Stress-Free Meal Prepping for One!
Meal prepping for one can be very daunting! I have been doing it since being on my own and I think I’ve finally mastered it, you know, 14 years later! As I’m sure many of you did, sometime this past year, I became very uninterested in any of my recipes in rotation and found myself very ambitious in trying two new recipes each week. Which, in this phase during the pandemic, is just one new recipe too much.
These last few weeks I have been following the five steps below and I’m far less stressed.
Tips to Stress-Free Meal Prep for One:
Grocery shop a couple days before prepping. I used to grocery shop on Sundays and meal prep on Sundays - and frankly that is just too much. My #gamechanger move is I order online, pick up at the grocery store on Fridays and prep/cook on Sundays.
Don’t be afraid to buy large portions of protein. These are great for a number of meal options. When bought on sale, large portions of protein are often cheaper when portioned out. Don’t let the protein go bad, I can speak from experience… which leads me to number 3.
Utilize your freezer. I have always struggled with the timing of this step, where I found myself frantically calling my parents asking, “my pork has been in my fridge for ‘x’ days, can I still eat it???” I cook enough lunches and dinners to last me four days, but if something changes in my schedule (especially pre-pandemic happy hours or meals out) and I have meals leftover, I throw them in the freezer for later! Let’s just say I’ve been much better at this step during the pandemic due to the lack of socializing…
Try one new recipe a week. I touched on this a bit earlier but prepping two new recipes for me on the same day/week is too much for me to process at this phase of the pandemic but rotating in new recipes is still very important! I have found it very easy to cook one new meal while also cooking one favorite - something you can throw together by memory. That way you have both meals to look forward to!
Keep your staples on hand. For me, this is eggs, creamer + coffee, yogurt/cottage cheese, fruits, snack-able veggies and lately, chocolate pudding. These can make a meal in a pinch but are fine individually.