Although both my husband (B) and I grew up stirring, pouring, and baking in our grandmothers’ kitchens, he sees cooking as a hobby, and I see it as a necessity. So, we’ve found the keys to meal prepping begin with commitment and a little bit of compromise.
When we first got married, I thought I had to be the picturesque wife and cook a nice family meal every night just like my hero–my mom. She always seemed to keep a tidy kitchen, and it didn’t take her all night to clean up afterwards. During our first year of marriage, I didn’t find that to be the case. B was finishing his Masters online, I was a first-year teacher; it seemed to take forever to cook, clean up, and prepare for work the next day. I remember working on lesson plans at 9:00 one night and seeing B on his computer working on a thesis. Thankfully, 10 years later, our weeknights look very different.
Factor #1: Time
I typically don’t cook Monday through Thursday nights. Friday night is usually a family date night, so on weekends I do chores and meal prep. Having my weeknights has been the biggest “pro” of meal prepping. Since I set aside weekends to do the prepping, I have to make sure I carve out a Saturday or Sunday afternoon for that. I admit it does take a while. Time is the biggest factor that influences our family decisions, and it’s the real currency for which we exchange anything. We exchange time for money, for pleasure, and for memories.
Factor #2: Health
It’s hard to find food that is unprocessed, quick to prep, AND tastes good. There are compromises we make. We eat food from restaurants that takes NO time to prep, lots of ingredients, tastes DELICIOUS and costs money. American dining culture has taken the best food products and international cuisines to offer the best foods you can ever spend money on. This is nice for special occasions, but we find that it can get dangerous to your health and your wallet if it becomes too common.
You can find food that is cost-effective and comes straight from the earth to your table. However, it takes a LOT of time to grow yourself, and it may not be flavorful at ALL (raw kale, anyone?). But, it’s HEALTHY. On the other hand, you can find food that takes an afternoon to prep, has more than one ingredient, tastes okay, is healthy, AND proves cost-effective. That is the compromise of food prepping. It’s not the healthiest choice, and it’s not the tastiest, but it can be healthy, taste okay, save money, and even save time in the long run.
Factor #3: Life Change
Around the time when we got engaged and married, both B’s mom and my mom were diagnosed with different types of cancer. There’s no coming back from stage 4 pancreatic cancer, but there are ways to live more informed, full lives without regrets. In our first two years of marriage, we cut down all commitments to family and work. We spent every weekend with B’s family, made memories with his mom, and even went to St. John with our families in the 18 months we had before she went Home.
We also cleaned up our diet and started making exercise a big part of our lifestyle. When the doctors told my mom that “if her breast cancer comes back, there’s nothing we can do,” my dad asked the question “What can we do to prevent it from coming back?” They then changed their diet, started taking supplements, and regularly exercising. Mom is the most disciplined person I know when it comes to rationing out her chocolate morsels. She has been in remission for 10 years, praise the Lord!
Diet, sleep, exercise, and hydration seem to be the best, most consistent prescription for preventing and reducing the risks of ailments like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression. They’ve even been proven to prevent some cancers and dementia. If you want to feel good and well-balanced in your body, it takes time and commitment. However, I don’t ever want to fully give up my cheesy cheat meals, my dark chocolate ice cream, and my white chocolate mochas!
Getting Started
Getting started does take some time. If you really want to successfully plan ahead, it will take some trial and error to get into a routine. You have to figure out your budget and what you’re willing to compromise on as far as taste goes. Ten years ago, we started with some recipes from fitness model and writer, Jamie Eason. For a while our staple was turkey muffins. Over time, we refined it to something we would enjoy and could make enough for 5 days that we’d be willing to eat. We always had the following several staple ingredients for our breakfasts, lunches and dinners:
- oats
flaxseed- mixed dark berries (mostly blueberries)
- spinach or broccoli or kale
- tomato juice or canned tomatoes
- plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- turkey or chicken
- honey
- dark chocolate morsels
- cranberries
- walnuts
- peanut or almond butter
- eggs
- rice
- beans
- bananas
Eat When You’re Hungry
I’ve found that I like “intermittent fasting” since I don’t like to eat three meals a day as dictated by a timer. I eat when I’m hungry, which basically means I eat a late breakfast/early lunch (around 11:00 a.m.) and an early supper before 7:00 p.m. I feel full and haven’t used a scale in my house for three years.
It’s been so freeing! I measure physical success by how I feel, how I fit in my clothes, and, honestly, a good photo of myself here and there. It isn’t good for me to get on a scale every day, but I’ll weigh myself if I come across a scale at a gym just to check in. I found that I actually lost weight after I got rid of the scale in our house.
Routines
First, you have to decide the following:
- specific dietary needs
- go-to grocery list
- frequency of eating out
- budget
- time for prepping
- any compromises involving time or taste
Next, you have to try out different recipes that fit with your ingredient list that you can make easily enough. Just like planning ahead to prep your clothes for the gym, you have to decide to plan ahead so you have time to prep your food. That’s what we currently use our weekend afternoons for.
Different seasons of our life have also played a role in the time frames we’ve had. We have always had to be willing to be flexible. At certain times of the year, we do get busy and can’t also prep ahead of time, but we don’t forego it so long that we get out of the habit. We spend our weeknights doing one household chore together, even if we’re multitasking—like watching a show and folding laundry. We have to plan ahead regarding childcare so we can go to the gym or to the grocery store during the week, but we are always trying to prioritize our health and relationship.
Once you figure out what you and each of your family will eat, take the time to prep it. It will get easier and quicker over time. Doesn’t it take 4 weeks to make it a habit? Try it now! (In a month, you’ll be thankful you did!)
Our Preferences
Our meal prep (and cravings) vary over time and throughout different life seasons, but for the past few years we have made homemade granola bars for our breakfasts, smoothies or salads for lunches, and a different pot of soup to last us a week for dinner. We also always have rice, beans, and chicken on hand to pair with our soup of the week. We rely on international recipes (Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai) to liven things up so our soups and salads don’t get boring.
Sometimes our son is hard to prep for with his 4-year-old palate, but he’s getting there. He usually sticks with his granola bar breakfasts, a fresh fruit of the week, PB&J sandwiches with yogurt for lunches, and suppers that rotate between what we eat and veggies, chicken nuggets, pizza, or spaghetti (granted, it’s not as healthy, but we’re still introducing him to more food options).
At the end of the day, I’m still not the best cook. I’m always learning and trying fun “cheat meal” recipes when I make the time. And, I’ve found that it’s never too late to try something new–from trying a new recipe, to a new workout, or even a new hobby. Maybe if you try meal prepping, you’ll spend less time cooking and feel better. Then, you can enjoy trying new things with the saved time and extra energy, like sticking to a personal goal, saving money, and making new routines with the people in your life!
