Cook Once, Feed the Family for Days

The key to making meals effortless throughout the week is to plan and prep ahead: 

• Set aside a few quiet hours to plan your menu: Gather all of your recipes and make one large shopping list. 
• Do all of your shopping for the week on one day (a huge time-saver instead of going to the store multiple times during the week).
• Set aside a full or half day to prep, cook and store your ingredients. This will depend on your recipes, your kitchen skills and your schedule.
• Wash and prep as many of your ingredients as possible and place them in labeled storage containers in the fridge. 
• If you have a lot of mouths to feed, or your family tends to be extremely ravenous, consider doubling or tripling your recipes to make sure you have enough to make it through several meals.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in May 2019, and updated in March 2020.