Meal Prep for Busy Professionals
A hassle-free guide to plan, make and store your weekly meals
By Gabriella Enniss, Owner, Bliss Fit LLC
Meal prepping has been trendy among fitness influencers and enthusiasts for a long time. When you search online, you will see many images of perfectly portioned meals in containers. It looks easy enough until you try to do it yourself.
What containers should you buy? What meals should you make? How long will that chicken last in the fridge? Will you get bored? Is it worthwhile preparing meals ahead of time?
These questions and more can be answered using the following guide.
Let’s Talk Containers
Having suitable containers that are fridge or freezer friendly is vital to ensure your food stays fresh. Brands do not matter, necessarily, as long as they have three key features:
- Made of glass or a material free from BPA, lead and phthalates.
- Airtight.
- Stackable.
Glass containers are easier to wash, will not stain and will not break down over time. Other materials work fine if glass is not your favorite option, but just be sure they are free of chemicals that can leach into our foods over time.
Airtightness is an important container quality because it helps ensure the food stays fresh and will avoid spillage. Stackability is more convenient because it will help keep your fridge from overflowing and will make it easier to organize and find the meals you need.
If you are looking for ideas of where to start, some tried-and-true containers include Stasher Bags, OXO Good Grips, ZOKU nested food storage containers and Pyrex Freshlock.