How I Meal Prep…
Want to know what the key to easy meal prep is? Just do something! I always tell athletes and clients that it doesn’t have to be all or none. There’s no wrong way to meal prep if you are trying, but there might be some helpful tips here to make it more efficient! The goal of meal prep is always to cook once but eat all week. Planning ahead a little and meal prepping helps you stay within a budget, helps with portion control and can help you stick with a healthy eating routine.
My first step in meal prepping is to create a master list of my go-to’s, favorites…my tried and true recipes that I know I like, the whole family will eat, and that I’ve made before. This is a great start so that you aren’t making a bunch of new things that end up flopping, because if that happens, you lose your momentum and it certainly doesn’t make you want to try meal prepping again!
From my master list, I look at what’s seasonal. For example, I don’t usually make a black bean chili in the middle of summer or a watermelon salad in the middle of winter. Next, I look at what I have on-hand. There’s no sense in going out and buying all new groceries when you can use what you have and waste less while saving money. I typically have some proteins in the freezer (chicken, salmon, shrimp, and ground turkey), grains like rice and quinoa in the pantry, and either fresh or frozen veggies. This is a great start to a hearty and healthy meal.
Meal Prepping for a client who was participating in the MR340 rowing race.
Once I know what I have on hand, I decide what I’m making for the following week. I typically try to meal prep two dinners, cut up veggies/wash fruit (except for berries), boil eggs, grill extra chicken or fish, roast some potatoes/sweet potatoes, and maybe make some breakfast farm sausage or uncured bacon, which I can throw in other dishes like egg bites later if needed. If I don’t have any salad dressing handy, I will make a batch of homemade Ranch for the kids and a balsamic vinaigrette for us adults.
I try to do this on a Sunday but many times it ends up being on Monday after the kids have gone to school. As long as it’s towards the beginning of the week so you are prepared, it can be whatever day works best for you and when you will do it! Speaking of preparing, I try to coordinate this with my calendar for the week. If the kids have practices or games, I try to use the meal prep for those nights when we need something fast and ready to go. One night a week, we’ll cook together, and then usually one night a week we end up eating out.
Overnight oats and yogurt parfaits are a great meal prep breakfast option.
Sometimes, having a theme works and is fun for the kids. Meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, Wing Wednesdays, Try Something New Thursdays, and Fish Fridays. This can help direct your menu and meal planning. Putting your recipes in a cycle menu can really simplify things as well. A cycle menu is a series of menus that is repeated over a period of time, usually every four weeks. This allows for variety but you aren’t having to reinvent the wheel every month! If you make a cycle menu for each season or for each quarter, you’ve meal planned for the whole year and then it’s just a matter of putting it into action.
Using subscriptions like Sunbasket, Green Chef, or Blue Apron can make it easier on you because your menu is planned for you, ingredients are delivered and all you have to do is follow instructions and cook. I’ve also enjoyed using emeals (https://emeals.com/) to help menu plan. You choose the “diet” such as Mediterranean, Low Carbohydrate, Slow Cooker, Vegetarian, etc. and then they send you a weeks menu with all the recipes and the grocery lists. Easy Peasy. Using Pinterest is helpful too. I have a culinary board of recipes I want to try but I also have a “keepers” board that I put those recipes in that I’ve made and was a hit! You really just have to figure out what system works best for you. Choosing a process that is practical and realistic is the one that you will stick with.
“A failure to plan is a plan to fail.”
In my program, I have a handout on “Easy Meal Prep” where it breaks down meal prepping in each macronutrient category (Carbs, Proteins, and Fats). Meal prep doesn’t even have to be actual meals, it can just be prepping food but if you don’t know what to do with the food once it’s prepped, it could defeat the purpose altogether.
