10 Tips and Tricks for Meal Prepping
I truly believe meal prepping is such a life saver. If you’re a busy full-time hard working 9-5er like me, it’s the key to staying on track and healthy throughout the week! But meal prepping can seem daunting, complicated, expensive and if not done right, an all-day thing! So here are some tips and tricks that have helped me save time and money and prep my week with yummy and healthy recipes!
1. Plan your meals out ahead of time
a. Every Saturday I sit down and write out my meal plan for the next week. I pick my breakfast options, lunch, dinner and snacks for the week. I always pick one lunch and one to two breakfast options. I personally prefer to make dinners the night of and one night and lunch day during the week is reserved for cleaning out leftovers from the fridge. I write out my grocery list for everything that I will need and on Sunday I shop. That way there are no surprises during the week and I don’t feel like I need to last minute figure any cooking out.
2. Use what you already have first
a. Before I write out my meals I look through the fridge and the pantry first and see what I have that I can use up. Say I have a jar of salsa verde and some tortillas I need to use and some chicken in the freezer – I know I’m adding enchiladas to the meal plan for one dinner. That way I’m not buying even more ingredients and spending extra money.
3. Buy some ingredients in bulk to save money
a. We always buy meat in bulk or pantry staple items. That way we can save on cost if we are making a lot of chicken for meal prep for lunch and dinner. Things like meat, eggs, nut butter, pasta sauce. Buying in bulk or on bogo helps us have extras to plan more meals the next week also.
4. Buy frozen fruits and veggies
a. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to throw out bad produce because I needed to buy fresh and then never used it. Not only does it save you money to buy it frozen but it can also save you time if you just want to microwave a bag of broccoli to go with a meal. It’s also the exact same nutritional value as fresh but with a longer shelf life.
5. Keep it Simple
a. Pick recipes you already know well
i. Instead of starting with all new recipes and getting overwhelmed, make something you already know. If it needs to be as simple as chicken, broccoli, and rice, then make that! My rule of thumb is experiment when you have the time or pick one meal that’s new and the rest make your staples.
b. Make things you can grab and go or heat and eat
i. I learned this early in my meal prepping that for me prepping ingredients and then cooking or assembling my meal the day of just wasn’t going to work. It took too much time and I only have a small amount of time to sit and eat some days. Instead, I find that making something that’s easy enough to grab right out of the fridge or microwave and eat right away is the most ideal for me.
6. Make similar recipes to save on ingredients
a. When you’re planning your meals for the week pick recipes that have a few of the same ingredients. Instead of doing a meal with rice, a meal with pasta, and a meal with potatoes, pick 2 meals that need rice. This will not only save you money on groceries but it will also save you time in the kitchen
7. Decide if you need 1-2 options
a. If you know you won’t be able to eat the same meal over and over again for 4-5 days have two smaller easy lunch or breakfast options to make and alternate them each day.
8. Have fruit or veggies as snack options
a. Easy, healthy, and minimal prep required!
9. Keep dressings and sauces separate
a. If you’re doing a salad as your lunch keep your wet ingredients separate from the dry ones to keep your lettuce from wilting. Or if you like the mason jar salad technique just keep your wet ingredients on the bottom and whatever you need to stay dry on the top! I like to make my dressing and then keep it in a container by itself.
10. Freeze some things if you don’t use it all
a. Protein bars, snacks, bread
i. Sometimes I buy bread or make a big batch of a healthy treat and I don’t eat it all by Friday. If I can, I just throw it in the freezer and use it the next week as part of my meal prep!
If you’re still stuck or ready to get started and just need some recipes to try – Check out my E-guides page for my monthly meal guide which includes 2 breakfast recipes, 2 lunch recipes, 3 dinner recipes and 2 snack recipes along with a complete grocery list!
