A few years ago, I started being intentional about Sunday night prep for the week. By preparing breakfasts, lunches, and writing out our week, I find that my mental load is lighter during our busy lives. Mornings and evenings have less stress and more time for things I enjoy.
Sunday Night Prep
I’m sharing some meal prep ideas, but we also make sure our laundry is done, backpacks are packed, and our cars are full of gas.
Breakfast Prep
My kids get up at different times in the morning. My high schooler has early band and sports practices. They also have different breakfast preferences. One son loves eggs and a “heavy” breakfast and the other prefers something lighter. Here are some of our “go-to” Sunday night breakfast prep ideas.
- Hard-Boiled Eggs (Instant Pot is awesome for these!)
- Egg Bake
- Smoothie Packets
- Steel Cut Oatmeal
Lunch Prep
We typically send cold lunches to school with our kids. This is probably my biggest stress each morning. We have to order hot lunches the week before so I can’t do a “last minute” hot lunch order or I’m sure I would do those multiple times each week. I’m even more stressed when I’m scrambling to find foods to pack in their lunches.
Sunday night lunch prep ideas:
- Frozen fruit in containers
- Sandwiches
- Cut up fresh veggies
- Soup I can reheat in the morning and put into a thermos
Dinner Prep
While I do make ahead some meals and prepare some freezer meals, the biggest help for me is to actually write out our evening activities and then plan meals around our schedule. There are usually a few nights a week we may not all be home for dinner at the same time. These are the nights we used to spend too much money on fast food that wasn’t good for us. Busy nights are great nights to have something in the crockpot that everyone can grab-and-go. If we’re all home together on the same evening, I love to prepare a bigger meal.
Sunday night dinner prep ideas:
- Write out activities and meal ideas
- Make-ahead ground beef or shredded chicken to be used for tacos, sandwiches, quesadillas, etc.
- Cut up veggies that can be used for sheet pan veggies
- Thaw any frozen meats we may need that week
- Check freezer to be sure we have last-minute ideas
Resources We Love
- Meal Planning Guide from Simple Purposeful Living (Local Author and Resource!)
- Once a Month Meals has great recipes you can use for freezer meals
