Food Prep Tips For Clean Eating

A question that always presents itself with clean eating is how much time will it take to cook all of this healthy food? Most people are busy. At our fitness retreat, it’s easy to eat healthy because all of your food is cooked for you. What about real life though? We lead lives full of commitments like work, family, personal time, friends, appointments, home projects and so much more. How do people fit it all in? The truth is that taking care of yourself is one of the most important things you can do. The commitment to yourself to eat healthy, exercise and practice healthy habits to support your goals is definitely high up on the list of to do’s.

To help you with your clean eating tasks, we’ve created a list of food prep tips that can help make having convenient, healthy food a lot easier.

PRE-COOK YOUR PROTEIN

Save time in the kitchen by pre-cooking your protein. You could bake, grill or even pan fry things like chicken, turkey, burgers, veggie burgers, shrimp and more. You can then store your cooked protein sources in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use them. Hard boiled eggs are also a great addition to pre-cooked protein and last for up to a week in the fridge. Making your protein ahead of time is great for meals and snacks.

COOK GRAINS LIKE OATS, RICE AND QUINOA

Another great time saver is to pre-cook grains like oats or steel cut oats, rice and quinoa. This makes throwing a meal together so much simpler. Grains often take a little time to cook so skipping this daily step by pre-making means you’ll have more time for other things and less wait time when you’re ready to eat. Throw together a rice bowl, quinoa or oats for breakfast or a simple side for lunch or dinner. Making big batches means you’ll have supplies on hand and can easily grab what you need.

ROAST VEGETABLES & POTATOES

Get your vegetables in each day! You gain so many benefits from vegetables and root vegetables like vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and more. Roast a batch of vegetables and/or potatoes to have on hand for salad toppers or side dishes. You can roast peppers, eggplant, onions, asparagus, new potatoes, squash, garlic, brussels sprouts, baked potatoes and so much more. Season with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and your favorite spices and you have healthy, delicious food ready to go.

CHOP VEGETABLES

If you like having raw vegetables on hand either for meals or snacks, it’s helpful to chop a big batch and put them in a storage container for the fridge. Chopped carrots, celery, peppers, onions and zucchini are all great to have on hand. Easily assemble a salad or grab chopped carrots and celery with some hummus for a snack.

WHOLE PIECES OF FRUIT

Ok, this isn’t really a food prep tip but it’s a good tip none the less. Whole pieces of fruit like apples, oranges, bananas and pears are great for snacks on the go. All you have to do is wash peels or outer coverings that you might eat.

UTILIZE LEFTOVERS

Leftovers are a great way to pre-cook another meal. If you’re making dinner tonight, go ahead and add in an extra serving so you can cook it at the same time and have a meal for later. Refrigerate or freeze and them warm up for an easy, delicious meal that you don’t have to cook.

MEAL SIZED CONTAINERS

Having meal sized containers on hand in your kitchen is a great way to get prepared. This way you can throw together a meal for lunch at work or school without too much guess work. Different sizes can allow for meals or snacks depending on your needs.

We love Preserve’s line of storage containers.

BLENDERS

Blenders are great for things like protein shakes, soups and smoothie bowls. Blend your ingredients and store in a shaker bottle or other storage container for transportation. Whether you’re making a shake or a soup, blending saves a ton of time and makes it easy to pour ingredients into a container for eating later. Heat or cool your meal depending on your needs and eat when ready.

Blending is also great for healthy homemade sauces, dressings and nut butters to eliminate added ingredients in store bought options.

We love the Vitamix because it’s so versatile. You can actually make hot soup and sauces in a Vitamix (it warms them).

SUMMING UP HEALTHY FOOD PREP TIPS

You have to determine what needs you have for food and your lifestyle. Which foods need to be prepared in advance? How much food needs to be made ahead of time? It’s best to have a plan so you know which actions you need to execute for you and your goals.

If you need help with food prep or healthy eating habits, join us for a fitness retreat or check out our health & wellness coaching (online or in person) for guidance and a personalized plan.

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be hard. Try one or two of the tips we listed above to start and see which work for you and which don’t.

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