Importance of meal prep

I stumble across this article on meal prep. It talks about meal prep - how to prepare for the prep, the actual prep and how to store your prep. This is such an important part - be prepared for healthy eating. This is just a short summary of the article. I encourage anyone to spare 10 minutes to read it.

To do your meal prep properly, I would suggest 30 minutes once a week to plan it all out. It sounds like a long time, but it is an investment.

Step 1: Planning the meal preps.

Ask everyone in the household what they'd like to eat. Gather recipes and set up a monthly calendar or a spreadsheet if you must. Start small. Plan your first prep for 2-3 days of the week as a starting point.

Step 2: Plan a menu

When planning the menu, you will have an ingredient list which you can then go shopping with. Be flexible so to allow for sale or seasonal items.

Step 3: The actual prep

1. Pre-cut or pre washing vegetables

2. Pre portioned, pre-marinated or pre-cook any protein in those meals.

3. Par-cook or pre-cook any starches such as rice, potato or pasta.

4. Use slow cooker or pressure cooker to help cook some of the stew or casserole type meals. They are great for freezing so cook extra portions.

Step 4: Storage

Make a note of the date you prep those foods. Use them within 2-4 days if they are in the fridge, and 2-3 months in most frozen foods.

Use the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating to help you as well.