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7 Simple Meal Prep Tips for Back-to-School Season

August 25, 2016 by Alexandra Miller, RDN, LDN |

7 Simple Meal Prep Tips for Back-to-School Season

Let’s face it, the back-to-school season is busy. While our intentions to meal plan and prep are good, it doesn’t take long for competing priorities to take precedence. As a result, we find ourselves regularly eating out, ordering out, and/or digging in the kitchen for something quick to eat. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case. With a just a little planning and practice, you can have balanced meals ready for the nights you’re on-the-run as well as those when you’re able to sit down and enjoy the meal as a family.

Here are 7 go-to strategies for meal planning and prep during the back-to-school season:

  1. Stock your freezer. Prepare soups, casseroles, stuffed peppers or mushrooms, turkey or veggie burgers, veggie egg muffins, and similar types of foods in advance, and then freeze them for a hassle-free meal that just needs reheating. Keep a healthy supply of frozen fruits and veggies, free of added sugar and salt, on hand at all times. Freeze homemade or store-bought pesto, chicken broth, and tomato paste in ice cube trays for portion control and convenience.
  2. Simplify the menu. Consider making one or two-dish meals a standard. They’re less taxing, and there are fewer dishes to wash. A stir-fry, soup with an open-faced sandwich (1 slice whole wheat bread = 1 Healthy Snack), omelets and fresh berries (3/4 cup berries = 1 Healthy Snack), or a salad filled with vegetables are but a few options.
  3. Batch cook & work ahead. Grill several chicken breasts, hard-boil a dozen eggs, make a big pot of chili, prep a large veggie tray, and roast or steam a medley of vegetables to have for the week. Bake vegetable egg muffins for a grab-and-go breakfast option and pre-portion bags of raw veggies and nuts to throw into lunch boxes. Peel, cut, wash, and chop all of the veggies you’ll need for your meals on a day when you have a little extra time.
  4. Look for shortcuts. Buy pre-washed and cut veggies, including cauli-rice, zucchini “noodles”, baby carrots, and lettuce. Look for quick-cooking whole grains, like quinoa, brown rice, and farro. Consider purchasing pre-cooked and/or pre-portioned protein options, like grilled chicken breast strips, canned tuna (packed in water), canned beans (no salt added), hardboiled eggs, pre-cooked shrimp, and individually wrapped frozen fish filets.
  5. Use your kitchen gadgets. Slow cookers, rice cookers, pressure cookers, microwaves, toaster ovens, immersion blenders; utilize them all! These appliances will drastically cut down on prep time.
  6. Find ingredient overlaps. When picking recipes for meal prep, try grouping them by overlapping ingredients. If you need to make cauli-rice one night for stuffed peppers, you can use it later in the week to make a cauliflower crust pizza. Spinach can be used in a salad, crustless quiche, or as part of the filling in eggplant rollatini. Already prepped chicken and vegetables can be an Asian stir-fry one night, Mexican chicken fajitas the next, and Italian chicken cacciatore another.
  7. Make a list. Determine what foods you will need for each meal, make a list, and grocery shop. While grocery shopping, don’t forget to stock up on healthy staples, like low-fat Greek yogurt, pre-portioned packs of nuts, low-fat cheese sticks, and fresh grab-and-go produce (e.g. apples, bananas, pears, and mandarin oranges).

Health, Maintenance Support, Weight-Loss Tips 7 Simple Meal Prep Ideas for the Back-to-School Season, back to school, Back-to-school healthy ideas, meal prep, simple meal prep, simple meal prep ideas

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Alexandra Miller, RDN, LDN

author Alexandra Miller, RDN, LDN

Alexandra Miller, RDN, LDN, is a corporate dietitian at Medifast. She has received her Certificate of Training in Adult Weight Management and is also a Certified Kickboxing Instructor. She is devoted to promoting optimal health... Read More

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