Meal Prep Ideas And Guide For Busy Mums

If you’re a busy mum (check) with a to-do list as long as your arm (check) who wants to eat well but hasn’t got hours to spend in the kitchen (check check), this meal prep guide is for you.

We do talk an awful lot about meal prep ideas and tips here at the Healthy Mummy and on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge, but we understand that some of you have never attempted it before.

So you may be feeling a little overwhelmed with how it all works.

Key takeaways:

• A huge variety of meal prep tips and advice 
• The right containers for meal prep
• Recipe suggestions that will work well for you 

All aboard!

Jump ahead to find out more:

So….what is meal prep?

If you think of the time you spend in the kitchen each day or night preparing meals, it quickly adds up by the end of the week. And if there’s one thing that us busy mamas don’t have enough of – it’s TIME.

This is where meal prep comes in. By spending some time once or twice per week (or whatever works for you and your family) chopping, cooking, and packaging up your meals and snacks, you can slice a TON of hours off your weekly meal prep and cooking schedule.

But you don’t have to feel overwhelmed. Meal prep can be made up of simple tasks like chopping ingredients and storing them in airtight containers, making a batch of healthy meal prep recipes from the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge, or cooking a double batch of your favourite healthy meals ahead, so you can freeze some for another day.

What are the benefits of meal prep?

Oh, so many…

1. No more cooking in the kitchen every single day. By cooking in batches (for instance, you might make a double batch of Bolognese, one to use this week and one to freeze for another family meal next week).
2. Save money by buying your ingredients in bulk – it’s often much cheaper if you buy 3kg of chicken breast instead of 500g. Same goes with ingredients like 2kg bags of potatoes, 1kg bags of rice etc. Every little bit of money saved is money in your pocket.
3. You’ll have spare time to hang with the kids in the witching hour (when they just want to snuggle up and read a book or play a game), instead of having emotional kids pulling at your legs while you try to cook dinner.
4. Avoid the temptation to grab a takeaway when you’re tired and hungry, knowing there is a healthy meal already made at home.
5. You use less electricity and water as you don’t need to cook as often. You’ll have less washing up as you’ll make one BIG mess instead of a mess EVERY DAY!

What will I need to get started?

You don’t need a lot of kitchen equipment, but these are the basics to make it a little easier.

Food processor, blender, kettle, sharp knives, chopping boards, pots and pans, slow cooker (optional, but we love it), and meal prep containers for the finished product.

And, of course, don’t forget the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge app!

What should I make for my first attempt?

Don’t go too hard too soon! To start with, why not just prepare two 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge dinners (doubling the recipe to make 4 family meals) and two double batches of snacks?

For instance, you could make a double batch of Slow Cooker Asian Chicken and then a double batch of Mexican Lasagne.

Then once they’re cooking, you could make a double batch of the Raspberry Muffins, and a double batch of the Weetbix Slice. That would make FOUR whole family meals and THIRTY SIX serves of some healthy snacks!

How do I begin?

Getting started with meal prep doesn’t have to be this huge thing where you spend every weekend planning and doing your weekly meal prep. Depending on your freezer space and the size of your family, you can do weekly meal prep or just pre-prep the meals for the days you’re all trying to eat healthier. Whatever you decide, getting started with meal prepping begins by taking the first step.

Step 1. Decide what you would like to cook during your session. 

You can choose to cook a dinner meal prep recipe (a great start!) or add in lunch meal prep ideas too (why not just use dinner leftovers for lunch?), you might want to meal prep some snacks too.

Jump on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge app and type in an ingredient you want to use (e.g. mince), and see what healthy meal prep recipe pops up that you like the look of. You can customise your meal plan and then hit the ‘shopping list’ button.

Step 2. Make a shopping list (or use the one on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge) and go shopping.

Make a shopping list (or use the one on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge) and go shopping. Check the cupboards to see if you have basics like oil, flour, pepper etc.

Many mums find it useful to use online shopping so that they can see what their total spend will be and make changes if needed to fit within their budget.

Step 3. Carve out some time (depending on what you’re cooking and how many recipes you have) to spend in the kitchen cooking

Lots of our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge members swear by the Sunday afternoon cook-up, but do whatever works for you. Many mums do meal prep twice a week.

