, which piece of that puzzle is the most difficult for you to get in?
Think about how you can make one thing at the beginning of the week to be able to grab-n-go. Try making an extra batch of quinoa on the stove while your dinner is cooking in the oven. If you have some washed greens and a rotisserie chicken, you can toss the three together with some olive oil and a squeeze of lemon for a complete meal.
Get creative and utilize the time you have in the kitchen! These healthy meals are going to come together easier and easier as time goes on.
Check out my free guides and resources for additional information. As always please feel free to contact me with any questions, I would love to chat!