4 Time-Saving Meal Prep Tips

Meal preparation is time consuming and that’s a problem for anyone leading a busy life. As a result, despite the many health benefits of eating home-cooked meals, we end up resorting to fast food on more days than anyone with a health-conscious mindset would like to. The focus of this post will be on reducing meal prep time so that eating healthy, home cooked meals can become manageable even for the busiest among us.

Start Simple and Keep It Simple

You’ll want to start simple with easy to prepare and cook recipes like most people do, but the key is in also keeping things simple throughout. High-nutrition meals do not require too much prep time and they are easy to learn too.

In fact, you don’t even need to cook all your meals because at least one of your day’s meals can consist entirely of fruits, berries, and nuts. As long as your goal is to save time on meal prep, always remember to keep the preparations and the recipes as minimal as possible, without sacrificing food value.

Separate and Label Your Food

Buy meal prep containers so that you can separate your groceries right away. Label each container in accordance with the food item that they contain, and you will save a ton of time by never having to sort through everything each time you need something from the pantry. Glass is the best option for choice of material because meal prep containers come in direct physical contact with your food, and you are better off avoiding the health risks associated with plastic meal prep containers.

Keep the Pantry Stocked

Be particular about what you buy and when and check the expiry dates on canned and packed foods. Never buy perishables in bulk, unless there is an emergency as meat, fish, etc., constantly lose their food value, even when kept in a deep freezer.

With those guidelines in mind, keep your pantry well stocked and properly organized at all times, as best as possible. Buy online if you don’t have time to go shopping or buy your groceries during the weekends if you prefer a more hands-on approach when it comes to buying your food supplies.

Prepare Ready-to-Cook-Meal Boxes Ahead of Time

This is an old trick which has gained renewed popularity among food delivery services in the last decade. It’s essentially what online meal plan and what is the best food delivery service when you sign up for one of their subscriptions.

They deliver everything you would need to cook a recipe at home for a specific number of people, portioned inside meal prep boxes. However, instead of paying extra for meal plans, you can do the same thing yourself.

For example, if you are going to have four meals tomorrow, get to work tonight and invest about 30-minutes or less to:

  1. Decide on the four meals and their respective recipes
  2. Portion and store all the ingredients you will need for each meal, inside four separate meal prep containers
  3. Store them in the fridge for tomorrow

If you have a busy day ahead, all you will need to do is take out the first two, ready-to-cook and portioned meal prep containers, cook them, and carry the food with you as you drive to your office.

On days when you have a few extra minutes on your hand, cook all four meals of the day and put the last two meals inside fresh containers, before putting them back into the fridge. This will ensure that you have home cooked meals waiting for you at home when you get back home after a tiring workday.

Leave a Comment:

Leave a Comment: