Let’s be honest: I’m one person with my own approach, and it won’t suit everyone. To share more perspectives and help us all learn new ideas, I reached out to experienced food bloggers who have planned and prepped successfully for years. This series—Meal Prep Convo: Food Blogger Interview—features short interviews with cooks who share practical, tested advice. The first interview is with Kristen of Bourbon and Honey.
A Meal Prep Convo with Food Blogger
Kristen from Bourbon and Honey
Bourbon and Honey is a food blog focused on approachable recipes, creative cocktails, and practical inspiration for cooks who want real-world solutions for busy lives. Kristen has been developing recipes on Bourbon and Honey for several years, emphasizing creative everyday dishes, party-friendly cocktails, and simple strategies for low-stress entertaining.
What are your favorite personal recipes, and what do you make most often?
Kristen’s go-to solution is the sheet pan dinner. A protein, a mix of vegetables, and a few seasonings on a single pan make weeknight cooking easy and dependable. She recommends recipes like Sheet Pan Moroccan Spiced Chicken and Roasted Harissa Chicken with Broccolini and Couscous as reliable favorites that are simple to scale and customize.
Describe your meal planning philosophy in four or five words:
Cook Once, Eat All Week.
What’s your usual prep routine? Has it changed over time?
Kristen typically spends a couple of hours on one day—usually Sunday—prepping components for the week. Instead of making five servings of a single recipe and eating the same dish every day, she preps a variety of components so meals can be mixed and matched. This keeps weeknight dinners interesting and reduces the boredom that comes from repeating the exact same meal for several days.
She also highlights breakfast as an easy win for prep. Making a large batch, like Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oatmeal, simplifies the morning routine during a busy workweek and delivers a nutritious, ready-to-eat start to the day.
What foods or ingredients do you usually prep ahead?
Rather than assembling full meals in advance, Kristen preps ingredients separately: roasted or raw vegetables, cooked proteins, grains, and chopped fruit. Storing components individually makes it straightforward to combine them into salads, pasta bowls, tacos, soups, or simple reheated plates. The flexibility of separate components maximizes variety and minimizes wasted food.
Why do you plan and prep? What’s your main goal?
The primary goal is practical: weeknights are busy, and cooking complete meals from scratch every evening is often unrealistic. Thoughtful meal prep provides a balance—maintaining time for work and life while ensuring healthy, homemade meals are available without stress. Meal prep helps Kristen stay organized, eat well, and avoid impulse takeout when time is tight.
What are your favorite containers to use when preparing food ahead of time?
Clear containers are Kristen’s preference because they make it easy to see what’s inside at a glance. Transparent storage simplifies grabbing ingredients during a busy morning or evening and helps keep the fridge tidy—both important when a lot of components are prepped and stored for the week.
Do you have any meal prepping or planning tips for beginners?
Yes. Kristen recommends starting small and focusing on components that make weeknights easier: a cooked grain, a roasted vegetable, and a versatile protein are enough to assemble several different meals. Make a short plan before you shop, choose recipes with overlapping ingredients to reduce waste, and invest in a few clear, stackable containers. Over time, you can expand your repertoire and routine to fit your tastes and schedule.
If you’d like to explore Kristen’s full tips and detailed steps, check out her Sunday Meal Prep post on Bourbon and Honey for a practical, beginner-friendly guide and recipe ideas that are easy to adapt to your household’s needs.