A Better Way to Meal Prep
The Component Cooking method & the meal prep essentials to turn your "I just can't" to I can!
Component Meal Prep Could Change Your Life
Ok that may be a little dramatic, but component meal prep, the antithesis to a fridge full of casseroles could seriously change your family’s overall health.
It’s no secret that cooking at home has a multitude of benefits - mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially - yet I know many families who regularly eat fast food in the car, get food from or dine in restaurants or buy premade meals averaging $13 a serving or more because the idea of planning, shopping for and cooking weeknight meals is overwhelming.
Is Meal Prep the Answer?
For the OCD person, having a tidy, clean fridge with matching containers is the gateway to joy.
For the rest of us, however, the thought of meal prep leads to eye-rolling and visions of brown food - soups, stews and casseroles - begging to be eaten rather than discarded at the end of the week. (The exception to this is having very basic breakfasts and lunches at the ready. I’m down with that, just don’t make me eat the same dinner every night.)
The latter was my initial reaction until I came up with a different plan.
Real Food Sanity Origin Story
Life happens around the table. Giving families the resources to make quick, healthy meals with dietary restrictions taken into account has become paramount in my business over the years whether I was cooking FOR families as a private chef and or teaching people to cook healthy meals as a Whole30 Certified Coach, Holistic Nutritionist and Cooking Coach.
Especially in the latter roles, I realized my clients did better when they had a plan and the foods on their plans were readily accessible. Meal prep was the key that unlocked all of this for them.
I alluded to my meal prep method in this post with a look at how I plan our family dinners and I presented my formula for how I put meals together in this post. But I thought today I would combine everything in one tidy post and give you all the tips, tricks and tools to make meal prepping something you can easily do each week and begin to find a rhythm that makes cooking family meals a pleasure (ish) instead of a pain.
The Real Food Sanity Meal Plan Method
Since January 1st, I’ve been creating Real Food Sanity weekly meal plans for a beta group with four unique dinners based on two inexpensive proteins and seasonality in regards to ingredients and cooking methods. Confirmed from subscriber reports, the shopping list comes in at $75 or less each week.
A PDF goes out on Thursdays with meal plans, recipes and shopping list, but I also include a Meal Prep Guide which if followed in the order given will allow you to get meal prep done in about 1 1/2 to 2 hours - see time lapse video below for my 1 hour prep. Weeknight meal prep then becomes a very quick 15-20 minute process.
Meal Prep Made Easy
Follow these steps for component meal prep overlapping Raw Prep over Cooked since a lot of the cooking time is hands-off.
Here’s my loose guide (as a paid subscriber you will get the full guide each week - see below to subscribe at a discount right now):
1) First Steps
Wash all produce (this is best done on shopping day.)
Set out equipment
Chop veggies needed for cooked components
2) Cooked Components
Bulk prepping or cooking the proteins saves a ton of time each week.
Chicken - Cook the chicken using one of the two methods. You can store whole cooked chicken breasts with a little broth to keep it moist and flavor packed. Shred or cube as directed in recipe at time of cooking.
Ground Meat - Cook ground meat or form it for burgers, meatballs, etc.
Roast Veg - Roast vegetables or potatoes partially to cut down on cooking time during the week. Bonus, cooked starchy veg like potatoes, winter squash and sweet potatoes turn into resistant starch after chilling (even if they’re reheated!) so they don’t spike your blood sugar as much as freshly cooked starches.
Cook Grains - Rice or quinoa cooked using my methods are fail-proof and as with starchy veg, they turn into resistant starch after being chilled.
3) Raw Prep and Sauces
Doing as many of these steps as you can have time for during your meal prep sesh will keep your weeknight prep super short.
Chop or slice herbs and veggies for salads, stirfries, etc.
Make sauces and dressings - If I am aware of a clean storebought version I will suggest and give DIY as an option, otherwise, I include recipes for these in PDF
Prep any DIY options you choose - those things that can be more budget friendly to do yourself such as shredding cheese or lettuce vs buying shredded or making sauces vs buying a clean, storebought counterpart.
Let’s Take Meal Planning Off Your Plate!
Join today and get access to 4 brand new budget-friendly meal plans each week plus my chat community where you can ask me anything, everything I’ve published on this website including PDFs of every recipe (it’s basically like creating your own cookbook as you go) and more! Less than $2 a week and it’s all yours!
Components vs Casseroles
With my method, you’ll have components rather than casseroles, so instead of a fridge full of food you would rather disappear than eat one more night, you have options:
For the adventurous like me, you can mix and match the components to put together very fast dinners on the fly
You can allow your picky eaters choices of foods that aren’t mixed together
When you don’t want to think about dinner at all, just shop and follow my meal prep guide - see below for more on that - then use the nightly recipes to pull together components each night for 20 minute meals.