Step 4. Start chopping and getting the ingredients ready

The food processor can be helpful here to chop onions, carrots, cabbage, etc. Why not try using the oven, stovetop and a slow cooker all at once so that you can prepare multiple meal prep meals?

Step 5. Start cooking!

Get your apron on, throw on some tunes, and get into your meal-prepping session.

It’s normally best to get anything cooking first that will take a little longer, then work back from there.

Think ahead of time about what you can make while another meal is baking in the oven, for instance.

Step 6. Once the food has cooled, it’s time to package it up

You might choose to package your meals into single-serve portions or into family-sized portions, depending on your needs.

Allow the food to cool completely in the fridge overnight, then place it in the freezer the next day. This avoids freezer burn. Label everything so that you can see at a glance what you have in the freezer.

What if I don’t have enough room to store loads of containers?

That’s OK! Not everyone has a big freezer or lots of meal prep containers. Here’s what you can do:

• Make your lunch for the week – place some cooked chicken, rice and greens, or some pre-chopped salad into 5 containers (no dressing) that you can just pull out each day.
• Sort breakfast out to make mornings a breeze. For instance, you might make these Chia Puddings (or there are loads of recipes in the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge) or a batch of the Gluten Free Granola to keep on hand for the week.
• Meal prep your snacks for the week and store them in the fridge. Think Zucchini Carrot Cake, or Lemon and Coconut Bliss Balls. These don’t take up much room.
• Just cook and freeze the main component of the meal, which you can then add easily with a side of rice or veggies. You could make a triple batch of Chilli con Carne or Bolognese to use with pasta one night, then tacos another night, wraps, or on top of a jacket potato. Just freeze it in family sized portions and defrost it in the fridge overnight before you plan to use it.

Which containers should I use for meal prep?

Choosing the right meal prep containers is very much a personal choice.

But the main options for freezing meals are the cheap and cheerful takeaway-style containers from the supermarket (around $3 for 10), which are often single-use;

Or the more expensive but better quality plastic tubs such as Décor, Tupperware, Ikea or Sistema.

You can also use ziplock bags for things like bliss balls or muffins, as they take up less room.

Which dinner recipes work well for meal prep?

Here are some of the favourite healthy meal prep recipes of the Challenge members that love meal prep. All of these healthy meal prep ideas and recipes are available to members of the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge. If you’re looking for inspiration and for thousands of meal prep ideas for weight loss you can find plenty on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge and Healthy Mummy website.

Meat

Here are some of our favourite meal prep ideas for the meat-eaters who are looking to eat healthier:

Seafood

If seafood is more your style, check out these healthy meal prep recipes perfect for the whole family:

• Fish & Vegetable Curry
• Coconut Fish Hot Pot
• Tuna Pasta Bake (pictured above)
• Salmon & Zucchini Patties
• Chilli Tuna Patties with Asian Coleslaw

Vegetarian

We also have a great range of healthy recipes perfect for the next weekly meal prep that are perfect for vegetarians:

• Baked Cheese & Tomato Risotto
• Spinach & Pumpkin Curry
• Easy Fried Rice (pictured above)
• Pesto, Spinach & Ricotta Rolls
• Zucchini & Corn Fritters
• Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

Family Friendly

As busy mums it can be so hard to find delicious, healthy recipes that the whole family loves which is why The Healthy Mummy has thousands of family-friendly heathy recipes ready for you to meal prep:

Snacks

When looking for meal prep ideas for weight loss, one of the most important meals to include in any meal prep is snacks because we all know how easy it is to grab a less-than-healthy snack. Here are our favourite snack recipes ready for your weekly meal prep:

Why do these mums love to meal prep?

Sascha Farley (right) lost an incredible 34kg following the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge.

Sascha says, “Knowing I am making the right choices, especially when it comes to ‘treats’ has been the biggest learning for me. I’ve always got 2-3 healthy treats ready for my sweet tooth hits. With education comes freedom, and The Healthy Mummy program has given me that.”

Kaitie Purssell (left) lost 21kg with the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge and credits her weight loss to her newfound love of healthy food.

Kaitie says, “Being prepared and getting organised doesn’t only save time and money, it also makes your life so much easier. The Healthy Mummy lifestyle was made for busy mums like myself.”