Learning how to meal prep will save you time, money, and make it easier to cook healthy dinners even when you are busy.
Meal planning helps ensure that you don’t buy things at the grocery store you don’t need, and pre-prepped food is more likely to get eaten. It is also easier to eat healthy meals since the menu gets set in advance. The process and ending result makes you less likely to choose a not-so-great option when you already have a healthy dinner at home, ready and waiting for you!
So….all of this sounds wonderful, right? However, it’s also hard trying to figure out where to start. There are a few different ways to meal prep, but all the food preparation methods involve organizing the food in your fridge in a way that makes for easy meals. There’s no one way to do it, but three common techniques are the following:
BATCH COOKING: This thought process is centered on making a whole lot of a single something. This is great for calorie counting and for “sticking to a given health plan”.
INDIVIDUAL MEAL SERVINGS: This options allows for some variety. While a protein portion might stay the same, there can be some variance in sauces and sides.
PREPPING/INGREDIENTS: If you are a chef at heart, this is a great path for you. With pre-prepped ingredients, weeknight meals will still be an option but a huge prep step is taken out!
Need some meal inspo? While social media is flooding with options, the following are some open options that pack big flavor and nutrients at the same time:
- Mediterranean Bowls: Packed with mega health benefactors and visuals appealing, these bowls are a great beginner bowl option that keeps for quite a few days.
- Sausage + Veggies: For the cook that doesn’t want to mess up her kitchen, this one-pan meal is flavor-forward and protein packed.
- Vegetarian Dish: These sweet and spicy chili tofu bowls are full of flavor, easy to make, and healthy! They’re great for a quick and easy vegan dinner.
- Greek Goddess: Perfect for lunch or dinner, this salad is tossed with oil, vinegar, and lemon juice to give it a fresh and zippy flavor.
- Mexi Bowls: These are gluten-free and only take about 30 minutes to put together. A yummy little fiesta in a
