By: Sue Pasqual
I think it’s fair to say that everyone loves to eat, but not everyone loves to process it takes to conjure up a delicious and nutritious meal. It may seem like a challenge, especially at the beginning – but, these Find Your Fit tips for meal prep and planning help make it easy and cut some of the time & effort!
Meal Planning:
Set Aside a Time to Prep
Just like everything else, you must make time for it. Cooking after a busy workday can be challenging if you aren’t prepared, meal prep and planning ahead of time will make those workday dinners much easier & more manageable! It’s one of the best tips for meal prep and planning there is.
My first piece of advice is to take some time on your day off to think about what your week looks like.
- Do you have some days longer and later than others?
- Do you rush out the door more on certain days because you linger in bed longer than you should?
Taking all of these things into account will help you determine when you can prep for upcoming meals. Once you have a good idea, make sure you mark it on your calendar so that nothing else eats up that valuable time!
Find Foods You Want to Make
Next, I would search for some recipes you actually want to make. Our site is a great resource for many easy and delicious recipes, and so are our social media pages!
When deciding which recipes to add to the list, be sure to take into account your busier days. If you work late on Thursday evenings, it makes more sense to find something that requires less time, especially because you’ll be hungry!
Double (or Triple!) Up
Another tip for meal prep and planning is to consider how many people you will be cooking for. Sometimes, you’ll have to double or triple the recipe and you want to make sure you have the ingredients you need.
Speaking of, doubling or tripling a recipe is a great idea to save yourself some time in the future! You’ll have plenty of leftovers whether it be for lunch the following day or to toss in the freezer for a quick meal.
Meal Prep:
Now, the preparation. Once you’ve got your recipes & ingredients, it’s time to make use of that time you’ve blocked off for meal prep!
Prep Protein in Bulk
If you know you’ll be grilling chicken for dinner Tuesday night, go ahead and plan to use that same protein Wednesday and Thursday for lunch. That simple step can save you 30 minutes the next time you’re dreading turning that oven on & you’ll have no excuses to order out!
Make Time to Marinate
Adding a marinade to the mix? Make sure you’ve got your chicken (or whichever food you’re using) defrosted & sealed in a bag a day or two before your meal prep day. That way you know it’s ready to go when you are & it’ll have plenty of time to soak up that flavor.
Make Salads To-Go
If you bring a chopped salad to work for lunch, be sure to chop up all of the greens and vegetables at the beginning of the week! Create a few day’s worth of salads, then divide the remaining veggies into sealable grab-and-go containers. It’s also helpful to pour your salad dressing into smaller containers and tuck it right into your salad!
These tips for meal prep and planning mean that the process can be a cinch! All it takes is a little time to think ahead and be prepared!
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