A food blogger has shown that by following her meal prep tips, you can save your family time and money. Hannah Potter, who blogs for MuscleFood.com, spends Sunday evenings prepping for the week ahead and can cook up five delicious lunches and dinners in just 90 minutes!
The 25-year-old blogger and primary school teacher regularly shares her delicious, healthy recipes on Instagram for her 27,000 followers. Her savvy tips include prepping at a time to suit you, buying your products in bulk and remembering to purchase plenty of food storage containers to keep it all in.
Also, she recommends planning to avoid eating the same food too regularly and storing the foods in the fridge or freezer in accordance to the date you want to eat them.
Hannah Potter said: “People often shy away from meal prepping because they think it’ll be too tricky, but it is in fact, far from it. I find that by meal prepping on Sunday night you can have it all ready for the rest of the week, and the only thing you need to do is heat it up.
“If you’ve planned exactly what you are going to cook and have all the food storage containers to hand, then it’s really straightforward. The storage boxes will help with portion control too.”
If Hannah is struggling to cook it all on Sunday, she sometimes find that it’s easier to meal prep food on Sunday for Monday and Tuesday, then meal prep on Wednesday for Thursday and Friday.
Here are Hannah’s tips for getting started in food prepping:
1. Buy the right equipment
Plastic food storage containers are a must if you’re going to start food prepping. Buy enough for every person you’ll be feeding for every meal. If you have small children who don’t need an adult sized portion, then they can share a tub. So if you’re a family of mum, dad and two young children, you’ll need three tubs for every meal you make.
2. Buying the raw ingredients
As you’re cooking in bulk, why not buy in bulk too? This way you’ll be saving cash and if you order from someone like MuscleFood.com who deliver to the door, then you’re saving time too. Look for cheap deals for other ingredients too – for example, buying non-perishable items in catering sizes.
3. When to meal prep
Meal prep at a time to suit you and make sure you have nothing else planned or aren’t expecting any visitors for the couple of hours you shut yourself away in the kitchen. A weekend is a good time so you’re ready for the week ahead.
4. Plan
Think about how the meals will span out over the course of the week and think about how you can save time putting the meals together. For example, if you’re having chicken five times over the week, then cook it all in one go and just add the accompaniments or sauces.
5. Take each recipe step by step
Do follow the recipe’s you’ve picked out and don’t be tempted to take short cuts. But remember if you can cook meat all in one go, then do. It will save you lots of time.
6. Where to store
Your meals can be stored in the fridge or the freezer providing your meat hasn’t been frozen before. Remember to factor in when you’ll be eating them – those for later in the week may be better off frozen.
7. Heating up the meals
This couldn’t be easier. Simply pop in the microwave in the container for a couple of minutes and your delicious meal is ready to eat.
