Time, money, and food waste - three things that can get you into trouble when at the grocery store or in the kitchen. Save your credit card balance, travel time, and grocery list by meal prepping.
First, let’s start out with what meal prepping is
Meal prepping is the process of preparing meals or dishes ahead of time. This method can help people who are always on the go or those seeking portion control for a more balanced diet.
Now, let’s look at the different types of meal prepping options
- Prep & Freeze: Prep and assemble ingredients for a meal that can easily be put on the stove or in the oven. You can use these meal assemblies throughout the week or the month.
- No Time to Cook: Batch cook entire meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and refrigerate or freeze them to eat throughout the week. This method works for those who are always on the go and need a quick cold or reheated meal. Typically, you will eat the same meals the entire week, so, if you don’t like eating the same thing, I would stay away from this method.
- Meal Planning: Plan the meals you will make throughout the week (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and prepare the ingredients to throw together for the different dishes. Freeze or refrigerate those ingredients. Try to stick to meals where you can reuse the same ingredients.
All meal prepping options produce the same result: less time, less money, and less food waste. Additionally, it can force you to prepare those intricate meals you have always wanted to make but opted for boxed pasta instead due to a long day of work.
Here are a few key tips for meal prep to remember throughout the process
- Storage: You will need some storage containers such as glass pyrex containers for storing your meals. Glassware is the safest option, because it reheats and stays cold well.
- Recipes: This goes along with meal planning. Get out that recipe book and start making some notes. This will also help with the grocery store list and will make the visit go faster.
- Schedule: You are going to need to dedicate one to two days in the week for meal prepping. Most meal prep meals last between three to five days. So, you can either choose Sunday and Wednesday for short shelf-life recipes, or just Sunday for long shelf-life recipes.
- Supplies: When cooking large batches of food, you are going to want a lot of space so everything gets cooked evenly. Invest in some large sheet pans.
- Base Foods: cooked meats, roasted veggies, soups, sauces, nuts, raw vegetables, rice, quinoa and pasta are good base foods for meal prepping. You can combine and prepare those ingredients in which ever way you choose.
The process might seem daunting at first, but by keeping the different meal prepping options and tips in mind, the journey will be simple. Now, get cooking and prepping! But more importantly, get to that Netflix series you now have time to watch!
