If you are like me, your schedule is packed and meal prep is a royal pain. Between work, household chores, and trying to keep the dog moving… it’s all I can do to get to the store and put a meal on the table. Planning requires time and energy that are on short supply.

Yet, when I take time to plan, I KNOW that I am actually making life easier. (Though it really doesn’t feel that way when I try to engage my family in meal planning…. Grrrrr!)

This week, I did a half hearted attempt. I put a family pack of chicken breasts into a crockpot with some fat free chicken breast on Sunday, and cooked and jarred Spaghizza sauce.

Sunday we had spaghizza with zoodles and mushrooms. Monday I cut up that chicken and did a flash sautéed with green beans. Tuesday I cut up chicken and added some diced tomatoes, seasoning and fresh mushrooms and spinach, Wednesday I took the chicken and made chicken fried rice (cauliflower rice, broccoli, angel hair pasta). Thursday night I took the left over hamburger and I made Spanish omelettes (my hubby’s favorite!) (hamburger, taco seasoning, tomato sauce, eggs, egg whites, green chili sauce)

No meal took more than 15 minutes from start to table.

I hate to say it, but that hour I took to prep on Sunday may have saved me about 4 hours….