Meal prep works wonders to prepare for a busy workweek, but the same concept can minimize your time in the kitchen and stress when preparing your Thanksgiving feast. By planning more than a week ahead, you can have some dishes already prepared when your family finally arrives. That way, you can spend quality time with them instead of staying up all night cooking. Here is what you can be doing between now and turkey day:

[custom_gallery]

Now that you’ve prepared many of your dishes in advance, you’ll only have a handful left for Thanksgiving morning. With a little help in the kitchen, you can get those done rather quickly.

Wishing you and your family a very happy and stress-free Thanksgiving. Happy, healthy meal prepping!

More from U.S. News

9 Cooking Tricks That Will Make Everyone Think You’re a Great Chef

What 10 Nutritionists Learned About Cooking From Their Moms

Thanksgiving on a Gluten-Free, Vegetarian or Vegan Diet

The Meal Prepper’s Countdown to Thanksgiving originally appeared on usnews.com