How To Meal Prep Like a Boss - Ancestral Nutrition

You guys. I’m not exaggerating when I say that meal prepping saves me thousands of dollars. THOUSANDS. And THAT’S how you meal prep like a boss. $$$

Consider this: I’ve been meal prepping every Sunday for years. That’s thousands of meals I’ve grabbed out of my fridge instead of grabbing out of Chipotle. I love me some Chipotle, but that shit gets real expensive.

Not only does meal prepping save money, it’s infinitely healthier, ya’ll. When eating at a restaurant or fast food places, you never really know what you’re getting. You don’t know if there’s olive oil or canola oil in the salad dressing, you don’t know if they’ve cooked your food in soybean oil, or if there’s soy hiding in the ingredients (soy is in almost everything, especially at restaurants).

When you make food at home, you know not only the ingredients but the quality of the food. I aim to eat 100% organic and it’s okay if I fall short here and there. Meat comes from my farmer or from the farmers market. I go to the market every Saturday for eggs, veggies and whatever looks good. When you meal prep, you’re making fresh, healthy, wholesome real food. You dictate the ingredients and portion sizes.

Here’s how I do it.

Every Thursday, I make a meal plan. I check out what’s on sale at my local Whole Foods and consider what’s fresh for the season to get at the farmers market.
I make a grocery list based off of ONLY the ingredients I need to create my meals for the week. This saves a ton of money. I always know exactly what I need and I don’t deviate from my list. Because Whole Foods ain’t cheap.
I shop on Friday morning – it’s empty. No lines.
I set aside two hours every Sunday to cook.
I portion everything out and store it in glass containers. This is important. Plastic leeches BPA and other carcinogens and endocrine disruptors into your food. Buy these glass containers.

Here’s what I had on tap this week.

Turkey taco salads made with peppers and onions, pico de gallo, romaine and black beans with olive oil and cumin for dressing. I made three big salads to grab out of the fridge for lunch or dinner.
Chicken, mash, and veggies. The mash came from using one big old Japanese yam that I mashed with butter. I simply tossed the chicken with Primal Kitchen Ranch and baked them for half an hour while I chopped and cooked other stuff. I cooked a bag of organic frozen veggie mix in olive oil with a little ranch as well. Then just put it all in
tupperware.
I made a giant amount of quinoa salad with tomatoes, onions, cumin, cilantro, jalapeno, red pepper, green pepper and a red onion. And added a lot of olive oil. I don’t normally eat quinoa but was craving it. The massive portion was an accident; will honestly probably get closer to ten servings out of this.
I made four batches of cinnamon oats but they are NOT for breakfast! Breakfast is for eggs and veggies. Eggs are incredibly nutrient dense, as are veggies. Oatmeal is not. I eat oatmeal as a sweet treat. I heat it with butter and vanilla, then add a drizzle of maple syrup. Soaking improves the digestibility of the oats.
Made a big batch of pico de gallo for tacos, to dip yuca chips in, etc. Also had leftover chicken, quinoa, and black beans.

It took me under two hours to make all of this and my fridge is full throughout the week. My husband easily grabs a lunch on the way to work and I quickly grab lunch that I don’t have to make when my baby is napping.

I have to say – if you’re a mom, MEAL PREP! It makes life so much easier. My baby wants to hang, he craves attention and interaction. So when I have to not only cook lunch but then eat it – it’s just too time-consuming. I need to grab lunch out of the fridge and either eat it while he naps or with him on my lap. I just don’t have the time to make my lunch or dinner every day. And you probably don’t either.

Friends, seriously, take the time to plan out your meals. You’ll save time and money and you’ll be so much healthier.

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