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Meal prep essentials
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Friday newsletter features recipe ideas, new recipes and meal prep tips.
Welcome to Spicy Meal Prep
Spicy Meal Prep is a food blog made for busy people. Healthy eating made easier.
Here you will find recipes which are:
- Ideal for batch cooking: meals which you can make-ahead and reheat within 3-4 days or freeze.
- Quick weeknight meals: fresh meals which you can prepare within 30 minutes on busy weeknights – in case you don’t want to prepare all your meals.
- Ideal for weight loss or bodybuilding: with portion control, you can find meals to fit in your meal plan which can help you hit a calorie deficit or surplus. Perfect system if you want to lose weight or gain muscle mass.
- Fakeaway recipes: your favorite takeout or cheat meals made healthier that don’t compromise on taste or flavor.
- And more: explore the recipe index to find your favorite recipes. New recipes are uploaded each week.
So why meal prep? How does it work exactly?
Meal prep is simply advanced meal preparation. It’s similar to batch cooking, however it’s a life hack which helps you boost productivity by freeing up your time, helping you save money and helping you stay on track with your goals.
In the past, I’ve used meal prep tactics to lose weight by simply hitting a calorie deficit which was made easy with portion control. I didn’t make any drastic changes to my diet or exclude my favorite ingredients. I simply controlled the portions and used MyFitnessPal to calorie count once a week.
Today, I use the same meal prep tactics because I find it beneficial to free up time by cooking most of my meals on the weekend and giving myself flexibility to cook fresh meals from Thursday to the weekend.
Meal Prep FAQ
You will need meal prep containers which helps you control your portions.
- If you have a goal (weight loss or muscle gain), you can install MyFitnessPal which will set your goals and help you calorie count.
Plan the week ahead by looking what’s stored in your fridge and pantry. Then you can search for recipes and plan accordingly.
If you’re a beginner, I would recommend starting off small. For example, choose 1 or 2 recipes to cook on the weekend for meal prep which can be your work lunch meal or dinner.
You can be flexible – you don’t need to meal prep an entire week of meals.
The best way is by using digital weighing scales and creating your recipe on MyFitnessPal.
It will tell you:
- Calories per meal
- Macronutrient breakdown
- Micronutrient breakdown.
The benefit of this approach:
- Control portions without excluding ingredients.
I started meal prepping before it was a thing, but I’ve always been flexible – each week is different. In 2009, I read about batch tasking and started using it at work and cooking. I have a deep interest in automation too and often explore ways to boost productivity.
I also used meal prep for weight loss counting calories and creating meals which would fit in my meal plan.
Yes, they are worth it if you can afford it and want to achieve a goal. However, it does depend on the type of service and company too.
I prefer to do it myself because I enjoy cooking and experimenting. However, if I was too busy and can afford it, I would subscribe to a meal prep service.
Most recipes can be prepared or made in advance. They will mostly stay fresh up to 3-4 days*, or you can freeze for the months* ahead. Keeping ingredients stored in meal prep containers keeps them fresh and prevents them from going off. You can reheat most meals in the microwave or stovetop, and sometimes oven or air fryer. Or you can cook the meals fresh with prepared ingredients that’ll save you time. Ultimately, you need to find how meal prepping can work for you, and it can in many ways.
*Will vary depending on ingredients.
No! You don’t need to cook everything on the same day. I don’t recommend this approach for beginners because it can be overwhelming and leaves little room for flexibility. Most of my readers prep their lunch for work. Do what works best for you.
Want to learn more about meal prep?
For any questions regarding meal prep, recipes, or anything general, please use this form and I will get back to you soon as possible.