So, you want to get started meal prepping? Congratulations! We’re glad you made that choice, and are ready to get started on your journey. Below, we’ve compiled a basic article for the basics that you’ll need to start your meal food prep.
Starting Your Meal Food Prep Plan
Things you’ll need to start your meal prep journey are Meal Prep Containers, Spices, a Scale, Blender, and of course – food:
Meal Prep Containers are single serving storage devices that can hold your pre-portioned out meals. They’re cheap, microwaveable, the perfect size, and washable. When you cook, you’ll place your next two days food in the fridge, and the rest can go into the freezer allowing your food to last longer. Take them to work or school, microwave for a bit and chow down. Get containers that are BPA free – like the one’s pictured above.
2. Spices:
This is what’ll set apart your bland food from an amazing dish. Herbs and Spices are key to bringing together your meal. Pro Tip: We usually go shopping to a large supermarket and get one new spice we haven’t tried. Try using different combinations, mixing and matching different varieties. Our go to mix for basic chicken is: onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Each spice has a dish it is best prepared with, so we’ll make sure to include those in our tutorials and recipes.
A scale is useful for weighing out your macros. How much meat, vegetables, and carbs do you require per meal? This makes it a breeze. Get one that is large enough to hold your meal containers as well. The Ozeri Pronto pictured can weigh out up to 11 pounds, more than enough weight for our purposes. Also, since it’s stainless steel, you can easily clean it after say putting on raw chicken and don’t want to risk cross-contamination of salmonella. Food poisoning isn’t fun.
Get yourself one of these blenders. They’re perfect for making protein and/or breakfast shakes, and also used in our protein pancake recipe. Easy to wash and store, the Magic Bullet blender also is built to last a while. I’ve had mine for over 5 years and it’s still working. I typically use it more than twice a day too.
5. Food:
What do you buy and where do you shop? Quality ingredients are your top priority, combined with keeping a budget in mind. Are you near a Costco or Sam’s club? Getting a Costco membership (at $50 a year) is a great benefit – you are also able to have two cards on that membership, so at $25/year for a card – it’s a steal. Costco has bulk fresh ingredients such as chicken, spices, ground turkey, and more. Feeling lazy, they even have these pre-roasted chickens for about $6!
6. Other things:
Of course there are a few other things that we haven’t included. We hope that you have these available – you should have at your use an oven, microwave, and stove top to do your cooking. A fridge, freezer, and pantry to store your supplies and ingredients. Also, make sure you have all the tools and utensils you’ll need to cook: Pots, Pans, baking sheets, tin foil, knives, cutting boards, measuring cups, etc. Feel free to reach out to us if you want recommendations!
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