5 Ways To Meal Plan For Healthier Eating

A little meal prep can go a long way to make life easier and help you eat healthier.

1. Pre-Cook Your Meats

From thawing to tenderizing to cooking, the protein of your meal is what usually takes the longest to prepare. Get an early start to your week by buying a few of your favorite meats in bulk and cooking a large amount at once to have on hand for each meal of the day. For example, baked chicken breast makes a great addition to soups, pasta, casseroles, and even salads. Ground beef can be thrown into a lasagna, casseroles, tacos, shepherds pie, and so on. The options are limitless.

2. Make Veggies Easy

In a world where fruits are “too sugary”, legumes and grains are “too carby”, and some forego meats entirely, vegetables practically reign supreme. Thanks to their high level of nutrients and antioxidants, some food pyramids even put vegetables at the foundation with the highest recommended daily servings. However, most people still feel they are not eating enough vegetables each day. Make it easier to meet your daily vegetable quote by making veggies more easily accessible. Some options include cutting up an array of raw vegetables and storing in your refrigerator’s crisper drawer for a simple snack, storing flash-frozen cooked vegetables in your freezer that can be quickly steamed for a dinner, and buying premixed salad kits.

3. Double Up At Dinner

Why cook twice when you can cook just once? You can cut your work in almost half by cooking up twice as much food and freezing one meal for another night or for lunch the next day. Not only does this save you time, but it can also save you from settling for an unhealthy option of pizza or take out. Some easy and simple meals include soups, casseroles, and pasta. Not everyone loves leftovers so instead of doubling up on meals you can double up on parts of the meal, such as rice, quinoa, chicken, and so on, so you can easily throw together a healthy option next time you need a quick meal.

4. Make Breakfast

If you have school-aged children then you know how quickly the morning routine can become overwhelming. From packing backpacks to making sure everyone has clean socks on, it doesn’t take long for things to fall apart. However, it’s important to get a good start to the day for both the kids and you, especially when it comes to breakfast. After all, they say the most important meal of the day is breakfast. Instead of skipping breakfast or settling for something sugary, keep healthy breakfasts on hand by making them the night before. Set your crockpot on low with plain steel-cut oatmeal you can top with cinnamon and walnuts or pour milk over chia seeds in a mason jar to store in a refrigerator overnight for a chia seed pudding in the morning - the Pinterest recipe options abound.

5. Throw In Some Pre-Made Lunch Options

Lunch is an important time to refuel the body and mind for you and your spouse at work and for your children at school. It’s also a tempting time to settle for fast food and hot lunches that may not be as friendly to our bodies or our bank accounts. While we may have high hopes of making every meal homemade and as healthy as possible, sometimes we need to give ourselves a break with a few premade lunch options that fall somewhere in the middle. By having simple options you can just quickly grab on the go, like string cheese, applesauce and yogurt cups, healthy protein and granola bars, and so on, you can quickly throw together a lunch that is still healthier than what you’ll find at McDonald's.