Meal prepping isn't a new concept to the food scene. There are countless people across the world who's food schedule is solely based on meal prep. To be honest, the idea sounds awesome to me, but the work that goes into it? Not so much. I wanted to get some opinions from a friend of mine, Julia, who does it every day and she gave me some amazing meal prep tips.
Variety, Variety, Variety
The biggest issue that I've found with meal prepping is the lack of variety. I don't like eating the same thing every day. I think it's boring and way too repetitive. Julia really helped me figure out how I can slightly change my meals day to day. "You can make a base food like chicken and then season it differently on Monday than you do on Tuesday. One of my favorites is taco seasoning!"
Plan Ahead
Meal prepping has to start with planning. When you meal prep for one or two weeks of food you can't just walk into the grocery store on a whim and pick out random ingredients. You have to plan out your visit with exactly what you want. It'll make the trip to the store much less daunting.
Find the Method that Works for You
Julia told me about the different styles of meal prepping that she does. The first method is portioning out meals and putting all components in one container for each meal so you can grab it out of the fridge and go! This method is super quick and easy for a busy schedule. The other method requires a little more prep work but still creates awesome results! Instead of putting a whole meal in one container, you can put components in their own containers and then create the meal right when you want to eat it. This method is great if you have a little more time on your hands or if you want to vary your meals from day to day.
No matter what way you spin it, meal prepping takes a lot of work and it can get repetitive after a while. But it doesn't have to be! I hope these tips make meal prepping a little less boring and a lot more fun!