GETTING STARTED

So I’m officially sharing my starter guide to meal prep! Meal prep is one of the things I get asked about most in social media! So I plan to share with you how you can start meal prep for yourself or even starting a business from it! ill be breaking down step by step on my meal prep routine. Ill also give you some tips to make the process easier for you!

let me just start by saying meal prep is NOT my idea of easy fun. But I put up with it because I know how it comes in handy during the week. Also, meal prep is not for everyone. Don’t feel like a failure just because you just can’t get into it or the thought of eating leftovers makes you wanna gag. But if you’ve never tried it or you have but you can’t quite figure out how to make it work, this post is for you. Hopefully there are some tips in here that you can use to figure out a system that will work for you!

PLANNING

So, planning the meals for the week is the easy part! On thing I do to save on food cost is to see how I can cross utilize the main ingredients. firstly I see how I can utilize the protein in more than one dish, by simply preparing it different way. The biggest tip I can give you when doing meal prep is to by smart in bulk! what I mean by that is things that can last more than a week, by in bulk for example if your going to use a lot of rice but it in bulk! this is a cost that you’ll have to eat starting off (pun intended) but it will definitely pay off in the long run.

Another thing I like to do is write things down so I have found that using a notebook where I can jot down prep ideas as they come to me is helpful. The other thing I’ve see people do is use a meal prep planner. This can also be helpful to send to your clients in advance so they know what to expect from that weeks meals

SHOPPING

Shopping is where the fun begins! I personally love shopping, as a chef I often get very inspired by the food I’m surrounded by at the store. when shopping I always try to get the best deal as possible! so ill often shop around looking for sales, and that will often determine what ill be making that week.

one thing I love to do is make sure I can get my hands on the freshest produce! I do this because I’m mostly making this food to last the rest of the week and ill need for it to stay a fresh as possible for me and my clients.

lastly I love to buy in bulk! stuff like rice, seasonings, etc. this will definitely pay off in the long run if you want to do meal prep on the weekly bases.

Tips & Tricks

Prep the ingredients!

Prep will be a life saver for you when making batches of food! Prep if one thing we did when I worked in restaurants. it helps you flow when cooking different things at once. this can be a simple as making sure all you veggies are chopped prior to cooking, it has defiantly saved me in the kitchen when it comes down to the wire when cooking for clients!

Double the recipes you like!

When I know I love something, I will sometimes make a double serving of it and have it twice a week instead of once. I usually do this with chicken and rice bowls or larger casserole type dishes because I know I like the meal and I can cook it once and get more bang for my buck when it comes to time spent prepping.

Keep it simple!

Meal prep doesn’t have to be fancy. It only needs to be functional and work with your lifestyle. You can make things go by much quicker if you aren’t super picky and don’t mind eating the same meal every other day.

Also do try to over complicate the recopies! when your eating the same meal in a row you down want to over crowd your palette or stomach with strong of heavy flavors

Finding the right Container

It took me MONTHS! To finally find the perfect container. the first one I tried was glass containers. the problem I ran into was a lot of the lids were made of cheap plastic, which cause them to deform when reheating your meals in the microwave after awhile, they also tend to stan after awhile which is literally impossible to get out,

the second container i tried was the basic black one everyone on Instagram uses. this honestly came down to personal preference, I found that the black ones tend to muddy the vibrant colors of the food, i find that the colors of the food pop a lot more in the white containers as you see in the pictures posted above.

Cost Break Down

Get started!

well! now its time for you to get started! make sure if you have any questions to message me via Instagram @Chef_.JR have fun and tag me in your prep photos!

Meal Prep Vlog

In this video I will be showing you a little behind the scenes on how I do meal prep for me and my clients. I’ll go over basic meal prep guides and also give you a price breakdown on how much I spent vs how much I charge.

Do you want to Meal Prep?