How to “Meal Prep”

Imagine you do only have to think of what to eat and cook once a week while you save money and reduce food waste – This is what meal prep is about. 

The abbreviation stands for meal preparation and describes the habit of cooking or preparing food for one or several days. It depends on how much experience you have.

There are two different ways of meal prepping: Either you cook every meal on one day and put it in the freezer or you partially prepare the different ingredients for a faster cooking process on the day you want to eat it. 

But no matter which way you choose, the clue is to plan it beforehand:

1. Balanced Diet

First of all you can easily take the opportunity to make your diet more balanced. Make sure to include all the important nutrients that your body needs: meat and fish (if you are not vegetarian), tofu, legumes and filling sides like rice, quinoa, potatoes or pasta.

2. Preparation

With this in mind, plan your dishes: The clue of meal prepping is to use or combine the components differently. If you are more experienced you might use lentils as a plain site on the first day, then process them into patties and make a soup out of them on the third day. 

After choosing the dishes and buying all the needed ingredients take a day or two and prepare the meals. 

3. Storage

It is important to store the prepared components apart from each other to prevent them from getting bad. You can use different glass or plastic cans for that.

4. Serve it

When the day has come, take the prepared components, heat it up and enjoy your meal!

Side Fact: Reduce unhealthy Snacks ✔︎

Another benefit of meal prepping is the ability of preparing your own healthy snacks like granola bars or fruits. This way you can reduce the amount of unhealthy food throughout the day.

Check out some example recipes for meal prep on FHEWS: