Dearest readers, here we are in 2024. At the start of the year, I thought that with all the food and drink over the holidays it might be worthwhile to write about a topic that helps people support their health and weight related goals this year, starting nice and early in January! As you may or may not know, I have been a fan of carefully planned meal prep with proper macros, calories and nutrients. That said, it was not easy to get really good at it because a lot of information out there about how to do it does not get fact checked, questioned or tested in real life scenarios. Over time, however, I figured out some really good techniques, tips and tricks that will upgrade your meal prep game. Why meal prep to begin with? With just one major meal of the day meal prepped ahead of time Monday-Friday, you will eat cheaper yet better and healthier and that is a fact.
Without further ado, let us get into it.
The first thing is freezing. Believe it or not, most delicious meal prep recipes will not last in the fridge for five days- 6 or 7 if you are making them on a weekend. You could be ok the first 1-3 days, but after that you are risking illness, lost time, lost productivity and- depending on your line of work or business- real financial loss. Now, you may ask why do meal prep in the first place if you end up eating frozen food that has to be microwaved; what is the point? The point is, dearest readers, that frozen meal prep is frozen for a short time and so freezing now to microwave later barely affects the food quality. In addition, you are looking at smaller portions that will heat more evenly and faster than larger quantities of food. Finally, you can always cook foods like rice or potatoes a little less so they finish their cooking process in the microwave when you are reheating the actual meal, which makes rice and potatoes less mushy. Same goes for veggies. Finally, you may ask if you should simply buy frozen dinners at a supermarket- maybe by a healthier brand. No, no and no! First, you will overpay. Second, they are stingy on meat protein (a single meal prep meal I make can have e.g. 150-300 grams of chicken breast- what frozen dinner from a store has that?!) Finally, you are eating more chemicals and preservatives, tenderizers and what have you- not to mention gluten, lactose, lectins and other things that you might be sensitive or allergic to. Finally, frozen dinners from a store come in cardboard or plastic containers; I use either food-safe silicone (look up collapsible silicone meal prep containers on Amazon) or single meal stoneware bowls (my dollar store has them with plastic leads really cheap and they are perfect size for dishes like soups or butter chicken or Thai curry). One major tip- do not put either silicone or stoneware in the dishwasher! Wash them manually or suffer consequences. Sorry about being strict there with you but I learned this the hard way and do not want you to have to do the same.
The second major point relates to chicken. Most of us eat it, and most of us unwittingly participate in a heated debate. Does chicken fat taste rancid when you reheat it?! There are two camps out there. The first camp is the people who do not notice the rancid taste and say it is fine. The second camp is people who, when frozen chicken thighs or legs are cooked, or when the same ones are cooked cooled and reheated, gag at the rancid taste of chicken fat. I fall into that second camp and can for sure taste that reheated chicken fat is totally off. So, if your taste buds are built the same way, you have two options when you make freezer meal prep. One is to use chicken breast but be careful not to overcook it and add a bit more oil so it is not dry and rubbery when you reheat the meal. Another is to use boneless skinless chicken thighs, but get rid of most or all excess fat on them and use the meat in spicier dishes because they will mask any leftover rancid fat flavor when you reheat it. Finally, never and I mean NEVER do bone in chicken or bone in anything for meal prep. Now, if boneless skinless chicken is too expensive for your budget, buy it with bones and skin on and learn how to use a really sharp knife to remove the bone and skin, and then use the bones with some leftover meat on them to make excellent soup stock for- you guessed it- meal prep soup.
My final point I will leave you with relates to the types of recipes that work best for meal prep as well as the question of meal monotony that many people have as it relates to meal prep in general. So yes, I have had friends and family ask me in the past if I get bored of eating the same or similar meals. What I used to do is I used to walk them through what they eat on a daily basis from my perspective. Those same people do things like bring a sandwich and chips to work almost every day. Or, they go to a food court close by and choose from the same few options every day- burger, shawarma, Greek food, Mexican food, Chinese food, Tim Hortons; that is about it. Ummm, where is the huge variety versus meal prep? Nowhere. Where is the illusion of variety? Everywhere! :) Now you could say fair enough, so what are my meal prep choices? Well, for five days of meal prep, I typically make 2 different entrees and 2-3 different types of soup. In terms of entrees, I may have 3 days of one type and two days of other type. Then, I alternate them and do different fresh salads to go with them every day which I can finish by the time my meal prep reheats in the microwave. There is more to it but this would be enough to get you started or perhaps upgrade your meal prep game. ;) In terms of recipes, I noticed some of them meal prep better than others (duh, haha). Meat and sauce dishes like butter chicken or Thai curry, stews, stir fry dishes tend to work best as entrees. They can also be combined with rice, bread, or roasted potatoes (two of those three can be made ahead as well). Then, of course, there are soups. Chicken vegetable, blended soups with chicken added in- curry style soups- you have plenty of options. One secret to a good soup is to season and marinate the meat for a bit in the fridge, sear roast or air fry it until it is mostly cooked, then finish cooking it with the soup. You can thank me later. ;)
There you have it, dearest readers- some tips you will hopefully find to be advanced, helpful and truly game changing. Give them a try, as well as the whole meal prep thing. Not only does it help you eat better, but it also helps you take control of your health. When you just eat whatever, you are what you eat. When you make a plan around your nutrition and meals and you put it into action, You Eat What You Are!
