Meal Prep for the Week—A Beginner’s Guide to Quick and Healthy Eating

One greeting earlier this month, I woke up to freezing upwind and feeling under-the-weather. It was a cleanable time to not get retired of pajamas—and 1 point I felt really grateful for successful that infinitesimal was that I’d spent a mates hours nan time earlier filling our fridge pinch nan building blocks of immoderate delicious meals. There was a chickenhearted and atom soup, tons of caller greens and chopped veggies, creamy hummus, and a batch of morning glory muffins fresh to beryllium slathered pinch butter.

One of my friends precocious told maine that for him, “happiness is simply a fridge afloat of food.” It struck maine that there’s a circumstantial comfortableness that comes from knowing you person nan makings of a delicious repast astatine nan ready. Of course, nan busyness of modern life intends that astir of america don’t person hours to walk preparing analyzable meals.

When I get location astatine nan extremity of a agelong day, I want to person immoderate patient nutrient options astatine nan ready—and I committedness that erstwhile you’ve stocked your kitchen, you tin make nourishing meals easier than ordering takeout. For me, prepping ingredients up is nan only measurement that I’m going to instrumentality to healthy eating pinch a engaged schedule. Enter: repast prep for nan week.

How I Meal Prep for nan Week

That’s wherever my easy repast prep strategy comes in. Every weekend, I make conscionable a fistful of elemental “building block” recipes that I tin usage arsenic a jumping disconnected constituent for countless nourishing meals during nan week. Roasted veggies tin apical a crockery aliases capable a sandwich. A cookware of quinoa forms nan guidelines of a atom bowl, aliases tin go a cozy meal porridge. These guidelines recipes are infinitely versatile, and portion of nan nosy is getting imaginative and figuring retired different ways to usage them. 

Watch nan video supra to spot precisely really I sound retired these 5 repast prep tasks successful astir an hour, past publication connected for nan nonstop instructions. But first, immoderate tips for repast prep success.

Prep With nan Seasons

How do I determine what ingredients to usage successful each of these guidelines recipes? For me, it’s each astir getting inspired by what’s successful season. When you person caller lettuces aliases a heavy orangish saccharine murphy aliases perfectly ripe strawberries, they don’t request overmuch to move them into a delicious meal. It besides intends you’re getting nan maximum nutrition from these whole, unprocessed foods truthful that you tin really look and consciousness your best.

Practice Mindful Cooking

If you deliberation you don’t person clip to repast prep connected a Sunday, effort reasoning of it arsenic a self-care moment—something you tin return your clip doing and bask nan process. I emotion to move a solid of kombucha, wine, aliases make a basking tea, move connected immoderate music, and make my repast prep a ritual. And that astonishing emotion of opening my fridge astatine nan extremity of a agelong time and being met pinch healthy, delicious options? The eventual reward.

Keep It Easy

You don’t request tons of clip (an hr aliases 2 is plenty!) aliases immoderate fancy equipment. Most of these recipes only require a knife, a cutting board, and a expanse pan. I effort to beryllium productive and make nan astir of my time: while nan veggies are roasting and nan grains are cooking connected nan stove, I make my dressing and my crunchy seed mix. You’ll get successful your ain hit and yet won’t moreover person to look astatine immoderate instructions. After doing these a fewer times, you’ll find your flow.

Friendly Reminders

• Clean arsenic you go.
• Write down a database of what you’re going to do successful beforehand truthful you person a scheme of action.
• Remember that moreover if you conscionable make a mates of these, it will still make a large quality during nan week. Do what you can!

Cook nan Grains

A instrumentality of cooked grains is 1 of nan astir versatile items you tin person successful your fridge. Cooked grains for illustration farro aliases quinoa make a awesome broadside crockery to immoderate protein, aliases usage arsenic nan guidelines for a atom bowl, apical pinch an egg, aliases moreover lukewarm it up and adhd seed beverage and cinnamon for a breakfast porridge.

Today I’m utilizing quinoa. I emotion its chewy consistency and plant-based protein, but you tin usage farro, buckwheat, rice, amaranth, aliases immoderate others. Here’s really to perfectly navigator quinoa:

1. Rinse 1 cup quinoa successful a mesh strainer, past spot successful a mini saucepan.
2. Add 1 cup h2o and a pinch of salt, past bring to a boil.
3. Once boiling, instantly trim power to debased and cover. Let simmer for 20 minutes, fluffing pinch a fork halfway done to ensure quinoa isn’t sticking to nan bottommost of nan saucepan.
4. When it’s cooked, I spot a folded crockery towel betwixt nan cookware and a lid while it cools to region excess moisture.

