Meal Prep Tips (Pt 2)

Last week I gave you a couple tips to start meal planning and prepping,which is especially important if you have kids in school and you need to plan efficient breakfasts, packed lunches, and after-school snacks. 

Even though it's a holiday, I'm always going to advocate that you do something that makes life somehow easier or better for Future You. 


Prep As Much As Possible In Advance

The most time-consuming part of cooking, other than scrolling through the entire life history of whoever wrote the recipe just to get to the ingredients, is usually chopping and other prep. 

Get it done in advance if you can, so you have ready-to-use fruits and vegetables throughout the week. 

Cook an entire package of chicken, beef, pork, etc. to use in meals throughout the week. Similarly, you can roast, grill, or bake vegetables in bulk and prepare large portions of rice or pasta at once to cut down on meal assembly times during the week. 

If you can't or don't want to cook in bulk, you can also double recipes to have as leftovers or lunches, or freeze them for future meals. 


Keep it Quick & Easy

There is no shame in the pre-packaged meal game!

Relying on pre-washed, pre-cut, pre-portioned, and pre-seasoned options from the grocery store is a fantastic way to reduce the time you have to spend getting meals on the table. 

Frozen vegetables and grains are also great choices for providing nutritious dishes at a low cost with minimal cook time, as are heat-and-eat proteins like pre-cooked chicken and sausage. 

Meal delivery kits that provide ingredients and recipes or fully cooked meals, if they fit in your budget, are also options for keeping meal planning and prep quick and easy. 

When in doubt, focus on simplicity: a protein, a carbohydrate, and a vegetable are the building blocks of a nutritious meal, and if you can check those boxes most of the time, you'll be good to go.


If it seems like a hassle, remember you're doing it to make your life easier tomorrow morning, or a lunchtime, or sometime later this week, and Future You will thank you for it!