For as long as I remember, i never really enjoyed cooking. While I was ok with cooking every once in a while for leisure, it wasn’t something I thought I’d do on a regular basis. But a series of bad cooks, wasted food and money, and frequent takeouts later, I figured something had to change.
Enter: meal prep. What this basically means is that I spend a couple of hours on the weekend, figuring out a meal plan and prepping as much of it as I can in advance. I love how weekly meal prep gives me a great head start, saves a tonne of time and leaves me extra time during the week for other things I like.
Learning how to meal prep dishes has truly changed the game for me. And while it may sound like a tedious, time consuming chore for the weekend, it really doesn’t have to be! Here are my top beginner-friendly weekly meal prep tips to help you get started…
- Start with a plan
The first step to effective meal prepping is to have a plan. Start with figuring out you and your family’s eating preferences and plan out all your meals for the week. Having a meal plan in place not only makes stocking up on groceries easier, but also saves you so much time and stress of wondering what to cook on any given day.
- Buy everything you need at once
Once you have yout weekly meal plan ready, buying groceries is going to be a breeze! Start by making a list of everything you need to make those meals and buy all of it in a single trip. I usually do this on Saturdays as I don’t want things to get overwhelming when I am prepping on Sunday. When I have everything I need to prep for the entire week at home, I know I am not going to be running out of stuff mid-week and that gives me so much peace of mind.
- Divide your prep into two parts
Post my grocery shopping trip, I head straight to the kitchen for a little bit of pre prep. This is when I wash all the veggies and fruits and transfer contents from packets to their respective jars. This takes me just about 15 minutes, but having this out of the way before my Sunday meal prep makes the process easier and less overwhelming. One, I don’t have to deal with crowded countertops, and second, I can focus on just the prepping without worrying about anything else.
- Make a ritual out of it
I love making rituals out of any new habits I am building, unavoidable chores and boring tasks. Now, I know that meal prep makes my life throughout the week a lot easier and I love it for that, but sure, sometimes it can get boring. Therefore, I try to make it fun by cranking up my favourite songs and dancing in the kitchen. I also light up a candle or two and just set the mood. This way, I am still doing the work, but I am enjoying myself in the process and that counts for something, right?
- Start small
When you are just starting out, I would recommend taking baby steps and really getting the hang of this before trying to do it all. Initially I started with just soaking some pulses and making two kinds of doughs. It usually didn’t last me the whole week, but at least allowed me to ease into the process and get comfortable before going all out.
- Prep ingredients instead of dishes
This is my secret to making my Sunday meal prep easy and quick. Intead of prepping different dishes, I like to prep individual ingredients which I can use in several different ways. For example, I like to puree spinach leaves which I can then use to make curries, parathas or even add to smoothies. I also soak and boil pulses for curries and salads. When you prep individual ingredients, you are allowing yourself the flexibility to eat different dishes throughout the week, thereby preventing boredom.
My weekly meal prep has been one of the best things I have done for myself and my family. I love that I can eat fresh, homecooked meals throughout the week without feeling like I am stretching myself too thin. Plus, I have also noticed that we order in much less now, thereby saving so much money.