5 Easy Ways to Meal Prep for Your Work Week

When you’re busy juggling work and family schedules, it’s easy for your meals and nutrition to get left on the back burner. Long hours, traveling for work and commuting never seem to help either. The convenient solution of grabbing something quickly on the go or hitting the drive-thru isn’t ideal for your wallet or your waistline. Meal prepping can transform your eating habits and put a stop to the never-ending cycle of meal indecision and post-work cooking fatigue.

Although it requires some legwork on the weekend, or a free evening during the week, meal prepping can save you time and money with tasty meals ready to go – all thanks to your past self. Read on as we explore five easy meal prep ideas to help whip your mid-week meal management into shape. 

1. Start With a Game Plan

The most important component of successful meal prep is to make a plan before you start. Decide what meals you'll prepare ahead – just dinners, or lunches and breakfasts too? Meal prep can take various forms, including batch cooking and preparing ingredients ahead of time.

Make a list of some of your favorite meals and mid-week heroes and consider their ingredients, starting with ones you’re already familiar with. Look out for those that share the same ingredients to make grocery shopping cheaper and more time efficient for that week.

For instance, make a big batch of shredded chicken, then use that chicken for multiple recipes. Once you prepare a long enough list, create a weekly rotation over the course of the month to keep things interesting and flavorsome.

As you compile a list of recipes to prepare for the week, be sure to keep them simple at first. Complex meals can quickly lead to burnout, using up more of your valuable downtime.

Keep on occasionally adding in long-lasting pantry condiments to your shopping list one at a time so you can eventually make more complex dishes.

Finally, keep in mind what kind of access you'll have at work to a refrigerator or microwave for food storage and reheating. There may also be days where you occasionally eat out as a treat or attend events during the week. Taking time to consider your weekly schedule can help you plan exactly how many meals you really need. That way, you’ll use your meal prep time wiser and avoid unnecessary food waste.  

2. Shop Smart

Meal prepping is just as much about groceries as it is about cooking. Create a shopping list for the items you need and check your pantry for any staples that might be running low. Although you only want to make a big grocery trip once, you may need to plan a quick mid-week shopping stop for foods that don't have a long shelf life.

Although it can be helpful to form a routine where you shop and prep on a particular day of the week, this may not work for everyone’s personal and working patterns. You don’t have to do your shopping and cooking on the same day each week either if you find it too time-consuming. The main thing is fitting around your schedule and finding ways to switch things up when you see an opportunity for something new.

You can skip extra visits to the store by prepping meals that are easy to portion and freeze, like warming casseroles, soups and chilis. These make perfect end-of-week meals, just as long as you set a reminder to transfer them to the fridge a day or two before you plan to reheat them. 
 

3. Cook Efficiently

Meal prepping is all about maximizing the time you have and squeezing the best out of it. Start by getting all your ingredients and storage containers out and mapping out the best way to cook things. When everything is orderly and organized, it cuts down the time you'll spend running back and forth to the pantry or searching for the right lid for your favorite container.

Look at your recipes and match up any recurring ingredients, such as onions or carrots. That way, you can prep them at the same time. When you start cooking, it’s a good idea, to begin with, the longest recipe first, then tackle the others during the cooking time. For example, while you're baking a chicken and roasting veggies, chop all your vegetables and salad for the week.

If you’ve got them, why not introduce handy appliances like rice cookers, slow cookers and pressure cookers? Ideal for setting up and forgetting about them, you can go about your day knowing you’ll have a delicious batch of hot food waiting for you. 

Lastly, don’t forget to have fun with it. Throw on your favorite music, podcast or radio station and get excited about all the extra time you’ll have in the week, or month, ahead. 
 

4. Store It Right

Sometimes, meal prepping can look like separating and freezing portions of raw chicken or beef, ready to defrost the day before you plan to cook it. Other times, you might store and freeze portions of cooked meals for another day. However you prefer, much of the success in meal planning comes with proper storage.

If you're prepping five meals for the week ahead, then keep three days' worth in the fridge and put the other two in the freezer.

Some of the best storage containers for meal prepping include:

• Glass containers – Ideal for refrigerator storage since these keep food safe and transfer easily to the microwave.
• Mason jars – A popular option for salads, smoothies and oatmeal since they're sturdy, pack easily, and have an excellent seal.
• Food storage bags – Great for labeling and freezing prepared portions of raw vegetables and protein; you can even get reusable bags to help reduce single-use plastic waste. 
• Plastic containers – A kitchen staple, the faithful plastic container is ideal for storing salads, pasta, and wraps which can be enjoyed cold.

When storing your tasty meals, make sure your storage containers have a proper seal to keep them air-tight. You might also want to label your container with the contents and date if freezing for weeks at a time.  

5. Have a Backup Plan

When you first start out, meal prep might be a little more work upfront than you're used to. When unexpected delays crop up, it's tempting to give up altogether.

To combat defeat, keep some grab-and-go staples in your pantry at all times. Cans of healthy soup are filling and portable enough to take and heat up at work, while pasta and marinara sauce always make an easy go-to weeknight meal. With just a few ready staples as your backup plan, you increase the chance that your meal prepping is a success.

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