As a member of the Sandwiched Generation, meal prepping will help you feed the whole gang. Meal prepping refers to preparing several meals in advance. I usually meal prep on Friday or Saturday. This affords me one less thing to worry about during the next week. Below I have listed the steps for an easy meal prep day.
Purchasing Your Meats
Purchase three (3) meats at the grocery store or online: a roast, a chicken and fish. I find Butcher Box How It Works | ButcherBox (online) offers fair pricing for high quality meats: The beef is 100% grass fed and finished, no antibiotics; the pork is raised crate-free, with no antibiotics; chickens are free range, certified organic and no antibiotics; the seafood is wild caught.
Cooking Roast
You will need a crockpot or Instant Pot. I will discuss crockpots since that is what I use but substitute the word Instant Pot if that is what you use. It would be helpful if you had two crockpots. Beginning with the roast, salt and pepper it. Brown it on all sides, adding chopped onions (already chopped) and garlic (already chopped) to the pan. After browning on all sides, place it in the crockpot. Add two cans of Golden Mushroom Soup along with half the amount of water needed for soup. Turn the crockpot on low and move on to your next meat.
Cooking Chicken
Next, is the chicken. I usually purchase chicken already cut. Salt and pepper the chicken. Brown it on the top of the stove, adding garlic. Place the chicken in the second crockpot. Add Teriyaki sauce or your favorite sauce. Turn the crockpot on low and move on to your third meat (in this case fish).
Cooking Fish
Fish is so easy. You can use any fish you like. Wash it off; pat it dry. I like to use Cajun Choice Blackening Seasoning. Generously sprinkle it over the fish. Heat oil or butter in a skillet; I prefer cast iron. Cook the fish until nice and brown.
Side Dishes
While browning your meats, put on a pot of rice, a pot of frozen broccoli and a pan of fresh spinach (hopefully you have a 5-6 burner stove). Those should be done in 20 minutes. Hence, in less than two (2) hours in the kitchen, you have prepared next week’s meals for the family. Who said that for the sandwiched generation, meal prepping was hard? No more McDonalds for you!