How to meal prep // The meal prep process from A-Z
I’m a huge proponent of meal prep. I’ve found that it’s the only way I’m able to consistently cook and eat nutrient dense, high quality meals without getting burned out. Instead of cooking daily, I meal prep on the weekend and heat up my pre-prepared lunch and dinner meals during the week.
Through trial and error I’ve landed on picking two meals to meal prep for the week. This feels manageable, which is the key to consistency. Does this mean I eat the same meal for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday? Yes, however the convenience and efficacy of this system greatly outweigh the repetitiveness. There’s nothing better than getting hungry and being able to pop a pre-prepared healthy meal into the microwave (in a glass Tupperware to avoid BPA’s leeching into our food), ready to eat in less than 3 minutes. This system helps avoid overeating or choosing unhealthy foods to eat when hangry. It also frees up mental space from daily thoughts of “what’s for lunch/dinner?” and saves physical energy by eliminating daily cooking.
Here’s the process:
– Pick 2 meals on Wednesday
(see my post on how to find whole-food, protein & veggie-centered meal prep recipes online here)
– Grocery shop after work either Thursday or Friday
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(or schedule a grocery pick up/delivery for even more efficiency)
– Chop veggies on Friday
– Cook on Saturday or Sunday, or split the cooking between the two days
(whatever fits the schedule that weekend)
In total between chopping, cooking AND clean up, the whole process usually takes about 3–4 hours. And if you chop veggies/meat Friday night and have it ready to be cooked Saturday/Sunday, it’s about 2–3 hours of cooking and clean up combined.
I don’t meal prep breakfasts regularly since I drink smoothies for breakfast 90% of the time. If I change it up and decide to meal prep breakfast, I keep it simple: overnight oats or egg muffins.
I leave the weekends unplanned and we eat leftovers and fun meals. We love toast with eggs and turkey bacon or waffles for brunch. For an easy meal we’ll heat up a Costco cauliflower pizza or chicken tenders. We usually cook one fun, more time intensive dinner on the weekend too — homemade pizza, steak, or a yummy pasta dish.
That’s my meal prep process in a nutshell. It’s gone through different iterations in the past and I’m sure it’ll change in the future, but for now it’s working!
If you like this post and would like to check out more from me, head on over to my blog Cachingup.com.
