This is a short list of helpful pointers that I have accumulated/developed with time and experience and published as a guide to help you learn to meal prep. Use this quick food prep guide to help design your kitchen and processes to most-efficiently utilize your time, energy, money, and space.
- Run your kitchen like a restaurant. Often, the food you order in a restaurant is not made after you order it. Instead, much of the chopping and peeling of vegetables and preparation of meats (such as marinating) are done well-before service has started. I have found that setting aside 1-2 hours a week is the best way to ensure success during the week and doing so is the backbone of success for this food prep guide. Myself, I have had the most-success making time on a weekend, as I have found doing so makes it much easier to put a quick meal together even on a busy weeknight. Many of the recipes and meals on this site can be put together in 20-30 minutes with a little preparation work just one day a week.
- Make a meal plan, then your shopping list, and stick to it! Many of the recipes on this site are designed for the home cook with limited resources. Healthy cooking does not need to be hard or expensive. When building your shopping list, keep it simple. If you can’t find an exact match, close-enough is likely good-enough. If you don’t like something in a recipe, swap it out for something that you do like and that you think would work well. Typically, if there’s a rare-instance where a substitution cannot be made, I try to call this out but as I mentioned, it’s rare. Experimentation can result in some fantastic discoveries of flavor so don’t be shy! And if there’s something in a recipe that you don’t like but haven’t had in hot-minute, give it a chance. Taste buds develop and change over time and experience and you may surprise yourself so take this into account when developing your meal plan.
- Have some flexibility in your weekly meal plan to make sure it is realistic and accommodates for the immutable and immovable in your schedule. Unless you are doing a strict Keto diet, elimination diet, low inflammatory diet, or Whole 30 diet, you may need to incorporate one or two less-than-ideal meals into your plan as a result and that is a) just fine and b) not your fault. At the time of this writing, I still grab fast food or prepare a frozen pizza occasionally when I absolutely need to and I won’t pretend that I’m so-perfect that I don’t have to otherwise I would be lying to you. Life happens and we need to work around it but you don’t need to beat yourself up because of it. Plan for it, work it in, and don’t let the ideal of perfection stand in the way of progress.
- You are not a short order cook. One meal is made and the family eats it or does not. No debates. At the time of this writing, I have two, young children, ages 8 and 11. I struggled with my health and weight from when I was around my youngest’s current age. You cannot expect your kids to change overnight but if you want to help them learn a love of real foods and expand their intake, then I encourage you to push through the temporary temper tantrums, the disappointed looks, and any tears because the gift of health and nutrition that you are presenting is worth it. It took me until college to be adventurous with different foods and no small part of what caused me to change was the consistent peer-pressure from my friends who wanted to get Indian or Thai or Moroccan food as a treat for dinner. What I tell many families and practice myself is to keep one food I know the kids like at each meal. For our more carb-conscious meals, this may mean a side of bread, pasta, beans, potato, or a whole grain such as rice, farro, or quinoa. I also encourage you to incorporate your kids in the process of planning and preparing foods to not only help transfer this knowledge and set them up for success as adults but also to provide opportunities to form a lifetime of memories of love in the kitchen. I will share more on this in other articles!
- Your spouse/partner/significant other is an adult likely-capable of making their own food if they do not like what you have prepared. This is more of a “4A” bullet point but still needs to be mentioned in this food prep guide. If they are not supportive of your attempt at this lifestyle change, they can make their own meal. It is not your responsibility to cook and prepare their food too.
- Learn to love leftovers. Leftovers alleviate the pressure of creating new meals. Additionally, there are foods that taste better the day-after. Casseroles, braised meats, stews, soups, and sauces all benefit from additional time for flavors to penetrate and meld. These can be made in a large batch in your slow cooker and then consumed for lunch or dinner on those days when life is a little busier due to events such as multiple school activities, practices, etc.. It is incredibly-easy to reheat and serve a delicious meal the second time around and insulated containers make it possible to enjoy hot leftovers on-the-go as well. Leftovers also do a fantastic job of helping reduce the total cost of feeding your family as you can incorporate leftovers into additional dishes. For instance, after taco night, we usually have taco eggs for breakfast or walking tacos for lunch later in the week. In our house, we designate one night a week as “leftover night” where everyone chooses what they want for dinner among the leftovers and it is rare to hear a complaint.
- Separate vegetable from meat prep. For food safety purposes, wash, peel, clean, chop/process your vegetables separately from your meats within one to two days of purchasing it. Steam-saute vegetables to get them ready for stir frys or sides and store them separately in reusable containers in your refrigerator. These cooked-but-crisp vegetables can also be eaten as-is in lunches. Potatoes should go in your slow cooker or oven to be pre-cooked and then reheated at mealtime.
- Account for thawing time when preparing meats. I almost-always have a bowl of thawing meat in my refrigerator. I am constantly replenishing it with meat from the chest freezer as the week progresses and meal plan is executed. If you wait to thaw your meat until immediately-before you need to prepare the meal, it will significantly affect your timeline so it’s best to plan ahead. After your meat has been chopped, add any necessary marinades, seasonings, or brines to allow more time for the flavors to penetrate the meat, softening and improving it. This is a great way to make tougher cuts of meat palatable. And as previously-mentioned, cooking extra pieces like a couple extra chicken thighs or an extra pound of ground beef is a great way to have options on-hand to make other dishes later in the week.
- Make these first: Stews, soups, and roasts. Generally, these are the most time-intensive of dishes you will prepare. They are also best-eaten a day or two after they have been made due to the previously-mentioned bit about flavors melding. Depending on what you prepare, these can store for up to six days in the refrigerator, giving you a fair bit extra flexibility in your food options.
This food prep guide focuses on being efficient both in preparation and execution because time is a limited resource. With practice, you will become progressively more-efficient in your food preparation which will help you manage your relationship with your food and nutrition.
Thanks for reading,
Dr. Jennifer Paisley