I'm willing to take a guess that you have heard the phrase "meal prep" dominate conversations surrounding nutrition and healthy eating. While there is no definitive definition, the basic idea is to cook and create meals for yourself and/or your family during the week.
Meal prepping can be as simple or as complex as you decide to make it. The term can excite some people, while others grimace at the thought of it. Personally, I enjoy meal prepping; it's a great way to help me stay on track with eating right and also knowing what I'm eating because I can be tempted and tend to fall off if I have nothing ready for me.
I usually meal prep at least twice a week. I aim to meal prep on Sundays or Mondays, and then again usually on Thursday nights, I cook a little bit more to make sure I have enough through the weekends. Sundays and Mondays are my bigger meal prep days, when I do more cooking. It also gives me a chance to sit down and plan out the meals in advance, so I know what I'm doing for lunch and dinner each day.
Here are a few tips I've learned about meal prepping:
Choose a day/time to focus on meal prepping. Each week pick a day and a time that works for your schedule to meal prep. While most people choose Sunday, if you can't do Sunday, you can do another day. Some people do Saturdays, some people choose Wednesday nights. But when you pick a day, make sure you set aside time. Meal prepping can take at least a couple hours, depending on what you are cooking (I'll get to that in a moment). Set yourself up for success; get some music playing, listen to a podcast, turn on your favorite TV show (Cutthroat Kitchen is my go-to cooking show).
Pick your favorite meals to cook. Part of the potential fun behind meal prep is what you make. You know what you will eat, what you want to eat. People often think meal prep means just making chicken and broccoli, but you can expand what you choose to make. I often pick two or three proteins, two or three vegetables and usually two starches. It changes depending on what is on sale that week, what's in season and what I want to try to make (I often try to make one new recipe to mix it up).
Don't be afraid to try something new. Don't feel as though you have to make the same meals over and over again. Expand, experiment, take risks in the kitchen (within reason). Look up different recipes with some of the ingredients that you have or like to use (and this website will always have fresh recipes for you too!) Try a different spice in your cooking, try a new ingredient, use a new technique. Break out of your routine and see what you like and don't like.
We About the Love of Meal Prep over here ... so it's time to get serious about planning and prepping!
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