Weekend meals that will make your week days easier

One of the key tips I suggest to people who are wanting to get started with meal prep, is to get smart about the meals you cook on the weekend. I do like cooking and am happy to spend time in the kitchen, but I take the approach that when I am in the kitchen I want to get maximum results for minimum time.

This doesn’t mean multitasking and rushing what I do – that never works! It is more likely to end up with burnt items and a stressed cook. But on the weekend it means that I cook food in larger batches with the intention of using part of the cook up for lunches for me during the week and the kids. Below I have listed some examples of meals that work well on weekends and will help make your week day easier my having some food prepped for the week!

If you are after more tips on meal prep, you can check out my short e-course here.

Pulled pork for dinner – pork sliders for lunch


When cooking pulled pork or any meat for that matter, most of the time I will cook significantly more meat than I know we will eat in one meal, so we have a lot of left overs. Leftovers can be turned into pork sliders in buns or for those who need a gluten free option, you can use lettuce cups. For adults who take their lunches to work or eat lunch at home, you can make it even more of a meal by adding a great big salad and tossing the meat through it. Check out these pulled meat recipes of mine for inspiration:

Sweet chilli chicken for dinner – sweet chilli chicken wraps for lunch


The sweet chilli chicken wraps are a huge hit in our house and I find I have to cook a significant amount of chicken to ensure there will be some left over! When I make this meal, I make larger quantities of the fresh veg too, so each child can choose what they would like to have in their wraps. Try these recipes for dinner in bulk so the kids and /or you can have homemade fresh wraps for lunch:

Tacos for dinner – taco parcels for lunch


My kids still love tacos and to be honest I really like the taco minced meat too! For many years now we have made Taco parcels with the additional meat, as the main item for the kids’ lunch boxes the following week. While they definitely taste better warm, the kids still love them cold too.

You can make these parcels with a range of left overs from dinner. Check out these recipes for filling ideas:

Schnitzel and veg for dinner – schnitzel strips and veggie sticks for lunch


Chicken schnitzel is another perennial favourite with the kids and my husband also likes to take it for his lunch too. Not only will the kids take this for dinner but the older boys will also eat it for breakfast and an after school snack as well. Hence I make this in super large batches so everyone has the chance to have some! For the kids to take them in their lunch box, they either have them as chicken strips with veggie sticks or sometimes they will have chicken schnitzel sandwiches or wraps.

Sang choy bow for dinner – spring rolls for lunch


Super tasty and super easy to cook in bulk, sang choy bow can be used in many ways for lunches like:

  • Spring rolls – while they taste best hot, the kids are happy to take them cold in their lunch boxes.
  • Mixed with Asian greens for a protein packed salad.

Want to make the lunch box process easier?

In my online course called Meal Prep Primer I show how you can easily make some easy item for the kids’ lunch boxes that will help make the lunch box process so much easier! Meal Prep Primer shows you how to effectively plan your time in the kitchen over the weekend, and prep food that will make your week days easier.

To keep on top of feeding the family, many years ago I started spending some time on the weekend, prepping food for the week ahead. Even if it is was just one or two things for the kids’ lunch boxes, the difference this made during the week was huge.

As I was rewarded each week for my efforts in the kitchen on the weekend, I began increasing the food I prepped. And the more weekly meal prep sessions I did, the better I became at it. The better I became at it, the less time it took me to do the sessions and the better we ate – win-win all around!

In my Meal Prep Primer course I will teach you the process I have developed over these years. The course will:

  • save you time
  • save you money
  • save you stress through the week days
  • ensure your family eats well
  • allow you to enjoy meal time more with the family

For three weeks you will receive:

  • A plan –  the plan outlines what you will be cooking and when. You can tailor this plan to suit your family’s needs and the time you have available. The plan also has clickable links to all the recipes you need to cook for the weekend.
  • A shopping list –  as you may tailor the plan to suit your family’s needs, the shopping list is broken down into items per recipe. That way you can easily cross off items you don’t need to buy, but make sure you have all the ingredients for the recipes you do intend to cook.
  • The recipes – a PDF of all the recipes you will need to cook for the week.
  • Plus there is a detailed video and other resources on the course website and further support emails to keep the habit going after three weeks.

You can read more and sign up for the short course here.

Main photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash