Food Archives - Making Sense Of Cents

17 Summer Dinner Ideas That Are Quick, Light, & Delicious

Last Updated: June 16, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 4 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are you looking for new and delicious summer dinner ideas?

I love cooking in the summer because there are so many fresh fruits and vegetables to add to your meals. The summer is also a great time to get together with friends and have dinner on the patio or at a park.

The summer is the perfect opportunity to try different recipes because of all of the in-season produce.

But, it’s also so hot outside that you may want to find lighter recipes to help you beat the heat while also eating a satisfying meal.

In this post, the recipes you’re going to learn about take advantage of fresh ingredients and are perfect easy dinners for the summer months.

Any of these recipes would make great meals to serve at a summer dinner party with friends or family.

I’ve already tried a few of these recipes, and one of my favorites is the Baja fish tacos because I needed to find new ways to use up all of the fish Wes was catching on the boat. I can’t even count the number of times we made these. [Read more…]

How To Meal Prep On A Budget: 10 Great Recipes To Try

Last Updated: March 3, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 2 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Would you like to learn how to meal prep on a budget?

Planning healthy and satisfying meals week after week can get exhausting.

Having a family, a full-time job, a side hustle, etc. makes it even more challenging to cook during the week.

I know I have fallen into that rut before, and many times I would end up eating something unhealthy or spending more money on takeout or restaurant food.

If you do that too many times a week, you can end up easily spending an extra hundred dollars or more on food each week. And, even though we all know it’s more expensive to go out to eat, making dinner at home can feel like a lot of extra work.

That is what I love about meal prepping – you do all of the work in advance. You can spend one afternoon or evening cooking your meals, then you divide them into containers, and they are ready to go for the week. [Read more…]

13 Salad Meal Prep Ideas | A Healthy Way To Save Time & Money

Last Updated: October 14, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 2 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are you looking for some healthy, easy, and delicious salad meal prep ideas?

Salads are a great way to eat healthy as they are packed with vegetables. But, many people overlook salads as meals because they think salads are too boring or won’t be filling enough.

I know I’ve thought that way about salads before, haha!

But, I’ve been eating more salads these days after finding many of the salad meal prep ideas I’ve listed in this article.

Despite what you might think, salads aren’t boring and they can be very filling.

One of the things I love most about salads is that they take so much less time than traditional meals.

What takes the most time is cutting up your ingredients, but these salad meal prep ideas help you make the most of your time so you can eat healthier with a delicious salad. [Read more…]

10 Breakfast Meal Prep Recipes That Will Make Your Mornings Brighter

Last Updated: July 28, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 3 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are you looking for some quick, breakfast meal prep ideas?

Prepping your breakfast in advance is the perfect way to make your mornings easier and stress free. No more skipping breakfast and relying on coffee to get you through to lunch.

I remember back when I was working my full-time job as a financial analyst – I would either wake up right before I had to leave, or get up early and work on my side hustle.

Either way, I always overlooked breakfast to save time.

This made it so hard to get through the mornings, and all I could think about was lunch. I would spend my mornings so unfocused and groggy, and I am positive it had to do with the fact that I wasn’t eating a good breakfast in the morning.

This is not a good way to be productive at work! [Read more…]

10 Easy Camping Meals For You To Try

Last Updated: August 15, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 5 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Camping is super popular, and I completely understand why.

Being able to camp is amazing. You can breathe in the fresh air, embrace the outdoors, try something new, connect with nature, and more.

Whether you are camping with a tent, RVing, trying out van life, or something else, easy camping meals are always great to have.

With these 10 easy camping meals, you’ll have a bunch of delicious and budget-friendly meal options.

These easy camping recipes are simple and have quick clean up and prep.

What I love the most about these easy camping recipes is that you will end up with meals that are more interesting than what you may normally have. And, because you can prep some of these meals in advance, you can spend more time having fun while you’re camping. [Read more…]

13 Vegan Meal Prep Recipes You Will Love

Last Updated: December 26, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 3 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

If you are looking for veggie packed, delicious vegan meal prep recipes, I have 13 great ideas to share with you today.

Now, I’m not vegan, but I have been trying more and more vegan meals these days, and I have been amazed by how delicious and filling they are. It has been a great way to get out of my food comfort zone.

My sister is the one who convinced me to try some vegan meal prep recipes. She’s been vegan for a while, and she’s always telling me about the new meals she’s making. They always sound really good, so I finally decided to try making some vegan food on my own.

Now that I know how good vegan food can be, I’ve been searching for more vegan meal prep recipes. Today, I’m going to share some of my favorite new cheap vegan meal prep ideas and recipes.

I am loving the recipe for Cowboy Quinoa Caviar. It has quinoa, black beans, and corn, and you can add extras like tomatoes, bell peppers, and avocados. This would be a great meal to bring to a potluck, but you will want to keep it all for yourself. [Read more…]

11 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes You Have To Try

Last Updated: November 23, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 4 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Today, I have 11 great vegetarian meal prep recipes for you to try, and trust me, you don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy these delicious meal ideas.

Eating well doesn’t have to be expensive or hard. There are tons of tasty recipes that are easy to cook and can be done on a budget. One way that many people are eating healthy, inexpensive meals is by eating less meat.

Even if you eat just one less meat meal a week, like trying a meatless Monday, you can reduce the amount of money you spend on your monthly food budget. It’s a great way to cut some of your monthly expenses, while eating nutritious and tasty meals.

I’m not vegetarian, but we are eating less meat than we used to. When we do, it’s often fish we catch while sailing.

I have tried several of the vegetarian meal prep recipes I’m going to share with you, and I can’t wait to try the rest. [Read more…]