A Full Guide on How to Meal Prep
Meal Prep - preparing or cooking meals or dishes ahead of schedule.
Meal prepping is great because it can save a lot of time, and that might be the reason why this is particular popular among busy people. Personally, I love meal prepping. I don’t always do it, but when I feel like I have lost control (especially when I was having my ED - binge eating and bulimia) I always returned to meal prepping. When being busy and haven’t eaten proper food, when have been slacking on eating proper food - no matter if you were busy or not - or simply when you needed some structure in your life, it feels great to meal prep.
I get it though, if you are one of those who like to eat ”fresh”, new cooked food every single day might not feel like meal prep is for you. But what if I told you that there are still options for you too? Because I used to be that person. I have always preferred cooking fresh food every single day, but when being busy I realized that it didn’t work longterm, so in this guide I’m going to share everything you need to know about meal and food prep! It will be one of the longer posts, but I felt like it was about time to go through it all, for you to be able to really understand why meal prepping might become your best choice ever. Are you ready? Let’s get started!
For whom are meal prepping?
Meal prepping is for everyone! It really doesn’t matter if you are a university student, if you are busy working or if you have kids and need to find an efficient way of solving the food because meal prepping might be it. Meal prepping is great for those who have a more strict budget (like students) but also great for those who might have a higher budget, but hate cooking
Meal prepping is also very popular among people who are working out, are into fitness or simply for people who want to reach certain nutritional goals. Because meal prepping requires you to decide what to eat ahead of time, which can reduce portion sizes and be great to have available when you’re overwhelmed or exhausted and you’d otherwise choose food without nutrition, like fast-food or takeout.
Why should you meal prep?
We have already discussed this a bit, but when being busy and tired it’s very easy to buy home a pizza than eating a proper, nutritious meal. It is totally OK to eat pizza sometimes, but with all foods in your life, you can eat everything as long as you do it with moderation and eating pizza every single day is not moderation. Meal prepping makes it easier to not fall into the “fast food /take out food- trap” when you’re busy or exhausted, and long term it saves you money too.
It has also been proved that meal prep reduces food waste because when food prepping you buy specific ingredients that needs to be cooked with, rather than buying “whatever pops into your mind”, then forgetting you had them in your fridge and pantry, and then they become bad and inedible, needing to be thrown away.
Meal prep can also help you reach certain nutritional goals. It doesn’t really matter if it is you wanting to loose, gain, get stronger, fitter or just mentally happier, meal prep can actually help you with that - no matter - too.
Meal prepping is not the same as calorie counting.
You who have followed me for a while know that I don’t encourage calorie counting, but rather choosing fresh, nutritious food made with as many organic ingredients as possible; including all nutrition (carbs, proteins AND fats) to learn how to love and be able to eat all kinds of food - but in moderation. For someone who are counting calories and feel like they are loosing control when NOT calorie and macro counting, I recommend meal prepping instead. It will still give you an overall look over your food intake, and can give you the feeling of being in control over your diet and food intake, but not on a calorie level. Great start of ”loosing the control” (not counting calories/macros) but only to regain it (in terms of regaining control over your overall health, and especially mental health). Because remember, food shall never control your life. We shall instead find ways of becoming friends with food to get healthy inside out.
Are there different kinds of meal prepping?
You don’t need to spend a whole weekend food prepping to have food for the next week. There are simple and efficient ways one can food prep, to make it sustainable longterm, delicious in terms of flavor, nutritious in terms of health but also fun and enjoyable when cooking. Everyone has different lives and different needs, and the method of meal prepping that will work best for you is the one that works best with your life, goals and daily routines…
Full make-ahead meals: Cooking full meals in advance and have them stored in your fridge or freezer.
Batch cooking: Cooking a big amount of meals after one recipes, then portion and store them In your fridge or freezer. This option is popular to make with simple recipes that can be cooked in big amounts (like big pots of stews, soups or creamy pastas).
Meals for one: Making fresh meals and portion it in individual grab-and-go containers to be stored in the fridge and eaten over the next few days. Great for quick, simple lunches.
