My Journey with Meal Preppers

Guest post, Tammy Barnes

Guys, after years of working hard to further my career and having two children, a house to maintain, and a partner to support, I was utterly exhausted.  More and more, I was watching my windows of time diminish, and taking care of myself became a thing of the past. Trapped between this sense of guilt for not doing more at work and a sense of not doing enough at home to make life a little less crazy for all of us, I felt stuck, helpless, and, frankly, sad.  On top of all of that, I had recently been diagnosed with ADHD. I have a husband with ADHD, and thus, statistically one of our girls will likely have it. I needed to provide a foundation to give the additional support and attention for our kids to thrive. In essence, I needed time. I needed a way to save my time without spending a prohibitive amount of money to make that happen.  Enter Meal Preppers.

After hours of searching for meal planning/grocery shopping/cooking healthfully when overwhelmed with life, I became… well, overwhelmed.  I decided to do what so many of us finally do: ask Facebook! Fortuitously through that search, I met Courtney Stinson and Rachel Dreher, two hard-working women who really figured out a life hack in a major way.  

Courtney had started this business called Savor Life Nutrition, which combined her skills as a registered dietitian with her vast experience in providing gastric tube feeding support to her daughter.  One of her projects in development was a service called Meal Preppers. So because so much of our life is about lists now, I am going to give y’all (I am originally from Kentucky) a list of why I was excited about this service:

1. I didn’t have to plan.  My life is literally planning and optimizing all day, every day.  The idea of not having to spend a considerable amount of time figuring out one extra thing makes my heart flutter!  Planning meals—not just any meals but rather meals planned around a balanced, healthful diet—takes So. Much. Time. Not to mention that excessive pressure that we, as parents, like to put on ourselves to not contaminate our kids with the wrong kinds of foods—don’t even get me started.  Basically, all I had to do was show up and bring some containers to store the food.
    
   
2. I didn’t have to shop. Sorry, that should be, “I didn’t have to shop!!!” with maybe 100 more exclamation marks.  I hate shopping so much. I find it overstimulating, especially with one to two little love nuggets (yes, that is what I call my girls) in tow.  On top of that, I often end up buying more than I need to or forget to buy something and have to go back to the store and repeat the overstimulating, overpurchasing process.  Ugh. Did I mention I hate to shop?
   
   
3. I didn’t have to cook everything myself.  I had heard that they would make nine meals for families of four at each Meal Preppers event—three breakfasts, three lunches, and three dinners.  Cooking all of that at once sounded bonkers to me and overwhelming. However, when I arrived at Courtney’s kitchen, the other women I cooked with split responsibilities.  The shared effort really streamlined the process and made me feel like cooking this much really wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.
    
   
4. I like wine.  I like wine, and there was wine to sip on during the event.  That is a positive that I cannot fail to mention!
   
   
5. I like building my support network.  I went to this event feeling a little bit intimidated because I knew no one who was attending the event.  I left the event having met and enjoyed conversations with women I may have never run into (does anyone else think that parenthood sometimes equals being a hermit?).  Meeting people who were going through similar struggles in life and who could empathize and laugh about our shared experiences really made me feel great, connected, and supported.  I love when food brings people together, and it seems like that happens less and less these days.
    
   
6. Meal preparation could be this easy all the time.  When I brought my meals home, I put some of it in the freezer and some in the refrigerator.  All I had to do was warm up meals when I arrived home from work. So literally, I didn’t have to plan, shop, or cook at home by using the Meal Preppers service.  Game. Changer. Meal Preppers events will be held at minimum on a biweekly basis, and Courtney said that people can even hold the events in their own kitchen with friends.  Obviously I plan to do this with my friends in pajamas in the future. Also with wine and maybe bourbon because, as I mentioned, I’m from Kentucky.
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7. Meal Preppers is affordable.  The amount of food that I took home from the event was larger than I expected.  It turns out that Courtney and Rachel source high quality, affordable food, so that they only charge $140 for what ended up being two weeks of meals for my family.  We actually ended up eating some of the breakfast foods for dinner because yum. Also, I remember when my husband and I used services like HelloFresh or Plated, we paid $70 each week for only three meals for two people, so I am not sure what magic Courtney does to make this work, but I’m glad she does it.  

In sum, my experience with Meal Preppers was not only a great one, but one that I found personally inspiring.  I am extremely excited to join the movement to build a sense of community through food. I plan to use the service again (and again and again…), and I definitely will plan to host one at my home.  In pajamas. Please, Courtney? Inaugural home Meal Preppers Party??? ​

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A picture of my amazing family at Chelsea Treehouse. Because you know, more time to hang with family. Thanks, Meal Preppers!