Meal-prepping is a good way to keep track of what you eat and control the quality and quantity of the food by preparing it in advance. It’s also a time management tool 🙂
I learned this the hard way, while trying to keep up to the nutritional plan I was advised to follow in 2018. It was very hard for me to prepare diverse meals every day as my schedule involves a daily 9-17 job, 3 workouts per week and other activities; so you can imagine that after a hard day at work it was difficult to get inspired and energized enough to prepare the food.
I decided to prepare as much food as possible in the weekend, while still having fun and do other activities. It was quite hard at the beginning because I cooked all the food on Sunday in order to keep it fresh for longer. Even if I cooked on Sunday morning (with the idea in mind that the rest of the day I will have the time off), I got so tired after 3-4 hrs of cooking that I wasn’t able to enjoy the rest of the day. Not to mention that the next day was Monday.. and I was already tired.
As the time passed, I tried different things. Sometimes I failed, sometimes I got good results. Today I got to a step-by-step plan that improved my experience with meal-prepping, made it more available in the limited time and more fun as well.
So here is what works for me and recommend others to try:
- Check what you have stored in the pantry/ fridge/ freezer and see what you can use/ re-use so you avoid food waste as much as possible.
- Take a look around and see which are the devices and appliances you have and can be useful in speeding-up the preparation and cooking time: multicooker, crock-pot, rice-cooker, oven, blenders, grinding machines, etc. Use them when preparing the food!
- Do a brainstorming with what you would like to eat the next week. The idea here is that the meals will be more appealing to you if it’s something you actually like, while being considerate and choosing healthy options.
- If you live with someone, ask them what they would like to eat the next week. This way, there are more chances to engage everyone into a healthier way of eating if items in the menu were suggested by them.
- Create a shopping list with the ingredients you need to buy. Make sure you take into consideration high quality ingredients (e.g: whole-wheat pasta, whole-wheat bread, lean meat cuts, fish, vegetables, fresh fruits, low fat dairy choices, etc). Disclaimer: the examples are based on my diet, you can adapt it to yours and your life-style entirely.
- Go shopping 🙂 I suggest you go to the local butcher shops, local markets and places you know the ingredients are high quality and fresh. I try as much as possible to avoid “one hypermarket trips”.
- Get back home and get ready to rock! Turn on the radio/ favorite playlist/ audiobook, pour/ or not a glass of wine, etc. The idea is to create the atmosphere that will make the process more enjoyable.
- Plan which meals can be prepared in parallel (say 1-2 on the stove, while one in the oven) and split the load between Saturday and Sunday.
- Prepare all ingredients at reach and in order, then cook food that is not so perishable on Saturday (e.g: hummus, spreads, veggie soups, spinach, stews).
- Cook the most perishable meals on Sunday. The process is the same: atmosphere, items at reach and in order, cook 🙂
- If you live with someone, involve them in the process 🙂 This will make the activity more fun and you will finish up sooner. It’s helpful even if they just peel the vegetables or do the dishes, it’s even greater if they cook whole meals in parallel with you (I do this with my husband and it’s great!).
- Divide the food into food containers as ready to eat portions if possible (if not, divide those which are most perishable, then repeat the process when the containers are freed up). For main dishes, I put the sides with the meat in the same container. Store them in the fridge.
- Create a list with the available meals and stick it to the fridge door. Everytime you take one out, cross it down from the list. This way you will always know what’s ready to be consumed and it will contribute to avoiding the food waste as well (I have a cool magnetic notes book, that’s really cool for this purpose).
- Enjoy the meals each day.
- When the food is done, but working days are not, focus on quick healthy meals and prepare them in the evening. Some examples: creme soups, oven baked potatoes with chicken thighs, quick pasta recipes, etc.
Do you meal-prep? Which are your tips & tricks?
