6 tips on meal prepping
The key to any successful eating plan is preparation! When you set your self up with healthy options and plan ahead, you cut down on decision making and will stick to your plan easier. I am the first to admit that I do not like spending a long time cooking my food. Sure I like to cook because I know that I am feeding my body right, but that doesn't mean I want to spend hours every day the kitchen- nor do I have the time. The questions I get asked the most pertain to how I manage to always have a healthy homemade lunch at work, or how I stay so loyal to my eating philosophy. Well it is simple once you boil down to it, take the guesswork out of food prepping! Below are my best tips to get you started.
Devote 2-3 hours on the weekend to prepping.
You may be thinking there is no way you can find even an hour on the weekends to food prep, but I promise that is possible for everyone to do this. I carve out time every Sunday to prepare my food staples in bulk to grab throughout the week. I have actually come to really enjoy this routine, mine includes turning on music, podcasts, or my current tv obsession while I cook. Turn this into a time that you will look forward to, invite your friend or significant other to join in. Decide what foods you will most incorporate into your weekly meal rotation and utilize that meal prep time! Here are some of the foods I cook most during my prep time:
- Roast a pound of rainbow carrots with spices and olive oil
- Boil a pound of sweet potatoes to be eaten whole or mashed with rosemary and dill
- Bake a tray of chicken breasts with seasonings
- Steam a pound of kale and flavor with lemon juice
- Broil a pound of salmon with ghee, salt, and lemon slices
Always cook more.
This tip is crucial for being set up for success in eating healthy. Aside from your meal prep time, get accustomed to always preparing more food when you are cooking. I double up on my dinner so I have a lunch ready to go for work the next day. And a lot of the times my breakfast is whatever I had cooked the night before. Now a lot of people say they don't like leftovers but I beg to differ on this one. Leftovers don't have to mean takeout food that is sitting in a container for three days. You can easily turn your "leftover" food into a completely new flavor profile. Say you had chicken with mashed potatoes and a salad one night for dinner. Well take that extra chicken and serve it shredded over zucchini noodles and tomato sauce. Use leftover salmon to scramble into your eggs in the morning. Flavor extra veggies with new sauces and spices, you get the idea! Always use your time in the kitchen to be thinking ahead, your future self will thank you for it.
Slow cooker will be your new best friend.
One kitchen gadget that I love and routinely use is the slow cooker. 5-10 minutes of throwing together food and you will be rewarded with multiple meals worth. One of my easiest tips with this is to throw in some sweet potatoes with a small amount of water and cook on low overnight and when you wake up they are ready to eat. Soups are incredibly easy to make in a slow cooker and require few ingredients. A quick google search with yield tons of recipes for you to follow and save you plenty of time in the kitchen.
Make lunch the night before.
This is my first piece of advice for anyone that wants to enjoy a much healthier and cheaper lunch option everyday. But in order to ensure you actually follow through with it, put it together the night before and just grab in the morning. The easiest way I do this is to put my lunch together as I am cooking dinner. So when you are doubling up on your food (see point 2) just throw the extra in a container while everything is already out and prepared. If you leave this step to the morning you are more than likely to forget or lose track of time. So save yourself the hassle and decision making and prep your lunch while making dinner!
Stock your freezer.
One thing I always make sure I grab at the grocery store is frozen vegetables and protein. I know how important it is to have a stocked freezer with quick options for the nights you don't have anything prepped. Frozen vegetables are bagged right at the peak of their freshness and just need a quick boil with a small amount of water. I also always try to have some frozen fish and chicken that I can easily cook in twenty minutes or less. I aim to eat the majority of my food fresh but always have a plan b option available. Ensure that you will always eat healthy, even in a time crunch, with a well stocked freezer.
Save the fancy recipes for special occasions.
When I first ventured into the world of clean eating and cooking I thought I had to prepare extravagant recipes every night. This in turn caused me more anxiety and kept me from the kitchen! The truth is, simple and fresh ingredients prepared with your standard spices will turn into the most delicious meals you have. Your taste buds will change as you eat better and find that meals with as few ingredients as possible are amazingly satisfying. Sure I have plenty of cookbooks and like to browse them often but it is not what I turn to for my weekly rotation. So spare yourself the hassle and save complicated recipes for the weekends and special occasions. Just get in the kitchen and start getting creative with the things you already have! It will soon become second nature and a satisfying meal will be only 20 minutes away.