It’s late, and you are hungry. The workday felt twice as long as it should have, and all you want to do is curl up in your bed and have fried rice delivered conveniently to your front door. But you’ve promised yourself that you would try to be healthy this month – meaning that the fried rice you’ve been craving all day is a no-go. You glumly consider the frozen veggies and pasta waiting in your kitchen, then haul yourself out of bed to cook.
Weekday meals don’t need to be this miserable! Rather than expending what little energy you have after a long workday on making an unsatisfying meal out of the scraps in your cupboard, think ahead by preparing your weekday meals in advance! Those who make their meals ahead of time cut out the daily hassle and enjoy delicious, healthy meals every day of the week. Try these tips for a tastier work week!
Schedule your prep day.
You might be able to whip up a serving instant mac and cheese in ten minutes, but preparing and cooking a large meal to sustain you for the week will inevitably take you longer. Set aside an hour or two to make your meals – and of you also intend to make your lunches and breakfasts ahead of time, expect to spend even more time in the kitchen. Many people choose Sunday to meal prep as it precedes the business week, although you can opt for whichever day best suits your schedule.
Make large batches.
Theoretically, you could prep a different dish for every night of the week – but doing so will likely be expensive and time-consuming. Make the task easier on yourself by cooking large batches of one or two meals that you wouldn’t mind eating multiple nights. If you feel ambitious, you could even make two batches and freeze the second for a lazy week’s meals.
Find recipes with overlapping ingredients.
Be strategic by planning your weekly menu to include recipes that use some of the same ingredients. That way, you can limit your grocery bill and cut down on the amount of food you waste at the end of the week.
Multitask.
While doing so may seem intimidating to those who haven’t had much experience in the kitchen, you can prepare multiple recipes at the same time. You might have something cooking on the stove, or baking in the oven – but don’t feel as though you need to wait for one dish to finish before you start working on the other!