Meal Prep and Food Storage Tips and Tricks for Beginners

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This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/Rubbermaid®.

 

Summer’s here which means this mama’s cup runneth over. For real – between horse shows, marching band (yes practice for that starts pretty much the minute school’s out for summer), fundraising for a non-profit that I sit on the board for, my blog and my LuLaRoe business, I’m pretty much busy sun up to sun down. Oh and I almost forgot my pesky day job that eats up 40+ hours a week. Actually I’m thankful to have an amazing employer that I’ve been with for almost 17 years but sometimes I just feel like I’m done. Things like cooking dinner can be stressful – the planning, shopping, prepping, cleaning. Sometimes it just feels like it’s all too much so I have to find ways to save minutes without giving up quality. This summer meal prepping is going to be my jam and I thought just in case anyone else is considering ways to save time in the kitchen, I’d share some of the easy peasy tips and tricks I’ve learned. Doing some or all of these things each week saves hours!

Meal Prep and Storage Tips

Plan and Shop: Rough out a meal plan, inventory what you already have and determine what you still need and then shop for an entire week at a time. Any longer than that and your fresh fruits and veggies aren’t so fresh but anything less has you running to the market multiple times a week and that’s unnecessary time spent at the store.

 

Hard Boil Eggs: Eggs are an awesome source of protein and hard boiled eggs are super easy to grab in the morning for breakfast or to add to a quick salad at lunch. Things move along much faster if they’re already boiled, refrigerated, and ready to go with zero prep time necessary.

 

Prep Veggies: Wash and cut veggies ahead of time. This helps not only the prep for using them in meals but if they’re ready to go, chances of you grabbing a handful of carrots or other veggie when you’re ready for a snack instead of something less healthy are greater. Meal pepping can help you eat healthier too!

 

 

Grill or Bake Chicken Breasts: Similar to eggs, chicken is a great source of protein and a very versatile meat. You can add it to a salad or combine it with a veggie and a side of your choice and you’ve got a complete meal in just a few moments. It’s easy to pack for meals on the go and stores well once cooked.

 

Crockpot: If you own a slow cooker, use it. It takes pretty much all of the work out of preparing a meal. Toss ingredients in, turn it on and when you get home, dinner is served. If you make a double batch of whatever it you decide to cook, place the extra in a freezer bag or other storage container and freeze or refrigerate (depending on when you plan to eat the leftovers). Just toss that back in the crockpot for an hour or so when you’re ready and BOOM! meal number two complete!

 

Choose Storage Containers Wisely: If you’re serious about meal prepping, all containers are not made equal. Good Storage Containers like Rubbermaid BRILLIANCE are a must!  They are designed with an airtight leak-proof seal which is great news because if I don’t have time to cook from scratch, I certainly don’t have time to clean up preventable messes!

 

 

Unlike containers I’ve used in the past, these don’t stain and smell after a few uses, they are completely microwavable, easy to stack and organize in your fridge and they are super clear so you can see exactly what you’ve got inside. Basically everything you need for meal prep containers!

 

 

Giveaway Time!

One lucky reader will win a 10 piece Rubbermaid BRILLIANCE Set of their very own.

What a perfect way to get started meal prepping and saving precious time you can use for more important things! To Enter simply share this post on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest using #StoredBrilliantly and then come back here and let me know in the comments below where you shared and what you would use a brand new Rubbemaid BRILLIANCE storage set for! Thank you for reading!

 

(Legal Stuff: Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm PST on June 15th, 2017 and is open to US Residents only.)