Eating healthy as a family of five can be challenging and time consuming. When I first started down this clean eating path I honestly didn’t know how I was going to fit it into our schedule but knew that it would have a long term positive impact on both myself and our family . After a few months of trial and error, I think I finally have it figured out (at least in this category!!)

TIP #1 PLAN AHEAD
Plan your dinners a week at a time. I plan all of our dinners for the week on Thursday night and then we shop / prep Friday thru Sunday. I will admit on Thursday night its not my favorite activity but when paired with a glass of wine, its not too bad 🙂 AND the benefit I get throughout the week is well worth it.

TIP #2 PREP ON THE WEEKEND
I work full time and take my lunch to work. I plan my lunches and snacks a week in advance as well. So on Thursday night when I am making my grocery list I think about what the needs for lunch as the family are for the week (i.e. if I have any meetings, lunches out etc.) Everything is packed and ready to go on Sunday so I don’t have to think about it the night before.

TIP #3 SIMPLIFY
Simplify. I do NOT take extravagant lunches to work or make complicated dinners. Its repetitive but that cuts down on the prep time. 🙂  We use the crock pot ALOT!

MAKING PREP EASY

This specific plan follows Plan A of the Hammer and Chisel meal plan and can also be used with the 21 Day Fix plan. For those of you that aren’t familiar with those programs its basically clean eating. Period. Its about 1300 – 1500 calories a day.

The prep of all of this food takes me about 90 minutes. It includes pre-packing the nuts/snacks. Measuring my fruit (where appropriate. I eat about 1 cup per serving), steaming the vegetables and baking the protein. I do not cook the sweet potato ahead of time and just pop it in the microwave at work for 2-3 minutes. While 90 minutes sounds like a lot, it would take me about 15-20 minutes every night so it does save time in the long run. I usually break it up over the weekend during naptime!

Protein
I bake all the protein with minimal seasoning at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes at the same time. It usually consists of a bit of olive oil, Mrs Dash season and a little bit of lemon juice. 1 serving is about the equivalent of 1 cup cooked.

Vegetables
I steam the vegetables with water and then once cooked add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil with a little bit of salt and pepper. One serving is about 1 cup.

Snacks
Snacks include fruit, nuts and chopped raw veggies. I cut all the veggies ahead of time and put them in individual snack bags along with the fruit and nuts.

The containers shown are from Amazon. There are tons of options. These were about $15 for 10. They are dishwasher safe and microwavable.

EXAMPLE DAY