My Top 2 Simple, Time-Saving Methods to Meal Prep Like a Champ
For many, many years, I struggled with what I call “recipe fatigue”.
In my early years of making a conscious effort to eat healthily, I ate the same foods over and over and over again. I did this because I knew they were nutritious foods, I knew how to make them, and I knew it didn’t take much time to throw together. It boiled down to the fact there wasn’t much chance of screwing it up and I liked the foods. But, after a while, I started to get bored with my meals, to the point that my body didn’t crave any of those foods anymore. I didn’t use a lot of seasonings nor was I creative in how I made them (roasting vs sauteeing) and they began to taste bland and unsatisfying. This, friends, is recipe fatigue.
I bet you’ve been there. Maybe you're there now! Sure, you’ve made some killer recipes and there are some foods that you could eat for the rest of your life and not get tired of. I get that. Sweet potatoes are one food I think I could eat often and not get tired of! The thing is, our body was meant to consume different foods because different foods mean different nutrients. This is where meal prepping comes in handy! Prepping my meals was a game-changer for me (especially after I got married) and if you give it a chance, it can be for you too!
Reasons to Meal Prep
It saves you time in the kitchen and gives you more time during the week to do other things.
You spend less time thinking of what you need to make which reduces stress.
It provides variety and flexibility.
It is customizable making it easy to please even the pickiest of eaters.
It saves you money.
What to Buy
Nutrient-dense foods, whole foods that are local and in season. If you can, visit a local farmer’s market for in-season foods or look into doing a CSA to source and support local!
Grass-fed beef, pasture-raised eggs and poultry, wild-caught seafood, sprouted nuts and seeds, organic fruits and veggies, legumes (beans), and grains.
What to Avoid
Conventional meats, fruits, and veggies.
Conventional meats have added antibiotics and hormones because these animals aren't treated properly, they live in poor conditions, and they aren’t fed what they were biologically designed to eat. Conventional fruits and veggies are sprayed with toxins and chemicals to keep them fresh, but in actuality these chemicals destroy the nutrient density of the soil, leading to malnourished fruits and veggies and toxic skins. NO THANK YOU. Please be mindful of the food you buy and know where it comes from.
Foods with preservatives, added colors, added sugars, etc. (pre-packaged items)
Processed sugar and refined carbohydrates
Pre-made sauces and dressing when possible. If it helps to buy pre-made sauces and dressings, I recommend Primal Foods and Yellowbird Sauces.
On to meal prepping! There are many different ways to meal prep, but I’ve found two methods that I’ve found work really well –
Batch cooking and Recipe planning
For either method, you pick one day and set aside 1- 2 hours to prep everything. If you need to break it up, go for it! When I first got married, I meal prepped for an hour on Sunday and then set aside another 30 minutes to an hour halfway through the week to create meals for W- Fri. This is what worked for me during that time. Meal prepping is so customizable – that’s what I love about it. You do what works best with your schedule and the season you are in!
Now, I typically pick a Saturday or Sunday to batch cook and/ or recipe plan. Ideally, it is best to do it before your scheduled grocery store day so you know exactly what you need to get when you go. This not only makes your week more efficient but your grocery trips too. However, if don’t have a planned grocery store day, that’s ok! Again, do what works best for you.
Method 1 – Batch Cooking
This is my favorite method. Batch cooking gives me the ability to mix and match my meals. Essentially, I make 1-2 proteins for the week, 1-2 sheet pans of veggies, and 1-2 carbohydrates sources, plus snacks. Then I simply divide everything up into separate containers and I’m ready to go for the week! Here’s an example of my current batch cooking:
One pound of ground organic turkey or grass-fed beef – cooked in the cast iron
Around one pound of pre-cooked organic sausage or deli meat (nitrate/ nitrate and hormone-free)
One sheet pan of roasted sweet potatoes (we do regular potatoes sometimes)
Two sheet pans of mixed roasted veggies
Washed leafy greens, stored in a glass container
1- 2 cups of brown rice or quinoa – soaked for at least 7 hours and then cooked in the instant pot (lasts 4–5 days in the fridge or up to 1 month in the freezer)
Overnight oats or paleo muffins
Snacks:
Chopped veggies or spiralized raw veggies like zucchini, carrots, and celery
Energy balls – check out my ginger citrus energy bites for inspiration
How to Mix + Match
Bases: leafy greens, rice/ quinoa, potatoes
Roasted veggies: Pair with eggs for a simple breakfast and then toss some over a salad with some ground beef or quinoa for a not-so-sad lunch.
