Hey there! Thanks for stopping by to check out ideas for quick and easy meals-healthy, of course! It’s tough working all day, 10 hours + to come home and have no idea what to make for dinner. What about breakfast?  I need more sleep and thinking of what to eat for breakfast, stresses me out! Lunch? What to pack it again? Do you ask yourself these questions on the daily?  I have some quick and easy meals-healthy, of course! Just for you.

In other words, planning on what to eat each day can turn anyone into a hangry not so fun person to be around! I will outline a list of ideas for meals for dinner, lunch, and breakfast too and some tips on how to meal plan and meal prep.

Let’s start with the beginning of the day-breakfast.  Short on time, grab and go, but it still needs to be healthy right?

List of quick and easy meals breakfast.

1. Smoothies
2. Oatmeal-overnight oats
3. PB oatmeal bites
4. Bagel-breakfast sandwich
5. Yogurt-fruit
6. Egg bites/casserole

When I start my morning, I always have a large glass of water followed by my mineral water, then coffee.  I typically have my breakfast ready to go and just need to warm it up.  For example, oatmeal with added fruit is super easy for breakfast-big time saver.

On weeks I have breakfast casserole-this is left over from Sunday morning-again time saver for sure.

One of my breakfast items that does take a few more minutes are the smoothies, but hey, the blender is doing all the work right?  I typically make fruit smoothies I can blend then drink in the car. The hardest part is cleaning the blender-am I right?

For me breakfast typically takes 15-20 minutes from start to finish.

    Lunches-aka the bane of everyone’s existence!

List of quick and easy meals lunch.

1. Salads-egg, chicken, tuna, etc…
2. Salads-pasta, greens, fruit, etc…(keep a bottle of your favorite dressing in the frig at work)
3. Humus, guacamole, salsa
4. Stuffed baked potatoes or sweet potatoes.
5. Soups
6. Chili

Do you pack your lunch in the morning or in the evening after dinner?  When my kids were little we would always have a lunch packing party right after dinner. Do you do this too? This helped us alleviate the morning rush debacle.

For me, I always have looked forwarded to eating lunch and having something I love to eat always makes it worth it.  But, whether you pack at night or in the morning, make sure you take the time to eat lunch.  Depending on what I have scheduled for the week; my meal prep time can vary.

For instance, if I am eating salads for the week, I make a huge salad for Sunday’s dinner.  In addition, if I am planning on soup for the week, I make a huge pot of soup on Sunday.  What takes me 20-30 minutes to do once, leads me to save time later on in the week.

Dinner-No need to ask the dreaded question-What to do for dinner?

List of quick and easy meals dinner.

1. crock pot meals
2. instant pot meals
3. tacos
4. stir-fry
5. pasta

Most importantly, this is when planning your meals ahead of time will save you from the anguish of what to make.  Yes, plans and routines are necessary part of life-especially when you are exhausted.  As a result, having a plan for dinner each night will lead to simplicity.

For example, here is two weeks of our dinner plans:

Meal Planning & Meal Prepping for Teachers

As teachers we are used to planning our day at school, apply those same planning skills to your meals therefore, helping ease with the stress of what to eat.  For instance, I love making a crock pot of soup on Sunday and then having it for the remainder of the week for lunch. There are so many options of salads or soups or chili, find your favorites and then you will have a rotation of meals to choose from each week.

When you began meal planning, it may seem overwhelming at first, here are some tips on how my husband and I do it.

First, brain dump your favorite family meals.  Next, agree what you will have each night for dinner. We always have taco Tuesday- but it can look different each Tuesday-one week we have steak tacos, the following week, chicken tacos. We know every Tuesday, we will have some version of tacos and it really does make life easier.

Second, after you have your list of meals, then you can create your grocery order.  I love using instant cart for our groceries.  Have you tried instant cart? Highly recommend as a time saving tip. Likewise, Walmart and Amazon both offer food delivery too.

Lastly, to keep our meals healthy-I use the whole food approach, therefore I avoid as much processed foods as possible.  I find that making soups from scratch is a healthier option for us.  Knowing what is in your meal will help with any type of food allergies or sensitivities.

Now you have your plan, then you can prep.  Just getting started? Pick one-breakfast or lunch to meal prep. For example, I started meal prepping  lunch. Basically, you are batching your meals, doing the same tasks at one time makes it a bit easier then doing the same thing for multiple days. I was already looking for ways to save time, this was an easy first choice. Depending on my meal plan, I can determine what I am prepping for the week.

Sunday, I prep my soup for the week, I make a huge pot my favorite soup, let it cool, then place into containers.

I then prep my veggies/fruit/crackers I eat for the week, cut, peel, and place into containers.

I then have my lunch ready to go on Sundays, I can easily grab what I need each morning  and go.

Note: Prepping lunch meals ahead of time-most green salads will last about 3 days-tip, add the dressing before you eat.

Dinner-quick and easy meals

Above all, having a plan for the week is a time saver for sure because when you come home and have to figure out what to eat is a pain.  No one wants to think about it and no one wants to cook it.  Planning out what to have for dinner has saved our family the dreaded conversation-what’s for dinner?  I will admit, we have had this conversation for up to an hour with no resolution before in our household.

Subsequently, once we implemented the meal planning, our evenings were a lot smoother.  We just look at the calendar and know what we are having.

Tip: schedule dinner nights out too.  You know the days you are just to exhausted to think, let alone cook, and take out happens.  Plan for that too-no guilt here.  For instance, we usually pick Friday or Saturdays, but we have done it in the middle of the week too.

Give it a try!

Try this for a month, meal plan and meal prep. That’s right for one month, plan our breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks too.

Step 1-brain dump all your favorite meals

Step 2- create variations of your meals-chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad, etc…

Step 3- create your grocery list-highly recommend grocery delivery services

Step 4- prep your lunches-takes me about an hour each Sunday/use left-over dinner for a quick lunch too!