Have you ever been so busy that you grabbed take-out for dinner because it was more convenient, or had so many things come up during the day that you forgot to eat lunch altogether?
Meal prepping is one step you can take to ensure that you are properly nourished throughout the week. It consists of pre-preparing your meals for the week, which gives you healthy options even on your busiest days -- not to mention it saves you time and money. You can compare it to having a frozen meal in the freezer, but instead it’s made from fresh ingredients and more nutritious than highly processed options.
How to Get Started:
First, avoid feeling overwhelmed by sticking to recipes you already know and love. Make a quick list of some of your favorites types of vegetables, proteins, or full dishes. Then, follow these next few steps to get started with meal prep.
Pick A Day
When meal prepping, it’s best to pick a day when you can cook all of your food for the week ahead. Our favorite day is Sunday because we typically have the most free time, along with it being the beginning of a new week. Other people also use Wednesdays as a second meal prep day, as it’s in the middle of the week and allows you to add more variety into your meal plan. But this is totally up to you -- your prep day may be Saturday or even Monday. Aim to pick a day that is the most stress-free for you.
Pick The Meals
We recommend prepping the meals that you struggle with the most. For example, if you find yourself skipping breakfast or buying a donut or pastry while rushing to work, perhaps breakfast would be a good meal to start prepping! If you’re someone stuck with expensive and unhealthy lunch options near your workplace, packing your own lunch would benefit you. If you have a lot of post-work activities that prevent you from having time to make a fresh meal every night, then prepping dinner is worth exploring. Of course, once you get the hang of it, you could even prep all 3 meals!
Pick Your Ingredients
Foods that work well for meal prepping:
cooked grains & pasta
oatmeal
cooked or canned beans
cooked meat, such as ground or sliced poultry or lean beef
canned fish, like tuna or salmon
roasted vegetables
hearty fresh vegetables (think celery, carrots, peas, bell peppers, kale, cabbage, radishes, etc.)
whole fruit (apples, oranges, stone fruit)
nuts & seeds
cheese
sauces and dips (like salad dressings, hummus, salsa, sour cream, etc.)
Here are a couple of ideas for simple breakfast, lunch and dinner meal prep. Click the link for the recipe!
Breakfast: Overnight Oats
Lunch: Ground Turkey Taco Bowl
Materials Needed
Containers! One of our favorite food prep containers is Pyrex. You can buy them at most grocery stores or in bulk online. They are great especially if you are microwaving your food.
Ziploc bags are also great for packing snacks or keeping ingredients separate before assembling.
Other Tips:
Try using recipes throughout the week that have overlapping ingredients
Stock your fridge, freezer and pantry with healthy basics
Plan to use leftover dinners as lunch for the next day