Ground beef or turkey: Throw in a bowl with sautéed veggies and roasted sweet potatoes or rice for lunch. Pair with zoodles and extra virgin olive oil or marinara for a grain-free pasta dish for dinner.
Sausage: pair with scrambled eggs and potatoes to make a breakfast scramble or heat up with veggies for a quick dinner.
Turkey slices: wrap in lettuce or grain-free wraps with a side of potatoes or veggies.
Chopped carrots and celery: Have with nut butter or hummus for a snack. If you haven’t tried carrots and nut butter, you need to. Trust me.
*These are just a handful of examples. There are many other ways to mix and match your prepped food!
Method 2 – Recipe Planning
This is pretty straight-forward but effective. The difference between this method and batch cooking is you’re creating specific meals for the week. You take the recipes you’ve created and spread them throughout the week so you aren’t eating the same thing everyday. Pretty great, right?! If you rather just prep the items you’ll need to make the recipes ahead of time, such as chopping the veggies or prepping the sauce, that will be helpful and time-saving. If you make a recipe for later in the week, you can always freeze it if you’re worried it will go bad.
I batch cook our breakfasts, lunches, and snacks, but I recipe plan our dinners. If there's a recipe that takes a little more prep than I’d like, Vance will help prep the ingredients the night before so it’s easier for me to throw together the next day.
The weekends are unplanned unless we are having friends/ family over or are traveling out of town. The only exception is on Sundays we usually throw something together in the slow cooker or instant pot so we have an easy dinner and leftovers for 2 or 3 other dinners during the week. This way I only need to plan 2- 3 dinners for the week as opposed to 5 or 6 dinners!
What do I do when I don’t have time to meal prep?
I try to buy an organic or pasture-raised rotisserie chicken, wild-caught tuna, nuts and seeds, fresh greens, raw veggies, fruits, full-fat yogurt, clean bars (Epic meat bars, Lara bars, Rx bars) and/ or hummus to make meals in a pinch. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow, but you can still eat nutritious foods even if they aren’t prepped ahead of time – it just takes more effort and intentionality.
Pro tips
Choose the method that works best for you.
This will help you to knock it out efficiently and enjoy the rest of your time with family and friends. Modify where you need to. If you’re a recovering perfectionist like me, set a timer and whatever you don’t finish can be done on a different day or during the week.
Switch up your spices and dressings, as well as your proteins, veggies, and fruits.
This will help prevent boredom with your food.
Have fun with it.
Play music or a podcast while you cook, get your family involved or your roommate, dance while you cook, etc.
Ask for help.
Including the family, especially children, will make the experience more fun and rewarding. Studies have shown that getting people involved in making their food increases their openness to trying new foods, increases their appreciation of the time and effort that went into making the food, and creates a more satisfying dining experience (think savoring vs scarfing down food).
Try not to prep food on the same day you go grocery shopping unless that's your jam (see what I did there?).
Grocery shopping is enjoyable to some and exhausting to others, especially if you have kids along for the ride or are pressed for time. Spread it out so you aren’t spent in the kitchen or indoors all day long.
Last but not least – give yourself grace. This can be overwhelming and it will take time, but you can do this! Play around with meal-prepping until you find what works best for you. I am a great resource if you need me :)
And if you’d like to save even more money on some of your staple kitchen items, like granola and creamer, check out this post.