How To Meal Prep Like a Boss - Stephanie Rogers

August 24, 2015 Stephanie

Meal prepping is a GREAT way to help you save money and stay on track with those health goals! But let’s be honest, meal prepping can be a pretty awful experience. However, it doesn’t have to be that way! When I first started meal prepping, it was horrible. I felt like I was tied in the kitchen for hours on end, which made Sunday afternoons anything but enjoyable. Luckily for you, my inefficiency taught me a lot about what NOT to do. I learned that it’s not so much about planning out and making a full week of meals on one day. It’s about setting yourself up for delicious healthy meals throughout the week so it doesn’t take up too much time or energy. Today, I’m going to share some of the tricks of the trade I eventually learned to help make it much more of an enjoyable experience for you.

So here are 4 simple ways you can start meal prepping like a BOSS! 😉

1. Make a Plan. This may seem like an obvious step, but I talk to so many people who go to the grocery store without any type of plan and buy a random assortment of groceries and then feel overwhelmed with what to do with them once they get home. On top of that, they get to the end of the week and realize half their groceries went bad because they failed to use them in time. Fail.

The simple fix for this is to take just 10 minutes before you go the grocery store to think about actual meals you that sound good to you, that you would look forward to eating, and write them down. I know you may be thinking this doesn’t sound like it leaves too much room for being “intuitive”, but I find that having a bunch of meals that sound fun and exciting still leaves me room to be intuitive by giving me the opportunity to check in with myself and ask myself each day which one sounds good to me in that moment on that day and knowing I have the ingredients on hand to make it happen. You also save money this way because you are only buying groceries that you are going to eat which minimizes waste at the end of the week! Win.

2. Cook once, eat twice. Having to think of and plan for multiple meals a day can be tedious and overwhelming, especially if you are cooking for more than yourself – that’s where this tip comes in. When you plan for your dinner, plan to make enough to have leftovers that you can pack up right after dinner to take with you for lunch. If you are one of those people who don’t like eating the same exact thing that closely together (I tend to fall in this camp sometimes), try making enough of one of the items that you can utilize it to make a quick lunch. Example: I may make a stir fry with veggies and chicken or beef served over quinoa for dinner and the next day I’ll bring some of the meat/veggie mixture and wrap it in a brown rice wrap with a side salad for lunch. Or if you have tacos, use the leftover meat to make a taco salad for lunch, etc. This saves SO much time and SO much effort. All it takes is a little planning to buy enough for extras when you are at the store.

3. Chop it like it’s hoooot. Yes, I just made a Snoop Dogg reference…don’t act like you don’t know. 😉 Anyways, back to the point – when you get back from the grocery store, clean them veggies, pull out that cutting board and get choppin’. Chop up all of your veggies and fruit (diced strawberries on salad anyone??) and put them into glass or plastic containers in your fridge. That way when you want to make a salad with leftover protein from dinner, you simply throw in some lettuce and handful of your pre-cleaned and chopped veggies and BOOM – lunch done in about 4 minutes. Or you have veggies to pair with your leftover dinner or to throw in a pan to sautee for a quick weeknight stir fry. This also makes packing snacks way easier as well – veggies dipped in guacamole, or hummus or almond butter…you get the gist. 😉

4. Make it FUN. Being in the kitchen while putting together meals doesn’t have to be a chore. Think of ways you can make it enjoyable. Maybe put on some music, light a candle, enjoy a glass of wine, listen to a podcast, etc. If you are going to be in there doing it, you may as well find ways to make it a positive experience. After all, it is meant to make your life easier and set you up for success as far as your health goals go. Get creative here…who knows, it may just turn into one of your favorite parts of your week! 😉

Well there you have it – 4 simple ways to turn your meal prep status up to Boss Mode. Do you have any tricks you use for easy meal prep?

POST BELOW your favorite meal prep tip, can’t wait to hear from you!