The average American spends just under an hour a day meal prepping. An hour may not sound like a lot, but when you take out time for work (9 hours) and sleep (8 hours) that leaves 7 hours to fit in everything else you need to do. Even if you enjoy cooking, somedays it seems like there is simply no time. Today we will talk more in-depth about meal preparation including tips and tricks, meal ideas, and how to make it work to your benefit.
Perks of Meal Prepping
There are numerous benefits to meal planning and prepping. The main goal of prepping is to lower the effort it takes to make a meal while maximizing the payoff with healthful, delicious meals. But the benefits go beyond that!
- Saving money- limits takeout/fast food and decreases food waste
- Lessens food stress- no more worrying about what you’ll eat and when
- Helps meet your nutrition goals- pre-portioned and planned to be balanced
- Saves time during busy weekdays and nights both by cooking, planning, and doing dishes
- Improves cooking skills- having more time to focus solely on cooking. No more multitasking on nights you’re already busy.
- Customizable meals- you get to pick what you’re eating and can be sure the nutrients you want to consume are there
- Limits trips to the grocery store- more reasons for saving time and money
- Organizing your week- this takes planning, and by taking a look at your week as a whole you can notice better ways to do things to improve your days
How Do I Make it Work for Me?
Meal prepping has many stages, from using leftovers as lunch the next day to prepping your whole workweek on a Sunday, you can find what level works for your household! Today we will be discussing prepping for 3-5 days including all 3 meals and snacks.
**Please note that you do NOT have to go all in to start. You can start as basic as you’d like!
The first step is to plan. Start by picking a few meals, breakfasts, and snacks. If you need cold lunches or any other modifiers to eat while working, be sure to think about these. Other items to consider:
- Variety of foods- you want to be sure to have a good variety of ingredients, but not too much. Think of items you can use in multiple dishes, especially if they only come in a size one recipe doesn’t need all of.
- Ease of eating- if a meal or snack needs to be on-the-go, make sure the recipes you pick make sense for this.
- Ease of heating up- depending on what type of meal prepping you chose to use, you’ll need to account for cook time/reheating time. If you don’t have access to a microwave at work, you’ll have to plan for cold meals or use a thermos.
- Time to Prep- if you have a busier weekend chose short cook time meals, if you have more time try out a recipe that requires some more work!
- Likes and dislikes of the household- if a recipe contains an ingredient someone doesn’t like, replace it with another, omit it, or if it’s a veggie have it as a side dish!
The second step is to shop! The key here is to be smart about it. Make your list and stick to it. Utilizing a service such as grocery pickup or delivery can be helpful here if you’re low on time or tend to fall victim to impulse shopping. If you are going to go in store to shop, try organizing your list by groups such as produce, meats, frozen, dairy, etc. If you know your store well enough, you can even organize your list by aisle!
The third step is to cook. Be sure you plan enough time for the recipes you’ve chosen. An hour or two is usually a good time frame to set aside, however some recipes take longer to make. Starting out you may require more time until you get the hang of it, so it may be helpful to set aside 3-4 hours to start. Trial multitasking in different ways such as:
- Chop veggies while other items are cooking
- Chop all veggies at once (ex: if you need 1 onion for all 3 recipes, cut all 3 up at one time)
- Utilize multiple cooking methods- oven, stove, slow cooker, air fryer, etc.
- Cook all same items on one sheet (all veggies or all meats)
- Do dishes as you go- if you’re waiting for things to cook, now is a good time to do all available dishes
Last, but arguably most importantly, pack and store foods to ensure quality and safety. You’ll want to pick containers that fit your needs. Some meals do well in one big compartment and others in separate areas. Sometimes it takes trial and error on what containers work best to keep certain recipes fresher for longer- don’t be discouraged if you have to learn by error! Some people like to label prepped foods as well, if you think this would be helpful then give it a try.
This is the perfect time to pre-portion out your meals if you’re taking the route of precooking all items. If you will use items one portion at a time, this is the ideal way to meal prep. If you prefer to eat meals family style, it makes more sense to put each individual meal item in a different dish.
