Meal prepping is one of the most important parts to succeed with any
program. Here, I've printed out our meal prep for the week from the Family
kickstart but all you have to do is write down the steps that can be made
ahead of time from your plan. If you're just getting started, I'll also link the
other meal prep videos below so you can learn more about how to save time in the
kitche. But before you go away to another video, hear me out. You should
know that I'm meal plan weekly and have my meal plans on momables.com - but what
you might not know is that a few times a year I do something called a Family
Kickstart program with my whole family. In the pas,t I've done the whole 30
program and 21-day sugar detox on my own; and while I found these to be extremely
beneficial for my health by eliminating grains, gluten, dairy, and sugars from my
meals; I wasn't able to successfully get my whole family on board. So, that's why I
do the Family Kickstart Program: same principles just family-friendly!
With any program, however, you're gonna be spending a bit more time in the kitchen
than you might be used to. So, definitely, meal planning is the way
to go. The following three things are going to help you stay on track with
your meals and not spend any more time that you need in the kitchen. After all,
with three young kids and a full-time job, the last thing I want to do is make
multiple meals for my family... all 30 days, at every meal. That's why it's so hard
for any family to complete most programs! Completing them it's short of a miracle
so in today's video, I'm going to show you the meal planning basics that helps
me stick to the program for the whole thirty days. So let's get started.
The first thing you want to do is map out your meals in a printable planner. I
have this blank planner -which I'll link below- where I normally sit down with my
cookbooks, browse Pinterest, and write down all the meals that fit in the
program -for every meal. As tedious as that it sounds, you've got to plan every
single meal. Otherwise, left to your own devices, you'll likely get a two o'clock
snack craving and not make the best choice. If you are doing the Family KickStart Program,
it's all done for you as you see here.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner... and snack suggestions mapped out for the whole
family. When I follow a program I like to use the recipes in the program, but if
you need to find filler recipes or swap out some meals; as mentioned previously,
my first go-to is my Grain Free Cookbook or, some of my favorite cookbooks right
here. I make sure that recipes are family friendly and simple to make. Otherwise, I
head over to Pinterest where I spend way too much time browsing around -why is
that? I usually don't end up making those
recipes but I do pin until my heart is content. What I look for in recipes..?Well,
they must don't need to be modified too much to fit my family's eating
preferences and in a program that we're doing with two picky eaters it's easy to
make a separate meal but it's important that day to eat better food I mean why
do the program by myself and not include them so finding kid-friendly recipes is
very important because if you end up making multiple meals, you'll wear out by
the third week! With Family Kickstart, the recipes are kid-friendly and many are
similar to the things my kids were already eating -except mac and cheese, you
won't find that here for 30 days. What I love is that my kids are given the same
opportunity to eat wholesome foods as me and, I've been surprised more than once
that they've learned to like a new food. So, doing kickstart for us is always a
win-win. After planning out the meals, the next step is to look at the recipes
themselves and see what types of things can be done ahead of time. You can write
those shortcuts and prep steps on the side of your planner. The best way -and
most realistic approach- is to do the majority of the prep over the weekend.
And then, a little bit each day. This here is a DIY version, or what I normally do
each week. And this is what's included in the Family Kickstart. Most of the prep is
here and then a little bit in small pieces each day.
After that, I build a shopping list from the recipes and scan my pantry and
fridge for items I might need to buy. Then, I add those to the list.
My usual list looks like this when I'm not doing the program. My favorite
however, is this right here from Kickstart and the MOMables Meal Plans
since they're already done for you. Regardless, you'll want to write down
what you need to shop for, so midweek you're not running out to the store for
a forgotten ingredient or end up making an unhealthy choice because you don't
have everything you need on hand to make your meal. When I get home from the
grocery store, I get started on my prep by washing my produce, I pre cook part of
my meals, marinate any meats, and even prep some of my vegetables. So, when it's
time to make dinner, things are ready and convenient.
The key to succeeding with any 30-day program when you have a family is to 1)
plan out all your meals and find family friendly recipes that are approved by
the particular program 2) Write a prep list and shopping list and 3) shop
for all the foods at once and actually prep. Below this video you're gonna find
some great resources to make your 30-day journey an easier one. If you're making
meals for your family the MOMables Meal Plans or KickStart Program is 30 days of
done-for-you meal plans, prep sheets, and shopping lists, so if you want to do a
program that eliminates grains, gluten, dairy, processed foods, and sugars check
out the link right below this video. If you love easy recipes and helpful videos
make sure to subscribe to this YouTube channel a new recipe comes out every
single week. See you next time!