Meal prepping is something that everyone knows about, but not everyone has had the opportunity to try. It can help you manage your time and allows you to cook quick, healthy meals that you just need to heat up. Meal prepping may seem daunting at first, but once you find a couple of recipes that work for you, the rest is a piece of cake. If you decide that meal prepping is something you want to try, here are a couple of tips and tricks that I used to get started.
Think of the Recipes You Want to Make
To start meal prepping, you have to be able to plan out what kinds of meals you want to make. Try to have a protein, as well as a vegetable and a carbohydrate to get started! You can alter this template if you wish, but if you’re like me and not that creative when it comes to cooking, this template could be helpful.
Make a Grocery List
Once you have planned out all the recipes you want to make, sit down and make a grocery list of the things you need to buy for your meals. Try and include some spices and sides that might enhance the dish! For example, if you want to make chicken with rice and broccoli, think about what spices might be needed in order to cook the chicken or any sauces you might want to incorporate into the dish.
Start Cooking!
Once you have all your groceries, plan your day and pick a time that would work for you to cook your recipes. You don’t have to be a chef to cook your recipes; follow online instructions or ask a parent or friend if that helps! Once you’re done cooking, separate your meal into some Tupperware containers and put them into the fridge so that you can enjoy them whenever you’d like.
Track or Label Your Meals
If you have labels or tape, it’s always a great idea to label your meals and write the day that you made them on the label. This just makes it easier for you when you go to heat up a meal and allows you to track when your meals might go bad.
If you follow the above instructions and find some recipes that you enjoy making and eating, you’ll find that it will become easier and easier to get into your meal prepping routine. In the long run, meal prepping can save you money that you might have spent on fast food and allow you to eat healthier. It also helps with time management skills because you don’t have to spend all your time cooking every night. Instead, you have a couple of meals waiting in the fridge that just need to be heated up!
If meal prepping is something you decide that you want to try, here are three simple meal prep ideas to help get you started:
1. Roasted Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Steamed Vegetables
Add chicken and baby golden potatoes to your grocery list. Then pick out veggies of your choice and add them to the list as well! You can also buy honey garlic sauce if you want to give the chicken more flavor.
2. Lemon Garlic Shrimp with Rice and Green Beans
Buy pre-cooked shrimp from your local supermarket. Then pick up rice and green beans to add to your meal. You can cook the shrimp however you like but adding some garlic and lemon juice is always an easy way to cook it.
3. Curry Chickpeas with Quinoa and Salad
Think about buying chickpeas and curry sauce to cook together. You can also add quinoa and lettuce or spinach into the Tupperware container. Add a salad dressing of your choosing to the lettuce or spinach when you’re ready to eat and enjoy!