Last week I was headed out of town, and I needed to take my meal planning to the next level. Usually when I travel, I make my usual weekly meal plans and leave the family with ingredients to prepare it, while also stocking the kitchen and pantry with items for snacking. Upon return, I often see remnants of take-out or restaurant visits because the craziness of kid activities and work made it nearly impossible to get the meal prepped and cooked in the evenings.
This time around, I wanted to set things up for success. There were a lot of veggies and fruits that needed to be eaten, and without my constant reminder (or preparing and putting it right in front of their faces), I was sure that they would be in the same spot as when I left 5 days earlier.
And, given the after-school activities, I knew that if I didn’t have heat-and-eat meals in the fridge, the family would probably eat around 8 pm, or grab some take-out instead.
I decided to put a Sunday meal prep plan in place. I’d bake a double batch of muffins that could be used for lunches or afternoon snacks. I chopped up carrots, used the remaining avocados to make guacamole, prepped a salad for easy grab-and-go. Then I got moving on making chili, chicken enchiladas and a pork ragu meat sauce for pasta. There would be enough for leftover on Thursday, and I’d be home Friday.
