Sign up for your STAR+er library to access 500+ pretty and practical printables to use on your self-improvement journey to becoming a Youniqorn.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

TL;DR

 

• Decide on a meal prep schedule.
• Decide on a menu in advance.
• Budget and plan your grocery runs to accommodate all the dishes you want to prepare in the amounts you wish to prepare them.
• Get meal prep Tupperware to ration your meals for the week (or however long you want to prep for).
• Certain meals/food items can be weekly prepped but not monthly because they can’t be stored in the freezer and preserve their structure/integrity/nutritional profile.
• Have enough fridge/freezer space and a good functioning fridge.
• Use labels and stickers to mark your meal Tupperware to make the experience more fun and enjoyable.
• Portion your meals according to your lifestyle, activity level and nutritional needs.
• Even if you don’t enjoy cooking yourself, you can still meal prep food that’s cooked for you.
• To save even more time, opt for a meal prep delivery service so you don’t have to grocery shop, plan, cook, or portion your meals yourself.
  
  
  
  

Meal preparation, or meal prep/ping is a life hack that has such a massive, time-saving impact that simply cannot be overstated. Planning ahead is always, by general rule of thumb, smart. So, it goes without saying that also holds true for the thing that ensures your very existence: food. Meal prepping is dual saving in both time and money because you, one, cook in large(r) amounts at once to last you a long(er) time based on a window of your own choosing and, two, buy your food in bulk/wholesale which is always far more economical, and certainly more so than eating out all the time—which can really add up.

The other major advantage aside from money and time saving meal preparation offers is knowing exactly what’s going into your body because you’re the one cooking it. You have the very distinct advantage of having your food taste just how you like or have meal ingredient options/choices that fit your particular diet, palate and physical or health needs.

There is literally no reason to cook every single day (unless you simply enjoy doing so and cooking is your hobby/form of release/relaxation/reprieve/you are passionate about it and enjoy it. Be smart and plan/prep ahead of time so you can use the rest of it, you know, do other stuff. Just a tip: you can apply prepping to any other aspect of your life that you do on a daily basis that does not need to be carried out on a day-to-day basis. A good example of this is clothes/outfit prepping where you can plan your outfits for the entire week in one sitting instead of having to wonder/decide what to wear every single day. The mental energy required and stress that often results from having to make these fundamental everyday choices takes up valuable time and mental/emotional resources and energy that are best spent on enhanced productivity and re-creation.

• Decide on a meal prep schedule. This will determine how long you want to meal prep your advance meals for and give you a general framework for this aspect of your lifestyle. A popular time frame is weekly (which is something I do). However, you can absolutely do monthly meal prepping, especially if you anticipate a particular month will be hectic/crazy busy, and certainly if you have enough freezer space to store your food over the course of the month.
  
  
  

• Decide on a menu in advance. This is probably the most challenging part even though it seems simple and straightforward enough. Deciding multiple meals in advance might take some adjusting and getting used to if you’ve never done it before or if you are not that good at planning ahead for multiple days at once. If you’re looking for delicious and easy meal ideas for your weekly/monthly prep, read 101 Easy Recipes to Tickle (and Twinkle) Your Taste Buds. That should get you started right away. Remember to make the dishes your own and you have the freedom to tweak and edit your food as you please.
  
  
  
  

• Budget and plan your grocery runs to accommodate all the dishes you want to prepare in the amounts you wish to prepare them so that they last the entire week/month/meal prep window without feeling like you can’t eat as much as you need to while rationing. Knowing your menu before going to the super/market ensures you buy what you actually need and what you’re going to use in the (very) near future and not spend on items that may end up going bad before you get a chance to them (up) and therefore you don’t end up wasting your money and time. A lot of people lose money every year on produce/dairy/meat that goes bad in their fridge/freezer (yes, this can and does happen: freezer burn/frostbite is all the way real, chile!) before they get around to using/cooking/prepping it. If you’re going to buy in bulk/ take advantage of a good sale/discount (both of which are highly recommended practices for better money-management and saving) make sure you have actual plans to eat it within a reasonable timeframe (6 months is a decent window). Before you buy, always do an inventory check to make sure you don’t forget anything while you’re out and about and also not buy items you already have. That tends to happen quite a lot and is a common way people lose money on stuff they already have (in adequate amounts).
  
  
  
• Invest in a great electric or gas cooker with multiple burners (ideally 4 or more) and a convection oven so you can have multiple things going on the stove and/or below it at once. This will save you a ton of time, especially long term.
  
  
• Invest in convenient cooking appliances like a rice cooker, air fryer, instant pot, food processor, masticating juicer, and microwave.
  
  
• Invest in good, sturdy kitchenware, especially for fundamental items like knives (have a separate set for fruits/vegetables and meat), a chopping board/surface, cooking/dishing spoons and durable stainless steel pots and cast iron pans.
  
  

• Invest in meal prep Tupperware to ration your meals for the week (or however long you want to prep for). Opt for microwave-safe, BPA-free plastic or silicone. Don’t use glass/ceramic if you are monthly prepping or preserving your meals in the freezer. They will expand and break. Get sizes structured for healthy portions, especially if you’re trying to lose weight/eat healthier.
  

*Note

Certain meals/food items can be weekly prepped but not monthly because they can’t be stored in the freezer and preserve their structure/integrity/nutritional profile. Examples are lettuce/cabbage (and other high water content veggies) or starches like Gari, injera, fufu and certain types of rice.

• Invest in a quality fridge and freezer with adequate space, shelves and compartments in each. This will make all the difference in how efficient your meal prep process is. A high-functional, large fridge and freezer will keep your food fresh or properly frozen longer and allow you to store/preserve larger amounts of food at a time. A larger/deep freezer will also allow you to buy and store meat and certain produce in bulk, as well as your already-made meals. The convenience this offers can’t be overstated, especially if you have a large family or food prep for multiple people.
  
  

• Use labels and stickers to mark your Tupperware and meals to make the experience more fun and enjoyable. Seriously, once you start, you won’t be able to go back to eating out of non-smiley-faced Tupperware :).
  
  

• Portion your meals according your lifestyle, activity level and nutritional needs. If you exercise more or have a physically demanding job, you’ll need more food and, therefore, larger portions to give your body the energy it needs to sustain your physical routine. If you’re trying to lose weight, upping your portions of vegetables and lean proteins and reducing your portions of simple carbohydrates is the way to go. Tupperware with compartments will make this easy-peasy (eat your peas, please).
  
  
  

• Last but not least, to save even more time, you also have the option to get meal prep services delivered to you so you don’t have to grocery shop, plan, cook, and portion your meals ahead of time if you simply cannot afford the time commitment, particularly during hectic weeks/months or if you have to meal prep for many people/a very large family. So, even if you don’t enjoy cooking yourself, you can still meal prep food that’s cooked for you.
  
  

Share one improvement meal-prepping has made in your life, whether that’s saving time and/or money, building better food habits, or something else. ♥