Meal Prep, I never knew the depth of meaning behind the word Meal Prep! Meal Prep is your and your families most valuable task to your forever nutrition.
Let me just tell you how much meal prepping has saved me and my family from slipping on to the other side of fast food, just grab whatever, consider it a meal and let’s go lifestyle.
Making a lifestyle change is also making a shift…mentally, emotionally and physically!
Mentally : you are ready, I mean really ready, to plan, prepare and execute healthy meal options, quick grab and go snacks in the refrigerator, quick defrost meals, and planning for your forever nutritional lifestyle change.
Emotionally : You are tired of feeling tired, not having enough energy, not sleeping well, emotions all over the place, always getting the minor sinus infections, colds (etc.) feeling like you need that cup of coffee to literally get the day started. Yes, you are emotionally ready!
Physically : You are ready for your body to deliver beyond what you expected for your lifestyle. You are ready to feel comfortable as you were beautifully created!
Now let’s get started on some meal prep must know tips:
- Sit down and write out your weekly menu. Remember to think about all of you activities for the week. Be realistic. Do not set yourself up to make everything from scratch when you know you will not have the time. Also, if you are tight on time and will not have time to prep the vegetables or fruit, go ahead and purchase the vegetables and fruit that is already cut up. Something will definitely always change even when well planned. So go with it. We are just trying to get the week ready in case all goes as planned.
- When planning your weekly menu, think of items that can be doubled to decrease the number of times you are cooking the same thing, ex. rice, noodles, etc. So, say you are planning on ka-bobs over rice one night, plan for making a stir-fry later that same week. Same rule applies to marinades, salad dressings, salads, chicken and many more items.
- Plan your shop and chop day. This needs to be a day where you have time to shop or order online the groceries you will need for the week to prepare your meals. You know the meals you sat down and thought about to make your weekly menu. Or use one of the ones we have created for you.
- When you come home from the grocery store with your goodies….. do not just put them away. Go ahead wash, rinse and store away. Chop, slice, dice shave.. whatever, and put in smaller ramikins or bowls to help speed up the cooking process. This saves so so so much time by not having to dice up vegetables or anything as you are starting to cook, since you already have them ready for use. I always put saran wrap around my ramikins or use my favorite Pampered Chef small measuring cups (glass) that have lids.
- When making your salad for the week keep everything separate and sealed tightly. This will ensure your greens do not get soggy and yuck. Always check the “best if used by” date on your packaged lettuce, spinach, or mixed greens.
- Explore your favorite storage containers. You want good quality containers. Think about what you will use them for before buying in bulk of any container. I use mason jars often to freeze my home made basil pesto, mac and cheese, quiona etc. I like the smaller mason jars because it serves as an individual size for me and my family. So when I leave for work in the mornings I can grab a mason jar mixture of quiona, yogurt and blueberries. This has always defrosted and ready to eat within 20-30 min. You can always speed up the defrosting by placing the mason jar in a bowl of hot water. Seriously, it does not take long for it to defrost.
- If chicken is going to be on your menu more than twice in a week, go ahead and make that your first meal ingredient and grill/bake or crockpot enough chicken for more than 1 meal.