Weekends

Weekends are my favorite. Time to unwind, regroup and major family time. Weekends can also be hard on your lifestyle change. I refuse to say the word diet because this isn't a diet, it is a lifestyle change. Diets end and diets fail. This isn't going to end and these choices I'm making aren't going to fail, plain and simple!

Okay now that I've gotten that off my chest back to the point of this post.

Weekends are also a great time for me to meal prep. I can get my breakfasts (when I don't do a meal replacement shake), lunches and sometimes dinner made ahead of time so all I have to do is put it in the crock pot or warm it up. This has been huge in helping me stay on track health wise and financially. I would really hate to know how much money I have dropped on getting my lunches from fast food restaurants, pizza places, etc over the last 5 years since I've been working at my current job. Like, I think it would make a huge dent in my student loans if I were to add it up!

Meal prepping at first seemed expensive because I dropped a chunk of change at the grocery store but now I can go to the store, spend $75 and eat for a week and half. This has also cut way back on Matt and I eating out during the week, which also saves a ton of money.

Typically, my meal prepping starts with cooking my chicken breasts in the oven. Usually it is either chicken that my parents have raised or ones that I buy in the store, a pork roast or beef roast in the crock pot, sausage and eggs.

The sausage and eggs I make into my breakfast wraps. Most of the time they are simply, sausage, eggs and cheese because this is all Matt likes in them. If I get ambitious I will cook up some onions and peppers and add those to another batch just for me! I put the cooked sausage and egg into the egg roll wrapper, roll and bake till golden brown. Then I put them in the freezer and grab out what I need. A minute or so in the microwave and voila, a quick hot breakfast packed full of protein.

I am by no means a food photog they are usually taken on my phone too so no fancy camera used

Another item I love to make on the weekends and have it for quick lunches are my buffalo or BBQ chicken roll-ups. So quick and easy and delish! The only way I could make them better would be to make my own sauces but I use what I have and that is Frank's Red Hot or any BBQ sauce. I shred up the chicken, put it in a zip lock bag, add the sauce and shake what your mama gave ya! Roll them in the egg roll wrappers, bake and enjoy.

I've also become a big fan of the frozen recipe ready vegetables that you can buy the onions, peppers, mushrooms all ready to go into the pan. Makes it so easy and there is no waste because what you don't use goes back in the freezer.

I used to think the weekends were for relaxing, catching up on house work and not cooking. Now, I've changed my thinking and try to keep the house picked up during the week and do a lot of my cooking on a Saturday or Sunday and I have more time to spend with my family.