Today we have a super fun time saving tip – a tip that will make your life easier, save you money, AND help you stay on track with your nutrition.

Here it goes: In a nutshell, most of us fall into two categories when it comes to meal prep. We either overthink it, or we don’t think about it all.

Overthinking is an easy trap to fall into…  there’s just SO much “stuff” on the internet, in magazines, and on social media with conflicting information. It’s nearly impossible to filter out all of the noise and make an actual decision.

So, you think about it, you think some more, and then before you know it, it’s time to eat and you still don’t have a plan.

Way too many people think that meal prep is all about identical-looking bland Tupperware meals (like chicken, sweet potato, and broccoli) and think, “Ugh… that’s not for me”!

That’s when a lot of us join the second category: “put it off for next week” / or not thinking about prepping or planning meals at all.

There’s actually a happy middle ground! What if you took a few minutes to map out your meals and snacks for the next several days, and when you’re making dinner, you simply made 2-3x the amount you usually do?

That’s actually a golden tip from the good ol’ days of your home ec class, our grandmothers and beyond!

Did your mom or grandmother ever make an “extra” when she baked a casserole or other time-consuming dish?  It was very common when we didn’t have so much “fast food” to cook up two meals and put one in the freezer for later instead of making just one.

You can double up by making extra turkey burgers, chili, stir fry, or … well, almost anything! It doesn’t just apply to “special” meals.

Taking this approach means you don’t have to set aside several hours of valuable weekend time to cook for the upcoming week. Instead, you spend your normal amount of time cooking … plus 5 to 10 minutes each week PLANNING your meals.

This seems like a no-brainer, but the PLANNING part of it makes all the difference, especially if you’re used to trying to figure out every night what you’re going to make for dinner.

Happy meal planning!!