Are you someone who wants to save time, money or just wants to eat a healthier diet? Meal prepping can help you reach those goals. Meal planning is allotting a block of time once a week to prepare for all your upcoming meals. Unlike meal planning, which entails finding recipes to fit your schedule best, meal prepping is the actual preparation of meals or ingredients ahead of time and then storing them until they will be used. Whether you prefer making and freezing entire meals ahead of time, preparing meals in individual containers for quick on-the-go lunches, or chopping and storing ingredients ahead of time, meal prepping allows you to reduce food, save money, and eat a healthier diet, too. Ready to get started? Here are some tips for success on your first meal prep.
Start small It can seem overwhelming to plan out an entire week’s worth of meals all at once, especially if you are just starting with meal prep. You might want to start with just a few meals a week or maybe just dinners, lunches, or snacks. You can begin to make positive changes to your meal planning habits immediately!
Make a checklist Writing down everything you need to do during your weekly meal prepping session is a good idea. Gather all your recipes and come up with a shopping list of the items you will need. This assures you that you will have the right ingredients on hand once prep day comes.
Invest in containers During meal prep, you will be making meals or preparing ingredients for several days of meals at one time. This is why investing in a set of quality food storage containers that you can reuse multiple times is important. Consider starting with a medium-size set and just add more containers if you need to. It may take you a few weeks before you can identify just how many containers you will need. Remember that the more eco-friendly glass containers tend to last longer than their plastic counterparts!
Gather ingredients Just before prep day arrives, begin gathering the ingredients on your shopping list. Make it a habit to start shopping in your pantry. Take stock of what you have on hand and what you actually need to buy. If you regularly rotate the food in your pantry, you can avoid wasting money on expired items. In fact, if you can find recipes that use ingredients you already have, your meal prep will be more efficient.
Schedule enough time Meal prepping can take several hours, depending on how many and what type of meals you are preparing. Set aside a good chunk of time for your meal prepping sessions. Try to do your meal prepping on the same day of the week and, at the same time, make it a consistent part of your new meal planning system.
Prep smart Although your ultimate goal might be to prep everything fresh or from scratch, don’t hesitate to take a few shortcuts when you need to. If chopping vegetables is too time-consuming (or is just not your thing), go ahead and buy pre-cut vegetables instead. Also, do not attempt elaborate meals at this time. While it is desirable to include all the basic food groups in your meal plan, feel free to scale back your meal prepping a bit if you find yourself struggling to keep up. The more efficiency you have in your meal prepping sessions, the greater the chances you will be consistently doing it every week.
Finally, keep in mind that meal prepping is different for everyone. Feel free to experiment with different approaches until you find one that suits you best.
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