Easy Meal Prepping with Alex Daynes

When it comes to food & cooking, I am all about keeping it simple. Especially when it comes to meals I can prep & have ready to eat. Whether I'm working from home or eating on the go, I think having easy prepped meals on hand is the key to staying on track & feeling healthy.

I love following food accounts & food blogs to get new ideas!! One blog I always have bookmarked is  My Own Meal Plan by Alex Daynes. She combines homestyle cooking with the healthy alternatives I love but also has KILLER baking recipes for my sweet tooth. I love following Alex on Instagram! I try to only follow 1-2 people in each industry so that I don't have too much noise & she is my go-to food blogger!! You can watch our Instagram Live that we did together HERE!! She makes cooking look so easy so I've asked her to come on the blog to teach us her magic meal prepping ways!! I'll let Alex take it from here:

Hello! I'm Alex Daynes and I am the owner of Food & Recipe Blog, My Own Meal Plan! I started my blog my freshman year of college, when I chose to forgo purchasing a meal plan, and created my own each week in my dorm room. Today, I share all kinds of recipes on my blog! I love sharing simple, easy, and healthy recipes that are perfect for people of all ages. Whether you are a single student in college cooking meals for one, newly married, have a growing family, or you just need a one stop recipe shop, www.myownmealplans.com really has something for everyone! Be sure to follow me so you never miss a new recipe!

One area that I specialize in is creating easy and healthy meal prep recipes! I am ALWAYS on the go! Like many of us, I want something portable that can be prepped and packed before my busy day get started. I am thrilled to be guest posting for Lexie today and sharing all of my tips and tricks with you! I'm sharing my top 5 tips for successful meal prepping, along with 3 easy meal prep recipe ideas! Let's get to it!

Top 5 Meal Prepping Tips

1. ​Consult Your Calendar!! Check your calendar or planner if you keep one! Look at what days are going to be busy and what days you may have extra time on your hands. Plan for your week and how many  "on the go" meals you really need to plan for! I enjoy cooking, so I don't eat prepared food every day. Also, I like to schedule a Prep Day, where I spend a couple hours cooking!
2. Bulk Prep Protein! I always have protein cooked and ready to go in my kitchen. I typically do a bulk batch of protein for me to store in my fridge and have on hand when I need it! It makes throwing dinner together so much faster when your meat is already done! I often make my easy shredded chicken, BBQ pork, or have cooked ground turkey ready to go to turn into buddha bowls, tacos, and salads, or sandwiches.
   
3. Get Good Containers! For meal prepping, you are often putting your foods into plastic or paper containers. I have found that I am very picky when it comes to what containers I use. They need to be dishwasher safe, conveniently sized, and portable! There are hundreds of options on the market out there so find what works for you! I love mason jars, Pyrex bowls, small plastic cups for sauces, and containers with 2-3 dividers.
   
4. Prepping doesn't mean Finished Product! A lot of the time, people think meal prepping means that you have all your meals completely cooking and finished and ready to be reheated to eat! That is the case sometimes, but not all the time! Like I was saying in tip #2, sometimes my meal prep week just means I have protein prepped for other uses. Prepping can also mean dicing all your peppers, onions, carrots, cucumbers, or other items for easy use! It can also mean placing all your smoothie ingredients in a bag in the freezer for an easy grab & blend option. Any extra prep you do counts as meal prepping! It's all about simplifying your week.
   
5. Meal Prep Doesn't Have to be Boring! Just because you are meal prepping doesn't mean you have to eat chicken, rice, and broccoli on a daily basis. You can yes, and I often do this for my husband who prefers these bowls, but personally I would die! You can meal prep all sorts of recipes! When you make dinner, double it and portion the extras out to save for later! Don't want to eat the same thing every day? Freeze the extras in your containers for another week! There are so many ideas and recipes out there on Pinterest and on my blog! Don't get sucked in to boring, bland meal prep bowls. Have fun with it! Make it your own!
   

Did I help answer your questions? Are you ready to start meal prepping? Are you excited about meal prepping? You should be! It's fun and easy! It's time consuming to do the prep, but the rewards are worth it!

Hi, it's Lexie again!! Just letting you know that it's GIVEAWAY TIME!!! Alex just launched a new amazing cookbook called Back to Basics & she wants to giveaway one to YOU!! Here's how to enter:

• Leave a comment on this guest post!!
• Follow @lexiefaithdopp on Instagram
• Follow @thealexdaynes on Instagram

Giveaway will run from Sept. 17th - Sept. 22, 2020. Winner will be announced on Instagram!!

xoxo, Lexie