Meal Prep Triple Threat

I like to make my SAHM life as efficient and easy as possible. I’m pretty sure everyone strives for this, no matter what season of life you’re in. Being home with two young kids just requires and an extra level of ninja skills and time management. 🙂

So, I’ve gotten pretty good at the whole cooking thing… and even better than that, I’ve figured out how to cook things that will last us for multiple days, with minimal time and effort! I’m talking multiple days of breakfast, lunch, and supper – The Meal Prep Triple Threat!

Side note: do you use “dinner” or “supper” when you refer to the last meal of the day? I’m always curious when I go to use it…like, “hmmm, which word will people most relate to?!” (haha).

So, I thought I’d do a post about it so that you, too, can enjoy your life and loved ones more, and cook less.

First, I want to point out that I grocery shop for an entire month at a time. I call it my Monthly Shopping Trip (MST), and you can read about that here. Therefore, at the beginning of each month, we’re packed to the brim with food in this house. I don’t do specific meal planning; I just make use of the things I buy (once you do MSTs for a while, you’ll begin to see what you need and what variety of things you can make) each month.

My Monthly Shopping Trip makes it really easy and convenient to whip up a few of these recipes to clear a bit of space in the fridge and in cupboards and have ready-to-go meals at my disposal those first few days after going shopping. The great thing about these meals is that they can last 3+ days, are easy to warm up, and are fairly healthy/nutritious.

Let’s get to it!

Breakfast

Rise and shine Egg Muffins

There are too many good things to mention about these egg muffins. They are e.a.s.y. and quick to make, you can put pretty much anything in them, and they are very nutritious and a healthy way to start the day. Plus, they reheat very quickly and still taste great!

Rise and Shine Egg Muffins

These are great for weekday, on-the-go breakfasts! Healthy, hearty, yummy, and quick!

12 large Eggs
2 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup Milk
Pepper (to taste)
Lawry's Seasoned Salt (to taste)
Lawry's Garlic Seasoned Salt (to taste)
1 total Bell Pepper (use what you have, I like some green and red)
1/2 small Yellow Onion (use what you have)
1 tbsp Cilantro (optional)
1/2 cup Real Bacon Bits/Pieces (use ham, bacon, sausage…or omit)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, spray muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Prep your eggs. Crack and whisk together your eggs in a medium mixing bowl
Add your preferred seasonings to the eggs. I use pepper, Lawry's Seasoned Salt, and Lawry's Garlic Salt Seasoning. Add the milk to the eggs, as well.
Here is where you can really customize this recipe. Add your veggies, 1 cup of the cheese, meat, cilantro, etc. Add anything you'd like! You can also saute your veggies for a bit prior to adding them here.
Once you have all your additions, whisk everything thoroughly one more time.
Take your 1/4 cup measuring ladle and start scooping the egg mixture into your muffin pan. This will provide you with nice sized egg muffins. If you'd rather have the mixture go a little further, you can use less than 1/4 cup per muffin.
You can top your muffins with the remaining shredded cheese, as well as more of the meat, if you'd like.
Place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool and settle for about 5 minutes before eating or storing.

Feel free to play around with this recipe! It’s so easy to create egg muffins based on what your family likes/dislikes. You can also easily make different varieties within the same batch if you have one kid who doesn’t like cheese, or one that would prefer sausage. So simple. You can also freeze these if you’d prefer to make a much larger batch.

From the fridge, you can reheat for about 30 seconds. From the freezer, you may need about 1 minute. Enjoy!

Lunch

beef noodle casserole

This is an easy and kid-friendly recipe that will last a few days for sure! Casseroles are great as leftovers for lunches the next couple of days. It is also easy to add a salad and garlic bread to it for a supper option.

I made this just last week because I needed to clear out my pantry for my upcoming Monthly Shopping Trip – worked like a charm! I love it when you start typing what (few) ingredients you have on hand and Pinterest just pops right up with the perfect recipe. Boom! Done.

I think that this recipe from Dinner at the Zoo is perfect for Beef Noodle Casserole, so I’ll just provide you with the link to go check that out. I followed it to a tee, and it turned out well!

SUPPER (or dinner?)

EVERY-DAY, ANY-WAY CHICKEN

One thing I’ve found really helpful is preparing supper while I’m doing lunch. Does it happen every week? Nope. But, if I can get something going, the rest of the afternoon and my evening becomes a walk in the park (because 5 pm at our house is usually a shitshow of emotion for all family members – we’ve all had it!).

So, at least once a week I’ll throw chicken breasts in the crockpot to eat throughout the week in a variety of ways. I’m calling this my “Every-Day, Any-Way Chicken” because it is so versatile! Once cooked, you’ve got well-seasoned, ready-to-go chicken at your disposal. You can make soups, tacos, casseroles, sandwiches, or simply add it to a salad. It’s yummy any way you use it!

EVERY-DAY, ANY-WAY CHICKEN

This is a super versatile way to prepare chicken for multiple meals throughout the week!

4 Chicken Breasts (fairly large)
Stubb's Chicken Seasoning
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Chicken Broth

Get your slow cooker out, as well as your chicken (frozen or thawed)
Add your chicken to the slow cooker, I put mine in frozen
Pour chicken broth over the chicken breasts to fill the bottom of the slow cooker 1/4 of an inch or so.
Add your seasonings to the top side of the chicken – I go fairly heavy with the Stubb's to cover the majority of the breasts, then do a good bit of both Lawry's Seasoned Salt and the Ground Black Pepper. (You'll season the other side later, so you don't need to go crazy on this side)
Set a timer for 2 hours, 30 minutes, let them sit, covered. Don't uncover until the time is up!
Once the timer goes off, I break apart the breasts (since they were frozen together), spread them out, and flip over.
You can now season this side the same way you did the first side.
Replace lid and let cook another hour.

Note: Depending on your slow cooker and whether your chicken starts frozen or thawed, you may need to adjust your cooking time.

Note: If you’d like very tender chicken that very easily shreds up, you can cook it about an hour or so longer.

You can use this chicken a variety of ways once it’s cooked – soups, casseroles, tacos, sandwiches, salads, etc. It’s just nice to have on hand!

recap

So, to recap – you can make your batch of eggs first thing in the morning; prepare your casserole for lunch (or make something else altogether to actually eat, and just prepare this during lunch for supper); and then during lunch, you can throw your chicken in the crock-pot (or during nap time!). And ta-da, you’ll have options for meals for the rest of the week!

I hope you gathered some inspiration from these recipes. I know I always freeze up a bit and overthink which seasonings need to be used, or what ingredients have to be on-hand in order for me to cook meals. The great thing about these three recipes is that you can improvise and make things to your liking and it’ll turn out great!

Enjoy and Happy Eating!