Meal prep is preparing full meals or components of meals in advance, usually in bulk. Doing the preparation ahead of time and having the food ready to assemble or grab-and-go can help with eating healthier, and saving time, money, and energy. It does so by reducing the stress that comes with planning and cooking a dish on the fly, which in turn, lessens the temptation to get take-out food.
Tips and tricks for a successful meal-prep:
- Break it up- assign the three primary tasks of meal prepping, which are menu planning, grocery shopping, and food preparation, to three separate days of the week. This will help streamline the whole process and make it way less overwhelming then trying to get them all done in the same day. One example of a loose schedule would be on Fridays, choose the recipes for the week and create a thorough grocery list. Next, grocery shop on Saturday, followed by cooking and preparing everything on Sunday. Grocery shopping and meal prepping can be a great opportunity for additional family and/or friend bonding and it will speed up the whole process, since there will be more hands on deck.
- Savings and stocking up- once you have gathered a list of go-to meal prep recipes, be on the lookout for weekly deals at your local store. Adjusting the menu based on what is on sale that week will not only help with saving when possible, but also encourage one to try new recipes based on the on-sale/discounted ingredients. Sales are perfect for stocking up on non-perishable pantry staples, such as grains (rice, pasta, noodles), dried beans/lentils, canned goods (vegetables, fruits, beans, fish), seasonings and spices, oil, and so on.
- Multitask- when it is time to start preparing the food, consider preparing each meal component from longest cooking/preparation time to shortest. That way, while one item is cooking, another part of the meal can also be worked on, so that multiple components can be ready for use around the same time. For example, while the brown rice is cooking, protein and vegetables can get chopped and stir fried, in the meantime.
- Staples on hand- after getting into the groove of meal-prepping, one may notice some meal foods becoming staples. To build a balanced meal, there should be carbohydrate/starch, protein, non-starchy vegetables, if possible, fat and dairy. If having the same meal everyday does not sound appealing, you can prepare and store meal components separately, such as rice and quinoa for starch, grilled chicken and pan-fried tofu for protein, and roasted broccoli and tossed salad for non-starchy vegetables, which can be combine in different ways to prevent the meals from becoming too repetitive.
- Extra Extra!- when making food that will be eaten over multiple days, properly refrigerating and freezing leftovers is absolutely crucial. Some foods are better for freezing than others. Depending on the chemical makeup of the food, the texture, consistency, and taste can be affected when the food is frozen, then thawed. That may explain why some foods are not suitable for freezing, like soft leafy green vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs, avocado, fried foods, most dairy products, cooked pasta and rice, mayonnaise-based salads, ketchup-based foods, and cashew-based soups and sauces. Foods that are recommended for freezing include soups, stews, cooked beans, cooked ground meal and poultry, and blanched vegetables. Labeling storage containers with the name of the food and date of preparation can help keep the food rotating and prevent food spoilage.
- Splitting the food into individual meal containers can make it faster and easier to grab and go on busy days.
