ByHeather Painchaud Updated
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These meal planning recipes and tips are perfect for creating healthy meals for the entire family. Meal prepping is a great way to plan your weekly menu!
Meal planning and preparation can help to achieve many healthy eating or healthy living goals. Batch cooking with a slow cooker saves so much time in the meal planning process. Be sure to check out these Crockpot Freezer Meals that I make all the time!
Most often I use our crockpot to cook easy weekday dinners and some of my favorite recipes in.Healthy food is easy to prepare for the whole family when using a weekly meal plan like this.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Meal planning tips:
- Start by determining what ingredients you already have in the pantry.Plan meals around fresh food and groceries that you may have at home to reduce food waste.
- Select recipes that use common ingredients whenever possible. One-pot meals and slow cooker meals are a good choice for menu planning.
- Plan a theme night each week to keep it interesting like meatless Monday or taco Tuesday.
- Create a grocery list to take grocery shopping for each of the different recipes.
- Shop the sales or bulk shop at Costco with your shopping list to help save money on your grocery bill.
- Batch cook ground beef in large batches all at once.
- Cut raw meat like chicken breast all at once.
- Chop up the vegetables all at the same time and place them in bowls to later separate into individual dishes.
For quick clean up in the kitchen, tuck a garbage bag around a drawer to act as a catch all for food scraps.
Best tips for meal planning:
Organize all of the ingredients on your kitchen counter.
Open jars and cans for easy pouring into each recipe.
For freezer meals that can be baked in the oven, use large aluminum casserole pans found at the dollar store. These make the perfect last-minute meals for a busy week or busy day.
Baked sausage pesto pasta and lasagna get built right in the pan with all of the ingredients including pasta and cheese.
Wrap them in tinfoil and label each meal before storing it in the freezer for up to three months. Extra servings can be used by family members for lunches the next day.
Our favorite crockpot recipes:
Yield: 5 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained
- 8 lasagna noodles, broken into pieces
- 28 oz can diced tomatoes
- 5 1/2oz can tomato paste
- 1 jar pasta sauce
- 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 1/2 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1/2 cup green pepper, diced
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. Parsley
- 1/2 tsp. oregano
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. basil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a crockpot.
- Stir at the half way point to ensure that all of the noodles are covered in sauce.
- Cook 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 781Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 164mgSodium: 1360mgCarbohydrates: 50gFiber: 7gSugar: 14gProtein: 60g
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Yield: 5 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours
Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 can of coconut milk
- 1-2 Tbsp of red curry paste
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup red peper, diced
- 1 cup zucchini, diced
- 1 cup mushrooms, quartered
- 1/2 cup carrots and celery, diced
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a crockpot.
- Cook 8 hours on low or 6 hours on medium.
- Serve over rice {optional}.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 428Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 102mgSodium: 541mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 41g
Did you make this recipe?
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Yield: 5 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours
Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 250g pkg ground sausage, cooked
- 10 oz container of pesto
- 28 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 16 oz pkg pasta, cooked
Instructions
- Place all ingredients {except pasta} into a crockpot.
- Cook 6 hours on low.
- Serve over pasta.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 784Total Fat: 54gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 34gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 1181mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 7gSugar: 9gProtein: 29g
Did you make this recipe?
Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest
Yield: 5 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup bell peppers, diced
- 1 cup carrots and celery, diced
- 1 pkg taco seasoning mix
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a crockpot.
- Cook 4 hours on low.
Did you make this recipe?
Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest
This taco meat is great because it can be used as a starter for a variety of meals!Keep it as is for Taco Night with the family or add pasta sauce for easy spaghetti. Which of these delicious meals would you use on busy nights?
If you loved these meal planning recipes and tips, please help me share them on Facebook and Pinterest so that others can enjoy them too!
Hello, I’m Heather!
I'm an active mom of twin boys who is always looking for opportunities to inspire creativity through fun crafts, do-it-yourself projects and delicious recipes. This blog has been an integral part of supporting my little family and I am so grateful to have you become a part of our journey! Let's create together... Read more...
