Why I hate about meal prep (+your Sunday plan)

Yes, I hate meal prep but I also love making future meals easier

Author

Kristina Todini, RDN
July 07, 2024

I have a secret: while I LOVE meal planning, I kind of hate (ok, absolutely hate) meal prep.

The last thing I want to do on a Sunday is spend 4 hours prepping my meals for the week. Instead, I’d rather spend 30-40 minutes cooking each day.

However, I do like to keep a few things prepped for easy breakfasts, grab-and-go snacks, and DIY condiments and dressings.

That’s why I create this weekly prep list for you: if you only have 20 minutes, choose 1-2 things from this list to prepare for the week ahead, but if you have more time you can get fancy and prepare an entire meal. Your future self will thank you for it.

👩‍🍳 + 🥗,

Kristina
master meal prepper

Batch breakfast recipes 🥣

Take 10 minutes to batch breakfasts for the week.

PREP-AHEAD BREAKFAST #3 (portion out ingredients in a jar, then blend in the morning)

Prep-worthy salad recipes 🥗

Take 20 minutes to prep a salad for easy lunches or a back-up meal.

PREP-WORTHY SALAD #1 (use up your garden favorites)

Set it + forget it snack recipes 🫒

Take 10-15 minutes to prep grab-and-go snacks.

SIMPLE SNACK #2 (this is absolutely addictive)

Staple ingredients to prep 🍪

Take 10-15 minutes to prep these DIY staple ingredients to have on hand.

BATCH-WORTHY STAPLE #1 (an easy plant-based protein to have on hand)

Make-ahead main dishes 🍲

If you’re feeling extra fancy, go ahead and prep one night’s dinner (about 30-40 minutes).

Recent newsletters, if you missed them 👇

DID YOU KNOW? 🧐

For some, cooking is simply a necessity, but for others, it's a hobby. Among people 15 and older in the United States, 57.2 percent spent time preparing food and drink on an average day in 2022. The amount of time they spent averaged just under an hour per day (53 minutes). (source)

TODAY’S VIDEO 🎥

❝

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

St. Francis of Assisi

LET ME KNOW…

Thank you so much to everyone who filled out the poll I included in each daily email over the last week, the topic that won – with 67% of the votes – was meal planning.

This was actually great news to hear because I truly believe that my method of creating a weekly meal plan is life-changing. Yes, that may sound dramatic but taking 15 minutes each week to create a weekly meal plan completely revolutionizes how you run your kitchen. It streamlines shopping, reduces cooking time, helps reduce last minute unhealthy food decisions, and saves money (and who doesn’t want that?!).

I’ve started creating the training, Meal Planning Playbook, this weekend, but I’d LOVE if you’d answer this 1-question survey about exactly what you’re struggling with the most when it comes to planning your meals. This will help me make sure this is the best darn program about meal planning that exists (yup, I’m that confident in it).

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