Meal Prepping

What are you goals for 2018? Do you have intentions to move more, add to your health, adopt healthier living habits, or make the time to relax more often? Many people devote time at the gym, get their rest, even make time for stretching, but fall short when it comes to the nutrition piece. In my opinion and experience nutrition is #1. It plays such a vital role in every capacity of our health and can impact so many things. In college, my time is very limited being that I still continue to work, manage a household, run my own business, and maintain my education hours in and outside of the classroom. One thing that has truly helped with along the way is prepping foods for quick and easy meals. Over the years my meal prepping style has changed from a place where I made duplicate meals to a more laid back variety style that I currently don't think I could live without! Above are some of my meals over the past few months that have been easily created all due to meal prepping. Notice the variety in color (tons of nutrients- hello phytochemicals!!), balance, & ease of just adding things together.

Meal prepping not only allows me to manipulate my nutrients during the week, but also is a great way to create new flavor combinations and keep my meals from getting boring! You don't have to be a cooking extraordinaire to meal prep. In the winter months my meals are roasted in my oven all at once over the course of about an hour and a half and during the summer, I throw everything on the grill! Easy clean up, let it cool, and then store!

Before we jump into how to make yours happen weekly I wanna sell you on it and help you to maybe explore some benefits you may not have thought of.

Money & Time Saver
Not only does cooking the majority of your food at once or a few times in the week help you save on actual cooking time but it helps with cleanup and prep time as well while helping you manage a busy lifestyle when you may be too exhausted at the end of the day! Prepared meals also help cut back on spending extra money from eating out throughout the week when you you are in a pinch for time. Knowing I have nutritious and yummy food waiting for me at home that I can throw together is much more enticing than a fast food joint.

Promotes Healthy Habits/Health Goals
Consistency is king to me when it comes to nearly everything in life and having my meals and snacks for the day prevents me from making less than ideal food choices when in a pinch and stops me from resorting to foods that aren't as nutritionally dense. Plus, when you cook your own foods you know exactly how they are prepared and what's in them. You can help control any added ingredients and oils, which is difficult when eating out.

Well Balanced Meals
Work, school, kids, laundry, the noise that's been coming from the car for a week now. "It's fine- everything is fine." With all the stressors, expected or unexpected ("oh, the kids decided to use an entire bottle of my expensive shampoo to make bubble bath."), the last thing you want to worry about is deciding on a last minute meal. Meal prepping in advance ensures that you are fueling your body with nutrients to get you through the day.

I look forward to my meal prep day, and no it doesn't always have to be Sunday! I always feel more accomplished and just positive about setting myself up for success.

Let's get this meal prepping party started!

What's the Plan?
Write out a grocery list based on what meals and snacks you want to have for the week before heading to the store. I always know what's in my cabinets so I don't have to try and remember if the husband finished off the last of the brown rice or not. Also keep in mind your weekly schedule. Mine varies slightly from week to week with client training sessions, projects for school, and time with the family. Consider those days that you have lunch at work and also if you'll need to fuel on the go or around workouts. During the week I have to eat many snacks and even some meals in my car going from session to session so things that are easily transportable and don't need warmed (Umm, hello ALL of the veggies- GIMME!), are my go-to's. When classes are in session I stick with a few staples for my meals that really work for me and I enjoy! It's bad enough lugging around my backpack so adding a HUGE lunchbox is going to turn me into a pack mule. Here are some things I look to that are easy to prepare the night before and keep me satisfied with little to no fuss.

Breakfast: overnight oats (a FAV of mine- will be sharing many recipes!!), cup of yogurt with some granola, flax seed, and fruit, or bar.
Lunch: salads (endless possibilities), vegetable slices with hummus, and veggie or turkey wraps.
Dinner: roasted vegetable bowls or veggies with cheese and nuts.

Set aside the time
Now this is where I believe its the moment of truth if people can hack meal prepping. Carving out the time to meal prep can be tedious if you follow blindly. I am no Martha Stewart so my meal preps are easy, fast, and furious, I go go go and get it done. I'm not down with creating a new dish, I stick with my tried and true and keep my recipe exploration for other times. This isn't the time to try 8 new recipes! Be realistic with how much time you are willing to spend. When I first started before I got the hang of things and was learning what my tastes were, meal prep often took a little over 2 hours. Now I keep it to 45 mins- 1 hour. I promise the more you do it, the more efficient you will become!

Invest in containers
Sorry Ziploc, take your flimsy container and move on down the bench. I stick to my Pyrex containers for my meal preps. I have various shapes and sizes and stick with glass containers because they heat more evenly when I need to reheat and I feel that they don't allow my foods to absorb odors from the fridge that can make them taste differently, something to consider when you are storing food for the week.

First harvest from our garden this past year. [2017]

Wash + Prep
Let's get to WORK! Clean, chop, and prep vegetables and fruits to easily have ready for meals and snacks for the week. (I will be sharing soon natural ways to clean and prep veggies! So keep your eyes peeled for that). Allow them all to air dry before storing in fridge because the moisture will cause your produce to spoil faster.

Cook in bulk
When I first started I would focus on cooking one sole meal- wasted a lot of time. Now I cook meal components in batches such as my quinoa, brown rice, roasted vegetables, proteins, or pasta. So when you get home you can pull out the containers of each and create your meal and it can vary then day to day so you can tailor it to your needs and cravings!

Stock pile the freezer goods
Store meals in freezer- chicken, vegetables, soups, doubled recipes, etc can be stored in freezer along with prepared breakfast burritos, sauces, and veggie & egg bake casseroles!

Ariel's Pantry Tips
Keeping your pantry stocked with a few staple items can reduce your time in the kitch! Pick low-sodium canned items (beans, legumes, vegetables, etc), that can be readily opened, rinsed, and added to a meal. Some additional finds in my pantry are packets or cans of tuna/salmon, whole grain or Banza pasta, canned tomatoes- multiple varieties and tomato sauce, nut butters, tahini, jerky, whole grain crackers, nuts and seeds, steel cut and old fashioned rolled oats, and chicken or vegetable stock.

Multitasking
This girl is a multitasking wizard, I just get moving and nothing slows me down. Cooking several things at once really helps to not only cut down on your kitchen time, but also cuts down on energy! (Yes, I am an environmental hippie.) So I will start by preheating the oven to the lowest temp I need to cook whatever food or meal I am preparing and then increase it as I cook others.

Example: cooking my favorite protein cookies as a snack for the week at 350, then adding my vegetables at the same time to roast, I remove my cookies after about 10-12 minutes and then finish cooking my vegetables for the additional time increasing the temp then to 400. Or allow your veggies to dry while you prepare your protein and grain for the week. These little steps add up and you will get the flow of things as you continue to meal prep.

Don't Stress!
Meal prepping takes time, commitment, planning, and coordinating many pieces. So to make your experience successful start small by prepping 2-3 meal components for the week and then expand when you get that down. If prepping for an entire week seems daunting, start with prepping for one meal-time during the week or with snacks. Prepping fresh cut vegetables for the week alone will save you a ton of time and encourage you to munch on nutrient dense grabs when in a pinch.

Overall, I preach the benefits of meal prepping. Honestly in my mind I see it as having nutrient dense fast food. Everything is cooked, you can compile and heat up in the microwave in a jiffy. Not to mention, I am a HUGE proponent for eliminating all food waste. I haven't ever wasted food since I was young & knowing I have foods at home waiting for me keeps me on track of living a healthier lifestyle and also having a healthier pocketbook!

Have questions about meal prepping or how to get started with that grocery list? Comment below! Thanks for reading!