It’s a no brainer we have become busier. Stress comes with being busy. With stress comes lack of time. With lack of time we get hangry, make poor food choices and spend all of our money on take out. Sound familiar, I thought so, I’m guilty as charged too. However, I have found that creating some space on Sunday to rest, nourish, and plan for the week ahead has been invaluable. By no means am I claiming to be perfect at this; I’m still in training wheels and things come up, making it almost impossible to plan for the week – and I notice the difference. Meal prepping cuts down on stress and time. Not to mention, it saves money and calories by cooking at home and avoid that hangry meltdown.
Meal prep can be anything from cooking ahead of time for the week, prepping salads, or buying ingredients for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner ahead of time. I fall somewhere in the middle. It’s important to not strive for perfection here, otherwise, meal prep won’t happen. The act of meal prep can be enjoyable, when the pressure isn’t there. Meal prepping is an opportunity to be grateful for our food, grateful that we’re able to nourish ourselves and our loved ones and honor ourselves by taking time out for self care. If we think about it, a lot goes into putting food on our tables. There are so many people involved, from the farmers to people stocking the shelves at our stores.
What I have found to be incredibly helpful, is to figure out what sounds good for the week, write down the days of the meals in a planner and head to the store. Each meal, I make a little extra for lunch the next day. We have easy stuff for breakfast on hand and will prep in large quantities – hard boiled eggs or chia pudding.
Living in the city, meal prep can be taken for granted, it’s often easier to order take out, whether it be your kitchen isn’t big enough, you have roommates, working late etc. In the ‘burbs or more rural areas it’s a necessity. We live in a smallish town and if we come home late from work and aren’t at the store before 8pm, we’re out of luck. My husband and I have been in that predicament before – and it’s not pretty.
If you have a family, and the kiddo’s are big enough to help, get them involved, so they can participate in the process. Find what works for you and your family, don’t beat yourself up if you miss a week of meal planning, and enjoy the process. Remember, non-judgement and non-striving for the process and you’ll find it to be much more enjoyable and fun.
The picture shown is rice drying out in Bali, all harvested by hand.
What do you do for meal prep?
melissa hennessey 