Last Updated on August 23, 2020 by Ellen Christian
One of the most challenging times of the day in my house is dinner time. I’m trying to finish up work for the day. My husband wants my attention. The kids are coming home from work and school. Everyone seems to be in the kitchen wondering what’s for dinner. Sometimes I have no idea. Healthy meal plans for the week have made my life so much easier!
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Healthy Meal Plans for the Week
I knew I needed to be better about meal planning but finding one that worked for our family with our different dietary needs was challenging. Sarah is gluten and dairy intolerant. I try to follow a Paleo or Primal diet. Marty is diabetic and needs low carb. I wanted a healthy meal plan that included easy substitutions for different dietary issues. I just hadn’t had any luck finding one until now.
Prep Dish providesgluten-freee and paleo meals that take advantage of seasonal ingredients to keep the costs down. Every Friday, I get an email with the meal plan for the week. BUT, that’s not all. It gets better. Along with the meal plan is a shopping list, divided by category (produce, meat, dairy, etc.).
In addition to the meal plan, you get instructions for “prep day” cooking so each night most of the work is done when it’s time for dinner. On prep day, which for me is Saturday, you follow directions to prep most of the meals. That means the chopping, dicing, marinating, baking, and organizing is done ahead of time. I spend two to three hours on Saturday preparing ingredients so that dinner time takes only 5 to 30 minutes.
I’ve tried once a month cooking before and was a total failure. I’m not that organized and I don’t have a whole day to devote to cooking. Prep Dish worked for me. It only takes two to three hours and the meals are ones that I want to serve to my family. All the meals from Prep Dish are gluten-free or Paleo.
The weekly email lists easy substitutions you can make if necessary. Those that don’t want dairy follow the dairy substitutions. Those that don’t want nuts use the nut free substitutions. Those that don’t want seafood can use the seafood swaps. For those that have food intolerances or allergies, Prep Dish is just the solution you’ve been looking for.
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With Prep Dish, you get four dinner meals, one salad, one breakfast, one snack, and one dessert. You receive options for both Paleo and gluten free. Then you click a link, print out the shopping list, meal plan, prep day instructions and dish day instructions. Shop, prep and cook! That’s all there is to it.
You can subscribe to their service either monthly ($14/month) or yearly ($99/year). Every Friday, you receive an email with a downloadable PDF file that includes everything you need for the week. It’s never been so easy to make healthy meals the whole family loves!
Sign up today and receive your first month for only $4. That’s a savings of $10. Clicking this link will add the savings for you.
Ellen is a busy mom of a 24-year-old son and 29-year-old daughter. She owns six blogs and is addicted to social media. She believes that it doesn’t have to be difficult to lead a healthy life. She shares simple healthy living tips to show busy women how to lead fulfilling lives. If you’d like to work together, email info@confessionsofanover-workedmom.com to chat.
I’ve done the meal planning ahead for years. It’s really helped, on budget, shopping, time saving, decision conundrums and more. We are retired with my mom living with us now, and I still do it. Your site is here is wonderful and I love reading and everything on it.
The way I do my planning ahead, especially for ideas….I print of several months of blank monthly calendars (actually on copy and I draw lines on the side and bottom for adding ingredients list-using this as my blank to make copies as needed). I look through my favorite recipe blogs and newsletters, my favorite cookbooks and toss in our old everyday favorites, spreading recipes enough to cover one or two months worth of “suggestions”. I place the meal on a day of the calendar adding where I found the recipe, jot in the needed ingredients on the extra lines for a shopping list. This is my main copy, but not necessary to have that particular meal on that particular night . Just knowing we have the meals and ingredients ready is the idea. Plus we always use every bit of the leftovers for other meals (extending our weekly budget on meals). Or if not going to eat them soon, they are packaged and frozen for another quick meal later. Nothing goes to waste Even bit of veggies go into the freezer for soups or casseroles later. I wish I had the storage to make the meals ahead and freeze now, but after we move next Spring, I plan on correcting the freezer storage shortage
Thank you for all your work and ideas on your blog. I am slowly applying some to our lives. I keep your blog in a handy one click desktop folder
That’s a great idea, Linda. Storage really does help. I need to be better about using up the leftovers!
I think this could be very beneficial for my family. I am sometimes at a loss for new and healthier meal options. I also love how broken down it is. Sometimes I stray from my grocery list so this is helpful. Thank you for the video which explained everything perfectly!
Glad the video helped, Amy!
Holy smokes! You tried cooking ahead for a month?! I have cooked ahead for a week but never even contemplated a month. I save money when I meal plan, but sometimes forget to take out the items I planned to make.
I did and it was not a pretty site. This is so much easier!
My biggest problem is thinking of what to cook for your family. This is a great suggestion. I will check this out.
I had that problem too!
I have three kids, so I definitely need to employ these tips. With all the eating going on, planning meals would be such a help.
It definitely is a time saver!
I really should plan my meals for the week. It saves a ton of time, and it’s certainly healthier.
It really does help!