The trick to easy meal prep lies in simple steps:
1. Plan ahead what you’ll cook for the week. Pick simple recipes with wholesome ingredients, says Cape Town dietitian Karen Protheroe (see her suggestions at the end). Use them to draw up a grocery list, and do a weekly shop at a quiet time (after work or early Saturday morning), or shop online.
2. Pick a weekly prep day like Sunday, and make it fun – play music, involve the family. If you make more than three days’ worth of meals, freeze the rest, and move them from freezer to fridge the night before.
3. Always have nutritious basics on hand – rice (brown, wild, basmati), dried pasta (wholewheat), cous-cous (also wholewheat), tinned tuna or salmon, and frozen veggies. Nuts and seeds, hardboiled eggs and washed greens can make great additions to almost any dish.
4. Cook extra – doubling or tripling the quantity of eggs you hard boil or wholewheat cous-cous or potatoes you cook will save time later. “With cous-cous, each day simply add different salad ingredients and protein, such as pesto, avocado, tuna, feta or boiled egg,” says Protheroe. Leave the skins on these and most veggies for added fibre and nutrients, and to save time.
5. For lunchboxes, divide big recipes into ready-to-go single servings, using re-sealable plastic bags or glass containers. You can pre-make five ‘lunches in a jar’ for the week: put grains, protein, nuts and dressing at the bottom of the jar, and vegetables and greens on top.
6. For breakfasts, make a big pot of oats and keep in the fridge for the week – "It’s delicious heated each day with a little cinnamon," says Protheroe. Alternatively, have one of the eggs you hardboiled with wholewheat toast. Or whip up a smoothie: blend ½ cup fat-free plain yoghurt and ½ cup skimmed milk or fruit juice with 1 cup of any fresh fruit (leave the skin or apples, pears etc), and 1tbs oats or wholewheat Pronutro.
Quick and healthy recipes
Lentil Curry
1 cup red lentils, rinsed
1 large onion
1 tsp each garlic and ginger, chopped
1 tsp canola oil
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
½ tsp each ground fennel seeds and cardamom
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
3-4 cups water
2-3 cups mixed fresh or frozen veggies
Fry onion, garlic and ginger in oil until soft. Add spices and stir a minute. Add lentils and 2-3 cups water. Let lentils summer for 10 minutes. Add veggies and cook until just tender, adding liquid if necessary. Add salt. Serve with brown rice or a salad.
Chicken Stir-fry
2 diced chicken fillets
1pkt fresh or frozen stir-fry vegetables
1 bunch spinach, washed and chopped
1 tsp each of fresh garlic and ginger
1 tbs canola oil
2 tbs soya sauce
2 tbs sweet chilli sauce
Heat oil and cook chicken in garlic and ginger for 1-2 minutes in wok or pan. Throw in other ingredients and stir fry until cooked – veggies should be slightly crisp. Serve with wholewheat noodles.
“You could do three different stir-fries a week, just varying the stir-fry sauce and the protein (chicken, beef, pork, calamari, tofu etc),” says Protheroe. “Stir-fry is a great easy meal because you can buy everything already washed and chopped and sliced! Also it’s low on pot use so there’s not too much washing up.”
IMAGE CREDIT: 123rf.com