Meal Prepping Hacks
While vegan meal prepping is by no means rocket science, the newbie might feel a little overwhelmed at the beginning. How to set up a meal plan? When to shop? Where to shop? Where to store the food? How to reheat? What can be reheated? How long does it keep? Does it freeze well?Has it spoilt?
| To make your life easier, here is a few useful hacks for meal prepping plant-muncher as much as any other diet choice will find useful: |
| 1. Plan out wisely. Take a classic pen and paper to outline each meal for each day of the week or use your phone to do that. My free meal plan template template will help you do that. 2. Don’t overprep when starting to meal prep. You might even want to skip the meal prep plans I provide on this blog altogether and go with a week of bowls: Cook up a big pot of dry beans, lentils, rice, quinoa (or whatever your favourite grain is) to form the base of a meal prep bowl on Sunday. Also chop up a bunch of different veggies. Sauté some, fry others, roast some in the oven. Mix together 2 different dressings and combine as you feel during the week. 3. Find containers you like. Airtight containers whose look you like, the material you like, a size you like. My favorite is a glass one, see this Prep Naturals Glass Meal Prep Containers (affiliate link) 4. Invest in a bit of kitchen equipment if you have the money and counterspace. I personally work with the following (all affiliate links): – High-speed blender, namely Omniblend Blender – Measuring cups (not very common in European recipes but to me they were a real game changer. I use Klee Utensils 10-Piece Colorful Stainless Steel Measuring Cups (affiliate link) – Immersion blender – Ice cream spoon for making balls of any kind: Ice Cream Scoops – Food processor, namely KitchenAid KFP0718CU 7-Cup Food Processor – Rice cooker (not only for rice but other grains, too), namely Hamilton Beach 37517 Rice Cooker & Steamer – Juicer, namely KOIOS Juicer – Spiralizer to make veggie spaghetti – Lemon Squeezer – Steam cooker for the microwave, namely Progressive International PS-47GY Microwave Mini Steamer I would love to use an Instapot, but haven’t researched it enough to make a decision. Any insight in this topic from you is greatly appreciated. 5. Be sure to know what portion sizes you usually eat. 6. Include a couple of different food groups and textures to make everything healthier and more interesting. 7. Prepped food will only last so long, even in the fridge. Some types of food like rice or quinoa should be eaten within a couple of days, so cook another batch some time during the week if needed. 8. Don’t add dressings to your freshly cut veggies days in advance. Leave your salad greens intact for as long as possible and drizzle the dressing on top right before eating. Or even easier: Use mason jars and layer wisely. Dressing goes in first, legumes and grains follow and most importantly, leafy greens and microgreens are like a tiara. All the way at the top. 9. When taking your prepped meals to your office, make it restaurant-style. Get some napkins you like, pour your drink in a cup and if your workplace has plates you might even want to serve your meal prep on a plate. Sit down, enjoy it. Lunchtime is for refueling your system for the work hours ahead. 10. Take the negative image off leftovers. Find a way to do that. Either by making (leftover) chilli or (leftover) casserole on Friday night or my personal leftover story inspires you: I spent half a year living in the US with a host family. The dad would cook almost every night. Naturally, in a family of 5, leftovers would remain every night. And when it was leftover night, all the delights the dad had prepared during the week, would come to the table once again – all at once! 11. Keep your cool and FREEZE. If you have the space in your freezer, use it. As it’s hard to really prep an entire week ahead in terms of food going bad, I cannot encourage you enough to choose dishes for Friday or even Thursday that you can freeze on Meal Prep Sunday and take out during the week. However, be sure to use a reliable and food-safe freezer bag such as Glad Food Storage and Freezer 2 in 1 Zipper Bags (affiliate link) |
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