Difference between Meal Planning and Meal Prepping
Meal planning and meal prepping are great ways to keep on track with your health goals. Its great to have a dinner or lunch or even breakfast already planned and the food already in your refrigerator. You can do one or both. Do which ever fits into your life and fits with your goals. If you find that dinner is a mad rush and time is limited maybe chopping vegetables or having something already prepped to throw together and cook would be handy to have already prepared. Maybe having your lunches put together to save time in the morning and keep the fast food away is what you need. I am going to breakdown planning and prepping below and share some of my tips and tricks so you can figure out what will work best for you.
What is Meal Planning?
Meal planning can be a little intimidating at the start. Make this easier by sitting down and organizing your recipes or meals in a notebook or on your computer somewhere that is easy to access. Organize meals by family favorites or go-tos and by new recipes you would like to try to keep things interesting. You can further organize these by ingredient, main dish, side, or just keep a running list of ideas. It doesn’t need to by complicated organize however it will work for you.
A few tips and tricks to make things easier. Pay attention to your schedule for the week. Look at your calendar and make note of activities or events you have going on. A busy night that calls for a crockpot meal? Are you planning to eat out one night? This way you will be prepared for whatever you have going on. Theme nights are also a fun and easy way to already have a meal crossed off your list each week. Taco Tuesday. Meatless Monday. Pizza night. Breakfast for dinner. Whatever you or your family likes make it a night each week. This is fun and can become the night you look forward to the most. First things first start by organizing yourself. It will a lot easier to start this process and make it successful if you first collect recipes, and organize them.
What is Meal Prepping?
Meal prepping can be prepping veggies for the week, prepping whole meals, or making a big batch of something and freezing half of it for a later date. Taking sometime to wash vegetables and chop them up for an easy snack to grab or to save time when preparing dinner. You can prep whole dinners or lunches by cooking a large batch of protein, roast some veggies, and you have a quick grab and go dinner or lunch. Another great way to prep is make a large batch of something you are already making and freezing half for a quick dinner on a busy night or a night when the plan just doesn’t work out.
A few tips prepping and freezing a week of smoothies is an easy way to save time in the morning. Your freezer is your best friend seriously! Soups, taco meat, egg muffins, breakfast burritos, fajita filling. The list can go on. Make lunches easier by having veggies already cut up, cook a grain in bulk to add in, and have a protein cooked so you can throw it together and go. Time saver and money saver since you won’t be tempted to eat out!
Check out recipe ideas on our blog and on our Pinterest page.
