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Feeling overwhelmed trying to feed your family every single day? In this video, I’m sharing easy and realistic meal prep tips for busy moms who want calmer evenings, simpler routines, and more peace in the kitchen. These are the little habits that help me stay organized without spending hours cooking.
Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom, homeschooling, working, or juggling all the things, these simple meal prep ideas will help you save time, stretch your groceries, and make dinnertime way less stressful.
In this video, we’ll talk about:
✨ The “prep, not cook” method
✨ My favorite simple ingredients to prep each week
✨ How to rotate 3 go-to meals
✨ Double-dinner nights that save HOURS
✨ Easy snack prep for kids
✨ How to set up a kitchen that works for YOU
✨ Giving yourself grace in busy seasons
If you’re ready for calmer evenings and a smoother week, this video will help you build habits that truly make a difference
.Subscribe to the newsletter for free resources, downloadable content and to connect more! https://motherhoodandhomemaking.beehiiv.com/
Subscribe to our Family Disney Channel if you love travel tips and budgeting! https://www.youtube.com/@OurWorldOfDisney
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0:00
If you're in a busy season of motherhood
0:02
and you want your kitchen to feel a
0:04
little more peaceful and a lot more
0:06
manageable, today I'm going to be
0:07
sharing some easy and realistic meal
0:09
prep tips that actually work. They're
0:11
not going to be anything fancy or even
0:13
super timeconuming. Just some simple
0:15
things that I use every week to make
0:17
feeding my family a little bit easier,
0:20
calmer, and a lot more joyful as a
0:22
homemaker. Welcome to motherhood and
0:24
homemaking, where faith meets everyday
0:26
motherhood. And home is our favorite
0:28
place to be. If you love homemaking, but
0:30
you also enjoy spending time with your
0:32
family, then go ahead and give this
0:34
video a thumbs up and subscribe to the
0:37
channel because I'm always sharing
0:38
motherhood motivation and homemaking
0:40
inspiration that not only helps our home
0:43
to be a lot more efficient, but also
0:45
encourages you to slow down so that we
0:47
can leave a little bit more space in our
0:49
busy schedules and cherish every single
0:51
moment with our family. As a busy mom,
0:54
meal prep doesn't have to mean cooking
0:56
full three course meals to last
0:58
throughout the whole week or the whole
0:59
month. Honestly, just prepping a few
1:02
ingredients can change everything.
1:04
Washing and cutting your produce right
1:06
after grocery shopping or cooking a
1:08
batch of rice or pasta, keeping it in
1:11
the fridge, even roasting a sheet pan of
1:13
veggies to go alongside lunch and
1:15
dinner. When it comes to protein,
1:17
prepping that ahead of time. If you
1:19
already know what you're going to be
1:20
preparing for the week, go ahead and
1:21
wash it, season it, and store it away so
1:24
that when it comes time for you to cook
1:26
them, all you have to do is take them
1:28
out of the fridge, put them on the pan,
1:29
and pop them right inside of the oven.
1:32
This way, you're not making meals, but
1:33
you're making building blocks that are
1:35
going to make dinner come together in
1:37
minutes on the days that you are super
1:39
busy or super tired. I also like to keep
1:42
three core meals on rotation. And when
1:44
life is busy, you do not need a
1:45
Pinterest perfect menu because eating
1:48
out at restaurants or getting takeout
1:50
and everything normally looks like
1:52
something fancy. We have somewhat kind
1:55
of made that just a normal thing in
1:58
life. Seeing people prep their meals
2:00
online and looking at those Pinterest
2:03
perfect menus kind of just make us feel
2:06
like our simple meals are not enough.
2:08
But let me tell you, it's enough and
2:10
simple is better. I always say that less
2:13
is better. So having things like
2:15
spaghetti or Alfredo, tacos, sheet pan,
2:20
dinner, stir fry, whatever your
2:21
favorites are, just having those three
2:23
meals on rotation every single week. And
2:27
just making sure that those ingredients
2:29
are always stocked means that even if
2:32
your week feels a little chaotic, you
2:34
will know that you have something easy
2:36
and comforting that you can put together
2:37
quickly that the whole family is going
2:39
to enjoy. You don't have to worry about
2:41
going to the grocery store or thinking
2:43
about rather and that you have the
2:44
ingredients for it because those are
2:46
those things that you're going to have
2:47
on rotation and make sure that you keep
2:49
it stocked in the pantry and in the
2:51
freezer every single time you go grocery
2:53
shopping. In order to keep this system
2:56
efficient, I try to choose one prep day.
3:00
I love choosing a day of the week where
3:01
I just batch prep a few things. For me,
3:04
Sundays work best because that is the
3:06
day that I typically don't have a lot to
3:08
do in my schedule throughout the week.
