The process of preparing food does not have to be as frightening as it may sound. In addition to that, it is not only reserved for the gym rats of the world.
You can save yourself time throughout the week when you are at your busiest and have the least amount of desire to prepare a hot meal by simply preparing meals in advance and storing them in the refrigerator or freezer. The following are five extremely easy and very useful strategies to become an expert in food preparation.
Keep Your Excitement in Check
What do you think I did there? In all seriousness, it is absolutely necessary for you to acquire suitable containers in which to store your food. If you get the correct ones, you’ll even be able to reheat your food in them and eat it straight out of the container. The most important advantages of making an investment in high-quality containers are that they will be free of BPA (because no one enjoys being exposed to toxins), and that they will last a lifetime.
To be able to keep a wide variety of meals and snacks in the appropriate portion sizes, it is essential to have containers that come in a variety of forms and dimensions. You have the option to participate in the mason jar craze, which is something you really ought to do. Mason jars are not only convenient for keeping a variety of foods such as smoothies and soups, but they can also be sterilized in the microwave and dishwasher.
Make a decision in advance regarding your recipes.
It can be a pain in the neck (and other places…) to try to figure out what to cook for dinner every night, but if you do meal prep, you only have to worry about this once a week! You can “save” or “pin” your favorite recipes in the category from which you would want to draw inspiration, such as “low-fat,” “meat-free,” “plant-based,” “keto,” and so on.
After you have selected the meals that you would want to prepare for the upcoming week, you will be able to zero down on the specific dishes that need to be prepared. Keep your selection straightforward, and if you need to save time in the kitchen, look for components that may be used in more than one recipe.
Buy in large quantities.
The day before you start preparing meals for the next week, go shopping for all of your ingredients in bulk. If you buy your meat and veggies in large quantities, you will have time the night before to begin preparations such as peeling, blanching, and other similar tasks. When you start the real cooking procedure the following day, you will have more time thanks to this preparation that you did the night before.
It is important to make meal preparation a habit in order for it to function well; although it may appear to be a lot of work for just one day, once you get into the swing of things, you’ll realize how much time it saves you in the long run.
As a token of appreciation for all of your hard work, you can celebrate your accomplishment by placing an order for some high-quality wine or wagyu gift packages. Everything in moderation, and that includes the amount of effort you put in!
Bring on the Flavor!
When we freeze and then reheat meals, we frequently find that we lose a significant amount of flavor in the process. Be sure to add a lot of spices while the food is being cooked so that when it is time to reheat it it won’t taste boring like it did when it was first prepared.
Salt can always be added (if necessary) after the fact, once you are seated at the table to eat. However, it is usually a good idea to avoid using twice as much salt as the recipe calls for. It will be much more difficult for you to maintain a healthy diet if the food you consume is tasteless, and this is especially true when you are attempting to lose weight.
Spices may be frozen successfully, especially if you have access to a blast chiller that you can use to quickly cool down your freshly prepared dishes before placing them in the freezer.
Become a Pro at Juggling Several Things at Once
Don’t get stuck on the idea that you can only finish one thing at a time. Make complete use of your cooking space because the goal here is to do as much as you can in the least amount of time.
Something should be cooking in the oven, something should be cooking in the slow cooker, something should be cooking on the stove, and something else should be prepared on the counter. It may appear hard to complete everything without wasting any of it, but believe me when I say that with enough practice, you will be able to do much more than you initially gave yourself credit for.
If you cook only what you need for however many servings you are making, there will be less of a possibility of wasting food or cooking more than you need. Meal preparation is an excellent way to save both time and money.
Before I started meal preparation, I was shocked at how much food I would have to prepare for two and a quarter people; in the past, I have created spaghetti dishes that were large enough to serve twelve people. On Sunday afternoons, I do the food preparation for the next four days, and on Fridays, my husband is in charge of making supper — it’s as simple as pie! One further time-saving suggestion is that you may also prepare the meals for the infant at the same time as the food for the adults.