I want to start off by saying that even when I had an ingredient delivery service (I used SunBasket, it is similar to Hello Fresh and Blue Apron), my fridge never looked like this:
Granted, I wish it did. But I value my weekend too much to spend hours cooking. Therefore I do a much more condensed version of meal prep. While, yes I agree my ideas are not some revolutionary thing- but they work for me and I always have food to eat the next day. Below I am going to list some tips that I think have helped me through the past few months on how I prep my food for the week. Sorry if you thought this was gonna have recipes… I don’t have time for those food photographing shenanigans. Food bloggers y’all get some mad props on that one.
- Make a weekly dinner plan on a Monday-Friday planner, and make a list for the store. Don’t wing it.
- I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a list when you go to the store. I used to not to this and I always ended up over buying or under buying and it was a pain having to go back to the grocery store for more ingredients when I already was short on time. In order to know what ingredients you need, you need to plan your meals. This brings us to the next tip.
- When planning your weeks meals plan for 6 rather than 10.
- This one may seem weird. Most people think meal prep and think, great I have to make 10 meals on Sunday night so that I have lunch and dinner for every day of the week. Or at least thats what I thought. Wrong. Want to hear my revolutionary idea? Eat your leftovers for lunch. Rocket science, right? It may seem like common sense, but you may not realize that when you are cooking dinner the night before, that you should be making more than you will consume that night. If there are two of us eating, I make enough for three. If there is just me, I make enough for two. There ya have it, minimal cooking and no extra time wasted!
- Use Pinterest as a meal planning service.
- You may or may not know that you can make a secret board on Pinterest. Why make it secret? Well I like to do this so that it’s just my business and I’m not clogging people’s feeds with what I’m eating that week. But when you are planning your meals for the week make a “Week of ___” board on Pinterest and pin all your meals to that board. That way you don’t have to go through your “Food I Want To Someday Make But Probably Never Will” board and you have all the recipes right in front of you. This makes it easy to jot down all those ingredients on a list to accomplish Tip #1!
- Cook your grains/starches on Sunday, but don’t cook your meat.
- This is a trial-and-error tip for me. I used to cook all of my meat and grains on Sunday. You know what happened? When Friday came around it was no longer fresh and heating it up toughened it up. Grains however are easy to heat up and are easy to make also. Throw some quinoa in a pot (and boil it in Chicken Broth… gives it so much more flavor) and you are good to go- now you have quinoa for any recipe.
- Extra lil tip for ya regarding quinoa. Quinoa is a great source of protein, yes I know you already knew that but I’m telling you again, and it doesn’t have a ton of flavor. So if you aren’t feeling meat one day on your kale salad (which I recommend this recipe it’s amazing) then throw some quinoa in it. It adds a little crunch and some extra protein. Okay, I’m done stating the obvious.
- This is a trial-and-error tip for me. I used to cook all of my meat and grains on Sunday. You know what happened? When Friday came around it was no longer fresh and heating it up toughened it up. Grains however are easy to heat up and are easy to make also. Throw some quinoa in a pot (and boil it in Chicken Broth… gives it so much more flavor) and you are good to go- now you have quinoa for any recipe.
- Using steak? Undercook it.
- Yeah you read that right. While I am aware that most of us know that meat continues to cook when you “let it rest” after you take it off of heat, you should take it out even sooner than you would prior to the resting phase. Why? I’m so glad you asked! When you throw it in the microwave at the office the next day for a minute- it’s going to cook even more and get more tough… Ew, right? So undercook that sucker.. But like don’t leave it too undercooked and contract food borne illness, like still be smart about it.
- Make your coffee/tea the night before work.
- I don’t like/drink coffee so I haven’t personally tried this with coffee (it works great with tea!), but you know what I do like? That’s right, sleep. I love sleep so much I stopped wearing makeup to work so that I can get even MORE sleep. That is dedication, and also why you never see photos of me at work… Anyway, making it the night prior and heating it up, or drinking it iced (because let’s be real its 1,000 degrees out), will save you a couple minutes and allow you more time in bed. Music to my ears.
- Pack snacks and plan an eating schedule.
- Another revolutionary idea here. While eating your leftovers sounds good in theory, sometimes you need something more. Insert fun snacks. Since I get to work in the morning and don’t get home until dinner-time, I like to space out my meals so I don’t get too hungry or eat my main course too early in the day. I get to work at 10 and leave at 6 and my schedule is as follows (and can be adjusted for your personal schedule easily):
- 9/9:30 AM: Eat breakfast (usually a smoothie in the car)
- Noon: Eat 1st Snack
- 2 PM: Eat lunch
- 4 PM: Eat 2nd snack
- 6:30 PM: Eat 3rd snack (usually a granola bar in the car)
- 7:30 PM: Eat dinner
- I know it may seem like my meals are weirdly spaced. But that is how it works for me. I usually always bring fruit as my first snack, chips or crackers or something similar for my second, and a granola bar for my last.
- Another revolutionary idea here. While eating your leftovers sounds good in theory, sometimes you need something more. Insert fun snacks. Since I get to work in the morning and don’t get home until dinner-time, I like to space out my meals so I don’t get too hungry or eat my main course too early in the day. I get to work at 10 and leave at 6 and my schedule is as follows (and can be adjusted for your personal schedule easily):
- Prep breakfast smoothies and drink them in the car.
- I watched this super awesome video on how to convert your mason jars into a mini blender and have since been obsessed. I prep 2 jars and then re-prep when those are used and pop them in the freezer and make them right before I leave. This saves me breakfast time, keeps me healthy (I add unflavored Pea Protein), and lets me sleep longer, which as you’ve read is what makes me the happiest. (Disclaimer: be careful with what blender you use and what mason jar you use!)
Well I hope you loved all of my super fresh and new meal prep tips!
Sorry if you have literally heard every single one of these and hate that you took that long to get to the end. Anyhoo, I hope this helps as you start your week tomorrow! I’m going to get back to not meal prepping because I’m lazy and Friends is on TV…
xoxo,
Savannah Jayne
P.S. If you want more posts like this let me know in the comments! 🙂
Disclaimer: the example photo and gif do not belong to me.
Only fair to share!
1 COMMENT
Shelley Cook
7 years agoLove!!!