(BPT) – For many families, back to school means back to busy. Between work, classes, sports teams and clubs, preparing home-cooked meals for your family can be difficult. Just because you’re short on time doesn’t mean you have to default to fast food. Instead, think about how you can plan ahead and have healthy, tasty meal options during the school year.
To make things easier on yourself, check out these four tips for eating healthy when you’re short on time.
1. Prep food for the week
Prepping your food on the weekends, especially Sundays, is a great way to save time and ensure you have delicious homemade meals and snacks ready to go, even on your busiest days. Make a list of meals you’d like to cook during the week, gather the ingredients and start chopping! This is especially helpful if you’re trying to incorporate more healthy foods into your family’s diet, as you can easily pack them as a side or snack.
2. Keep easy meals in the freezer
There will be days when you don’t have the time or energy to make a whole meal. Sometimes you don’t want to order in either. For those occasions, it’s best to keep easy meals in your freezer.
This doesn’t mean you have to pack your freezer with TV dinners. Instead, find delicious and nutritious options for quick meals, like Morey’s Fine Fish & Seafood products. For example, their new Wild Flounder Garlic & Herb combines chef-inspired flavors with high-quality flounder for a delicious and easy-to-prepare meal.
“Morey’s products are great options because they help take a lot of the additional thought, planning and prepping out of the dinner equation,” said Chef Shaiheem, owner and private chef of The Guilty Plate. “Being able to quickly thaw these proteins and throw them on the grill or in the oven makes for a quick and delicious dinner everyone can enjoy.”
You don’t have to special-order Morey’s products to enjoy them. Find a store near you that carries their products by visiting Moreys.com/Where-To-Buy.
3. Make enough for leftovers
When cooking your meals, it can be a good idea to make enough to have leftovers. That way, you can incorporate parts of that meal into future meals for your family or have ready-made options to include in lunch bags for school or work. Leftovers also make for a quick dinner that you can warm up when you’re short on time and energy. You can even plan a night, say Friday or Saturday, when your family can choose from this week’s leftovers for dinner. Morey’s new Wild Flounder Garlic & Herb is so good it’s unlikely you’ll have any leftovers, but if you do, it will go great on your next meal of rice, pasta or salad!
4. Plan a weekly takeout night
Limiting takeout food is a good practice, but let’s face it, sometimes you just need to order in. Make takeout a special treat for you and your family by having a planned, weekly takeout night. To make things easier, make a list of restaurants everyone in the family enjoys and rotate which ones you order from each week. You can even take this opportunity to try out new places. Ordering takeout can be especially nice to have delivered if you’re prepping your meals for the next week.
Be prepared for the busyness of the coming school year by making meal plans ahead of time. Using these four tips, you can rest easy knowing your family will eat well even when you’re short on time and energy.