Cooking Once, Eating All Week

With my husband now working in another state and the kids having soccer six days a week, there is not a lot of time to cook and honestly I don’t want to cook each night when the kids rarely will eat what I make. Now that we are a couple of weeks in to soccer and stuff, I realize that we can’t eat out all the time and there are times when I am at home and just want a quick meal that is more satisfying. What I have started doing is a meal prep day. I have never really been one to do these as I never know what I want to eat on a day to day basis. But by just cooking some staples like chicken and vegetables, I can then transform them into other quick meals with a few added ingredients. Cooking once, eating all week will save you time and less dishes each and every night. All you need is a few hours one day.

Roast Vegetables

I love the taste of roasted vegetables, but I don’t want to turn on the oven each night. By chopping some of my favorite veggies, season, and roast then I can mix and match which ones I want to either just reheat or add to a taco bowl. They can all be on one pan so less dishes to clean when I am all done. While the oven is on, I also pop a few sweet potatoes or baked potatoes in to use throughout the week too.

Bake or Grill Meats

To minimize how many grocery trips I make in a week, I like to shop at places like Sam’s to stock up on everyday supplies and meats like Tyson® frozen chicken breasts. By having a bag of frozen chicken, I can just take out how much I want per week, defrost, then what I do is either bake them on a sheet pan when I have the veggies in the oven or I put them in the instant pot to cook. I shred some of the chicken and chop some. The chicken can then be used in chicken salads, quick enchiladas, or whatever sounds good that week.

I like to also cook a steak then slice it and put in baggies to quickly reheat with some of the roasted veggies and half of a sweet potato. Simple satisfying meal.

Just Reheat

Don’t think that meal prep is just for lunches/dinner. You can meal prep some egg muffins with some of the shredded chicken inside. But for those days when you want that hot breakfast sandwich, then pick up some Jimmy Dean Delights® English Muffins at Sam’s Club while you are there. I am working on getting the kids to eat these in the mornings as well versus just a waffle or cereal before school.

Healthy Chicken Taco Bowl Recipe

One thing I like to make with my already cooked chicken is a healthy chicken taco bowl. What I do is chop up half of an already cooked sweet potato for the bottom of the bowl. What’s next is just topping with some of either the chopped or shredded chicken that is sprinkled with taco seasoning and then all your favorite taco toppings. I like chopped avocado, shredded cheese, salsa. Really the list is endless of what all you can top your healthy chicken taco bowl with and then chow down. This can be served cold or you can reheat the chicken and sweet potato first. This is just one of the many recipes I throw together after a long day.

Cooking once, eating all week is a philosophy that I am slowly realizing I should have added to my routine a long time ago. Soccer, getting a house ready to sell, and just everyday mom duties keep me crazy busy. Making sure that I am eating good meals so that I am do all I need to do is essential. I hope by sharing my little secrets of Tyson® frozen chicken and Jimmy Dean Delights® will help you see how much time and energy you will be saving by cooking once, eating all week!