Have a wonderful week! Holidays were fun, now let us get back to work!
Mwah!
Without further ado, let us get into it.
The first thing is freezing. Believe it or not, most delicious meal prep recipes will not last in the fridge for five days- 6 or 7 if you are making them on a weekend. You could be ok the first 1-3 days, but after that you are risking illness, lost time, lost productivity and- depending on your line of work or business- real financial loss. Now, you may ask why do meal prep in the first place if you end up eating frozen food that has to be microwaved; what is the point? The point is, dearest readers, that frozen meal prep is frozen for a short time and so freezing now to microwave later barely affects the food quality. In addition, you are looking at smaller portions that will heat more evenly and faster than larger quantities of food. Finally, you can always cook foods like rice or potatoes a little less so they finish their cooking process in the microwave when you are reheating the actual meal, which makes rice and potatoes less mushy. Same goes for veggies. Finally, you may ask if you should simply buy frozen dinners at a supermarket- maybe by a healthier brand. No, no and no! First, you will overpay. Second, they are stingy on meat protein (a single meal prep meal I make can have e.g. 150-300 grams of chicken breast- what frozen dinner from a store has that?!) Finally, you are eating more chemicals and preservatives, tenderizers and what have you- not to mention gluten, lactose, lectins and other things that you might be sensitive or allergic to. Finally, frozen dinners from a store come in cardboard or plastic containers; I use either food-safe silicone (look up collapsible silicone meal prep containers on Amazon) or single meal stoneware bowls (my dollar store has them with plastic leads really cheap and they are perfect size for dishes like soups or butter chicken or Thai curry). One major tip- do not put either silicone or stoneware in the dishwasher! Wash them manually or suffer consequences. Sorry about being strict there with you but I learned this the hard way and do not want you to have to do the same.
The second major point relates to chicken. Most of us eat it, and most of us unwittingly participate in a heated debate. Does chicken fat taste rancid when you reheat it?! There are two camps out there. The first camp is the people who do not notice the rancid taste and say it is fine. The second camp is people who, when frozen chicken thighs or legs are cooked, or when the same ones are cooked cooled and reheated, gag at the rancid taste of chicken fat. I fall into that second camp and can for sure taste that reheated chicken fat is totally off. So, if your taste buds are built the same way, you have two options when you make freezer meal prep. One is to use chicken breast but be careful not to overcook it and add a bit more oil so it is not dry and rubbery when you reheat the meal. Another is to use boneless skinless chicken thighs, but get rid of most or all excess fat on them and use the meat in spicier dishes because they will mask any leftover rancid fat flavor when you reheat it. Finally, never and I mean NEVER do bone in chicken or bone in anything for meal prep. Now, if boneless skinless chicken is too expensive for your budget, buy it with bones and skin on and learn how to use a really sharp knife to remove the bone and skin, and then use the bones with some leftover meat on them to make excellent soup stock for- you guessed it- meal prep soup.
My final point I will leave you with relates to the types of recipes that work best for meal prep as well as the question of meal monotony that many people have as it relates to meal prep in general. So yes, I have had friends and family ask me in the past if I get bored of eating the same or similar meals. What I used to do is I used to walk them through what they eat on a daily basis from my perspective. Those same people do things like bring a sandwich and chips to work almost every day. Or, they go to a food court close by and choose from the same few options every day- burger, shawarma, Greek food, Mexican food, Chinese food, Tim Hortons; that is about it. Ummm, where is the huge variety versus meal prep? Nowhere. Where is the illusion of variety? Everywhere! :) Now you could say fair enough, so what are my meal prep choices? Well, for five days of meal prep, I typically make 2 different entrees and 2-3 different types of soup. In terms of entrees, I may have 3 days of one type and two days of other type. Then, I alternate them and do different fresh salads to go with them every day which I can finish by the time my meal prep reheats in the microwave. There is more to it but this would be enough to get you started or perhaps upgrade your meal prep game. ;) In terms of recipes, I noticed some of them meal prep better than others (duh, haha). Meat and sauce dishes like butter chicken or Thai curry, stews, stir fry dishes tend to work best as entrees. They can also be combined with rice, bread, or roasted potatoes (two of those three can be made ahead as well). Then, of course, there are soups. Chicken vegetable, blended soups with chicken added in- curry style soups- you have plenty of options. One secret to a good soup is to season and marinate the meat for a bit in the fridge, sear roast or air fry it until it is mostly cooked, then finish cooking it with the soup. You can thank me later. ;)
There you have it, dearest readers- some tips you will hopefully find to be advanced, helpful and truly game changing. Give them a try, as well as the whole meal prep thing. Not only does it help you eat better, but it also helps you take control of your health. When you just eat whatever, you are what you eat. When you make a plan around your nutrition and meals and you put it into action, You Eat What You Are!
Have a wonderful week! Holidays were fun, now let us get back to work!
Mwah!