5 Tips to Make Meal Prep Simple and Sustainable
In my opinion, unless you love to cook and can count on getting home each evening at a consistent time, making dinner every night probably isn’t an option. But many of us have goals to eat home-cooked meals more often, and for good reason! Eating at home creates tremendous health improvements, so it’s a priority for me. Here’s how I make it happen while working full time, commuting almost two hours per day, and having an inconsistent evening schedule.
1. Light weekend prep. I have no desire to spend hours in the kitchen on Sundays preparing food for the week. However, I have found that a few simple strategies make the entire workweek much easier.
When I shop over the weekend and bring home fresh veggies, I like to quickly rinse and chop them. I’ll throw chopped peppers or carrots in a clear container so I am more likely to reach for them or toss them in a salad or saute. If I buy a head of lettuce or kale, I’ll rinse it quickly in a salad spinner, give it a quick chop, and just toss it in the fridge in the salad spinner bowl to make things easy.
I will also often throw a quick sheet pan of food in the oven so I have some roasted veggies and chicken ready to use for various dishes. Simply toss chicken slices, broccoli, cauliflower, cubed squash or sweet potato, and/or brussel sprouts on a pan with some olive oil and salt at 415° for 25-30 minutes. It doesn’t have to be gourmet, and having a little bit of prepared food goes a long way in making the week run more smoothly.
2. Cook big or go home. If you can cook on the weekend–or whenever!—make big batches of food. I like to make one big soup or chili for the week to use each day for lunches. Another big batch of food that serves my family well is a couple pounds of chicken meatballs. These can be tossed in a salad, a rice bowl, or a pasta dish easily. Finally, I love to make a big pork shoulder in the slow cooker (it takes almost zero effort) and then I have pulled pork or carnitas for weeks. My favorite batching recipes can be found in this post.
3. Make it a routine. I love areas of my life where I can plan and automate. For families, I highly suggest making one night the same meal each week. Maybe you’re a Taco Tuesday family or you like pizza on Fridays. Maybe it’s pasta and meatballs. Whatever feels delicious and doable for you–schedule it! You’ll know to always have ingredients on hand, your family will look forward to it, and it’s one less thing your brain has to manage. If you like pizza, I’m a huge fan of Capella’s frozen pizza. I always add extra protein and veggies on top. For tacos, Siete tortillas, soft shells, and chips are clean options. My favorite pasta is Tolerant lentil pasta because it has protein and fiber in every bite!
4. Make a menu. Maybe it’s just me, but when my husband asks, “What’s for dinner?” my mind often goes blank. It’s been really helpful for me to have a google doc that lists all my favorite meals and recipes so I’m never stuck wondering what to make. It’s also essential that as a family, we chat about a few meals we plan to eat during the week so I can grocery shop accordingly and schedule them on days when I know I’ll have time to cook. Tuesdays are always a late night for me at work, so I never plan to make something fancy that night. Tuesdays are typically a salad with some baked chicken or meatballs on top. There’s nothing wrong with a simple, easy meal. Simple and home cooked is always more nutritious and affordable than takeout.
5. Automate your shopping. I’m all about making cooking and shopping easy, so Butcher Box and Thrive Market have been game changers for me. I use Butcher Box to order humanely-raised and pasture-raised beef, chicken, pork, and wild caught fish. Thrive Market is where I get all my pantry staples. They have the healthy brands I like (Primal Kitchen, Siete, Epic, Four Sigmatic, etc.) at a better price than grocery stores. These boxes are auto shipped to my house so I’m never out of what I need to make a meal.
Choosing health in an unhealthy world is a challenge, but what I’ve found is that a little preparation goes a very long way in keeping me and my clients on track with the habits that make us feel good. I hope you can start implementing at least one of these strategies into your life! It’s all about taking tiny steps in the right direction, so even if you’re cooking just one more night per week at home, at the end of a year, that’s 52 nutritious meals for you and your family. Celebrate the wins and keep making yourself proud!
XO,
Kara
