Juggling work and household chores often leaves people with little time to cook nutritious meals at home. That’s why meal prep for busy people usually means buying packaged foods or ordering takeouts. But both these options can easily make a dent in the daily budget. Those who want to save money while enjoying home-cooked meals with the family on busy weekdays can explore a few practical and time-saving meal prep ideas.
Meal Prep Hacks for Busy Schedules
The right tips can help one save time and effort when cooking at home on busy weekdays.
Plan for the Week Ahead
Planning is the first step to making quick and easy meals during the week. Most of the planning can be done on the weekend, as this is usually when one has time to spare. One can set aside some time every Saturday and Sunday to plan menus for the upcoming week and stock the kitchen with groceries required for their cooking. This will save a lot of time during the week when one is already exhausted from work. It will also help avoid impulsive buying of groceries in the middle of the week, saving money.
Those who have just decided to start preparing meals at home may find it difficult to plan initially. But as one continues to make persistent meal plans week after week, the planning process becomes easier and intuitive. It becomes effortless to the point that one can quickly plan meals for the week during the weekend in just under an hour.
Make the Best Use of Appliances and Tools
When thinking about how to prep meals in 15 minutes, it can seem difficult in the beginning. But with the right tools and appliances in the kitchen, cooking becomes easier. Most kitchens have basic appliances like ovens, blenders, slow cookers, pan sheets, food processors, and so on. Instead of letting these sit idle on the kitchen counter, one can put them to use and make fast meal prep recipes.
When used wisely, appliances save time and energy on busy weekdays. They can speed up different cooking processes, such as blending, mixing, and chopping.
Use Leftovers Wisely
Making the best of leftovers is another time-saving meal prep hack. Not everything makes for good leftovers. Some foods are better than others in this regard and can be easily paired with other foods and side dishes. Including such foods in the menu that are versatile enough to be used as leftovers can save time and effort during busy weekdays.
Whether looking for quick dinner ideas or easy lunch meal preps, it’s advisable to choose recipes that, even when left over, can be easily transformed into a wholesome and filling meal the next day. Stews, curries, and enchiladas are good options to make in bulk and have as leftovers. These are tasty and can be repurposed without a lot of work.
Add Convenience Foods to Grocery Lists
Stocking up on convenience foods during weekly grocery runs is an excellent meal prep hack for busy schedules. Pre-packaged salads, frozen meals, canned goods, pre-cooked rice and grains, pre-cut vegetables, and meal starters like grill-ready skewer veggies are some options to buy over the weekend. Doing so makes it easier to get food ready quickly whenever there is less time to cook and prep on a weekday.
Most of the time, convenience foods are slightly expensive. But the higher price is generally worth the time one saves in prepping and cooking. Make sure to add a couple of these convenience foods in the weekly grocery list and include them in the menus as well.
Weekday Meal Prep Ideas
Some recipes are better than others for busy people looking to save time cooking during the week.
Muffin-tin Lasagnas
Packed with flavors, these mini lasagnas make for easy lunch meal prep. To make these, simply whip together any Italian cheese blend containing ricotta cheese and eggs. Grease a few muffin cups, line them with wonton paper, fill them with the egg-cheese mix, and pour some pasta sauce on top. Now, place another wonton paper layer over the pasta sauce in each muffin cup and put another layer of sauce and cheese over the wonton paper. Bake in a preheated oven at around 375°.
Breakfast Taquitos
Although most suitable for breakfast, these taquitos can also be had for lunch and dinner. Besides, the taquitos are freezer-friendly, so they can be easily stored as leftovers to have multiple times during the week. Making breakfast taquitos is quite simple. Start by cooking breakfast sausages. Then saute a few veggies like zucchini, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, green onions, bell peppers, and red onions. It is not necessary to use all of these, but three to four veggies can be easily added. Once the veggies are sauteed, scrabble a few eggs. Before serving, assemble the sausages, veggies, and eggs over corn tortillas and bake them.
Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Orzo
This casserole recipe can make busy weekdays really easy to manage. One can make a large batch, freeze it, and eat it later in the week. This recipe needs basic ingredients like uncooked orzo pasta, broccoli, butter, cheese sauce, boneless chicken, onions, salt and pepper. Using frozen and pre-cut veggies can make the prepping process much easier and save time.