Simple and Effective Ways to Meal Prep Easier
Meal prepping is a great way to make sure there are delicious and nutritious meals on hand for the whole family. Yet some people are put off by the sheer amount of work that meal prepping seems to demand. Happily, I am here to tell you that there are some ways you can make meal prepping simpler and more effective, meaning you spend less time cooking and more time enjoying your life. Read on to find out what they are.
Use a meal plan
First of all, if you are going to make meal prepping easier, working from a meal plan that has already been created is best. Happily, you will find plenty to choose from online, including plant-based, vegetarian, keto, gluten-free, and those suitable for diabetes.
Some will require payment before you can gain access, but it's usually worth it because it will cut the time you need to work on meal prepping in half. After all, you won't have to come up with all the recipes and work out what you need to buy for the portion sizes. Alternatively, you can use websites like Whisk that allow you to calculate portion sizes easily and even provide you with a shopping list that you can transfer to your online basket.
My cookbook, Nourish Your Body: A 30 Day Healthy & Delicious Meal Plan gives you a menu for a whole month! Check it out here.
Work a week around one main ingredient
Another way you can make meal prepping easier is to choose one main ingredient like a piece of roast meat, or some marinated tofu and use that as a base for several different meals in the week. Thereby cutting down the prep you have to do.
Of course, for this to be successful you need to choose something so delicious as this blackened chicken recipe you will be happy to eat it all week. You can use this base chicken recipe to make tacos, pasta, or serve with veggies and rice for a quick but nutritious meal.
Or take some shrimp and use it to make this Indonesian Shrimp Fried No-Rice and this easy Shrimp Salad. Both recipes are quick and easy to make, not to mention super flavorful too!
Use chopped frozen veggies and fruit
You can also save a great deal of time and effort by using pre-prepared and chopped frozen fruits and veggies. The great thing about using these for meal prepping is that they retain just as much nutrition as their fresh counterparts, and can be added to the pan with no prep at all.
Check out this video to learn more about fresh and frozen food.
It's worth noting here that you can get a wide range of frozen fruits and vegetables now, including avocados, sweet potato, and butternut squash which not only means less prep but much less wastage to deal with as well.
Clean as you go
The last thing you want to do after spending your time prepping meals for the week is clean up your kitchen. That is why it's crucial to make the effort to clean up as you go.
Fill up the sink with some soapy water and be sure to rinse knives, utensils, and pans as soon as you finish using them. Then leave them to drain and dry and they should be ready to be put away as your dishes cook.
Before you cook, consider the order of things
The order in which you cook each item for your meal prep can make a big difference in how easy the experience is. After all, waiting until the very last moment to roast a chicken will add hours to your prepping session.
With that in mind, it's best to work out which things will take the longest to cook and start those off first. Then as they are cooking, you will be able to work on the other elements of the dish, ensuring you spend the least time possible in total.
Make meals for a month
Last of all, if you are meal prepping every weekend it can seem like a bit of a chore. However, doing one session a month for all your dinners can save you a whole lot of time, and make your day-to-day life easier too.
With that in mind, you may wish to experiment with meal planning for the whole month. The good news is that it's easier than it sounds because, if you prepping for Monday - Friday, you'll only need to make five batches (assuming you don't mind having them the same thing every Monday and so on).
Just be sure that you have the infrastructure to cook large volumes of meals before you begin. This may mean investing in some larger pots, and some additional baking trays for the oven. You’ll also need containers for the food once it's cooked so it can cool quickly and then be frozen. Plastic freezer-safe bags are usually the best option for this.
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Hey! I’m Renata!
Your intuitive nutrition coach and fellow food lover. I’m here to help you find the foods that work best for your body, without feeling deprived or starving.
