You are not alone if you’ve made efforts to change your diet, only to throw out rotten produce that you never got around to eating. This can be a frustrating experience, but there are strategies that can help you to avoid food waste and help you create colorful and flavorful meals. There are benefits to meal prepping during the week and ways to make it happen.
When it comes to a busy life, meal prepping can be a time saver, stress reducer and save you money. Planning out your weekly meals can help you focus on work or day to day tasks. Prepping meals for the week gives you the ability to focus on what needs to be done without the stress of cooking a meal. Choose a day during the week that works best for you. Choose your favorite dishes to make or ask yourself a few questions about the type of dishes you want to prep ahead of time. What meals do you enjoy that feature vegetables or fruit? What are your top three favorite vegetables? Are there any vegetables or fruits you don’t currently eat but would like to try? One or two new items can help you gradually expand your produce intake and learn new food preparation skills as well.
Taking an hour or two earlier in the week to plan your breakfasts, lunches, or dinners, is actually saving you time as the week goes on. When you have your food prepped, you know what is available for you to eat, allowing you to make one less decision during the day. When you have a busy week, it saves you time to have your menu planned out. If your day is jammed packed with meetings, running children around or a busy schedule, having your meals planned ensures you are eating a healthy meal rather than going out for take out once again.
When you have your food ready at the beginning of the week, this allows you to free up your thoughts, focus on other tasks and get things done. Coming home after a long day and trying to figure out what to cook can become stressful. Add in later days at the office or hitting traffic on the way home, and your mealtime dinner can turn into a quick grab and go meal through a drive thru. Planning your meals, using your slow cooker, or having dinner ready to heat up in the oven can decrease any stress you may feel. You have the ability to come home or finish your day with a healthy, home cooked meal.
One of the good things about prepping food ahead of time is you only buy what you need at the grocery store and cut down on food waste. Often, we purchase food to eat and in our busy lives, we forget what we have to eat and the fresh food we purchase, goes to waste. Learning to make meals that use the same ingredients for multiple recipes helps you cut down on food waste because you know exactly what is in your pantry or your fridge and how it’s going to be used. Think of versatile ingredients and what you can use for many different recipes. For example, you can meal plan a quinoa enchilada casserole, black bean burgers and a quinoa veggie chili all which include similar ingredients but give you three meals for the week (and are freezer friendly too!)
Let’s start with menu planning fundamentals. Your shopping list should include the ingredients for your future meals and snacks, omitting what you have on-hand. Select seasonal produce for cost savings, flavor, and added health benefits. Create your list while in your kitchen, and survey your pantry, refrigerator and freezer, in addition to your spice cabinet. Prioritize replenishing items that are running low or close their expiration date, and clear space on refrigerator and pantry shelves for the new items.
Making a list has been shown to help consumers acquire over 80% of the items they intended to purchase, and lists are effective “external memory storage devices,” that reduce the stress of shopping. Making a list helps you avoid unintended purchases, stick to your budget, and ensures you have what you need for those planned meals or snacks. Studies show that when we rely on our memory for grocery shopping, we end up with only a fraction of those items. It’s easy to get distracted by attention-grabbing marketing and packaged foods.
Plan your meals ahead of time and take some time to plan out your breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes. Your future self will thank you!
Jill Woodward is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and a Nutrition Education Specialist. She has a Master’s in nutrition and dietetics and has worked in a variety of settings including hospitals and outpatient clinics. Jill has also worked with fortune 500 companies across the US on developing a culture of health in their corporate environments. Jill enjoys seeing people achieve their chosen health and wellness goals. Her evidence based approach helps individuals reach their goals as part of their unique lifestyle to successfully sustain their healthy habits.
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