If it follows that you are looking to save time, money or merely eat a healthier diet, meal prepping can aid you to attain your goals. Meal prepping is spending a block of time one day a week to actually prepare for your meals. Opposite to meal planning, where you find recipes to fit your schedule best, meal prepping is absolutely about preparing meals or ingredients ahead of time and then storing them until it’s time to make use of them. Whether you hope to make and freeze entire meals ahead of time, prepare meals in individual containers for fast on-the-go lunches, or chop and store ingredients ahead of time, meal prepping can help you lessen food waste, save money, and eat a healthier diet, additionally. Ready to start? Here are some tips to help keep your first meal prep productive and successful.
Start small. If you are merely starting with meal prep, it can appear mind-boggling to plan an entire week’s worth of meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) simultaneously. Think about beginning with only a few meals a week, or maybe just dinners, lunches, or snacks. You can begin making positive changes to your meal planning habits wherever you start!
Make a checklist. It’s a great thought to spend some time writing down everything you’ll need to do during your weekly meal prepping session. Get your recipes and have a shopping list of all that you’ll need. This can totally help you make sure that you have the correct ingredients on hand when the prep day arrives.
Invest in containers. If you meal prep, you’ll be making meals or preparing ingredients for several days of meals at once. This is exactly why it’s significant to invest in a set of quality food storage containers that you can reuse each week. It may take a few weeks to figure out just how many containers you will require, so think of beginning with a medium-size set and then adding more containers as you go, if necessary. Keep in mind that glass containers are more eco-friendly and tend to last longer than plastic!
Gather ingredients. Just before your planned prep day happens, begin collecting the ingredients on your shopping list. A good place to get on is by shopping in your pantry. Take stock of what you already have or can use and what you really need to obtain. Try to rotate the food in your pantry consistently to evade wasting money on expired food items. In reality, it’s an excellent idea to undertake and find recipes that will allow you to use things you already have to maximize your meal prep efficiency.
Schedule enough time. Meal prepping can take several hours, contingent on how many and what type of meals you are preparing. Ensure to set aside a good chunk of time for your weekly meal prepping session. It’s great to try and accomplish your meal prepping on the same day of the week and, simultaneously, to help make it a consistent part of your notable new meal planning system.
Prep smart. Although your utmost goal may be to prep everything fresh or from scratch, don’t be anxious to take a few shortcuts if you need to. For instance, if chopping vegetables takes up too much time (or you just don’t like doing it), go ahead and purchase pre-cut vegetables instead. Moreover, don’t try to go too big or elaborate with your meals. Although you have to include all of the basic food groups into your meal plan, if you find yourself fighting to keep up, scale back your meal prepping quite a bit. The more efficient you can make your meal prepping sessions, the more likelihood you will do it consistently every week.
One last note, bear in mind that meal prepping is different for everyone. You may have to experiment with different approaches till you find a system that works best for you.
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