Are you tired of spending hours in the kitchen every day, only to end up with the same boring meals? Imagine transforming your meal routine with just a little preparation, saving time, and enjoying a variety of delicious, healthy dishes every day.
So, hold my beer 🍺.
What Is Meal Prepping Really About?
Meal prepping isn’t about cooking 10 containers of chicken thighs on Sunday and eating them all week. It’s about having a set of basic ingredients and add-ons that can be combined in various ways, like building with Lego blocks.
Think of it like Lego:
From the same blocks, you can build a city, an excavator, or even a robot. The same principle applies to food.
For example, from pre-roasted pumpkin, you can create:
- Salad with salmon, arugula, and quinoa
- Millet porridge with coconut milk
- Toast with cream cheese and herbs
Three different dishes, all with the same ingredient!
What Is Meal Prepping Really About?
Meal prepping isn’t about cooking 10 containers of chicken thighs on Sunday and eating them all week. It’s about having a set of basic ingredients and add-ons that can be combined in various ways, like building with Lego blocks.
Think of it like Lego:
From the same blocks, you can build a city, an excavator, or even a robot. The same principle applies to food.
For example, from pre-roasted pumpkin, you can create:
- Salad with salmon, arugula, and quinoa
- Millet porridge with coconut milk
- Toast with cream cheese and herbs
Three different dishes, all with the same ingredient!
Essential Meal Prep Tips to Save Time
Grains
Cook large portions of grains like quinoa, spelt, barley, or rye. Store some in the fridge for a few days (allowing resistant starch to form) and freeze the rest.
Resistant starch is similar to fiber in that it cannot be directly absorbed by the body. It has to be broken down by specific gut bacteria. Eating foods high in resistant starch spurs the growth of these health-promoting bacteria. (c) Harvard Health Publishing
Vegetables
Roast a large batch of veggies like carrots, pumpkins, eggplants, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes. Store them in a tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Eggs
Boil them soft or hard. They keep well in the fridge and can be used in various dishes.
Building Your Meal Prep Masterpiece
Mix and match your prepped ingredients to create quick and tasty meals:
- Quinoa + roasted pumpkin + salad greens + seeds + lemon/olive oil
- Eggs + beans + tuna + cucumbers/tomatoes + basil + lemon/olive oil
- Carrots + spelt + spinach + nuts + lemon/olive oil
- Spread (eggs + tuna + yogurt + capers) + bread
Discover New Flavors and Stay Healthy:
This approach makes it easy to follow a healthy eating plate and discover new, exciting food combinations.
Quick Lunch in 10 Minutes:
Using the same principle, I assembled a lunch in just 10 minutes —Middle Eastern Chicken Salad with Quinoa, Mint and Pomegranate seeds.
Nuts, greens, and cheese are staples that I always have in my fridge or pantry.
Follow my Instagram for daily meal prep inspiration and quick recipes!