Easy Ingredient Prep
One unavoidable truth when trying to work on your health & wellness goals is addressing your current eating habits and then possibly overhauling them. Which includes eating out less and eating more home cooked meals. One of our limiting beliefs we have about changing our habits is that we “do not have enough time.”
Most people are familiar with meal prep which is an amazing cooking strategy however sometimes the idea of spending 2-3 hours on a weekend prepping is not feasible. That is one of the reasons you should also know how to opt for an ingredient prep to help you save time, money, mental space and meet your goals for the week. An ingredient prep will support you in preparing yummy, healthy and freshly prepared meals in 20 minutes or less just by having a lot of things ready from: washing, cutting and assembling ingredients.
What is actual difference between ingredient and meal prep?
They both are food prep techniques that people love for the following reasons: it helps them meet their nutritional goals, save time, money, and mental space. Meal prep is when you prepare the complete meal in advance to consume on specific days or for the entire work week. Generally, people will opt for this option for the following reasons: they have time on the weekends, they know during the week they won’t have the time/energy to put together meals or it supports their nutritional goals.
One type of meal prep is batch cooking. This requires cooking one or two entire meals in large batches and portioning them out for each day of the week. Example: preparing lunch and dinner as two separate menus and eating them every single day.
Another type of meal prep requires prepping individual ingredients to then assemble several different meals during the week. This second meal prep technique is a great way to add more variety to your diet because you think you are eating different meals when it’s still the same ingredients.
Both types of meal prep require cooking ingredients and a few hours of preparation.
Ingredient prep focuses on preparing individual raw components for meals ahead of time. The cooking happens ONLY at the time of the meal. Ingredient prep involves washing, cutting, assembling and properly storing ingredients so that it can last for the week. It usually can take up to 1 hour.
Should I really prep ingredients ahead of time?
If you choose not to meal prep on the weekend ingredient prep is something you should consider. It will save you a lot of time during the weekdays. To have fresh veggies, fruits and dry ingredients ready is much easier to simply grab and get cooking right away. It will also inspire you to make healthier meal choices. When you have the ingredients prepped and available, you are more likely to opt for a home-cooked meal rather than choosing take out which will probably not help you hit your nutritional goals and give you indigestion later. Lastly, it can help reduce a lot of mental stress associated with meal planning because you have a variety of ingredients ready and available in the fridge at any time.
Which ingredients could I prep ahead of time?
The main ingredients to prepare are vegetables and fruits. Another great option is to assemble dry ingredients for pancakes, waffles, or oats so that you only need to combine them with wet ingredients in the morning.
How long will the ingredient prep last?
Keep the following in mind:
Know the best storage technique to preserve each ingredient for the longest time possible. For example, the best way to store your carrots and celery sticks is in jars filled with water. Leafy greens will last over a week in vacuum containers, and your peeled garlic can last several days in airtight containers. Please take the time doing research on storing.
Use airtight or vacuum containers to maximize the fridge life of delicate ingredients such as leafy greens.
An easy tip to prepare quick and healthy meals is to avoid boiling and roasting and rely on stir-frying or steaming. Roasting requires cooking times over 20 min, so it is better suited for weekend meals. As far as boiling, it not only takes time but also a lot of nutrients get lost in the water, so steaming can be preferable over boiling because it is faster and retains most of the nutrients. A preferred method is to stir fry on a hot skillet or pan as it is quick, relatively low-fat as it uses moderate olive oil, and is nutrient-dense as it allows the ingredients to retain most of their nutrients.
How to Ingredient Prep Quickly:
Prepare a grocery list and grab what you need at the grocery store or online.
Wash and cut your ingredients.
Store ingredients according to the best storage technique
During the week check out your ingredients. Are they still fresh? Do you need to restock?
