Have you ever thought to yourself, “I need to start meal prepping” but felt too overwhelmed to even start? Here’s some helpful tips to get you started and some of Erin Romeo’s (author of “The Visual Guide to Easy Meal Prep “) favourite top KSP picks for making meal prep easy and fun.
Tip #1 Make a plan.
A great prep session starts before the cooking does! Make a short list of meals and snacks you want to enjoy for the week (or even the next few days) jot down the list of ingredients you’ll need to make it happen.
Tip #2 Start off right.
As soon as you get home from the supermarket, wash your fruits and vegetables. Dump your produce directly into the sink instead of stuffing them into the refrigerator. Whether you’re assembling parfaits or cooking broccoli stuffed sweet potatoes, your produce will be ready when you are.
Tip # 3 Let the tools work for you.
Having the right tools for the job makes prepping so much easier! Dull knives and slippery cutting boards are a nuisance, Romeo suggests using cutting boards with grips on them like this one:
If you can’t slice through tomatoes or celery to make a beautiful fresh salad, you should be thinking about upgrading your prep knives.Check out KSP’s selection of knives or simply sharpen up your existing knife with a tool like this one:
Updating a few tools will make your prep less frustrating and more importantly, safe!
Efficiency is the key to a great prep session. You’ll find food processors, slicers and choppers galore at KSP.
Nothing makes meal prep more fun than beautiful cookware. Casseroles, soups and chili’s are great for meal prep because they taste even better on day two and three. Check out the Crock Pot selection at KSP!
Bonus time-saving tip:
Save and store your summer fresh herbs by freezing them in ice cube trays.
Add flavour to your preps all year long by dropping the cube into a pan or pot before cooking your favourite dishes. All you have to do is blend up a handful of herbs e.g., basil with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Then pour mixture in an ice cube tray. Once solid, transfer the cubes to a freezer-safe bag. and then just pop one out to use in a recipe whenever you want.
Romeo spends up to two and a half hours meal prepping each week. But for new clients, she usually advises the same thing: Start small. Set aside half an hour, and decide whether you want to prepare breakfast, lunch or dinner. Pick one or two simple dishes, and make enough for just two or three days. It can be as simple as portioning out fruits and veggies for morning smoothies, readying a batch of overnight oats or making an extra-large omelette that can be spread out over a few days. “Once you build up that motivation to do it, you’ll realize how easy and smooth it makes your week,” says Romeo. “Once you get started, it’s something you can’t unlearn. It’s a great habit.”
One Pan Recipe
Crock Pot Deep Sauté Pan
Ingredients:
1 lb medium sized shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tbsp EVOO (divided)
3 garlic cloves, minced
handful of chopped basil
3 cups water
4 oz of spaghettini pasta
¼ tsp pink salt &
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup finely shredded parmesan
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Directions
1.Heat oil in deep sauté pan over medium heat for about 1 minute.
2. Add shrimp, garlic & basil
3. Cook shrimp for 2 minutes on one side then flip and season with salt and pepper. Cook shrimp until opaque (another 3 minutes).
4. Transfer shrimp to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
5. Place the pan back on the heat, add water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
6. Add spaghettini and cook for 8 minutes or until cooked al dente.
7. Add the shrimp back in, add cheese, parsley, salt and pepper to tase. Toss and serve!
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Erin Romeo is an author of “The Visual Guide to Easy Meal Prep”, nutrition coach, She’s an advocate for good nutrition and regularly shares her tips and tricks for healthy eating on Instagram, where she’s better known as the @foodprepprincess. Erin and her meal preps have been featured in a number of publications such as: Shape.com, Health Magazine.com, Oxygen Magazine, thekitchn.com, The Daily Burn.com, Buzzfeed, Brit+Co and was voted one of the “Best meal Prep Accounts on Instagram” 2018 by Popsugar.
