You're doing a great job fasting and wondering how you can get your everyday eating back on track after your cleanse? You don't have the time or energy to cook something fresh every day? And do you wonder how other people just pull a tasty, homemade meal out of their sleeve every single day? We're revealing the secret behind it: meal prep!
Sure, preparing meals is nothing new, and we know it from our sporty idols on social media. But lately the meal preparation trend keeps popping up more and more on Instagram & co. So if you're wondering how useful it is to prepare meals, or cook healthy in advance, and whether you should also invest in some food containers in future, keep reading!
Where does meal prep come from and why should you cook healthy in advance?
The term meal prep is derived from the English "meal preparation" and means preparing meals ahead of time. With meal prep, you prepare dishes for several days and can then enjoy tasty, healthy meals on days when there's no time to cook. The trend originally comes from the USA and became established in the sports scene many years ago. Today, though, it's not only athletes who appreciate this way of preparing meals.
Anyone who has no time for shopping and cooking during the week because of work, leisure activities or uni stress reaches more often for ready-made products, fast food and unhealthy snacks. The advantage of meal prep is that, despite a lack of time, you have a tasty, balanced meal on the table every day!
Do you eat the same thing every day with meal prep?
We recommend bringing a bit of variety into your menu when batch cooking. There are two reasons for this. First, you can decide what you feel like eating and won't be bored by monotonous meals. Second, and this is a very important point, different foods also contain different nutrients. In our last article on 5 a day, we summarised why it's important to eat a varied diet in order to take in a wide range of nutrients.
How should the dishes be put together for meal prep?
When choosing dishes and ingredients, there are just a few things to keep in mind. Make sure your meals each contain valuable protein (such as pulses, tofu, fish or meat), long-chain carbohydrates (e.g. pseudo-grains such as quinoa, starchy potatoes or wholegrain products such as pasta and rice), seasonal vegetables and healthy fats (such as olive oil, avocado or nuts).
If you're cooking a light soup, such as the African peanut soup from our Fasting Guide, you could also slice up some fresh wholegrain bread to go with it.
So how does meal prep work properly?
Meal prep is very simple and can be adapted to any way of eating. So you can get started right away, here are a few tips to keep in mind.
1. Preparation
Take the time to write down a meal plan and your favourite dishes for the coming week. It also helps a lot to get an overview of your appointments. That way you know on which days you need a meal and on which days you'll be at a restaurant with friends, for example, and won't need a prepared meal. You can also plan bigger portions for workout days. Do you often save recipes on Pinterest but never get round to cooking them? Then this is exactly the right inspiration and moment to finally try some new cooking ideas. Ingredients that overlap between your chosen recipes are especially handy: for example, you can roast a whole tray of potatoes in the oven and split the amount across 3 dishes. For variety, simply swap the rest, such as the vegetables or spices!
Another great source of tasty, healthy recipes, by the way, is our guides! In our Fasting Guide, Autumn Guide and our Fit in 2022 Guide you'll find lots of delicious vegetarian and vegan recipes that are perfect for batch cooking!
2. Healthy batch cooking
Your meal plan is set and you're ready to start batch cooking? There's one more thing to keep in mind. Practice has shown that our weekly plans can change at very short notice and meal plans are rarely followed strictly. So that your meal prep isn't in vain and doesn't limit your spontaneity, we advise preparing 1-2 portions fewer for fresh dishes. That way you can always say yes to a spontaneous get-together without worrying about having to throw your prepared dish away.
The rule of thumb: for 5 days, you prepare food for 3 days. For 7 days, you prepare food for 5 days.
To prepare your food for the coming week in peace, you should plan about half a day. At first that sounds like a lot of time, but remember: once your food for the week is ready, you save valuable time during the week and still enjoy a homemade, healthy meal.
3. Portioning
Chopped your veg, cooked your curry and fried the tofu? Then it's time to portion it out. So that your ingredients still taste fresh and crisp after three days, we advise storing the components separately. Sauces and dressing in particular should only be added shortly before eating.
And because we love sustainability, here's our tip:
Jars, like the soup jars from your frank soup, are ideal for portioning out your meal prep! Layer your next salad, your overnight oats, or simply fill your homemade soup into the jars. It saves you space and money!
4. Storage
When storing your cooked dishes, you only need to make sure you always keep them cool. Soups, stews, curries and co. are also perfect for freezing. Unlike fresh products, this means you can keep the cooked food for longer than just a few days and prepare larger amounts too
Conclusion: why we're excited about the meal prep trend
As you can see, meal prep is no great art, but rather one more way to establish a healthy lifestyle. With colourful, fresh ingredients, spending an afternoon in the kitchen can be great fun. Turn the radio up, put on your favourite series in the background or ask a meal-prep buddy who wants to join in. That makes it twice as much fun! And the joy of eating your homemade food will be all the greater.
Meal prep makes it possible to put your plan of eating healthily after a juice cleanse into practice and fit it into your everyday life.
And if time ever gets tight or the batch-cooked food runs out, you can still reach for the delicious organic soups from frank. Here, too, you can expect maximum variety, fresh and natural ingredients, without artificial additives and flavourings! Enjoy a tasty tomato soup, a hearty sweet potato soup with chickpeas and curry or a red lentil soup with apricot, for example.
We wish you lots of fun with healthy batch cooking!