3:10
I'm typically busy with the little ones.
3:12
We have homeschool and then on Saturdays
3:14
sometimes we're often hanging out as a
3:16
family or we're spending time with other
3:18
friends and family or doing different
3:20
outings, running errands and things like
3:22
that. So for you, maybe it's Monday or
3:24
even a random Thursday. But the point is
3:27
to pick a day where you can be most
3:29
consistent. Even 30 minutes will help a
3:32
lot. Just set a timer, turn on some
3:34
music, or your favorite YouTube channel
3:35
or podcast, and just chop some veggies
3:38
or some fruit, cook some rice, some
3:40
pasta, organize your meals for the week,
3:43
and just do that for about a half an
3:44
hour. It's going to make meal prep for
3:47
the rest of the week so much easier, and
3:49
you're going to feel so proud of
3:50
yourself afterwards. Trust me. Another
3:51
one of my favorite mom meal prep hacks
3:54
are double dinner nights. So, whenever
3:57
you're cooking something easy, just
3:58
double it. One for tonight and then
4:00
maybe one for later in the week or
4:02
choose meals that you typically have
4:04
leftovers for because those leftovers
4:06
can be used for another night of dinner.
4:08
Or you can use those for lunch
4:10
throughout the week as well. So, just
4:12
double the chicken, double the pasta,
4:13
double the chili, whatever it is that
4:14
you're making. Just make a little bit
4:16
more than you are going to need so that
4:19
you can store some away for later.
4:21
Freeze and refrigerate the extra because
4:23
it does turn a busy weekn night into an
4:26
easy win. Also, prep snacks for your
4:29
kids because a lot of stress comes from
4:31
constant mom, can I have a snack moment,
4:34
especially my little ones, even my
4:36
one-year-old these days is just always
4:38
in the pantry asking for snacks and
4:41
wanting to snack on something. a cup of
4:43
milk, a cup of water, a cracker here and
4:45
there. It's always something. She's been
4:47
loving mandarin oranges and fruits,
4:50
which is why you see me chopping a lot
4:52
of fruit because fruit is one of those
4:54
things that is easy to prep and easy to
4:57
pull out. And my kids actually love
4:59
fruit and so I'm so thankful and
5:02
grateful for that. So, just prep a
5:05
little snack basket in the fridge or in
5:07
the pantry or on the counter. Keep
5:09
yogurt, fruit, cheese sticks, crackers,
5:12
muffins, things like that on hand,
5:13
whatever works for your family. And kids
5:15
are going to feel a lot more independent
5:17
if they can be able to grab these
5:19
things. And you also get a small break.
5:22
Really quickly, I just want to apologize
5:23
for my voice. If my voice sounds a
5:26
little awful, it's because the family
5:29
has had a cold, but I wanted to still be
5:32
as productive as I can, get some work
5:34
done and everything. So, yeah, I just
5:36
wanted to apologize for that. I promise
5:38
I don't always feel this terrible. So,
5:40
if you're new here and you subscribe to
5:41
the channel, I promise in the next video
5:43
I'm probably going to sound a whole lot
5:45
better. Nevertheless, we're going to
5:47
keep this video going. Let's talk about
5:50
keeping our kitchen setup simple because
5:52
meal prepping is so much harder in a
5:54
cluttered kitchen. So, clear a little
5:57
prep space and keep your knives sharp,
5:59
your cutting board handy. Have your
6:01
mostused tools within reach and on hand,
6:04
not tucked away in the cabinet in the
6:06
drawers where it's hard to reach for.
6:08
Because for me, whenever my kitchen is
6:09
cluttered and I can't easily reach for
6:11
the things that I need, I don't know,
6:13
meal prep just seems a lot more
6:15
exhausting and I kind of just don't want
6:17
to do it. But when I can see everything
6:19
and I can grab everything easily, meal
6:21
prep also feels a lot easier. So, a
6:24
simple setup makes it easier to actually
6:26
follow through with your meal prep
6:27
habits. And if you haven't done so, I
6:30
highly recommend that you take some time
6:31
to declutter your kitchen because that's
6:33
going to be helpful as well. I have a
6:34
ton of videos about decluttering,
6:37
minimizing, and all of that stuff. So,
6:39
I'll link that down below for you guys,
6:41
as well as a link to my newsletter down
6:44
below. I have a ton of resources when it
6:46
comes to decluttering, meal prep, all of
6:48
that stuff. So, I would love for you to
6:50
go ahead and subscribe to the newsletter
6:51
down below and check out some more of
6:53
those videos. But overall, I also want
6:55
to encourage you to give yourself some
6:57
grace because motherhood comes with full
6:59
days and full hearts. Some weeks you
7:01
will prep everything, and some weeks
7:03
you'll barely make it to the grocery
7:04
store. And that's okay because meal prep
7:06
is meant to serve your family and not
7:08
stress you out. It's meant to simplify
7:11
your schedule and make things easier.
