If you want ideas on how to food-prep to save you some time, save you some money and make your life more efficient, keep reading this article.
My food prep is different from a lot of other food prep you might find because a lot of those people are fitness people or people who really like counting their macros and tracking everything. There are certain times when I track my macros when I have really specific goals or am trying to either gain a little muscle or lose a little fat. Right now, for the most part, in my everyday life, I don’t track. My food-prepping is more about getting all the healthy foods that I want to eat washed, prepped and ready to go. This way I can just pop it on the stove, throw it into a salad…really just make my life EASIER and make sure that I am eating HEALTHIER.
Beets- probably one of the healthiest foods on the planet. They are one of the best anti-cancer, disease-fighting foods. Buying food fresh, in its natural state is always the way to go, but it can be a little messy. I found it much more efficient to bake them in the oven (skin on). Here’s how:
- Rinse.
- Slice.
- Put on a tin foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 425ºF until soft.
- Check every 10 minutes. When you can easily slice a knife through it, they’re ready.
- Peel and enjoy! I recommend adding a little sea salt and balsamic vinegar or putting them in a salad with tomato, cucumber and avocado- delicious.
Bulk cooking: quinoa & lentils- I’m really big on cooking certain things in bulk, and then giving myself the option. One thing I don’t like about really specific food-prepping is that I might not be in the mood for that food that day…It almost feels like you’re on a meal plan. When it comes to quinoa and lentils, I usually like to sprout them (soaking in water for a day or two to help you better digest it).
I eat quinoa cold, warm, in the morning as oatmeal- I feel like it’s a safe food to always have cooked. Quinoa is a grain similar to rice, but with more protein and more fiber. Pre-sprouted quinoa is amazing because it will save you time and you don’t have to worry about sprouting it yourself. To meal-prep this, I just cook it, pop it into a tupperware and save it in the fridge.
There are all different kinds of lentils- red, black, green. I like red because they’re the most easily digested of the three. I don’t have these pre-sprouted, so I sprout them myself. Just add the lentils to a tupperware, cover them ALL in water and pop it in the fridge for a day. Sprouting anything also makes them cook so much faster.
Note: Whenever you’re buying legumes, make sure that you’re NOT buying them canned. Canned = processed, preservatives, unnatural state, doesn’t taste as good.
Raw almonds (haven’t been roasted, no extra seasoning)- I soak these too: put in tupperware, COVER in water and store in the fridge. After a day, take them out and rinse them, then store in a container in the fridge. Try to eat them within 4-5 days…If they’ve been there too long, they start to get that sliminess to them. Real food is not meant to last a year.
Veggies- Prepping fruit is a little bit different because it goes bad. There are certain veggies that I just don’t feel like doing in the moment. I like to get whole carrots, so I rinse, peel and chop the ends off in advance. Organic celery is often really dirty…probably a good indicator that it’s really fresh. I like to rinse them well, dry, peel and slice them before putting them in the fridge. Now, I have quick access to fresh veggies if I want to throw them in salad, dip them in hummus, etc. If food is accessible to you, you will grab it more. Also, presentation is everything. Psychologically, if you have fresh veggies sliced really cute in a mason jar, it just makes you want to eat it more.
These were just little examples of food I prep. They can obviously vary based on your preferences- let’s say you prefer walnuts to almonds, you can do that; if you like other veggies more than what I’m using, you can also do that. Your bulk ingredients might be brown rice, black beans, kidney beans, etc. It’s always great to have this stuff on hand, ready to go.
