3 simple tips to ROCK meal prep
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I think some people hear the term “meal prep” and freak out. I get it because I used to be one of them!
There was time I used to go to the grocery store every single day and pick out what I was going to have for dinner because I thought this was the better way to do things and had no idea what meal prep entailed.
I ended up spending more money, over-indulging a lot (sure I can grab a chocolate bar at checkout tonight...every night) and making things much harder for myself.
While I still LOVE grocery shopping, it’s not realistic for me or any of my dynamic & hard-workin’ clients to spend an hour going to the grocery store and cooking dinner every single night.
We have SO much going on in our lives, that piling on that decision making can be stressful too!
I get it. So I want to make things easier for you and empower you to get your meal prep on.
Exposure equals preference…when it’s 7pm, dinner time and your stressed, irritated and tired- are you going to whip up a nutrient-dense dinner or order in!?
Unless you’ve got superhuman powers, 9/10 you're going to order in...
But what if all it took was grabbing a prepped dish out of the fridge and heating it up? Or throwing down a handful of greens, some olive oil, pre-cooked protein and pre-chopped veggies and call it a night? Or defrosting a huge batch of pumpkin chili you made on Sunday (seriously my favorite thing to cook in bulk) and feed your whole family from one pot?
Make things easier for yourself!! It’s ok!!
We all have so much going on and the last place you’re going to make a healthy choice is at crunch time- getting home from work late, your kids need a millions things, you have a big day tomorrow- whatever it is!!
So instead of beating yourself up, improve the atmosphere and set yourself up to make effortless healthy choices.
I’m going to give you 3 tips for making meal prep easy, inexpensive and interesting. Let’s do it!
1. Keep it simple
Meal prep can be SO SIMPLE. Think about prepping proteins, veggies, and then being intentional in adding in healthy fats in the form of cooking oils (coconut oil, ghee, avocado oil) or as toppings (olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds).
This works much better than pulling out tons of cookbooks and drowning yourself in loads of recipes that each take two hours to prep and make.
If you want you can make one set recipe, and then a bunch of proteins and veggies that can be mixed n' matched all week. Love this approach.
Here’s an example…
Prep protein: a few baked wild salmon filets, several grilled chicken breasts, 1 lb. of beef or bison patties
Prep veggies: mashed cinnamon sweet potatoes, a huge tray of roasted brussels sprouts, zucchini noodles, roasted beets and butternut squash
Cook everything above in coconut oil and ghee!
Have pre-washed greens like romaine, spinach and kale ready to go for salads or to quickly sauté night of + olive oil, avocados and nuts or seeds like cashews and pumpkin seeds ready to go for toppings, taste and texture.
2. Shop local
This is a HUGE way to save money and a great time of year to hit up the Farmer’s Market on the weekend.
Not only is it fun and you’re getting outside (and there’s always great people watching!!) you’re exposing yourself to what’s in season and new produce that maybe you’ve never seen or tried before.
Not to mention you’ll find a great organic selection, and local items which equals more nutrient-density! We loveeee that!
Perusing the farmer’s market can get you out of your normal routine, give you ideas, and inspire you to try something new and exciting.
This makes prepping and cooking a lot more fun too.
Tip- if you go towards the end of the market (closing time), many of the vendors may even lower their prices or give you a major deal since they’re trying to sell everything they bought with. Score.
3. Spice it up
Have you ever prepped a bunch of things and gotten to the end of the week and been like…I don’t even want this anymore!?
We can get sick of the same flavors over and over.
SO, to prevent this make sure you’re spicing it up. Literally- with different spices.
So if you’re cooking a bunch of chicken breasts…
- make one chili and lime
- another turmeric and cumin
- and another one garlic, onion and oregano...or seriously any combo you're feelin'!
And the same goes for veggies. I like to mix it up by doing some sweet and some savory. Don't be afraid of spices like cinnamon, clove and nutmeg! There are no rules :)
Spicing it up keeps things fun and exciting all week long.
Make sure to keep lots of healthy fats on hand for a punch of different flavors each day. Like Primal Mayo, dijon mustard, clean ketchup (I love Sir Kensington’s) and even some fun nut oils I’ve been experimenting with lately like macadamia nut oil or hazelnut oil- YUM.
Meal prep is what you make it, and you’ll get better at it the more you do it.
I also recommend getting some pretty glass tupperware as well- I always look forward to stacking my meals in those. And you can even make meal prep more fun if you listen to music or your favorite podcast- which I do ALL the time.
If you have any meal prep tips or tricks, share them below!! :)