Meal Prep Ideas For The Week

Last updated on October 24th, 2023

Inside: Come take a look at what meal prep looks like in our house each week as I share easy meal prep ideas for you every Monday. Each post includes recipes used and plated examples. This week: Peanut Butter Banana Muffins, Baked Egg Casserole, and Bacon Mostaccoili

Meal Prep Monday

Hey mamas! I’ve got another awesome lineup of easy meals for you today!

If you’ve never been here before, each Monday I post all the details about my weekly meal prep day. You’ll find links to all the recipes used and photos of real life put together plates using the meals. This way you’ll have plenty of inspiration when it comes to planning your weekly menu.

For This Week’s Meals We Have:

• Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
• Baked Egg Casserole
• Bacon Mostaccoli (see recipe below)

Breakfast:

Ya’ll, I went big with this breakfast! I love serving eggs for breakfast. They are such a good source of fat and protein and are super versatile. You could make them so many different ways, such as hard boiled, scrambled, in an omelet, etc. And you can also add in tons of different mix-ins to change the flavor.

This Baked Egg Casserole recipe from JoyFoodSunshine.com is filled with mix-ins that add even more flavor and protein to your breakfast. My favorite part is that it’s super easy to put together and lasts most of the week. There is nothing better than being able to sit right down to a hot breakfast without lifting a finger.

I also decided to try this new Peanut Butter Banana Muffin recipe from KristinesKitchenBlog.com and they are everything I love in a breakfast muffin. They’ve got chocolate chips in them for a little added sweetness but are otherwise made without added sugar. I like to serve naturally sweet muffins at breakfast just to keep the meal on the healthier side.

This is how our breakfast turned out:

This breakfast turned out so delicious. To serve it, I just microwaved our servings of egg casserole for 30-60 seconds and scooped out the fruit. On grocery shop day, it’s so helpful to immediately wash and cut fruits and vegetables so that you can just grab and serve them when it’s meal time.

Dinner:

For our dinner, I made Bacon Mostaccoili. It’s a recipe that my mom has been cooking for years, and I’m honestly not entirely sure where she got it from. But it has been a family favorite since I was little.

Bacon Mostaccioli

Ingredients:

• 6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 box (1lb) Mostacciolli (you can use Penne instead!)
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 stick butter
• 1 t parsley flakes
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 T Frank’s Red Hot
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions:

1. Cook Mostaccioli noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside.
2. Combine half and half, butter, parsley, salt, garlic cloves, and Frank’s Red Hot in a medium sauce pan.
3. Heat over medium heat until the butter melts, stirring frequently.
4. Add parmesan and cooked, crumbled bacon to the mixture until combined and warm.
5. Pour saucepan mixture over noodles and mix to evenly coat.
6. Serve immediately.

When menu planning, I try to use ingredients that can be used in a few meals, when possible. In this instance, it was bacon. I had to cook some bacon for the Baked Egg Casserole, so I decided to make this Bacon Mostaccioli and use the leftover bacon for it.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge fan of cooking bacon in bulk and in the oven. You can always freeze the cooked bacon you don’t use and cook with it or refrigerate a few pieces to microwave with breakfast throughout the week. Cooking bacon in the oven reduces the grease splatter mess and also eliminates you standing in front of a hot stove.

This is how our dinner turned out:

Toddlers can sometimes be a little weird about casserole style dinners where the different foods are touching. I put a few pieces of the mixed in bacon alongside the pasta so that he could try it if he wanted, but also served bacon on the side to ensure he ate up the protein.

This recipe, of course, isn’t a super healthy option when served alone, but I’m a firm believer in ‘all things in moderation’. So serving some pasta alongside a good protein source as well as vegetables helps to balance out the pasta meal.

Wrap It Up

As you can see, I don’t have a featured lunch in our meal prep line up this week. It’s totally okay to focus on meal prepping just 1 or 2 of the meals for your week. Meal prep in your household can look however you want. Maybe in your house, you just meal prep breakfasts, for example. This alone will make your week easier!

I focused on a nice well-rounded breakfast and a 3-day dinner meal this week. For lunches, we just had things such as deli sandwiches, salads, or quesadillas. Things that are easy and don’t require advance prep or many minutes spent in the kitchen. Again, tailor your meal prep plan to the way your family wants to eat that week.

If you missed the previous meal prep posts and recipe ideas, be sure to check them out by clicking here.