Are you finding it hard to stick to your diet because you don’t have enough time to cook? Do you feel that you’re not making the healthiest choices when dining out? Or that you’re spending too much money on groceries that end up going to waste? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you might be missing out on the benefits of meal prepping.
Prepping your meals will save you time and money while helping you to stay on track with your diet regime. In this article, we cover 5 tips for you to make the most out of meal prepping, and at the end of your cooking day, you may even feel like a winner of Master Chef.
1. Choose The Right Recipes
Having the intention to meal prep is the first step, well done! But now, you should focus on finding those recipes that will make you look forward to cooking and tasting interesting dishes.The key to success is to choose recipes that are aligned with your nutrition goals and cooking skills level. You certainly don’t want to add extra frustration to your day by choosing complex recipes that can make the most famous chefs in the world break a sweat. Instead, try to find dishes that you know you will enjoy making and, therefore, look forward to cooking day.
2. Dedicate Half A Day To Meal Prep
Especially if you have a tight schedule, it is important to find a convenient time during the week or weekend where you can dedicate a few hours to cooking for the rest of your week. Depending on the recipes that you choose to follow, you will have to adapt your allocated time. Perhaps some recipes will require you to chop enough onions and peppers to feed an army while some others may require you to roast meat for a few hours. Planning ahead will remove surprises when calculating your estimated time at the kitchen.
3. Shop Smart In Quantity And Quality Of Ingredients
Now that you have selected the recipes and found the time to cook, it is time to think about the ingredients that you will use. Given that your meals are probably going to be sitting in your fridge for a few days, it is important that you choose high-quality ingredients in order for them not to go to waste too quickly. Moreover, you should also be mindful of buying the correct amount of groceries that you will need for your recipes as to avoid any excesses or shortenings while cooking.
4. Weigh And Measure Your Ingredients
A little food scale will become your best friend. Have you ever felt that you’ve cooked enough rice to eat for a month? That feeling can easily come back when you’re cooking for many days in large quantities. Measuring cups and scales can be useful tools in the kitchen to make sure that you follow along the recipe correctly while multiplying the ingredients by the amount of meals that you want to make out of them. This will be beneficial for you to also keep track of your caloric intake, if your diet requires you to do so.
5. Keep Your Fridge Organized
You’ve done the cooking! Congratulations! You may be feeling a little exhausted, but rest assured that you’ve saved some hours in your week by doing all your cooking at once. Now, it is important to store your fridge correctly. It is advisable to use clear food containers so that you can actually see what is inside. Additionally, you could label the container with the date that the food in it was cooked, and, if you’re following a specific regime, include the date and time that that dish should be consumed. This will save you the headache of remembering what you should do with all the food that you’ve cooked.
A healthy lifestyle consists of healthy eating habits and regular physical exercise. Now that you are all set to master the art of meal prepping, you could consider incorporating some workouts to your weekly routine.
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