Meal Prep Intro

I'm tired of people saying eating healthy is expensive. Eating in general in expensive. You know what's more expensive? Eating out everyday with a $2 drink and a $7 crappitizer and whatever cheese-covered entree you ordered. Then realizing you have to eat healthy because you are muffin-topping those new jeans you just bought; buying a bunch of healthy food (that's going to wilt before you get to it) with whatever knew diet pill is going to REALLY do it for you because it was really expensive and that's your incentive to take one daily and REALLY sick to it! which ultimately leads to you eating like crap a week later and a lot less money. That's freaken expensive!

So, yes, there are ways for crappy eating to be cheaper (thank you Dollar Menu for lowering the standards and raising the obesity rate!) but I'm to show you how a little planning can save you a LOT of money overall.   

Once a week, I sit down and write out a weeks to two weeks worth of meals that I plan to make. 

Week One

Week Two

Now, here's the thing, it looks like I only have dinners prepared for each day but really, I ALWAYS make enough dinner to have left overs the next day so really, I have lunch and dinner for each day.  I get the recipes from my Pinterest food board and then add the website just in case I don't want to scroll through 23,824,738 pins from last week. 

For breakfast, I'm a routine kind of girl. It's usually coffee til 8 then a fruit/spinach smoothie until lunch. Sometimes, I'll make an egg pie that's easy to grab when I'm running late and it lasts me a few days and also, counts as a midday snack. Such a great way to eat healthy when you turn into a hungry psycho-path around two in the afternoon. This way you're not making excuses about how you should probably eat that fresh doughnut Sally just brought in the office because she's new and wants to make new friends but really, she just wants you to be fat. Don't let Sally win! That's the name of the game. 

Snacks include fruit and almonds. Othertimes, you want something close to a meal but not meal worthy. This is where I turn to shaved turkey and dijon mustard. It's very fulfilling especially with a granny smith apple and a liter of water. 

Once you're done making your plan, list all the ingredients you need (as in, you don't have it in your house not the whole ingredient list) and head to the store for your purchases. 

This is only my second week list and It'll cost me less than a  restaurant meal

I only shop for the week even though I have two weeks planned because of freezer space and as we all know, some veggies just don't last more than a few days, never mind two weeks.  

I know of a lot of people that do food prep for the week in one day but I actually want to enjoy my weekends and the thought of making multiple meals in one day sounds like a nightmare in this sticky Florida heat! Plus, I can watch Mad Men guilt free if I'm cooking a meal every night...can we bring back everyday cooking? That's a lost art. 

Also, cooking doesn't have to be a huge ordeal. I have a couple nights a week where I say "Simple Dinner" which is just a seasoned meat and a veggie side. Simple but NOT boring. I started noticing that I was extremely spoiled in my food options. If it didn't have some kind of delicacy in it, I didn't find it appealing. So just a tip, if you find yourself turning your nose up at blackened fish and broccoli, shame on you, you snobby little brat! no, I'm kidding. Just be grateful that you have food to eat AND since it's simple, you have more time to enjoy your life somewhere other than the kitchen. 

Prepping your food is a cheap and simple way to keep yourself in check and it lessens the chance of eating out and spending more money on convenient food. I hope this helps with your budget and sticking with a better diet. Try it out for a week and see how it goes. I know this post wasn't all that funny so I leave you with this....