A good meal prep strategy can be an invaluable resource for reducing unnecessary stress when transitioning from working at home to in the office. In addition to saving time and money, meal prepping is a great way to ensure you are getting a variety of foods into your diet, learning to eat proper portions, and developing a more mindful, energy-focused pattern of eating. Numerous online resources and free phone apps are available to assist with identifying an effective strategy that meets your individual needs. Below are some tips for successful meal prepping.
Meal Prepping Tips
1.Keep it simple – develop a system you are comfortable with and can rely on.
a.Start a calendar of what you would like to cook/eat throughout the month.
b.Create a repository of successful meals/recipes (favorites, easiest to prep, best recipes for a rainy day, etc.)
c.Utilize templates or meal themes (make it fun!) to generate ideas and simplify planning (e.g. sheet pan meals, 3 ingredient meals, etc.).
2. Consider each food group – grains, lean proteins, fresh fruit, vegetables, healthy fats (almond butter, walnuts, tahini, etc.).
3. Utilize the weekend for batch cooking – Cook staple components of meals all at once (Sundays are a popular day to chop and roast vegetables, cook a batch of quinoa, boil eggs, etc. to be used in meals throughout the week).
4. Invest in storage containers of multiple sizes for portable lunches and leftovers. These don’t need to be expensive. Most supermarkets have great, affordable options.
5. Keep a well-stocked pantry of frequently used ingredients, but don’t overstuff your pantry – the goal is to make it easy to draw on items from your pantry for recipes, but not have your pantry so overstuffed that you can’t find what you need or items end up going bad (grains, legumes, oils, nuts, canned goods, etc.)
6. Invest in a pressure cooker (major time-saver and enables you to focus on other activities while preparing meal components).
7. Utilize free apps, such as One Note, to keep a running shopping list that you can recycle or add to as needed.