Equipment to Make Meal Prep Doable
You don’t HAVE to have any of these things to meal prep. But like any job, having the right tools certainly makes it easier and more enjoyable. Buy them all in one fell swoop, or buy them as you can. At least start with the Meal Prep Containers so you will have everything you need when you receive your first PDF as a Paid Subscriber. (Hint: Hit this button to quickly upgrade to Paid.)
Glass Meal Prep Containers
These are the most economical brands I could find. I highly recommend glass over plastic to avoid smells, stains and chemicals.
11 cup Pyrex Glass Dishes – for family size ready-to-heat meals. I use these rarely
6 cup Pyrex Glass Dish (4 pack) – for 2 serving meals or components for meals. (These are the ones I use the most and I have about 10)
10 piece set (best deal with 2 3-cup, 2 6-cup and 1 11-cup) – a good starter set, but you will probably want either two of these sets or one of these plus extra 3 and 6 cup bowls.
22 oz glass meal prep dishes (set of 10) – These are perfect for single serving meal prep.
32 oz Mason jars (case of 12) – Order on Amazon for convenience, but really Target, Joann Fabric or Hobby Lobby are cheaper by far. For make ahead salads see below for plastic alternative. Do not use to freeze liquids.
4 oz Mason jars (case of 24) – Very useful as prep bowls, dip containers for snacks and to hold small amounts of prepped ingredients.
16 oz wide mouth Mason jars (case of 6) – For dressings and sauces and to freeze anything that is liquid.
Wide Mouth Pour Spots (case of 3) – Genius way to convert wide mouth jar to a dressing container.
Silicone Containers
Silicone Bags are a safe way to store ingredients and don’t take up as much space. The Stasher brand is the OG and pricey but last a long time. You can even safely warm leftovers in these simply by dropping the bags into boiling water. Shop the entire Stasher Line here or these are the best deals I’ve found on favorite sizes and styles. PRO TIP:
Stasher 5 pack bundle – Sandwich, snack and half gallon bags
Sandwich Bag – These are the most useful size for our house
Stand Up Bags – This is the best price I’ve found on this style
Plastic Meal Prep Containers
Glass containers are preferred for avoiding BPAs, but these are a few you can use if you don’t have the budget for glass.
9 cup bowls BPA Free 2 pack – These can be for family sized salads or large quantities of prepped ingredients.
5 cup Bowls 3 pack For make ahead salads instead of 32 oz jars.
1/2 cup Bowls 6 pack – For storing small amounts of prepped ingredients.
Meal Planning And Organization
You might feel a little like Monica or Leslie Knope, but even for me, a definite “fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl” I find these things helpful. 1
Magnetic White Board Sheet for Fridge 11×17 or 12 x 8 – I use the 11×17” every day to plan my meals, keep track of grocery/toiletry needs and to note what needs to be eaten soon.
Magnetic marker holder – I attach this to my white board so my markers are handy.
Eraser for Dry Erase Board – Also attached to my white board. (It’s magnetic, too.)
Label Once – labels for containers, erasable and reusable through several washings.
All-purpose floursack towels – For eco-friendly drying of produce and storing of washed greens once you’re done shopping. They don’t throw lint and can be easily washed in hot water with peroxide.
Cutlery And Food Prep
If you get nothing else on this list, get a chef’s knife, knife sharpener and the bamboo cutting boards.
8″ Chef’s Knife – IKEA no longer makes the knife that I bought, but this one has amazing reviews and if you’ve ever watched Babish on YouTube, he knows his stuff.
Knife set (8” chef’s, 3.5 paring and serrated knife for bread and tomatoes) – Same brand as above but entire set is under $70. I couldn’t find the Babish 3.5 paring knife by itself, but I do recommend having a good paring knife.
Knife sharpener – While it’s good to have knives professionally sharpened at least once a year or so, this is a good once a week or “as needed” sharpener.
Heavy bamboo cutting board with an edge for liquids 18×12, 20×14, 24×18 – I use the 18×12 because I like it to be large enough I can do all my meal prep without having a bunch of little bowls sitting around. The other two are even bigger. They make great charcuterie boards. Bamboo is naturally antibacterial.
Smaller dishwasher safe cutting boards – Three different sizes for little jobs and keeping raw meat separate. These are dishwasher safe and BPA free.
Y-shaped peeler – I use this for everything. It works well with round produce and larger items, like butternut squash, apples and potatoes.
Microplane Grater – For grating ginger, garlic, hard cheeses, nutmeg and chocolate.
Citrus Squeezer – This is by far my favorite juicer. You can squeeze the juice into the bottom section and pour it out as you need it.
Large stainless steel bowl set – I love the medium sized for tossing family sized main dish salads, the small for mixing meatloaf/burger/meatball mixtures since they are dishwasher safe and the large one I fill with water and vinegar for washing veggies prior to prep day. The smallest ones can be used for just about anything.
Large colander – For draining veggies after washing on prep day. You can use any colander that has plenty of holes or slats for draining off extra water.
Pretty Woman, directed by Garry Marshall, 1990