Prep Yourself for Meal Prep

Tips to Keep Meal Prep a Convenient Time-Saver

One of the reasons so many people choose to forego meal prep — in which you make a week’s worth of meals in advance — is that it sounds daunting, even though it makes your daily life much easier. But if you prepare yourself and your kitchen for meal prep, your week of cooking will be a breeze.

Plan Your Weekly Grocery Trip

If you only head to the grocery store when you’re already starving, or with just one meal idea in mind, there’s room for improvement. Before you even get in your car, you should plan out what meals you’ll be eating throughout the week so you can make one stop to get everything you need. And while you’re planning your meals, also keep in mind the ingredients they require: Aim to reuse as much as you can from meal to meal so that fresh herbs don’t go bad and vegetables don’t spoil in the refrigerator.

Have The Accessories At Hand

It would be a shame to go through all the work of preparing your meals in advance, and then realize you don’t have a place to keep them. Do a quick inventory of your similarly sized plastic storage containers to make sure you have enough to get you through the week. If not, add them to that grocery list! It’s key to make this process as convenient for yourself as possible, so think through your routine and focus on the pain points — what can you do to smooth them over? If it’s setting the blender out so you don’t have to wrestle it out of the cupboard every week, do it. If it’s buying a new set of portable dishware that actually seals and conveniently stacks in your refrigerator, go for it.

Set Aside The Time

One of the tallest hurdles to meal preparation is the time investment. It seems daunting to do all of your cooking in one afternoon, but it can be done. It’s much easier to swallow if you set aside the time on a weekly basis — don’t just try to fit it in when you have time. After you build the habit, it’ll be easier to devote the time each week. And besides, you’d be spending the time cooking anyway.

Mise En Place

Put “everything in its place.” Basically, get your ducks in a row — or your chopped vegetables, as the case might be. Before you start all of the cooking, prepare your ingredients: dice your tomatoes, julienne your carrots, mince your onions, and whatever else might trip you up while you’re tending to a pan on the stove. And, if you have all of your pea pods washed and your peppers cleaned, you’ll have easy fodder for your snack bag, making it that much easier to grab a handful of veggies instead of fried potato chips (of course, reaching for some delicious and nutritious beet chips or kale chips are a great and convenient way to get your veggies in too!).

With all of the technicalities tended to, all you have to worry about is throwing your food on the stove, filling your new travel containers, and making your week go that much smoother. Now all you need are a few new recipes — and Rhythm Superfoods has you covered, with healthy, simple dishes.

This article was provided by Sam, a contributing member of the marketing and communications team at ABODO apartments.