Ingredient prep: For those who like to cook and serve the food all freshly cooked, you can still prepare the ingredients for a specific meal ahead of time. Chop the veggies, mix the marinades and spices and soak your legumes and beans etc, to cut down on cooking time.
…For instance, make-ahead breakfasts (like overnight oats or chia pudding) might be great for those who are in a rush in the mornings and need to have something quick and yet nutritious to eat for breakfast. While batch cooking is great for those who have limited time in the evenings and need to eat something straight away when coming home from work.
What foods do you pick?
Meal prep can be tricky sometimes because some foods don’t hold up well in the fridge. You know how the avocados, for instance, turn brown after a few hours, right? Or how dressed salads get all soggy after a day or two in the fridge? I get it, and that’s the reason we need to pick food that can be stored in the fridge (or freezer) and still feel and taste like new-cooked when being possibly re-heated and then eaten.
Cooked vegetables (roasted, baked, boiled), sauces, cooked meat (and “meat”), grains, oven sheet pan recipes, pasta based recipes and soups to some extent (meaning, if you have access to a very solid airtight container) are good bases for meal prep recipes.
If you haven’t ever meal prepped before, think about IF and HOW you’ll be able to reheat your food. Do you have access to a microwave oven? A stove? Or not anything at all and need to eat your food cold? Some foods like a satisfying pasta salad or a wrap can be great meal prep food if not having access to reheating your food, while meat or a soup is NOT optimal to have with you when needing to eat your food cold.
I foremost recommend you to pick food that you usually enjoy and eat, making a bigger amount of that recipe and bringing leftovers with you in containers. In that way you keep it simple, keep it enjoyable, don’t waste any food and you find it delicious, but only needing to add fresh sides, snacks or pairings to that recipe.
But really, where do you start?
There are a few things I recommend you first to look into if you are considering meal prepping:
First, airtight containers. I recommend you to use them in stainless steel or glass foremost, because they keep their quality best when being heated several times, and plastic containers may contain carcinogenic BPA that can get into your food if these plastics are heated in a microwave oven. There are plastic containers that are safe to heat in the microwave oven, but to be on the safe side I recommend you to pick stainless steel or glass containers first.
Second, the recipes. Make a list of recipes you enjoy cooking (and eating), that you feel suit the way of living you want to with meal prepping, and that you feel like you can use when you have a lack of inspiration. I have a list like this that I bring out when I have lack of inspiration, am tired and just want it to be easy to cook. You could possibly divide the recipes into different kinds of categories depending on what kind of meal prep is needed for it (“full make-ahead meals”, “batch cooking”, “meals for one” or “ingredient prep” mentioned earlier in the post) or into categories stating if the recipe can or cannot be eaten cold / warm.
For each week of cooking you go through this recipe list, decide what kind of recipes you will do and what groceries are needed, and then you make a grocery shopping list for the ingredients you need, and go buy everything you need. Don’t forget to also include the snacks and sides to your recipes/ meals.
When do you cook?
That depends a bit on what kind of person you are, the way you are living and what kind of meal prep you will go for. Personally, I like to meal prep on Sundays for a few days forward. It feels like the best day for me because I usually have a lazy Sunday and am most often home just “chilling” anyway. I never prepare my breakfast since before, breakfast is something I do every single morning, but I like to have my lunches and possibly dinners ready too for the weekdays - at least for a few days.
But other people do it in the middle of the week, some people like to meal prep for a whole week while other people only do it for the days they KNOW will be busy. Do what suits your life the best. No matter when you choose to cook, schedule and plan that time for cooking so you have everything done (planning of the meals and grocery shopping).
Some more tips for meal prepping
Have a consistent schedule. Like I mentioned earlier, I always meal prep on Sundays because that works the best for me. I keep that meal prepping scheduled and it makes it a lot easier to get it done if having one specific day scheduled for it. The schedule is up to you, but having a consistent schedule for meal prepping (but also planning and grocery shopping) simplifies the decision and mental stress that can be caused before.
