8 of the Best, Fast and Easy Meal Prep Recipes to Save Moms
Fast and Easy Meal Prep recipes are where it’s at to save moms. I remember when I first started meal prepping, I spent hours researching the meals, making my list, grocery shopping, prepping my foods and cooking. You know what? It took way too much time and the worst part is I didn’t even eat most of it. It was wasted. None of my meal prep back then could be described as fast and easy meal prep recipes.
When I started working on my PhD and then had my son, my life changed drastically and I suddenly needed to find fast and easy meal prep recipes to save me. I no longer had the luxury of spending hours working on, preparing for and cooking meal prep and you know what it still worked and it was better than before. I was able to find fast and easy meal prep recipes that were delicious that I was actually eating.
The biggest thing I had to change was my mindset about finding fast and easy meal prep recipes. I had somehow convinced myself that for the meals to be nutritious all of it had to be done by hand. Wrong! Now, I will not hesitate to buy pre-cut veggies, as long as they are reasonably priced and I feel confident that the nutritional quality is still good.
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Another shift I had to make as I started moving to more fast and easy meal prep recipes was my feelings about frozen and canned products. To be clear: it is best for your health and nutrition to eat fresh food (whether that be meat, vegetables or fruit), but if the choice is between a frozen or canned vegetable (within reason and not stripped of its nutrients) and a fried or heavily processed anything, then the frozen or canned vegetable wins.
When you are in a situation when you are trying to become healthier, but you’re dealing with limited time or even a fixed budget , be gentle with yourself as you find fast and easy meal preps that will work for you. Start small, with gradual changes, and then expand as you are able. Be sure to avoid these meal prep mistakes that will wreck your success. I’ve lived at all ends of the spectrum with a meal prep lifestyle, for 8 years, and I believe that as long as you are being conscious and aware of what goes into your body and you’re trying to put the best, fast and easy meals into your body, then you’re making a step in the right direction.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s jump into my 8 best, fast and easy meal prep recipes to save moms, and really anyone trying to eat healthier. I have been adding more detailed recipes for each of these suggested recipes, so check back often or comment below if there’s a specific fast and easy meal prep recipe you’d like to try, but need more information to actually prepare it.
1. Cauliflower Fried Rice
Cauliflower fried rice has become one of my favorite fast and easy meal prep recipes to save moms. I love that it is healthy, filling and filled with vegetables. I also love that I can vary the proteins I use in my cauliflower fried rice to make it seem like a completely different meal. You definitely need to add cauliflower fried rice to your list of fast and easy meal prep recipes for moms.
2. Ground Turkey Spaghetti with Spaghetti/Zucchini Squash
Next on my list of the best, fast and easy meal prep recipes to save moms is my ground turkey spaghetti. I love this meal prep because I can easily change what I am pairing it with. My go to favorites are spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles (zoodles).
This fast and easy meal prep recipe is filling without leaving you feeling stuffed or unhappy. It also fits the bill of being fast and easy. I have prepared this entire meal from start to finish in less than 10 minutes. Simply:
1. Brown the ground turkey.
2. Add your preferred seasonings (My go to are salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika).
3. Next, add your preferred spaghetti sauce.
4. After that, all you need to do is to prepare your spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles {You can buy these frozen and follow the package instructions to prepare these (which is what I do on tough weekends) or make them from scratch (which will increase the amount of time it takes. Spaghetti squash can be baked in the oven or buy fresh zucchini and use a spiralizer to make your zoodles. In the beginning, I made both of these sides from scratch and I sometimes still do, but now I also buy the premade version when I need a fast and easy meal prep recipe to come to the rescue.
3. Ground Turkey Burger
This fast and easy meal prep recipe was one that I stumbled across when I was trying not to ruin my weekday progress on the weekend. One of the things that we do in my family is to grill out on the weekend, when the weather allows. Typically, my husband prepares burg