One of the first things I struggled with last year was managing my eating habits...
After a month or so of adjusting to the flow and format of the courses I was able to take a step back and realize that I had been getting takeout from restaurants for most of my meals. It started with skipping breakfasts, which led to snacking on junk food to stay awake, which progressed to spending way too much money…(Since I got delivery for a week straight). I decided then that it was time to give meal prepping a try, and I am so glad I did! It has helped me save time and money, and allowed me to make healthier choices. I wanted to share with you my typical routine and an outline of what I would prepare for a school week; and a few resources that have great recipes for meal prepping.
During the school year, I tend to prep on Mondays because they are set aside as exam days that end around 3pm. The important thing is to set aside around 1-2 hours on a convenient day to meal prep. Recipes I usually prepare are simple and consist of 3 items: a starch (rice is my personal favorite), vegetables, and some sort of protein. I own a rice cooker (if you don’t and consume a lot of rice- now is the time to invest in one!) It makes cooking rice the easiest task in the kitchen. Next, I enjoy oven roasted vegetables a lot. They are tasty, healthy, and best of all simple to make. Just toss your favorite vegetables with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and whatever other spices you may like, slide it into the oven at around 350F. The cook time varies depending on the vegetables but is usually around 30- 45 minutes. At this time, you can also cook some chicken breasts on the same sheet pan (to cut down on dirty dishes). If I’m not using a protein that can be cooked well in the oven, I would use this time to prepare it on the stovetop. At the end of an hour I can portion everything for the next 4 days into storage containers. These simple meals cost a fraction of what I would spend on takeout and are a lot more balanced in nutrition. The money saved I can use to buy other items that I probably don’t need…
In all honesty, the best thing about meal prepping is that I can have my shows on in the background and catch up on them guilt free while feeling good about saving money and being healthy.