A simple way to get ahead without spending all day in the kitchen.
I’m standing in my kitchen today prepping a bunch of veggies. Not for a big, color-coded meal plan or a month of freezer meals stacked neatly in containers. I’m doing this to make the next few weeks of meals a little easier.
There was a time I thought if I was going to “get ahead” with meals, I had to go all in. That’s what the mommy groups and gurus of the day shared.
Pick a day, plan everything out, and cook a month’s worth of meals to stock your freezer.
And it’s not wrong. The few times I did it, I was grateful. It came in handy just before the birth of one of our kiddos, and a time or two shortly afterward. But it just didn’t work for me.
It was a whole coordinated event. Make the grocery list, go shopping, unload everything and put it away. By then, you’re so tired you have to wait until the next day to actually start prepping and cooking. And that day… was an all-day thing. Chopping, cooking, assembling, cleaning over and over again, the house smelling amazing while you’re exhausted, sweating, and just ready to be done.
It served a purpose in that season, but I soon knew it wasn’t going to be sustainable for me.
Maybe you know that feeling. When a good idea isn’t sustainable, and if you can’t keep up with it, then you must be behind…
Somewhere along the way, I started doing something different. Instead of going all in, I just doubled a recipe. I mean, I was already in there using the same ingredients, so it wasn’t really taking any more time. If I was already cooking, I would make extra and freeze it. Low key. No big production. And it actually helped.
Over time, I started paying attention. What do we actually eat the most? What do I reach for again and again?
I didn’t change everything all at once. I just started tweaking things as I went.
So now it looks more like this. I might brown up three pounds of ground beef, use part of it for tacos that night, then set aside the rest for something later in the week. Sloppy Joes, spaghetti, cheeseburger pizza… whatever fits the day. Same effort, multiple options. I love that kind of flexibility!
And today? I cut the veggies into smaller pieces, toss them into my little kitchen dicer, then put them in a container or Ziploc bag, and put in the freezer or fridge – so it’s easy to grab later.
Not full meals. Just components. Nothing fancy. Nothing impressive. Just ready.
Because the truth is, dinner doesn’t usually fall apart because I don’t know what to make. It falls apart because I’m tired and everything feels like too many steps. When everything feels like too many steps, even simple things feel heavy.
That’s the part I’m paying attention to now. Not “how can I do more?” but “how can I make this lighter?” This has shown up in so many places in life, including in the kitchen.
We think we need a better system, more discipline, or more motivation. Sometimes what we really need is to remove a step, prepare a little ahead, or make the next choice easier. It’s often small shifts that create space, a little less resistance, and a little more room to breathe.
So today, this is my small step. A cutting board, a veggie chopper, a few extra minutes, and a quieter tomorrow. Future me is already really grateful, because she’s experienced the reward before. So I keep going for her.