THE 10 MEAL PREP COMMANDMENTS
The 10 Meal Prep Commandments are my top mantras that I am constantly repeating to myself, my clients, and my lucky friends that get to hear me talk about meal prepping 24/7. LOL, shout out to my friends for always listening!
If you are looking to start a meal prep routine or want to streamline and strengthen a habit you’ve already cultivated think about these 10 commandments daily. Once you start to incorporate them in your life you will see why they are helpful and why I frequently preach them. Keep reading to learn about each of the 10 commandments, how they can help you, and how keeping them in mind will help you feel even more confident and at ease throughout your meal prep journey!
Now, it’s time to get into the 10 Meal Prep Commandments that every home cook should follow!
1️⃣ Always Be Planning
The first commandment…Always Be Planning! Whether you’re jotting down your menu for the week, updating your inventory, or shopping your freezer before heading the grocery store: having an ALWAYS BE PLANNING mindset will keep you one step ahead of the game. (You can grab my E-Book to learn more about Plan Prep Plate, my 3-step process to learning how to meal plan & prep - it also includes my favorite planning templates and tips to get started!)
For example, you get home from the grocery store, instead of just putting your groceries away like you usually would, with an ALWAYS BE PLANNING mindset, you know that those vegetables will need to be washed and chopped. If you have the time, do it then! Wash and prep those and put everything else away as usual.
Now, you’re already one step ahead when it comes to mealtime! Always be planning, will save you lots of unnecessary stress in those typically chaotic moments.
2️⃣ Always Be Condensing
It’s not surprising that a cluttered fridge or pantry is a cluttered mind, and it actually makes choosing your next meal even harder. I know you find yourself throwing food away at the end of the week. It’s frustrating - I get it! I’ve been there too!
Ever lose an item in the back of the fridge or find veggies that got frozen because you stuffed the fridge to the brim?? All that money and time shopping down the drain!
That’s why meal prep commandments #2 is: Always Be Condensing. Whether it’s your pantry or your fridge, always be condensing your food. My favorite kitchen condensing items include recycled glass jars, and Stasher bags for a more compact storage solution! They work great in the fridge and freezer! You see that clamshell or arugula in the picture below, well if I stuffed all those greens in a Stasherbag I’d make a lot more room in my fridge and the lettuce will likely last a little bit longer too. Think about taking those leftover bacon slices or salami slices and placing them in a glass jar instead of a plastic baggie or worse, leaving it in the package, yuck! Keep your fridge clean, smelling fresh and Always Be Condensing!
3️⃣ Having Free Time is Created by Putting in the Time
You need to put in the time, to have more free time. When it comes to meal prep, the time you put in NOW, saves you time (and creates more free time) later in the day AND the week for you!
👉 Washing and chopping up all of your produce when you get home from the grocery store is going to take you 20 minutes now, but you’ll get that free time when you go to cook every night, and all of your produce is ready to be cooked, no prep time required. Now, you’ve got an extra 5-10 minutes each night.
👉 Meal prepping on a Sunday afternoon could take you 2 hours but frees up at least 5 hours later in the week when you might not have any, or when you get home from a busy day and want to relax instead of spending that time to prep dinner.
👉 Time spent organizing your fridge and pantry, shaves off minutes of time when preparing to cook a meal (plus, having inventory saves you from running out of things last minute, and now you’ve got even more free time!)
👉 Time spent doing meal prep, turns into your time back (and then some) later in the week for you to:
spend time with your kids after school at the park
go for a walk before dinner or take that workout class with the pilates teacher you love
snooze your alarm clock for an extra 10 minutes because breakfast and/or lunch is already made for the day
It’s Meal Prep Math!
4️⃣ Having Flexibility is Created by Having a Plan
Whether it’s a game plan for your meal prep sesh, or a meal plan for the week to keep your days running super smooth, having a meal plan is crucial to embracing the true flexibility of meal prep! The actual plan is what’s going to give you flexibility later in the week.
Whether it’s staying out for just one more cocktail after work, and knowing you already have a plan for dinner instead of having to rush home and figure it out. Or maybe you’re coming home from a trip, and know you just want a good home-cooked meal when you get back without having to run to the store to grocery shop and grab all the essentials. Because you have a plan, you have the flexibility to adjust as needed, without throwing a wrench into your next mealtime.
With meal prepping there are always options for what can be done with cooked food, fresh food, raw proteins, and cooked proteins too! I help my clients learn what to they can do in every situation so whenever life throws them a curve ball they are ready to go and know what to do. They know what needs to go to the freezer, what needs to be cooked off, what needs to be eaten or saved for another week, all so they can get the flexibility they need at that moment in time.
Having flexibility is created by having a plan.
