I will start this by saying that I am pretty hardcore about meal planning. I can't EVER imagine starting the week without a written plan of what we are having for dinner each night. The reason is because I MUST go to the grocery store on Sunday while Calla is home with Coach. I would rather stab my foot than take her to the grocery store to grab something after school. When I've had no other choice... it always ends with me abandoning the buggy and running to catch her before she makes a run for it. No fun friends. No fun.
I'm also a 100% fan of the Wal-Mart click list. I have saved around $50-$100 EACH week on our grocery bill since I've started using it. I kinda think I like Wal-Mart click list more than Kroger. (Insert wide eye emoji) I know I know. Who would have ever thought that? I'm pretty sure Wal-Mart has way better prices on everything. I buy a ton of organic items and the prices are great. The quality has been awesome too. I even buy produce and meats from Wal-Mart and they have not let me down once. If you haven't tried it out of fear... trust me. It is the bomb.
(If you're a real champ you can even train teach your husband how to pick up groceries and boom.... you're winning at life.)
Ok so the real reason for the post: The Meal Prep Party.
I was just rolling through Facebook one evening and a friend posted, "Just spent two hours and I walked away with 20 dinners ready for the freezer. Best part: the meals are delicious!" This post was filled with all that I love. I needed more information. I was very curious. I am also the type of person to try anything once.
I was invited to a group and a meal prep party that the sweet friend was hosting. I was instructed to pick a meal plan that would best fit the taste of our family. There were about 6 different dinners to pick and each set had ten meals. I picked the Crock Pot dinner plan. Y'all know I LOVE my crock pot. I seriously use it at least 3 nights a week. Nothing makes my heart sing like a dinner already ready for me when I walk in the door. Well... actually nothing makes my heart sing like a dinner that cooks in the crockpot that doesn't require cream of anything. (Not that I don't use them... I do... just only once in a while.) So I purchased one meal plan and the cost was $78. You're paying for the plan, allllll the spices and marinades you'll need to make your meals delicious. (It's actually enough for 20 meals. I brought all the extras home with me.)
I picked my meal plan that then I got an email with a shopping list. It was not bad at all! I sat down on Saturday morning and added the needed items into my cart. The only canned items that I needed were canned tomatoes and chilies. Wal-Mart had organic on sale so they were actually cheaper. I bought everything BUT my meats. My total at Wal-Mart was $16.76. This was me buying some veggies already cut because I truly dislike cutting butternut squash.
I knew I wanted to hunt for deals and markdowns on meats. I decided to run to Kroger on the night before the party to hunt for the meats. I am really glad I did this. It's the #OffSeason so Coach was home. Kroger had just marked down so much good stuff! I bought all the meat I needed from my list and three other things that were just too good not to freeze for later. I spent $76.23 at Kroger on just meat. I also walked out feeling so Paleo.
I got home and did all the mom things such as dinner/ bath/ book and bed for the two year old mini human. Around 7:45 I decided to get started in the prep work. Your instruction kit tells you what to put into each bag. Each bag is filled with a meat and veggies. Some called for items like salt and pepper. I got all of my items ready, my bags were ready to go with numbers 1-10... and I set the timer.
Y'all. THIS. IS. MY. HAPPY. PLACE.
Coach walked in and said, "You love this, don't you!?" YES! It was so fun. I had a Life Coach podcast going, veggies on the counter, and meats in the bags.
It took me 50 minutes and 46 seconds from start to finish. This also included cleaning the kitchen and putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.
(It's a sin in my house to go to bed with a dirty kitchen. #CoachRules)
I put all 10 bags in the fridge to get ready for the party the next night.
It was party day! I was really too excited.
At the party you are in a kitchen with a bunch of friends. All of your directions are there for you. You are told what spices/ seasons/ sauces to put in what bag and how much.
Then you label your bag with cooking instructions. You laugh, chat, have fun, and leave with 10 meals.
The part you really wanna know:
Wild Tree's products are all organic and not filled with preservatives or any other nasty things lots of packaged seasonings. In fact, last night I did some more research because #ReadAllTheThings and bought myself three new spices to replace some things in my pantry.
I have already made TWO meals from my stack. Y'all. Game changer. The first meal was pork enchiladas. Delicious.
All I did was dump the bag in the crockpot that morning and then come home to dinner. I already had salad in the fridge.
Calla was even enjoying it. Coach put his on a taco and I just made mine a salad. It was very good. There was even plenty for lunches for both of us the next day.
I was so pumped that I even cooked on Friday night. I may clean the kitchen each night.... but I do NOT cook on Fridays. Ever. But I was seriously so excited to try another meal.
It was amazing. I am kinda glad we didn't need leftovers. We ate it all.
The $78 for the party pack actually gave me enough spices for 20 meals. So I'm going to do it again over the break. I just wanted to try them to see which ones we loved.
We are 2 for 2 so far.
I'm pretty much hooked. I'll be inviting friends over for sure to do another prep party soon. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome it was to come home and know dinner was done and it was going to taste amazing. Is meal prep something you want to get better at? Is NOT worrying over what's for dinner each night something you want to work towards?
Love love,
C2
