Meal Prepping 101

I would say this is the HOTTEST topic for anyone who is trying to live a healthy lifestyle, right?! I mean, by meal prepping you: 1. stay on your healthy eating habits 2. save money 3. save time 4. reduce the amount of questions you ask yourself every time you are hungry

When I started my 24 day challenge I was determined to meal prep to have a successful week and not be tempted to cheat everyday. I am also not a cook, so meal prepping has pushed me to cook easy meals. If you are looking for something to help you stop making poor eating choices, and don't have time to cook, meal prepping is for YOU! Meal prepping is definitely something that takes practice and time. I had attempted it in the past and got discouraged the second time I tried to meal prep because I wasn't mentally prepared, nor thinking about efficient ways to meal prep. I have discovered some tips and tricks to meal prep that I hope will help you as you perfect your meal-prep craft!

Tip #1: Get the right tools!

My first mistake in meal prepping was assuming that I had enough materials, because that's pretty basic, right? WRONG! You don't realize how many tupperware you need until you start prepping and get to Tuesday and realize that you are out of containers...womp, womp! I have found that an assorted pack of 34 is enough to get you through three (3) days. If you have additional tupperware, that is always a plus. Now, quality is huge! It is worth to spend the extra few bucks to get the snapping tupperware because your food doesn't spill and make a mess (this also happened to me several times) and make you wanna cry because you have to clean it. These packs will also have larger containers that you will need to store the extra food you cooked for later on in the week.

In addition to tupperware you will need ziplock bags. I like two sizes: sandwich and snack bags. You are able to tailor your bag size to the amount of food that you are packing.

I do not want to get into how you cook, but you will definitely need measuring cups and spoons to ensure you are packing the appropriate portions. 

Tip #2: Make a meal plan

In order to know what you will be buying and preparing, you should have a meal plan for the week. This will allow you to not only buy the right things, but buy the right amount of things. Make sure you check your fridge and pantry for inventory so you don't end up with the wrong amount of food. 

Tip #3: Setup according to your plan

Set out your tupperware on a table or counter to reflect your daily meals. This will make it easy to just fill each container quickly and not get lost, or end up using too many of one size containers, when you should have been using another (yes, that happened to me too!).

Tip #4: Order of Operations

Remember PEMDAS from elementary math? Well, meal prepping also has an order of operations! I have discovered that the easiest way to prep is to:

1. Defrost the protein. These take a few rounds of hot water (if it isn't that you defrosted them beforehand), so I suggest you start there.

2. Pre-heat the oven: Personally, I like to start pre-heating my oven to the suggested temperature. By doing this, I don't need to wait for it to pre-heat after my protein is thawed. Thawing and pre-heating takes about the same amount of time.

3. If you are cooking rice, start it now! 

4. Cook your veggies. Determine how much of each veggie you will need per day and start cooking them. Harder veggies like carrots, broccoli and asparagus take longer to soften, so consider those first. 

5. Prep your fruits and veggies: If you are going to use fruits and veggies later in the week that do not need to be cooked, wash and cut those up and put them away. By doing this, you can just grab-and-go during the week, and BAM, no failure!

6. Cook your proteins: If there are some proteins that are not going into the oven, cook them!

7. Cook your other carbs

8. Get all your snacks and pack them up in the appropriate size ziplock bags for the whole week.

Tip #5: Fill

As you go along through the process, fill in containers with things as they finish getting cooked. This will avoid an overload of food at the end, and will also allow you to cook more, as needed. Have FUN making your tupperware look beautiful!

Tip #6: Store

Personally, I only like to prep for 3 days at a time. My two meal pre days are Sunday and Wednesday. Sundays I grocery shop for the whole week, and wash all veggies/fruits for the week. I only actually cook and prep for Monday through Wednesday. Wednesday night I prep for Thursday-Saturday. This avoids food going bad, or stinking (in my opinion). Sundays I prep for about 2-2.5 hours, Wednesdays I prep for 1-2 hours. Wednesdays is obviously shorter because I prepped all my veggies and snacks on Sunday. I like it this way because I am very busy in the week, and prefer to have more time on Wednesday. 

When I put the food in the fridge, I put Wednesday's food in the back, then Tuesday's, then Monday's. This allows me to stay on track with my plan and ensure that, if I packed something that is perishable, I eat it on time and don't waste food. 

I hope these tips have helped you with your weekly plan! :) Do you have any tips and tricks I am missing? Leave your comments below!

If you have any questions, email me at: ginajarias@yahoo.com | livelikeachampion.net