7:13
So, do what you can and let go of the
7:15
rest. If meal prep is just not for you
7:17
and it's making your life a little bit
7:20
more difficult, then that kind of just
7:22
defeats the purpose. So hopefully some
7:24
of these tips here help you out. And if
7:26
you did find them to be helpful, I hope
7:28
that you would give this video a thumbs
7:29
up. But if they didn't help you out, I
7:32
highly encourage you to just kind of
7:34
figure out what works for your family.
7:36
What works for me might not work for
7:38
you. But I do think that if done the
7:41
right way and if done consistently and
7:44
in a way that is going to be helpful and
7:46
beneficial for you, meal prep can make
7:49
your life a lot more simple as a busy
7:51
mom and homemaker. I'm just going to
7:53
finish up here prepping. I'm just doing
7:56
a big batch of oatmeal because that's an
7:59
easy go-to breakfast that the family
8:01
enjoys. It's healthy. It's packed with
8:03
iron and fiber and protein. We can add
8:06
some berries with that as well. So, I
8:08
can usually just pull this out, spoon
8:10
some into a bowl for both of my
8:13
children's and myself, and add in some
8:15
berries or some bananas, a little bit of
8:17
milk or cream or almond milk, and warm
8:20
that up in the fridge, and we are good
8:22
to go. I'm also going to be prepping a
8:25
batch of broccoli and rice because my
8:29
hus has been really enjoying salmon
8:31
these days. And so, one thing that we
8:33
enjoy having on the side, the salmon is
8:35
vegetables and rice. So, being able to
8:38
just pull the rice out of the fridge and
8:39
it's already done, as well as some
8:41
broccoli or any type of veggies is going
8:44
to simplify things a lot easier that
8:46
way. I can just season up the salmon,
8:49
throw that in the fridge, and when it's
8:50
time to prepare it, I can put it inside
8:52
of our Ninja Krispy that takes 15
8:54
minutes, and everything else is already
8:56
done. The same thing for dinner. If I
8:59
just already have my protein prepped as
9:01
well as some starch or some sort of side
9:04
in the fridge stored away, that's going
9:06
to make things a lot bit easier. So, so
9:08
join me in finishing up my meal prep
9:10
here for the week. It is Thanksgiving
9:12
week, so it's not a ton of things that I
9:15
need to prep because I want to save some
9:16
space in the fridge for those
9:17
Thanksgiving leftovers. But, let's go
9:20
ahead and do this together. Maybe while
9:22
I finish prepping, you can pull out your
9:24
cell phone and open up a note or pull
9:26
out your journal, your meal planner,
9:28
whatever it is you like to use to plan
9:31
out your weeks, and just go ahead and
9:32
jot down a few of your favorite meals,
9:35
your go-to things, maybe a grocery list,
9:38
and just figure out how you're going to
9:39
simplify your meal prep this week.
9:48
that made those mountains.
9:51
It's your faith
9:55
that brought me to the truth.
9:58
It's the way you called heaven down when
10:01
you pray for where I am now. It's your
10:05
faith.
10:07
It's your faith that made those
10:10
mountains
10:15
move. How you make those mountains move?
10:24
All of the pain you faced, trials you
10:32
paid.
10:34
Thank you for it all.
10:36
I wish you could see me now way up
10:41
beyond those clouds. I think I will make
10:44
you proud. Your prayers have let me
10:48
fall. It's your faith
10:52
that made those mountains move. It's
10:56
your faith
10:59
that brought me to the truth.
11:02
It's the way you called heaven. I will
11:06
pray for where I am now. It's your
11:09
faith.
11:11
It's your faith.
11:14
It's your faith
11:18
that made those mountains move. It's
11:21
your faith
11:24
that brought me to the truth. It's the
11:28
way you called heaven down. Pray for
11:33
where I found each faith.
11:37
It's your faith that made those
11:40
mountains. Ooh.
11:44
Ooh. How you made those mountains. Ooh.
11:52
How you made those mountains.
11:58
How you made those mountains.
12:08
I hope that you guys have enjoyed meal
12:10
prepping with me as well as some of
12:11
these tips that I've shared and maybe it
12:14
helps you to feel a little bit more
12:16
organized or encouraged. If it did,
12:18
again, make sure you subscribe for more
12:19
homemaking and motherhood tips and
12:22
follow the link down below to join our
12:24
newsletter. I love being able to create
12:26
a space where we can slow down and
12:28
simplify together and I would love for
12:30
you to join me over here as well. But I
12:32
hope that you guys have a wonderful week
12:33
and thank you so much for watching this
12:35
video. I will see you guys in the next
12:37
one.