Beginners Meal Prep Guide
As a society we're getting busier and busier, rushing between work, family and relationship commitments, a social life, and everything else we try to squeeze in-between. These are some suggestions to start planning a healthy breakfast. Store for up to four days in the fridge. You want cooling to happen quickly, so divide the food into smaller containers and put it right into the fridge or freezer. Likewise, if you cook in bulk and freeze some meals ahead of time, you can purchase more discounted bulk ingredients, saving even more on your food bill.
You can make 18 meals worth of food, in less than 2.5 hours. You may want to do this later, as you get more comfortable, but for now, just try to find your meal-prepping-groove. This make 40 laboral days in a row, two months of healthy and diverse meals. I prefer to cook a new batch but there's no harm in cooking a larger batch on Sunday.
Meal prepping is one of those things you know would make your life ten times easier—like keeping three rolls of toilet paper by the toilet even though you only need one—yet for some reason, there's always something that stops you from doing it. Compartmentalized containers work well for meals which have side dishes (like chicken with rice and veggies), and containers without dividers are perfect for salads or one-pot meals.
Write down each meal that you plan to be eating, then break that down into a list of ingredients, and how much of each you need over that 3-4 day period that you are cooking for. Weekly food prep is no different. Because, at the best of times, they'd be eating nasty food towards the end of the week.
It helps to pick a specific cuisine for the week so you have a general idea of the type of produce to buy and meals you can make. Decide if you want to prepare complete meals that are ready to heat up when you come home or just prep ingredients for later use. If prepping twice a week doesn't work for you like it doesn't work for me, I just prep on Sunday for Monday - Thursday and then either go out for lunch on Friday or make something in the morning.
There are a few different degrees to which you can prep your meat at the beginning of the week. Hi Ariel - When I meal prep, I make 10 meals on Sun night, that will be eaten Mon-Fri. Sure it takes a little effort and time upfront but it is worth it. It is so rewarding to open up the refrigerator door and see healthy delicious meals and snacks ready to eat.
Sign up and get my FREE Meal Prep Essentials For Busy People Guide to save time and eat effortlessly healthy during the workweek. Or maybe you planned your meals based on what's easy to prep. Like most anything in life, the key to successful meal prepping is planning.
With your meals lined up, it's time to make a grocery list and head to the store. Once you get this down, we can start adding more meals and variety to it. If you keep healthy meals in your fridge, you will eat them. For days 5, 6, 7 you can always enjoy your leftovers (my favourite option), prep some more food if you have the time or take something out of the freezer.
You will save time in the long run by making a bunch of meals in advance. Remember that it is not always possible to prepare all of your meals, so it is important to adapt them to your needs and to suit how busy you are. Now, instead of picking up take-out or grabbing a fast food lunch, you've got a pre-portioned meal ready to go. Packing your meals in containers prevents you from being able to reach for more.
OK, so it's not particularly exciting, but it's a start, and if you wanted to branch out a bit you can Healthy Recipes add in new recipes when you've got the time. I have been enjoying the economy, freshness and ease of freezer cooking for a little over a year now. And then add the vegetables into the containers.