by Dictionary Scoop
Are you trying to save money and time? Do you also want to eat healthier and make the process easier and smoother? Meal-prepping will help you achieve all these goals at the same time.
Meal prep is an increasingly common practice that consists of preparing key ingredients of a dish, or several dishes, in advance. Why? To plan meals ahead that will ultimately lead to faster, healthier, and stress-free eating.
To fully get you on board with meal prep we have brought five benefits of converting to this practice and five tips to become an expert:
1-Save money
How does it work? In general, when we improvise our meals, that is, when we don’t have a clear plan or vision, we cannot make smart choices at the grocery shop. As a consequence, when we decide what to eat on the spot, we will probably notice that we are lacking a certain ingredient and be forced to go to the local shop to get it.
That way, we end up spending more money than we could have spent planning our meals and getting all the ingredients (or at least most of them) at the wholesale supermarket, for example.
If you are a bit skeptical on this point, you are welcome to implement this technique for two weeks and see how much money you can save for yourself.
2-Save time
This goes without saying, if you have to go to the store every time before you start cooking, you will be losing time and energy you could have spent on the process of cooking itself. Losing time ultimately leads to less elaborate meals which, most times, means less quality ones.
On the other hand, preparing ingredients saves time during busy weekdays by reducing cooking and cleaning time daily. This allows you to spend more time actually enjoying a nutritious meal rather than just spending time preparing it.
3-You make healthier choices
When you are planning a meal on the go your mind will probably go to the easiest and cheapest meals, the least elaborate ones. On a long-term basis, this could be quite detrimental to your family’s health.
The relationship between healthy meals and how elaborate they are is not as linear as one may think, but raising awareness on what you eat will lead you to make smarter choices in terms of health and nutrients. You will be in control over the ingredients, and the portion sizes, leading to healthier habits.
4-Reduce food waste
If you plan your meals ahead of time and think about the portions you will have in a day, or better yet a week, food waste will definitely get to the bare minimum.
Food waste is not the same as leftovers which can be eaten at night or taken to work on the following day. But, let’s face it, would you save a pre-made meal you haven’t spent much time or money on? Probably not.
5-Reduced stress
In today’s fast-paced world, just thinking about what to eat can make your stress levels skyrocket. Meal planning takes that worry out of sight and out of mind.
When you take only one day (probably on the weekend) to plan your meals in advance and get as much as you can ready, you will feel lighter. Next Wednesday, when you come home worn out from work, you will just have to microwave your dish and enjoy it. A healthy and tasty meal in just a couple of minutes!
Now, if you are convinced and want to give meal prep a chance, these are four tips for you:
6-Cook in batches
Of course, the first step is to sit down, think about ten or fifteen dishes you want to make, and get all the ingredients. The second step is actually getting those dishes ready if the recipe allows you, or at least most of them.
Batch cooking consists of cooking bigger amounts of just one ingredient, for example, rice, to use in four different dishes. Batch cooking can also include cutting and slicing all the vegetables as well. You will get one ingredient ready and that will complete as many dishes as you require.
7-Keep it simple
Simple, in this case, means following straightforward recipes and cooking techniques to save time. Meal prep doesn’t account for dishes that involve a two-hour boiling or three different kinds of sauteing.
Use simple, but nutritious ingredients. If you have any doubts, consult your doctor about which particular nutrient you will benefit from. For example, if you work out every day, you will probably need more proteins, so boiling legumes would be part of meal-prepping.
8-Label and date
Labels will become your best friend. Keep track of freshness and easily identify the meals in your fridge.
When we cook in batches or meal prep some ingredients, especially if we stick to our routine, we tend to forget when we bought or got some things ready. So, label and write the dates on the containers you used to prevent food from going bad. Nobody wants a smelly fridge in the kitchen, let alone wasting food!
9-Freeze, freeze, freeze
We lied, labels are not your best friends, the freezer is! Get used to freezing whole dishes and even individual ingredients. Everything can be frozen and, in turn, defrosted. No, it doesn’t change the taste, in any case, it enhances it!
Again, there is nothing like coming home, taking a container from the freezer, microwaving it for ten minutes as you lie on the couch, and then enjoying a fully nutritious and homemade meal.
Once you have developed the habit of batch cooking and meal prepping you will never go back to impromptu cooking.
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