3-Step Guide To Meal Prep For The Entire Workweek (2024)

FAQs

3-Step Guide To Meal Prep For The Entire Workweek? ›

There is no set way to meal prep, but you can adopt or adapt a couple of different methods of meal prepping like batch cooking, cooking complete meals ahead of time and storing in the fridge or freezer, or chopping veggies based on the recipes you'll cook for the week.

There is no set way to meal prep, but you can adopt or adapt a couple of different methods of meal prepping like batch cooking, cooking complete meals ahead of time and storing in the fridge or freezer, or chopping veggies based on the recipes you'll cook for the week.

To best organize your prep and cook times, start with the recipe requiring the longest cook time. This is often the soup or oven meal. Once that meal is underway, focus on the rest. Reserve the cold meals for last since they can easily be made while the other meals are cooking.

Make a meal plan of about four days of safe storage in the fridge and about four months of safe storage in the freezer. Watch for changes (smell, color, texture, and mold) to your meal prep food as a sign that it's gone bad. If you're unsure if food has spoiled: when in doubt, throw it out.

Meals containing pasta, cheese, or grains tend to last longer than those with highly-perishable ingredients such as avocados or berries.

The Rule of 3's is made up specifically of these guidelines: Eat at least three meals and up to three snacks a day (you might think of this as a breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal plan) Eat at least three food groups per meal (and two per snack) Allow no more than three hours between eating.

When filling your plate, make half of it vegetables, one quarter grains (preferably whole) and one quarter protein. Increasing your vegetable intake is one of the easiest ways to improve your eating habits. Eat fish or seafood 1-2 times a week, and choose baked, steamed, grilled, or poached preparations over fried.

A balanced three-course meal might include a starter, main course, and dessert. For instance, a classic example could be a mixed green salad (starter) with a balsamic vinaigrette, followed by grilled chicken breast with steamed broccoli and quinoa (main course), and a fruit salad with yogurt (dessert).

In its simplest form, meal planning means sketching out what you are going to eat at each meal over the course of a week. Planning your meals allows you to identify what ingredients and products you'll need to prepare your meals.

How to create a balanced meal plan? ›

Filling your plate

To get the most benefit for your body, fill your plate with foods that have a lot of nutrients. Go for grains that are less processed. Choose a wide range of vegetables and fruits. Fill a quarter of your plate with a healthy protein.

A meal pattern is a planned set of food items from five food components with minimum portion sizes by meal type and student age or grade group.

You can also choose to do those three things—planning, shopping and cooking—on separate days. Try to choose meals that are simple and healthy and require minimal prep and cook time. The goal is to cook and store pre-portioned food that you can throw together and reheat quickly.

Use airtight containers to store your meals. This will help prevent air and moisture from getting in, which can cause your food to spoil faster. Consider prepping meals that you can freeze and then thaw in the fridge the night before you plan to eat them. This will help extend the life of your meals.

When you are meal prepping, there's a good chance most meals will last for somewhere between three and five days. However, if you want to meal prep for seven days, that means you'll need to have two separate meal prep sessions a week. The other option is to make meals that hold up well to freezing.