Prep For Beginners
Most of us are pretty busy in our day-to-day lives. Next, divide the food into meal-sized containers and individual snack packs. If you want to be super organised you can put each of the ingredients in a container to pull out each morning, ready to go. I would chop the mushrooms and portion out my spinach earlier and then cook fresh on the day.
In this easy meal prep guide, we will show you how spending some time preparing all the vital ingredients you need, to cook your meals, will help you get healthy food on the table in minutes. Research shows a link between the amount time of people spend on prepping food at home and the quality of their diet.
As I mentioned above, meal prep—basically cooking off certain foods ahead of time so you don't have to do it when you're busy, starving, or tired (e.g., after work on a Wednesday)—is a fantastic way to keep a healthy diet on track. There are SO many different options when it comes to meals that can be prepped ahead of time, but I like to focus on things that are either simple to make and freezer-friendly OR basics.
If you are new to cooking, cutting vegetables will probably be the most time consuming step for you. As I mentioned before, if you are new to the meal prep concept I would recommend preparing a few days' meals at a time. My goal today is to simplify this process, give you some ideas on how to start meal prepping.
When it's time to eat, you'll be glad to never have the hungry feeling when you get back to your apartment at the end of the day and need to figure out dinner. Figure out how many meals you need to Meal Prep for Beginners cook by multiplying the number of meals per day that you're preparing times the number of days you're cooking for times the number of people in your household.
Otherwise, I recommend you stick to preparing no more than 4 days' worth of lunches at a time. Unless you are a hardcore clean eater, cooking up 5 pounds of plain chicken breast and steamed broccoli probably won't float your boat. Secondly, pay attention to food groups and portion size to get the most out of your meal prep.
If you're interested in less-hectic mealtimes, saving time in the kitchen or making healthier food choices—you need to try meal prepping. That's why I suggest that you start off small and focus on prepping just one meal per week. Prepare only your lunches or dinners for the next three to four days.
A common misconception about meal prepping is that it gets boring very quickly. In order for your meal prep to work you need to know what you are cooking and when. When shopping for your meals, choose foods that can be easily stored in a fridge or freezer to keep them fresh and ready to grab ‘n' go.
I typically do recipe testing during the week and then prepping for our own household meals on Sundays. First and foremost, when starting out, don't try and make ahead your entire weekly menu plan. Pick a separate time other than your cook day to get the shopping done if you need to. If you keep a well-stocked pantry , it easier to focus on shopping for vegetables, meats and other perishables.
For those of us who get sick of eating the same thing day after day, another approach is to meal prep portions of recipes that you'll make during the week to save you time on weekdays. Since we'll be storing this meal, we don't want to cook the vegetables completely through or they'll be super mushy when we reheat them later.