Let us be honest when we see those refrigerators filled with lots of containers of chicken, broccoli and rice what do we think? For many of us it is not something that inspires us. It is something that makes us feel bad.
The usual way of meal prepping is often seen as a way to be healthy and get things done. We are told that if we spend hours on Sunday cooking and getting everything ready our week will be perfect.. For people who like to relax on the weekends or do not want to eat the same meal every day this way of meal prepping does not work. It leads to feeling tired not wanting to eat the food and eventually throwing away a lot of food when we order takeout instead.
If you are someone who does not like meal prep you are not alone. Thankfully there is a way to get ahead with your meals without losing your mind or not enjoying your food.
The Problem with Preparing Meals on Sunday
Before we look at the solution let us talk about why the usual meal prep advice does not work for people.
First there is the time it takes. Sunday is supposed to be a day to rest catch up on things or spend time with family. Spending half of it cooking and doing dishes feels like a job.Then there is the issue of getting tired of the food. People naturally want to eat foods. When you cook a meal and put it in the fridge the first one on Monday might taste good. By Tuesday it is okay. By Wednesday you start to not like it. By Thursday the food does not taste good anymore. You look for excuses to not eat it.
Lastly the usual way of meal prepping does not consider what we feel like eating. Sometimes we want a comforting meal. Some days we want something. Having meals already prepared does not allow for spontaneity listening to what our body wants and meal prepping does not allow for this.
The Solution: Prepare Ingredients, Not Meals
So how do we get the benefits of meal prepping without getting bored or tired? The secret is to prepare ingredients, not meals. Our goal is to prepare ingredients that’re ready to eat. We cook proteins, roast vegetables and prepare carbohydrates. We store all of these in containers in the fridge.
When it is time for lunch or dinner we do not reheat a made meal. Instead we open the fridge. Make our meal like we are at a salad bar or a burrito place. We take a bit of this a bit of that heat it up and add a sauce or garnish. Meal prepping is about preparing ingredients and meal prepping is what we are trying to achieve.
This way we do not get tired of the food because we can mix and match ingredients every day. It also cuts our cooking time in half because cooking ingredients in bulk is faster than making meals. Meal prepping is what we are trying to do and meal prepping is about preparing ingredients.
A Simple Guide to Preparing Ingredients
If you want to try this way of meal prepping here is how to do it without feeling overwhelmed.
1. Choose One or Two Proteins
Start by preparing proteins that can be used in meals. For example you can bake chicken breasts shred them or cook ground turkey with seasoning. If you are a vegetarian you can bake tofu. Use chickpeas. The key is to keep the seasoning simple so that the protein can be used in meals. Meal prepping is about preparing ingredients and proteins are a big part of meal prepping.
2. Choose a Complex Carbohydrate
Next make a batch of carbohydrates that keep well in the fridge. Quinoa, brown rice or roasted sweet potatoes are choices. Cooking a pot of rice takes no time. Having it ready in the fridge saves us time on busy days. Meal prepping is what we are trying to achieve and carbohydrates are a part of meal prepping.
3. Roast a Lot of Vegetables
Vegetables are often what we skip when we are tired and hungry because they take time to prepare. Choose two or three vegetables that roast well together like broccoli, bell peppers or zucchini. Toss them in oil, salt and pepper. Roast them until they are tender. Meal prepping is about preparing ingredients and vegetables are a big part of meal prepping.
4. The Secret to Making Meals Taste Good: Sauces and Spreads
This is where we make our meals taste good. Because our ingredients are lightly seasoned the sauce is what gives our meal its flavor. We do not have to make these from scratch. We can buy quality pesto, peanut sauce or vinaigrette. Having sauces in the fridge means we can eat the same chicken and rice a few days in a row and it will taste like a different meal every time. Meal prepping is what we are trying to do and sauces are a part of meal prepping.
Keep Things Simple
One of the mistakes people make when they start meal prepping is trying to be perfect. They try to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for the week. This is a way to fail. Cooked food usually starts to lose its texture and freshness after a days in the fridge. There is no need to prepare food on Sunday that we will eat on Friday.
Instead we can prepare food for two or three days. We can make food for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. By Wednesday evening we can do a prep to get us through the rest of the week. We can make simple meals. We do not have to prepare every meal. If mornings are stressful we can just prepare breakfast, like oats or baked eggs. If lunches are when we usually spend money on food we can focus on preparing our midday meals. We can relieve ourselves of the pressure to have a weeks worth of food prepared. Preparing a few meals is still an achievement for our health and wallet.
Tips for Storing Food
The way we store our ingredients matters. If we want our food to taste good we should follow these rules:
1.Use glass containers of plastic. Glass does not absorb odors or flavors. It keeps food fresh for longer.
2.Let food cool down before closing the container. If we put the lid on when the food is still hot the steam will turn into condensation. Our food will become soggy.
3.Keep sauces separate. We can ruin a meal if we let it sit in a dressing for long. We should keep our sauces, dressings and dips in containers. Only add them to our food when we are ready to eat.
At the end of the day meal prepping is supposed to make our life easier not more stressful. If the idea of preparing meals in advance makes us want to avoid the kitchen we can try preparing ingredients. By preparing ingredients keeping our timeline realistic and using sauces for variety we can eat diverse meals all week long without spending our whole weekend cooking. Meal prepping is what we are trying to achieve and meal prepping is, about preparing ingredients.