5️⃣ Your Freezer is Your Best Friend
Your freezer is going to be your best friend when it comes to meal prep. For keeping proteins and vegetables on hand, to keeping already prepped foods in frozen portions to make those busy nights, when you don’t feel like cooking, a breeze.
You can buy extras at the store when it’s on sale to save money (but no need to hoard), cook a double batch of today’s meal and freeze the additional portion, and always have a few essentials on hand to make even the craziest days where you need a last minute meal, easy!
Don’t know how to befriend your freezer? Start with my Freezer Freebie!
6️⃣ Take Inventory
Keeping inventory is essential to saving time and money on your meal prep journey. Start by emptying out your fridge/freezer/pantry, and throw out everything expired, condense what you can, and take inventory so you always know what you have on hand. Plus, take this opportunity to wipe everything down, and start with a fresh space, getting you ready to have meal prep change your life!
It is essential to know what you have already because:
it helps you learn what you need when you’re creating your meal plan without buying duplicates
it makes writing your grocery list simpler, spending less money on unnecessary items
it helps you waste less food and money and time
Plus, you can learn a lot about yourself and your kitchen when you’re taking inventory…
👉 You might be an over-shopper
👉 You might have multiples of the same thing
👉 You might have had the spice you needed for that recipe last week…you just couldn’t find it and didn’t know it was there
👉 You have some staples, that are actually expired
Take inventory. It’s crucial!
7️⃣ Meal Prep is the New Fast Food
If you’ve been around, you know this is one of my favorite mantras when it comes to meal prep. Since time is created by putting in the time, meal prep the Feed Your Sister way is the new fast food!
Get dinner on the table in just a few minutes, versus waiting hours for take out (aka, “fast food”) or spending an hour every night cooking.
Spend a little time each day slicing, dicing, and cooking up meals, and you're not just prepping food – you're prepping for a win in all sorts of ways. The Feed Your Sister way helps you save time, even if you’re not prepping the whole meal. I show you how to turn daily morning and nighttime habits into daily routines so that even when you’re not cooking a week’s worth of meals Sunday afternoon, you’re going to have some of the prep done when it’s time to cook your next meal, or at the very least have a solid plan.
You’ll find that meal prep is going to be more nourishing, more delicious, and even quicker than fast food once your get those routines in place.
8️⃣ Always be Decanting
Always Be Decanting goes hand in hand with Always Be Condensing. Take things out of its packaging, and condense! This is going to save you room in your pantry, fridge, and freezer. Plus, save you the surprise of reaching for a box of your favorite pasta, and finding just a few noodles left. Who does that anyway??
Take pantry items out of their package and combine with your current stock (put the oldest on top or in front to ensure freshness) and don’t forget to update your inventory. I love using recycled glass jars in my pantry, that way I can see what I have, and when I’m running low. Decanting can also help keep food fresh - when you open that box of crackers, put it in a container that has a seal, versus rolling the bag and letting it go stale.
9️⃣ Talk to your fridge daily, multiple times preferred
Your fridge needs LOVE too! Don’t ignore it, here’s why…
If you want to stop wasting food, money, & time - you need to be checking in with your fridge, not just 1X a day, but multiple times!
You want to keep track of what’s happening in there. Make sure there’s nothing rotting in the back, and checking to see what needs to be used. By doing a quick check-in daily, this will help you save money and waste less.
Vegetables starting to wilt? Wash, chop, and freeze!
Extra package of chicken you bought on sale you won’t get a chance to eat right away? Put it in the freezer and update your inventory!
Check your leftovers (you might have lunch ready to go without even knowing it!)
By checking in daily with what’s happening in your fridge, you can prevent that end of the week feeling of…
“Oh no, I forgot about the tuna salad…” or “If I knew I had one more portion of leftovers, I wouldn’t have had to buy lunch yesterday…”
Make sure you’re on the list to get my newest freebie, Back to Basics, where I’ll show you how to meal plan using your inventory so you know what’s happening in your fridge and and freezer!
And last but not least…
🔟 Have fun, and love your kitchen!
Meal prep doesn’t have to be a chore, and following these commandments can help you enjoy it, and love your kitchen space again too. You can enjoy meal prep! You can feel like your kitchen has gotten a whole makeover, and optimize your space to make meal prep less of a chore. Plus, the new found time (and money) is a great bonus too.
If you’ve been struggling to get into the habit of meal prep, or feel like what you’ve tried so far has failed, I got you!
You are invited to join Modern Meal Prep, my signature meal prep course to help you conquer mealtime mania, save money, gain kitchen confidence, & reclaim your time by learning the invaluable life skill of meal prep!
Have questions?? Book a free Chef’s Chat with me here.
If you like this blog, let us know in the comments below! Cheers, friends!