I know what you’re thinking already.Five days of the same bland baked chicken breast, steamed broccoli and soggy, sad sweet potatoes. Yuck. I don’t want to eat that either. For years I've been in the fitness industry and have worked odd hours. Meal prep became the key to survival of 12 hour shifts at work that was far from my home. To this day I can no longer even THINK about eating salmon and asparagus without feeling a little nauseous. Gross. No one ever in their right mind thought that eating cold food in the middle of a sweaty gym sounded appetizing.
One night after work I had the brilliant idea to start cooking enough food for three or four meals so that I could have delicious left overs the next day instead of the dreaded cold salmon and asparagus. After work, cooking helped me relax. This offered a solution to freeing up my day off by cooking more than enough for one meal. My cold salmon delima was solved. Pretty soon my co-workers took notice and suggested that I meal prep for my personal training clients, so I did.
As time progressed on, preparation became more and more streamlined and I was able to produce several different meals in a very short amount of time, Like five complete meals for six people in four hours. Short. I devised a system of shopping, prepping the food, and cooking that used my energy as efficiently as possible. This also saved money too; knowing what I needed every week saved me from buying “maybe I need this” type of items.
Being on a budget for most of my adult life, I learned what ingredients I used weekly and found items that were easily diversified in the kitchen. Part of the fun of cooking for me is being creative with what you have on hand. Understanding flavor profiles assisted me while I was shopping. For example, people don’t eat tuna fish and peanut butter sandwiches right? No, nor would you eat chicken topped with cereal. Buying WHOLE FOOD ingredients saves your grocery budget too. Unprocessed foods are way more affordable than pre-packed processed food per ounce, therefore getting more bang for your buck. Opening up the fridge and having oranges, chicken and sweet potatoes, NOW I have something to work with.
Every weekly grocery haul included base items such as garlic, onions, a root tubular, squash, tomatoes, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, spinach, chicken breasts, lean beef cuts (petite tender is one of my favorites) and some sort of hard cheese that in little quantity can add a lot of flavor. In my pantry I always have olive oil, old fashioned oats, no salt added chicken stock, and as many spices as I can buy on sale without breaking the bank. Now meal prep is not only easy, but it’s fun coming up with new ideas every week too!
Perfecting your in kitchen prep process is also key. I always started by chopping onions and garlic first and placed them on a plate where I could easily access them while cooking. Next came the preparing of the veggies and then the proteins. Anything I didn’t cook right away went immediately into freezer bags to maintain freshness. All of this could be done in under 20 minutes. Next came cooking the proteins, then the veggies and last the carb choice. I had all the containers laid out on the kitchen table so I could immediately put the food in the respective containers. It was like a factory line for food prep. The meals I produced over the next few months were not only tasty but incredibly budget friendly. Now I’m a little bit nerdy and kept a spreadsheet of every meal I made over those 10 months including the cost for the ingredients, prep time and cook time. I averaged about $5.50 meal. I couldn’t even buy a greek salad for that at my favorite place!
I’m all about budgeting properly and not wasting money on food that has to be thrown out due to non use. But I am also about creativity and making something new and exciting in my kitchen. It’s like being a mad scientist everytime I open up my fridge and ask “hmm what shall I make today”? Knowing that I made something unique from scratch on a tight budget that looks like a plate from a five star restaurant is pure exhilaration for me!
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