Meal Prep for Beginners

*No affiliation with any products mention, I just really enjoy using them*

As I said in 6 Tips for Packing a Cost Effective Heathy Lunch, Meal prepping on Sundays is an awesome way to have your lunch already prepared for the week. Personally, this saves me a ton of time during the week because I'm not scrambling around trying to find some unhealthy place to eat during lunchtime. Here are a few tips for you if you have never meal prepped before.

Have A Plan

Going to the grocery store is completely useless without a solid plan of what exactly you're going make. Trying to prep a week's worth of food can be so intimidating for someone who has never prepped before so I recommend prepping enough for 3 to 4 days worth of meals. Also, I recommend just prepping for lunchtime starting out. Then, once you get better at this, you can move on to prepping breakfast and dinner as well.

Invest In Good Containers 

It is so important to have great containers that will keep your food fresh and keep bacteria out. Remember that most of the time, you will probably be using a microwave so make sure the containers are BPA-free and microwave safe. Invest in containers that are the same size so they stack easily in the fridge. Good Housekeeping has an excellent article of the best food storage containers.

Prepping

The entire idea of meal prepping is to make your life easier through the upcoming week, that does not mean you have to prep everything. When I prep my meals Sunday afternoon, sometimes I'm just chopping up veggies I will be using through the week and portioning them into Ziplock bags. Other times, I am marinating my chicken to be cooked Monday evening. Use that time to do what is best for you and your family. 

Sometimes I enjoy my veggies freshly steamed so I will just go ahead and portion them into containers to be steamed later in the week. Want your meat cooked fresh that evening? Save yourself some time by marinating the chicken Sunday night then freeze them in a container to be ready next week. 

As far as your whole grains such as rice, quinoa and pastas, I would suggest you cook all that sunday evening while prepping other items. These items are so versatile and they heat up just fine after several days in the fridge. 

Snacks

Sunday evenings are a great time to prep your snacks throughout the week too! I am someone who needs a healthy snack throughout the day or I will probably starve (I'm dramatic, don't mind me). I'll use that time to portion out my almonds and Crasins into snack baggies or cut up my apples for snacking. The trick with apples is after you cut them, toss in some fresh lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. Use this time as well to portion out your yogurt into small containers for the week along with your berries/toppings.

Check out some of my favorite Meal Prep Recipes here!

Enjoy!!