how to prepare your meals for the week in advance

While meal planning is not new, the tools have changed a lot to implement it. Exit ready meals, we return to grandma’s tips for cooking and preparing meals for the week in advance. Back to the future: batch cooking is all the rage! Discover the tips to set it up more easily.

Let’s call him batch cooking ou meal prep (for “meal preparation”), the concept is simple. It’s roughly about getting organized to cook in 2 hours for the week. We choose a time slot, often Sunday or at least the weekend. It is then a question of preparing all the meals of the week in one big cooking session. It’s about planning your meals, but also about cook in advance when you have more time, or when you take this time.

Batch cooking or meal prep, what’s the point?

THE Batch cooking has many advantages. For starters, the time savings are undeniable. Second, meals will probably be more balanced: no more pasta dishes with pasta because we lack inspiration. No more bowls of cereal taken on the go, no more moments of cracking at the bakery and other questionable takeaway dishes.

The typical shopping list is made easier and planning your meals allows you to significantly limit extra shopping during the week. You focus your energy on the seasonal fruits and vegetables and, if we have the opportunity, we go to the market. It is also possible, by dint of organizing ourselves, tobuy food in bulkThis does not prevent you from improvising one evening: you just have to postpone a meal.

Save energy and money

The process is also economic. First of all, on the races, since eating seasonal and Planning as much as possible will cost you less. In resources too since a four lit for one recipe will be lit for the following ones. dishes is done only once, except for a few utensils to be washed in the same session. The risk of letting vegetables or crème fraîche go moldy in the refrigerator is finally greatly reduced.

Batch cooking in practice: how to cook in 2 hours for the week?

There are several methods to implement batch cookingand the different schools can also complement each other. One method is to cook complete meals in advance. This is relatively tedious and takes more than two hours. If you are a large family it is obvious that this requires a lot of organization. The Meal planning is not a new idea, however. and we can rely on all the tips and tricks compiled over time.

Another method is to pre-cut and/or cook certain items. Portions are then prepared to be used in different ways during the week. An example of this would be the squash that we buy at the market. Depending on the size of the animal, we can prepare a soup, cubes to prepare roasted squash, a puree, or even all of these at once. We adapt everything according to the size of the family and the different issues (who goes to the school canteen? who has access to a company canteen?).

Combine methods?

Meal prep can be a family activity – © George Rudy

Most people who practice batch cooking generally opt for a combined method. Fruits and vegetables are cut up. When cooking more elaborate dishes, it is possible to make one or more additional portions, especially if you have a freezer. Don’t hesitate to carefully label the boxes, for optimal food preservation and simply to remember the contents.

Organize yourself to implement batch cooking effectively

The set-up will necessarily differ depending on several factors. We do not cook in advance in the same way if we live alone, with roommates with whom we share meals or not, as a couple or with children. In particular, we will have to organize the fridge and cupboards to prepare our meals for the week.

Choosing packaging

Whether you are eating out or simply storing food, you also have to consider the issue of containers and packaging. A good way to avoid the single use plastic and sometimes toxic paper packaging.safest food packaging is anyway the glass. Otherwise, the composition of the plastic should be carefully checked. Avoid aluminium as much as possible and opt for a beeswax wrap.

Choose practical containers for your meals – © Brent Hofacker

For takeaway, some people will opt for a bento or several small boxes, or even a lunch box to carry everything.

Batch cooking: recipes and examples

The implementation will then depend on each person! We can opt for a bento style, buddha bowls or more classic recipes. We can plan all your meals for the week or leave yourself some leeway depending on your living conditions. Don’t hesitate to plan breakfast in advance, or even the snacks of the week.

Article republished.