A Beginner’s Guide on How To Food Prep

Are you already a food prep expert? Does the idea of food prep scare you? Are you wondering what that is exactly? Let me help you discover what food prep is, how you can make it work for you, and how it will provide you with a less stressful week.

Don’t confuse food prep with meal prep.

Meal prep is more labor intensive up front because you are literally preparing your meals for the entire week. While it could definitely be worth it, I don’t prefer it because of my large family.

Food prep, however, is just preparing your foods for however you will use them later in the week. Once you’ve got the washing, cutting, chopping, and trimming out of the way the rest is easy.

Why is food prep beneficial?

Time management

How many times have you found yourself in the kitchen for hours trying to prepare a meal? How much simpler would it be if those vegetables were already cut or that chicken was trimmed? Food prepping allows you to skip the long and tedious preparation that preceeds cooking. By having that work already done, you can get straight to cooking and spend less time in the kitchen.

Eat healthy consistently

Prepping and storing your food for the week is imperative to eating healthy. Having your produce washed and ready to eat makes it immediately available any time you’re craving a snack. If you have to go through the process of preparing something healthy you’re more likely to reach for that bag of chips.

Save room in your fridge

Think of all the food waste you’re left with after cutting meat or produce. Whether you trash it, compost it, or feed it to your animals you know it tends to be a lot. And until you prep your food, it’s just taking up extra space in your fridge. Using like containers to store your prepped food will also help you make the most of the room in your fridge.

• TIP: Look at the set-up of your fridge and consider what type of space you have to maximize potential before buying food containers.

Create less waste

When your food is ready to cook you will be more likely to cook it. Which means you’ll be less likely to throw it away after it’s gone bad. Instant win!

Food prep will reduce stress

An international survey study done by Dr. Robert Epstein found that planning is the #1 best stress management technique. In his words, “Fighting stress before it even starts, planning things rather than letting them happen.” Planning for dinners throughout the week, even if you aren’t putting them together until the night of, will still help reduce the stress that centers around mealtime.

How to Food Prep Like a Pro

Plan!

Having a meal plan for the week will amplify your success. Not only does it help you know what to expect in the coming week, thereby reducing stress, but also helps you create a grocery list. This will keep you from buying things you won’t use and will help you avoid multiple trips to the grocery store.

Try to buy as many fresh, whole ingredients as possible. Buying pre-cut, pre-packaged foods might save you a little time but you’ll end up paying a lot more for a lot less.

Set aside dedicated time

Food prepping requires some dedicated time up front so plan for it. Food prep on grocery day. My mindset is to never let anything go into the fridge until it’s prepped. Once it goes in, it’s easy to forget about it. Skip the drama and set aside time after your grocery trip to finish the job.

Wash your produce as soon as you get home. I know it’s tempting to just pour a bag of apples into a fruit bowl and think, “I’ll just wash them as I go,” but you’ll be glad you put in the extra effort. Also, if you have kids that like to eat apples, or anything really, you’ll be sure they’re always eating fruit free of dirt, waxes, and pesticides.

• TIP: Lay a bath towel on the kitchen counter and air dry produce for a while before storing in an airtight container to preserve it longer.

When cutting your meat and produce, keep your weekly meal plan in mind. Cut things in the ways you’ll need them for cooking. Do you need sliced onions or diced onions? Maybe both? Can you leave your chicken breasts whole or do you need them in some other form? Cut everything exactly as you’ll need them for your recipe.

Storage

Make sure you have good quality storage containers to keep your food at it’s best longer. You’ll want a variety of sizes to accomodate different amounts of food, but make sure your containers will work well with the set-up of your fridge.

Feel free to freeze your vegetables if you have an abundance or if you feel like you might not use them before they go bad. Lay them out in a single layer on a baking sheet and flash freeze before putting them into a freezer bag. This will keep the pieces from sticking together and allow you to store them flat and save freezer space.

Get Started

Now that you know what needs to be done, all you have to do is actually do it! Don’t be intimidated by the time or the work. You’ll be doing it anyway. This way, though, you can do it all at once and relax for the rest of the week. It really will help your stress level. And since everything is already prepped, it makes dinners easier to move if something comes up and schedules change.

Seriously, if you aren’t doing this you should be. Take the leap. It will change your life.

Have a blessed week friends.

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

Proverbs 21.5, NLT