6 Tips for Easy and Efficient Meal Prepping

Hi, all!  I wanted to share with you some easy tips that you can use when meal prepping!  No one wants to spend hours in the kitchen making meals.  With these tips, you can maximize your effort to minimize your time cooking and prepping.

1.  Figure out what you're going to eat.  This sounds simple enough, but this can often be quite challenging!  It is helpful to familiarize yourself with the types of foods that you should be eating, such as whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and lean proteins.  Once you know what foods you're going to eat on your meal plan, then write down your recipes.  You can use recipes that you already have in repertoire, or you can search the internet.  There are literally millions of clean-eating recipes that are simple to make that are already written for you!  Let's not reinvent the wheel here!
2. Make your list and stick to it.  Once you've got your recipes written down, make your list of what you're going to need at the store.  Then, only get what's on your list!  This can be difficult to do, especially if you go shopping on an empty stomach.  Make sure you have a snack, head to the store, and focus on buying foods from the perimeter of the store (produce, seafood/meat, dairy, bread); most things you want to stay away from are in the inner aisles.
3. Start cooking!  Once you have your recipes and ingredients, start putting everything together.  You can do this a couple of different ways:  I prefer to cook my meals each day, but you can cook everything for the week in one fell swoop.  However you want to do it is fine, it's whatever it easiest for you. 
4. Pay attention to portion.  This is the part that a lot of us get hung up on.  Did you know that you can even overeat healthy foods?  What?  I know, that's crazy.  It's important to stick to portions, especially if losing weight is a goal of yours.  Measure using containers or good old fashioned measuring cups.  You can even portion your cooked meals out ahead of time if you use those cool Bento box containers, which you can find here.
5. Get into the routine.  Just like with anything else, once you meal prep a few times, you'll almost be a pro at it!  Pick a day of the week that you know you're going to have the most time and prep your meals then.  Setting aside a little time one day a week can save you lots of time (and energy) during the week.  I plan my meals and go shopping on Saturday and then prep Sunday.  Find the day and time that works for you and put it into your schedule!  
6. Mix it up!  I am not one of those people who can eat the same thing every day of the week for every meal.  If that is you, awesome!  You can cook one large dish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and divide evenly.  I like to switch things up, so I pick simple recipes that I know I can cook either ahead of time (like lasagna, soup, or stew) or quickly during the week so I'm not spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  Most recipes that I make take less than 30 minutes.

Okay, so that's it!  If you have any questions about meal prepping, ask me!  I'd love to help you get started with your own meal planning and prep!  If you'd like to get a glimpse into how I meal prep every week, take a look at the video below!