What’s Great About Meal Prepping? The Good Prep

Life can get so hectic that things like eating well often fall to the wayside. Even the good intention of prepping your own food ahead of time can end up being too much additional stress to incorporate into a busy schedule.

If this sounds like you, whether you’re wanting good meal prep ideas for the week, to eat a healthier, more balanced diet, but just don’t seem to have the time, then why not try out a meal prep company that will do all the hard work for you. They will even deliver the meals to you in stages throughout the week to make sure they are as fresh as possible.

Why Meal Prep?

Meal prepping seems to have gained in popularity over the last few years especially. Being able to prepare all of your food, days in advance so you can just grab it and go is amazing for those who lead busy lifestyles that don’t have the time to spend hours in the kitchen. Or even for those who don’t really enjoy cooking. Getting it all done at once means you don’t have to worry about it again until next week.

For a lot of people, meal prepping takes a lot of the stress out of meal times. Spending just one day, or a few hours on one day getting it all ready to go. Then everything is good to go, as and when you need it.

Related Post – Simple Ways To Meal Prep Properly

Another reason a lot of people meal prep is to stop them from ordering takeaways most evenings – either because they don’t want to cook, or because they want something there and then. Not wanting to have to wait while they think of what to cook, then cooking it. If you have healthy food ready to go, you’re less likely to choose the more unhealthy options – such as takeaways.

Meal prepping is also likely to save you money as well. If you have all your meals ready to go, you’re less likely to buy spare of the moment expensive snacks and treats. It also means you’re likely to waste a lot less food by missing used by dates, or forgetting that chicken you had in the back of the fridge.

• Save money
• Healthier eating
• Less snacks & takeaways
• Takes the stress out of cooking
• Meals ready as and when you need them

Related Post – How To Eat More Healthy Foods On A Budget

What Do You Need To Meal Prep?

Tips for meal prepping – If you’re wanting to try meal prepping yourself, all you need are some fridge/freezer containers to store them in, a plan for your meals that week and any ingredients you’ll need to make them. Oh, and some time to actually make them all. Depending on what you’re cooking, and how many people you will be cooking for, it’s likely you’ll need to take half a day, or even a day out of your schedule to meal prep everything.

• Food containers
• A meal plan
• Your ingredients
• Time to make your meals

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Make sure the food containers you have for your meal prep are suitable for use in the fridge, freezer, microwave, and even the oven if you can. This will just make it easier for you when it comes to eating it, and not having to swap out the containers to heat it up, or being able to store it in the freezer.

Some great options for food containers would be something like these MasterClass all-in-one 500ml stainless steel containers as they are fridge and freezer proof, but also microwave and oven proof so you can use them for everything. The lids even have a steam hole if cooking in the microwave and they are environmentally friendly as well.

Good Prep Meal Ideas For The Week

Meal prepping for the week doesn’t have to plain and boring, or mean you’re eating the same food over and over again. You could make large batches of a number of things, freeze them all and take what you want each day.

When thinking about meal prepping yourself, think big. If there are any meals you can make in large batches, this will save you time and money. If you need any more suggestions, check out batch cooking BBC good food for some fab big meal ideas.

Good meal prep ideas for the week include…

• Spaghetti Bolognese
• Chicken Curry
• Sausage Casserole
• Anything with rice or pasta is great for a filing meal
• Beef Stew
• Overnight oats for breakfast
• Pancakes – keep them in the freezer until you need them

Hopefully some of these ideas for meal prepping will get you started on your batch cooking dinner ideas.

Additional Tips For Meal Prepping

• Chicken – When meal prepping chicken, make sure you leave it to cool completely before putting it in the fridge. Then, ensure you eat it within 3 days (MAX) of cooking it originally. Meal prep ideas with chicken include – curry, in a salad, or one its own. Meal prepping chicken is a little more risky as meats go.
  
• Beef – Meal prepping with ground beef is probably the easiest option, especially for batch cooking lunch ideas as it’s so versatile. You could make it in to a lasagne, spaghetti bolognese, chilli…etc.
  
• Potatoes – Meal prepping with potatoes is pretty straight forward. Simply cook them as you would normally, put on any dressings (only if boiled) and leave in the fridge until you want to eat them. If you have roasted them, try to keep them dry so they don’t go soggy. Meal prepping sweet potatoes is exactly the same.
  
• Eggs – Meal prepping eggs is pretty straight forward. The best way to use eggs in meal prep is to hard boil them.

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Meal Prepping Ideas For Weight Loss

Just as you might make dinners and lunches for yourself normally on a weight loss diet, it’s really no different to creating recipes for meal prepping. As long as the meal can be kept in the fridge for a few days, you can include it in your meal prepping for the week.

Some low calories dishes include…

• Meal prepping chicken breast, with rice and some vegetables.
• You could even batch cook some soup to have as a healthy, low calorie lunch alternative.
• Meal prepping roasted veggies, with perhaps some boiled potatoes and a bit of salad on the side.

Meal Prepping Ideas For Weight Gain

However, if you’re looking for high calorie meals, one simple way to do this would be to add any of the below ingredients to a normal meal to beef it up a bit.

