Preparing Meals in Advance

I am really into this lately, this is a great idea! When you prepare meals/snacks in advance it makes it so that you have a healthy option that is fast. You can also save $ by buying ingredients in bulk (if you freeze your meals) I have made one day a month a food prep day and try to make as many things as I can to freeze or put in the pantry. Usually on grocery day I will try to make some more snacks/meals for fast grabbage.

Here are some of the things I do to make healthy meals ahead:

Breakfast:

Mash Ups- I buy these and stick them in my fridge or freezer
9-grain pancake mixes - using this recipe, just mix all of the dry ingredients in a bag and then you just have to add the wet. I have 4 bags of pancake mixes in my freezer.
Freeze muffins- yummy recipe to come
Smoothy bags: In the summer I buy fruit (or grow it and then) freeze it in bags all ready to dump in the blender.

Lunches:

Beans- I like having these for lunch, I either make beans in my slow cooker and then keep them in a bag in the fridge or I open a can and rinse them and then put them in the fridge in a bag (for me opening a bag is way easier than opening a can and rinsing them, so I do it in advance and freeze a quart size bag and put another bag in the fridge)

Tortillas- I froze this recipe (before I cooked it) I have about a cup of dough in a snack bag and I have about 10 snack bags in a gallon sized freezer bag. Today for lunch I just took it out of the freezer, put it in the microwave for 2 minutes, rolled it out and cooked them. They turned out awesome! Christian loves these with beans!

Fast Veggies- I cut up and store in snack bags to put on your tortilla with your beans.

We have Sandwiches a lot too which are pretty easy.

Dinners:
I Make and freeze:
lean ground beef to add to meals fast
raw chicken in marinade ready to grill
Whole wheat pizza crust- recipe here
spaghetti sauce and chicken broth in ice cube trays
turkey burgers
sweet potato fries

In the pantry

I made little bags with all of my chili spices in them so I don't have to spend time looking for all of the spices
I made snack bags with granola, banana bars, nuts for an easy grab ( and since these are good for you, but high in calories the smaller bag helps portion control)
When I get home from the store I try to put the food in the pantry by meal. ie if I am making chili I will put the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, 3 cans of pinto beans in a bag in my pantry. Then when I go to make chili I just pull it out and I don't have to go searching for cans.

I just started doing this and I love it! I look at my recipes with a different lens and look for what parts/whole thing can be prepared ahead. It has made my life so much easier. If I am making a meal I make as much/as many as I can and then freeze the remainder.

I will post more on this later, as well as recipes to make ahead.