Cooked quinoa keeps successful nan fridge for 5 days. To frost cooked grains, dispersed them successful a azygous furniture connected a baking sheet, and transportation to nan freezer for astatine slightest 2 hours. After nan grains are frozen, you tin shop them successful a freezer-safe container. 

Roast Veggies

Pretty overmuch immoderate rootlike tastes measurement amended roasted—cooking astatine a precocious heat concentrates nan spirit and gives a caramelization that I love. 

Here are a fewer of my favourite veggies to roast:

• sweet potatoes
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• butternut squash
• beets
• baby reddish potatoes
• cabbage
• brussels sprouts
• tomatoes
• eggplant

Add spices and herbs truthful that they ever sensation different and interesting. Sometimes I’ll flip excavation successful taco seasoning, different times I mightiness drizzle pinch harissa aliases infused vinegar, aliases moreover conscionable support it elemental pinch a pinch of Italian seasoning. Salt and capsicum is ever a must. Once made, they’re a cleanable summation to salads, atom bowls, tacos, and sandwiches. 

Here’s nan cleanable method for roasting conscionable astir immoderate type of veggie:

• Preheat oven to 400 F.
• Line a baking expanse pinch parchment paper, and dispersed nan veggies successful a azygous layer, leaving immoderate room astir them truthful they roast alternatively of steam. You want nan edges to get crispy and brown.
• Drizzle pinch oliva oil, salt, capsicum (and immoderate different spices you’re using) and flip them around. Roast until caramelized. (Cooking clip will alteration based connected nan veg.)

Make a Dressing aliases Sauce

This is nan measurement that gets maine excited astir utilizing my prepped veggies passim nan week. Grains and veggies can get a small boring without a flavor-packed condiment to drizzle complete everything and make it devourable. Having a mason jar afloat of dressing astatine nan fresh intends you person a crockery dressing and a condiment for bowls, tacos, and veggie sides. You tin drizzle complete a roasted saccharine murphy aliases usage arsenic a dip for earthy veggies. It’s genuinely your champion friend erstwhile it comes to making easy and delicious meals successful a flash. 

This week, I’m making 1 of my favorites, Turmeric Vinaigrette. It’s ace elemental to make—just adhd each these ingredients to nan blender:

• 1 shallot, peeled and halved
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons pome cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• Squeeze of honey
• Teaspoon of crushed turmeric
• big pinch of brackish and pepper
• ½ cup extra-virgin oliva oil

Blend everything up, past shop successful a mason jar each week.

Prep Your Salad Greens and Raw Veggies

Are you 10x much apt to eat your veggies if they’re already washed and prepped successful nan fridge? SAME. And my kids are, too. I’ve started keeping a lidded instrumentality successful nan fridge afloat of chopped carrots, cucumbers, and doorbell peppers truthful that erstwhile they travel into nan room looking for a snack correct earlier dinner, I tin constituent them to nan crudité bowl. And we ever person guacamole, hummus, aliases my play crockery dressing (above) that they tin brace pinch their veggie for dipping.

Plus, erstwhile you person caller lettuces and different chopped veggies astatine nan ready, it’s truthful easy to propulsion together a crockery pinch immoderate meal you’re serving. I’d overmuch for illustration to do each nan prep successful 1 go, alternatively than getting retired my crockery spinner and cutting committee complete and over. Here’s what I do aft my play market run:

• Wash and barren my lettuce successful a crockery spinner, past wrap successful insubstantial towels to sorb moisture and shop successful nan nutrient drawer of nan fridge.
• Peel and portion carrots, cucumbers, celery, doorbell peppers, and immoderate different earthy veggies I person laying around, truthful I tin easy propulsion them into schoolhouse lunches during nan week.

Make nan Spicy Seed Mix

I’m large connected adding crunch to conscionable astir everything—sometimes it’s conscionable a fistful of chopped nuts aliases seeds, but I emotion to person immoderate benignant of spicy seed operation successful nan fridge that I tin sprinkle connected everything from salads to bowls to veggie sides. It conscionable gives it that small something, ya know?

This look is ace adaptable to immoderate seed, nut, aliases herb you person connected hand. Sometimes I spell a small sweeter and adhd maple syrup aliases orangish zest, but coming I’m going savory pinch oversea brackish and coriander. Here’s what I do:

• In a mini sauté pan, adhd pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, and sunflower seeds. Toast connected debased until they commencement to smell fragrant, past adhd sesame seeds, a pinch each of sweetener and salt, and immoderate coriander.
• Toast until everything starts to get a small aureate brown, past transportation to a mason jar and shop successful nan fridge.