• Coconut milk/cream – add to a curry for a creamy sauce
• Cream – to your meal prepping breakfast of porridge or overnight oats
• Coconut oil – add when cooking your roasted vegetables or potatoes

You could even make a cake to have throughout the week if you really wanted to increase your calories during the day.

Should I Meal Prep Myself Or Use A Company?

This is really only something you can answer yourself as you know your situation better than anyone else. However, if you hate cooking, or don’t have the time to prep meals for the week, then perhaps using a company might be a better solution for you.

On the other hand, doing it yourself means you get to pick the exact meals you want, instead of choosing from a set menu. It’s also the cheaper option as you aren’t having someone else do the work for you. Personally, we love to do a bit of both. It is nice not to have to worry about anything other than placing your order and opening the fridge when you want something to eat.

Do it yourself if…

• You love to cook
• Have the time to meal prep for the week
• Trying to save money
• Want the freedom of the food you choose

Use a meal prep delivery company if…

• You can spare the money
• Hate cooking
• Don’t have the time to cook
• Want the extra time
• Like picking from a set menu

What’s The Difference Between Meal Prep & Meal Box Companies?

The main difference between meal box companies and meal prep delivery companies is that meal box companies will send you everything you need to cook your own meal.

Whereas meal prep companies do everything for you. They create your meals and deliver them to you in ready to eat meals – other than maybe having to heat them up. This is why meal prep companies will always be more expensive as they do everything for you.

Examples of UK meal box companies include…

• Hello Fresh
• Mindful Chef
• Gousto

The Good Prep

Talking of meal prep delivery companies, one such company that we tried out recently was The Good Prep. This was actually our first time giving a meal prep company a try, and we weren’t disappointed. They have a variety of different menus to choose from depending on your needs and dietary requirements – trim & slim, maintain & sustain, ultimate performance and Halal. Within the choice of meals, there are some vegetarian/vegan meals, however, not a huge choice and if you don’t like tofu or tempeh, you’re screwed!

Also, the breakfasts are VERY protein heavy with only one vegan option – the banoffee overnight oats and plain overnight oats – using almond milk. (however only available on some plans). More vegan options would have been great, or at least less protein heavy options, but you don’t have to include breakfasts in your plan.

The main plans start from £83 a week – depending on what plan you go for and how many meals you want a week. You can add on snacks, drinks and other extras – at an additional cost of course.

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How It Works

Once you’ve chosen the plan you wish to go for, you then start adding your meals to your subscription. With each meal plan you choose 5 breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. These are all included in your plan, however, you can also add on as many juices or shots as you like starting from an additional £3.50.

Once you’ve placed your order, you then need to choose when you’d like to have your meals delivered to you. You will get two deliveries of your meals – one at the start of the week (normally a Sunday), then the second half way through the week. This is to make sure all your meals are cooked and delivered to you as fresh as possible.

Sample Meals

Here are a few of the meals we chose…

(Since trying these meals last time, they now use more recyclable packaging. Some of the breakfasts and fresh snacks still come in plastic tubs, but everything else comes in cardboard containers).

Here are a selection of the snacks, breakfasts & juices we chose…

The snacks you can choose from include… (the snacks you can choose also depend on the plan you pick)

• Granola bites
• Cookies
• Peanut butter cups
• Protein cereals
• Protein balls
• Brownie bites
• Roasted chickpeas

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Some of the meals were a little on the spicy side and one was far too salty for my liking. However, the rest were absolutely delicious! Personally, i would need them to have more vegan/vegetarian options (without tofu/tempeh) to order from them again. However, my husband (meat eater) loved the options available and would order from them again.

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What would be some of your go to good meal prep ideas for the week be? Would you opt for doing it yourself, or paying a company like The Good Prep to do it for you?

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FAQ’s

Can You Meal Prep Salad?

Yes you can, however try to only go a few days ahead of when you intend to eat it and keep it as dry as possible. For example, don’t cover it in your dressing or any sauces until you want to eat it.

How Long Does Meal Prep Chicken Last?

If you keep it in the fridge, we would suggest you don’t leave it any longer than 3 days since cooking. However, always make sure to give it a good sniff before eating and if you aren’t sure, don’t take the risk!

Can You Batch Cook Rice?

Yes absolutely, as long as you have a large enough pan to cook your rice in. However, make sure you leave the rice to cool completely before putting in into the fridge. Also, don’t re-heat your rice more than once after it’s been in the fridge. Batch cooking rice is a great way to bulk out a meal in a low calorie way.

Can You Meal Prep Eggs?

Yes! Eggs are great for cooking ahead of time. Eggs also make meal prepping healthy lunches so much easier as they are high in protein. Perfect on a salad, or in a curry perhaps.

Is Meal Prepping Worth It?

This really depends from person to person as no situation is the same. If you can afford to buy all of your ingredients ahead of time, and know you will actually eat everything you make, then yes! Meal prepping is a great way to save money and time throughout the week.

Can You Meal Prep As A Vegan?

Yes, there are so many dishes you can make that don’t include meat. From vegetable curries and chillies, to a jacket potato, salads, or even meat alternative dishes.