In case that you are looking to save time, money or just really want to eat a healthier diet, meal prepping can assist you in getting to your goals. Meal prepping is spending a block of time one day a week to focus on preparing all of your coming meals. As distinct from meal planning, where you determine recipes to fit your schedule best, meal prepping involves really preparing meals or ingredients ahead of time and then storing them until it’s time to actually use them. Whether you wish to make and freeze entire meals ahead of time, prepare meals in individual containers for speedy on-the-go lunches, or chop and store ingredients ahead of time, meal prepping can help you reduce food waste, save money, and eat a healthier diet, likewise. Ready to start off? Here are quite a few tips to help ensure your first meal prep turns out favorably.
Start small. If you are just recently starting with meal prep, it can become baffling to plan an entire week’s worth of meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) altogether. Consider starting off with only a few meals a week, or maybe just dinners, lunches, or snacks. You can commence making positive changes to your meal planning habits instantly wherever you start!
Make a checklist. It’s definitely a great idea to spend some time writing down everything you’ll need to do during your weekly meal prepping session. Bring all your recipes and do a shopping list of anything you’ll need. This can make sure that you have all the right ingredients on hand when the prep day arrives.
Invest in containers. When, indeed, you do meal prep, you’ll be making meals or preparing ingredients for several days of meals all at once. Hence, it’s really important 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 may need to have, so take into account just starting with a medium-size set and then adding more containers as you go, if need be. Just call to mind that glass containers are more eco-friendly and tend to last longer than plastic!
Gather ingredients. Just before your planned prep day transpires, start by simply procuring the ingredients on your shopping list. The easiest place to begin is by shopping in your pantry. Take stock of what you already have or can use and what you definitely need to secure. Try to rotate the food in your pantry regularly to keep down wasting money on expired food items. In actuality, it’s a great idea to try 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, depending on how many and what type of meals you are preparing. Be certain to set aside a good chunk of time for your weekly meal prepping session. It’s good to try and carry out your meal prepping on the same day of the week and, also, to help make it a consistent part of your notable new meal planning system.
Prep smart. Even if your topmost goal may be to prep everything fresh or from scratch, don’t be scared to take a few shortcuts once you need to. For example, if chopping vegetables takes up too much time (or you just don’t like doing it), go ahead and obtain pre-cut vegetables instead. Indeed, don’t try to go too big or elaborate with your meals. Even though you have to include all of the basic food groups into your meal plan, if you find yourself definitely struggling to keep up, scale back your meal prepping to a slight extent. The more efficient you can make your meal prepping sessions, the higher the possibility you will do it consistently every week.
One final matter, don’t forget that meal prepping is different for everyone. You may have to experiment with different approaches until you find a system that works best for you.
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