I’m busy.  I feel like I’m busy all the time.

You guys are probably way busier than I am, juggling kids and work and school and exercise and friends and family and eating and basic hygiene and… You get the picture.

I’m busy, you’re busy, we’re all varying degrees of busy.  And, as much as I love cooking, I’d much rather spend my free time watching How I Met Your Mother.  You get it.

This is precisely why I like to prep food on Sundays.  Sometimes I make elaborate meals (like chicken salad- reeallll elaborate) and sometimes I just whip up some easy-to-throw-together components.  Either way, it makes my life about 10,000x less stressful.  Which is pretty spectacular since I’m convinced that I’m going to die of over-stress because I overreact to everything and blow everything out of proportion.  So anything that lessens my stress levels?  Sign me up.

This week, I prepped…

1. Quinoa

I just threw 1 cup of quinoa into a pot with 2 cups of water.  Bring it to a boil, cover and simmer. Done.

2. Black beans (from scratch)

I bought a bag of black beans for $0.36 at Target months ago!  So cheap!  I soaked ‘em for a few hours and then threw them into the Crockpot with enough water to cover them, half a diced onion, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Cooked them for about 4 hours, and they were perfect.  Way better than canned beans.  I put some in the fridge and froze the rest.  It made a ton!

3. Ground Taco Turkey

1.4 lbs turkey. Half a jar of salsa.  Some cayenne, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, s&p.  Half a diced onion sautéed in 1/2 tablespoon EVOO.  Easy Peasy.  Plus, I proportioned it out into 5 little baggies so I don’t have to measure it every time I want some.

Just three things.  Easy.  So freaking easy.

With those ingredients, I’ve been making (or plan to make)…

1. Quinoa, black bean, avocado, and spinach wraps!

2. Burritos with taco turkey meat, mexican blend cheese, Chobani (as sour cream), beans, and avocado

3. Spinach salads with veggies, beans, and quinoa

4. Quesadillas with cheese and taco turkey

5. Beans and quinoa

It’s easy to make the meals seem diverse and different so I don’t get bored.  Plus, everything is totally delish.   Especially the quinoa, bean, avocado wraps.  Mmmmm.

Ugh, sorry for the totally janky pics.  I took them at night so the lighting was horrible.  Yuck!

I’d love to hear all of your food prep tips!  I’m a total food prep rookie, so teach me your ways!