Meals Ideas that Work for Meal Prepping
The ideas for meal prep are endless, but here are some good ones to get you started!
- Taco bowls
- Grain bowls- rice quinoa, barley, etc
- Soups and stews
- Burritos
- Overnight oats
- Breakfast muffins
- Jar salads
- Sheet pan meals
- Stir fry
- Wraps- cold or hot
- Yogurt bowls
- Pasta salads
- Hot pasta dishes
- Egg casserole or cups
Mistakes to Avoid
When learning a new skill, it’s natural to have some mess ups. Here are some of the common mistakes people make when beginning meal prepping:
- Over prepping- making too much food in general or of one recipe is easy to do. Only prep what you need, or if you make too much one time adjust the recipe to accommodate for next time.
- Forgetting snacks- if you have more than 4 hours between meals, you will likely need a snack. Be sure you’re prepared for this and use it as a way to get more nutrition into your day!
- Wrong containers- be sure to use airtight containers so your meals do not go bad before you can eat them. When stored properly, meals should last 3-5 days.
- Ignoring variety- it is important to remember that eating a recipe too often can cause you to get tired of it very fast. Use your resources to find new meal ideas and keep a list or recipe box of meals you enjoy!
- Not balancing meals- be sure to keep your health goals in mind when considering what to make.
- Unrealistic expectations- not all recipes work for meal prep. Keep this in mind when trying new recipes as meal prep.
Meal Planning- Making it Easy
Often times meal planning turns into doing the same things over and over again. It is easy to get stuck in these ruts and most people want out of them. For people with little time to spare, utilizing an AI chatbot can be very helpful in saving them time and money.
Here is an example of this at work:
I used ChatGPT with the prompt “write a 5 day meal prepping plan for a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 children. Include no seafood, 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. Keep the budget under $100”. I also asked to have the information made into a calendar with prices included. Here is the result:
| Day | Breakfast | Morning Snack | Lunch | Afternoon Snack | Dinner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Scrambled eggs + toast + banana ($2.50) | Apple slices + PB ($1.00) | Turkey taco bowls (ground turkey, rice, beans, peppers) ($6.00) | Carrot sticks + ranch ($1.00) | Baked chicken + potatoes + broccoli ($6.50) |
| Tue | Overnight oats + banana ($1.50) | Yogurt + honey ($1.00) | Chicken quesadillas + carrots ($5.50) | Crackers + cheese ($1.50) | Pasta + sauce + garlic toast ($5.00) |
| Wed | PB banana toast ($1.50) | Apple + crackers ($1.25) | Leftover pasta + broccoli ($4.00) | Yogurt + oats ($1.00) | Turkey + potato skillet ($6.00) |
| Thu | Oatmeal + chopped apples ($1.50) | Carrots + PB ($1.00) | Chicken wraps + fruit ($5.50) | Yogurt + banana ($1.25) | Sheet pan chicken + potatoes + carrots ($6.00) |
| Fri | Eggs + toast + fruit ($2.50) | Crackers + cheese ($1.25) | Leftover wraps or quesadillas + broccoli ($4.00) | Apple slices + PB ($1.00) | DIY taco night (turkey, rice, beans, cheese, toppings) ($6.50) |
It also included information for how and what to prep:
Sunday Prep (1.5–2 hrs):
- Cook 4 cups rice and store in containers
- Cook 2 lbs ground turkey with seasoning
- Roast a batch of potatoes and carrots
- Pre-chop veggies (carrots, onions, peppers)
- Hard-boil some eggs if kids like them
- Make a batch of overnight oats
You can also ask for recipes for the meals it suggested or for it to replace any ingredient or meal you want. Working with AI may not always lead to perfect results, but it is a great way to start your meal prep journey.
Conclusion
Meal prepping could be the solution to busy weekday meal stress. You can utilize it in many different ways based on what works best for your household. If you’d like to give it a try, us the guide in this post and see how it goes! If you want a more 1 on 1 guidance, work with one of our registered dietitians to make your health goals. We’d love to know what meals you like to meal prep. Head on over to our Facebook page and let us know!
Resources:
ChatGPT
