Goodbye to Meal Prep, Hello To Meal Planning

Over the past few years the idea of meal prep has taken off. I am astounded by the way white hipsters have made leftovers look appetizing. Like totally, utterly, dumbfounded. In middle school I recall my mother often packing me dinner leftovers for lunch and I never felt the zeal I’ve seen displayed across the internet. Instead of continuing to let you all be swindled in the new year I’m going to hip to something even better – meal planning. 

Raise your hand if you’ve been bamboozled into the idea of meal prepping. It’s okay, I’ll forgive you as long as you promise not to continue down this path of destruction. I get it, meal prep is supposed to save you precious time during the week and help you actively maintain a healthy eating lifestyle. Sure, in theory it sounds great. But in reality, you’re eating six days of dried chicken breast over aging vegetables and it’s gross.

Meal prepping has been packaged to look beautiful and honestly I’ve almost fallen into the trap, hello Sakara. That branding alone made me want them to deliver me meals that didn’t have to be heated up too. And then my sense tapped back in. I realized why in the world would I want to pay for leftovers when I hate them made in my own kitchen?! It is truly a ridiculous ideal.

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know this is a continuation of an insta story where I said I refuse to watch stories on Sundays of folks prepping chicken for Tupperware. The responses were quite hilarious. From those who realized that they had been tricked to those absolutely tickled. I’m just glad I could shed some light on this issue. In that same story I also asked my framily of followers if they’d like to move past this way of life by learning to meal plan instead.

It was a resounding yes.

Thank God! You all agree to be free. The difference between meal prepping and meal planning is all in creating a calendar, doing purposeful grocery shopping, recipe searching, and finally cooking. Don’t be alarmed by these steps because I assure you it isn’t as intense as it seems. You can do this! As much effort you put into making that salmon and asparagus to eat three days later you can handle this.

How to Meal Plan

I’ve done some of the work for you by creating a shopping list template and linked you to my Pinterest that has hundreds of recipes to help you out. Planning your meals involves using your calendar to shop effectively which will enable you to find time to cook at least 2-3 times a week. Meaning you can eat your leftovers ONCE and move on. Below I’ve shown an example of I plan for the week based on my grocery list.

As you can see I cook at least four days a week, but don’t feel tied to that schedule. I’m also planning for a family of four soon to be five. And I even included a day of leftovers for y’all. My list changes from week to week depending on what the kids are eating and what looks good at the store. This also doesn’t include staples I keep on hand in the pantry like rice, pasta, fresh herbs, various spices and seasoning. Even as a single person you can buy one package of chicken, a filet of salmon, a pound of shrimp for the week or whatever protein you prefer and kill it.

No you can give yourself some variety and learn how to whip some great meals with ease. You can still keep your health goals in tact and not be condemned to four day old meals someone else made you. Rather than spending your Sundays cooking for hours for something boring, prepare a fresh meal you’re bound to enjoy.

You can also catch me cooking up goodness on my show Butter + BROWN on Aspire and online at Aspire.tv! Let me know how else I can help you eat better this year!

Ciao!