Don’t complicate the food. There aren’t many people who like to spend hours of time in the kitchen meal prepping, so don’t complicate the recipes and food. Try not to pick recipes and food that need several different appliances. It’s easier to work with - for instance - mainly the oven or mainly the stove or mainly an air fryer for your recipe. For instance, make a big lasagna, cut into bites, serve your kids this food if you’re a parent, and put the leftover pieces in containers. Have them stored in the fridge or freezer and take out a meal when needing. Or, make one-pot recipes like one pot fajita pasta or a big batch of a butternut squash soup and pour into soup-friendly containers. Cut bread and have on the side for your soup when eating.
Make recipes you actually like and will eat. There’s no reason to make things complicated - especially if you’re a beginner with meal prep or cooking. Pick some of your favorite foods that are balanced, can be used for meal prep, and make them. It won’t be enjoyable meal prepping if you eat food you don’t like. Also, if you don’t like to eat the same food for a whole week, then don’t make food for a whole week. Forcing yourself to eat food is never pleasant and you will probably end up quitting meal prepping if you do.
Need some meal prep recipe inspiration?
Now when you’ve gone through this long post I can only guess that you also want some actual meal prep inspiration. You can in general have pretty much any kind of cooked food as a meal prep food, while for instance salads with fresh ingredients and dressings, avocado etc can’t be stored for too long before getting soggy or bad. If you want to eat fresh ingredients and salads, then that’s totally ok but then you need to add them separately the same day you’re going to eat them.
I usually keep it super simple for my meal prep, making one carb source (my favorite is bulgur but sometimes I eat rice, boiled potatoes or wholesale pasta too) for all of the meals, adding a protein source (sometimes my protein source is “dry” or my protein source is included in some kind of stew or sauce), adding a fat source (sometimes feta cheese, olives or avocado on the day I’m going to eat the food), and at last adding lots of colorful, fresh vegetables. I either cook the vegetables (for instance included in stew) or add fresh vegetables on the day of eating. This is a very simple way of assembling a food box, and most often I don’t use any special recipes for it. In the photos I have:
Herb infused bulgur with fried Asian tofu and avocado and parsley, or herbs infused bulgur with homemade falafel, carrot sticks, olives and parsley.
Bulgur with vegan lentil stew, vegan feta cheese and fried mushrooms. Have also added wither carrot sticks or avocado to the bowl.
Wholemeal pasta with creamy garlic mushroom skillet. I also add tomato to the dish when eating.
Thereafter I have fruits, corn crackers, crisp bread and dates as snacks between the main meals.
Meal prep recipes that don’t need to be re-heated:
and possibly consists of fresh ingredients that need to be eaten on the same or next day of cooking:
Satisfying Sandwiches or wraps with hummus, vegetables etc.
Cold soups like Gazpacho.
Creamy but simple recipes, preferably eaten re-heated:
Creamy Garlic Mushroom Skillet - I eat it with wholemeal pasta in the photos but it’s also delicious with mashed potatoes.
Creamy Sun-dried Tomato and Mushroom Pasta - simple to make and gets super creamy when reheated again.
Indian Spinach daal - this vegan stew gets its proteins from the red lentils and is permeably accompanied with rice on the side.
Greek Arakas - vegan pea tomato stew - simple to make, cheap food, authentic Greek and completely vegan
Curry Stew with Lime and Peanut Butter - preferably eaten with rice on the side
Lasagna - great when batch cooking, for many servings, and possibly families.
Chili fried tiger prawns - only takes 5’ to make and you can have them with pasta pomodoro, over a salad or as a protein source to your other foods.
Sheet pan recipes - simply add potato, vegetables of various kinds, herbs, garlic, spices and a protein source all to a pan and cook in the oven. Super simple to make and works for batch cooking, for many servings, and possibly families too.
LETS DO THIS!
Now when I have shared this much about meal prepping, it’s just time to get out there, start planning, cooking and meal prepping!
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