Meal prep is something that most people think of as a tiresome Sunday afternoon task and the thought of spending hours in the kitchen is that of nightmares. But, meal prepping doesn’t need to be seen as an arduous task.
Instead, it can be viewed as a great way to eat healthier and improve your diet. Spending a little time preparing healthy meals and snacks for the week ahead is well worth the effort, especially when it comes to curbing those junk food urges and supporting a well-balanced diet. With that in mind, here are 3 top tips for healthy meal prepping to make it an easier and more enjoyable task.
Start With A Clean Kitchen
One of the things that put most people off meal prepping is the mess and clean-up that it can create. When you’re meal prepping, it’s best to start with a clean, clear kitchen so that it is much easier to clean as you go and help you to prep more efficiently. If you’re prepping both meat and vegetables, layout your separate chopping boards and have a food waste bag to put in any peels, scraps, or waste.
Set up your pans and preheat your oven so that everything is ready to go when it comes to cooking. When you tidy up, it’s much more organized and less overwhelming as you go along the different stations, rather than having everything in one, messy spot in the kitchen.
Invest in Quality Food Containers
When it comes to food prep, the right kind of food container makes all the difference to storage, transport, and reheating. You can store pre-cut and peeled fruits and vegetables in the fridge to use as and when you need them. When you’re cooking meals in advance, glass food containers are best as the food reheats more evenly and they are less likely to stain. This is especially true if you’re prepping tomato-based or curry foods, as these can stain plastic food containers and cause them to look unsightly and potentially cause smells to linger.
Investing in good quality food containers, such as glass ones, also means that they are less like to become misshapen or break as frequently as plastic food containers, which is also helping the environment and minimising single-use waste!
Ensure Your Meals Are Well Balanced
One of the biggest advantages of food prep is that you can create healthy and well-balanced meals. You can cook foods such as sweet potato, vegetables, greens, meats and pasta in advance to reheat throughout the week, whilst adding nuts, grains and seeds to create a more balanced meal.
As well as preparing your food, you can also layout and prepare your vitamins or supplements ahead of time, too, to ensure you are getting all the right nutrients. You can prepare protein shakes the night before, which is handy if you’re heading to an early morning gym session. You can also get containers specifically designed for vitamins, probiotics, and supplements to ensure you’re taking your vitamins, such as magnesium supplements, omega 3, and vitamins with B12, daily.
