I can’t stress enough, the importance of meal prep.
Picking up something during the day from a fast food drive-through or even the food court at work hardly ever comes with healthy options. Some fast food spots have salads that are really mainly lettuce (I hate lettuce; it is so subpar to other more beneficial greens), salty grilled chicken – or worse, fried chicken – and they cost an arm and a leg. If you don’t get to the food court at just the right time, you will usually find that he salad bar is picked over and badly cut. I honestly don’t think bringing leftover dinner to work for lunch is a good idea in most cases either. Rarely are our families on board with the changes we are trying to make within ourselves and for ourselves and so dinner is usually a compromise meal that is more to the liking of family than helping us to change our habits.
When I meal prep my lunches for the week, I also meal prep my salads for dinner. They are smaller and always meatless, so I can lessen my portion of what ever I cooked for dinner for my family and have my salad on the side.
Have you picked up any meal prep containers?
If not, I recommend these.
The measurements are on the containers so there is no real measuring needed. If it fits, you know that you aren’t going over your recommended portion size. This kit also comes with a food plan but honestly, if you stick to quinoa, nuts, fruits, vegetables (steamed, raw or baked with olive oil) chicken, turkey and seafood, you really can’t go wrong.
Fruits, nuts and vegetables have carbs - complex carbs - the GOOD carbs. Save the bread, pasta and rice – simple carbs – for the weekend.
I eat most of my vegetables raw. Repetition does not bother me for lunch. I mix up dinner and all my meals on the weekend. However, when it is cold outside, sometimes the last thing I want for lunch is a cold salad. During the winter months I bake or steam my vegetables and warm up my lunches. I usually bake the vegetables in the same pan as what ever meat I am having. I prepare enough for the whole work week or at least three days of the work week and then prepare something equally stress free for the other two days or the work week.
MEAL PREP TIP
If you make meal prep stressful or complicated, you are not likely to stick to it. Look for recipes that are easy, tasty and that you can cook a lot of whatever it is at once. One-pan recipes are my go-to kind of recipe.
Prep your meals the night before the start of your work week. It will be tempting to get prep done when ever you have free time, but you need to be cognizant of how long you need your meals to last. Anything that you have cut (broccoli, cucumbers, carrots, celery, and etc.) will start to break down faster once it is cut. I prep on Sunday evening for meals to be eaten on Monday – Friday.
Prep all your meals for the week at the same time and, if you have space at work to keep all your lunches for the week together, bring all your meals to work at the start of the week. This will prevent you leaving a lunch at home later in the week. Before I started bringing all my lunches to work at once, I can’t count the number of times I have left a lunch on the kitchen counter or the kitchen table. If your mornings are anything like mine, you don’t need to add anything else to your to-do list on the way out the door.
If you lunch has raw vegetables or boiled eggs, do not store them at the top of the refrigerator as this area is usually the coldest. Nothing spoils efforts so thoroughly as frozen or water-logged vegetables and frozen eggs.
Have more meal containers that exactly what you need. Lids get lost. Lids break. Our family will make lunches and store left overs in meal prep containers. Have at least 3 more containers than exactly what you need.
Chose containers based on the kind of you will prepare. If you plan to eat a cold lunch, use plastic containers. If you plan to heat your lunch, use glass containers.
Salad dressing and spices are the zest of the meal prep life. If you are a person that finds yourself getting tired of the eating the same things, but you don’t have time for new recipes, experiment with spices and salad dressings. It will not change the texture, but you can greatly affect the taste and enjoyment of your salad.
Don’t start you prep is a crowded kitchen. Clear your working space of objects and people that hinder you moving freely and quickly.
Don’t Go-Go Gadget Crazy! Invest in a good julienne slicer and that really should be enough unless you place to make zoodles (insert link).
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