Meal Prep tips: How to prep like a pro!
We all know that food prepping can be laborious at times. Yes, it may save some time in the long run, but actually having to do it? Long. Food prepping isn’t for everyone either, (especially if you're not into cooking) so for many, it can be overwhelming at times… I get it!
A lot of the stress comes from not knowing what to do or buy. Everyone knows what meal prepping is but surprisingly, I get a lot of questions on HOW to prep foods. What are macros and are they necessary? how much should I put in? What foods shall I buy? Those kinda things…
There was a time I was prepping food on a crazy scale! I was prepping for me and others… and I had to do it all on my day off. The most I ever did was something like 60 containers in a day so believe me when I say a well-prepared and organised routine will help A LOT! Whether you’re a newbie or you’ve been prepping for a while, I’ll lay out some tips to get you started and hopefully save you time and money.
So what are the advantages of food prepping?
Food prep can be done for an array of reasons due to its many benefits:
You may be someone with a busy schedule and need to save time during the week/ have late nights and early starts, so this allows you to have food on the go.
You may be trying to portion control, so having a set amount helps you stay within you target and prevents over-eating.
Maybe you’re in the city and tend to eat out a lot, especially on your lunch break? By food prepping you can save yourself time going out and money.
Perhaps you just like to know what’s in your food or have specific dietary requirements? Food prepping can make things a lot simpler.
Big food preps Vs Smaller food preps
There are two types of food preppers: those who meal prep for a week or longer in advance, and those who like a fresher meal every few days. How you want to prep is to your preference but there are tips to save you time for either method!
The key to efficient and successful meal prep is planning! Believe me when I say planning can cut down your time significantly! The order you cook can also impact the time so listen up!
STEP 1:
PLAN what you want for the week. Are you prepping for 3, 5 or 7 days plus? Maybe you’ll give yourself a day off every week for a “cheat day”. What day have you planned to cook? Most people pick Sunday’s as it’s usually the day you’re at home chilling. If you’re someone who likes to prep twice a week, Wednesday’s are usually good as it falls in the middle of the week, things have calmed down a little and there’s a little extra spare time to prep for the next few days.
Have you got enough containers? You can get these in bulk from wholesalers such as Costco or online (Amazon). It’s better to get a container per portion as you have better control on side and distribution. Some people choose to put the whole meal in big pots and distribute it during the week but this can lead to a lot of wastage if you forget about it and you may find it harder to make it stretch.
To know how many containers you need, you need to work out how many meals you’ll be prepping a day. E.g. 5 days a week x 3 meals = 15 containers. Simple.
STEP 2:
Check your cupboards before you head out to the shops! There is nothing more annoying than buying things you already have at home. Before you buy your ingredients check what seasonings you have, if you’ve run out of oil, what meats, veg, tins, beans, etc you have so that you can work with that and reduce unnecessary spending. I may be a hit and miss the first time around as you’re gaging at this point, but take note of what you buy and how much you use so that you can use this info on your next shop.
STEP 3:
Organise how you cook your foods. I’ve found that this method works best for me but take it with a pinch of salt:
Prepare all your meats: wash, clean, season and cut if necessary and out into separate bowls depending on meats (you may decide to have three different meals over the week for variety).
Chop all your onions/garlic/leek and all vegetables and put it to the side.
Do the carbs after cooking your meats. Once your meats are cooked and prepared, start on the bases (carbs). These usually take less time to cook. If you’re good at multi-tasking, you can start on these if you have space on your hob and start washing the rice once the meat is cooking.
Cook your vegetables at the end! These are the last part of the meal and are often very quick to cook so worry about that after things have been done. If you’re planning to roast the vegetables and your oven is free, you can start on these when you start cooking your bases.
Arrange the empty pots on the table in a row. By doing this it makes distribution easier when serving and if you don’t have a scale, it makes for easier visualisation. Once you’ve done this you can start to dish out the food! Don’t forget to let the food cool down before you put them in the fridge/ freezer.
TIPS!
Buy a scale! This will allow you to be more accurate in your food distribution to ensure that each meal is the same. This is also very useful for this who want to stick to their Macros. This stands for Macronutrients and focuses on the percentage of carbs, fats, and protein for your diet within your calorie needs. If you’re a beginner, you may not care about these as it’s more for those who are taking their preparation more seriously (for a competition or specific goal). If you’re interested in finding out about macros or calories tailored to you, you can e-mail me for more information.
Bulk buy your food: This is usually cheaper and a lot less packaging to deal with.
Consider investing in a rice cooker and a slow cooker/steamer! These are really helpful if you want to do things around the home and don’t want to be in the kitchen all the time. You can put in your rice and let it do all the work. You can steam your vegetables in peace and it will help speed up the process by allowing you to cook more at once.
Roasting vegetables. Again this may help with speeding up the process as you can put all the vegetables in one tray and leave it to bake for a set time. You can enjoy a cuppa in the meantime whilst all your veg gets cooked at once!
Use the microwave to speed things up! Now hear me out! I’m not saying cook your food in the microwave but there are a lot of handy things that will help. You can use the defrost settings to defrost any meats you have before preparing and cooking (who has time to wait?). Use the microwave to par-boil things like potatoes and carrots. 10 minutes in the microwave on full will help massively.
Use boiling water instead of cooking! I’m not a fan of using frozen vegetables but frozen peas I’ll make an exception for! I found that if you boil water then add the frozen peas and let them sit for 10 mins, they taste fresher, are firmer and can be stored for longer! There’s no need to put the hob on and you don’t overcook them either! Win-win.
Use freezer bags. This is a tip for those prepping every few days! If you prepare all your meats on say the Sunday, you can then put these in the freezer in portion sizes to speed up the process mid-week. Not only that, but you’ll save yourself the time of seasoning and it will have had more time to marinate. This can also be applied if you have spare meat. Save it for another day!
Make a note of the meals that store better! Some meals have a better shelf life than others and some foods aren’t so great once unfrozen. For example, cooked mushrooms as a side have a shorter shelf life so you want to eat those meals in the first 2 days once in the fridge. Things like roasted potatoes don’t really unfreeze well since they come out a little soggy.
I’d say have them only if you plan on storing it in the fridge or you plan to eat these meals in your first few days. You’ll find your dislikes and preferences as you do it more regularly so keep note along the way! You’ll hate yourself if you bulk again with foods you didn’t like the first time around so it’s always good to remember!
Finally, I get asked a lot about how long food lasts. Generally, food can last 3-4 days in the fridge before starting to go bad so I always advise clients to keep the first three days in the fridge and put any extra in the freezer. E.g: if you have 3 meals a day, only leave out 9 meals and put the rest in the freezer. Once you’ve completed a day, take out another three and put it in the fridge to allow for a slow defrost.
I hope this helps! Happy Prepping!
Liz x