Make-ahead Meal Plan and Weekly Food Prep {June 13th, 2016}

Well my girls are just about done with school and summer is almost officially here. I’ve never been more ready for summer. Not sure if I said this in previous posts but this summer we are going 1980s style. We’re not doing any camps or activities that require commitment and/or money. Nope. Our summer days will be spent swimming, riding bikes, and camping. Technology will be limited and my kids are going to experience summer the way I did – leave the house at 9:00am and don’t come back till the street lights are on. Okay I might not go that extreme but their dad and I have definitely reached our limit with running them all over from one activity to the next. So this summer our kids will enjoy the summer days we remember.

One of the things I try to do every year, before summer vacation hits, is stock my freezer with food. Last year, I spent a few days stocking my freezer with breakfast burritos, dinner kits, and other meals.

I did do a small stock up last month and have a few meals left. I plan to take some time next Sunday to stock my freezer with grilled items, salad kits, and snacks. If I have time I might put together a couple slow cooker kits too. If I don’t get to it on Sunday then I will find time next week. You can follow me on Instagram or Facebook to stay updated on my freezer cooking escapades.

Speaking of videos I’m starting to create more of them. Each week, I’m going to take a few of my recipes and put together a quick “how to” video to go with it. I made one for my Greek Mason Jar Salad and Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken a couple months ago and both have been received well.

Today I recorded a “how to prepare quinoa” video for a post that’s going up later in the week. This video didn’t take me to long to shoot. Personally, I like the short “how to” videos. They’re quick, to the point, and I don’t have to talk in them.

Creating more videos for my blog is one of my big blog goals this year. I also plan to create a meal prep course that will include videos. Anyway, right now videos are new to me, and a bit of a challenge. But just like anything else with practice we get better so little by little you will see more videos going up on my blog.

Back to my meal plan. We are still eating meals from the freezer so I don’t have dinner or breakfast prep this week. For lunches I’m going to make a couple different mason jar salads (those will be made tomorrow) and plan to create “how to” videos for both. Snacks will include a smoothie in the morning and yogurt in the afternoon.

Breakfast

Bacon and Cheddar Breakfast Burritos (I accidentally put sausage and cheddar in my meal plan but both are good and freeze great)

Easy Steel Cut Oats

Make-ahead tips

• burritos are in the freezer.
• Oatmeal will be made on Wednesday.

Mid-morning snack

Peach raspberry smoothie

Make-ahead tips

• I will either make these every day or if I get motivated I’ll make a few for the week. When I make smoothies ahead of time I store them in 16-ounce mason jars.

Lunch

Fresh Mozzarella and Spinach Mason Jar Salad

Chicken Caesar with Kale and Quinoa Mason Jar Salad

Make-ahead tips

• Salads will be made tomorrow. You can see my mason jar tutorial here.

Mid-afternoon Snack

Greek yogurt

Dinner

Pizza

Tacos

Turkey Meatball Subs

Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

Make-ahead tips

• pizza kits, taco kits, sub kits, and macaroni and cheese were made a month ago. I anticipate leftovers a couple of days.