“WOW! Did you MAKE that?!” 

Do you wish to say, “Yes, yes I did!”

Meal prepping can decrease decision fatigue as well as your budget on eating out; whilst increasing self care by nurturing your body with foods prepared by a wonderful chef, you! 

Interested? Read these tips below! 

Prepping to Meal Prep

  • Blocking your calendar and being consistent with grocery shopping (and if you’re able, a different day for cooking) can help solidify a rhythm which forms a habit. Personally, Sundays are for grocery shopping and Mondays are for cooking.
  • “(Wo)man know thyself (and thine’s weekly commitments)”- Definitely Socrates.  Jot down your plans and commitments for the week. Determining where you’ll be can determine how much food you’ll need.    
  • Foodie feed to feed the foodie: finding inspiration – Following a few food blogs, instagrammers, or tv shows that inspire you to cook can, well, inspire you to cook! 
  • Find a book and cook through it! Sit on the ground at Barnes and Noble and fan through the cookbooks, choose one and week by week cook through it. 
  • Butter? Milk? Eggs? Take inventory! Although I welcome a life abundant in pasta, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to tetris-style fit a new box of spaghetti next to an unopened one in my pantry at the cost of another item I could have gotten. Having a note on your phone with inventory of your fridge and pantry can prevent repeat purchases. 

 Current location: The Grocery Store

  • Brand Loyalty: Grocery Store Edition –  Choose a grocery store that “sparks joy” for you!
  • Allowing yourself with allowance – $5 every grocery run for something fun! I know how prone I am to wanting to try a fun new snack (cookies and cream pretzel thins  anyone?) Knowing that I have $5 set aside every week for that novelty snack that catches my eye is a fun way to stay on budget and stay in the practice of expanding my palate. 
  • Calc-you-later! Calculate your costs as you go. In this economy every dollar counts. One practice to keep your budget in-check is to utilize the calculator app. Every item I put in the cart I round up to the nearest dollar and create a running total. Doing this will aid in deciding for or against items without ever having to be surprised at the register. 
  • Toting Sustainability with tote bags – Need an excuse to buy another cute tote bag? I’ve got you. Keep a stash in your trunk so you can:
    1. Save the planet
    2. Look fab
    3. Have a consistent and convenient way to carry your groceries to and from your car
  • Fun Drink Girlies, stock up! No workspace is complete without at least 3 beverages. Buying drinks you know you’ll enjoy at the grocery store such as that bubbly seltzer water that’ll carry you through that 3 o’clock meeting is one way to curb your desire to get more expensive drinks on the run. I’m not telling you to cut that $5 latte that brings you joy, this is just one way to save you money so you can get more!

THE Prep

  • Eat something with limited assembly beforehand – Trying to cook while hungry is a recipe for disaster! Have something on hand such as a premade salad or frozen dinner to eat before you cook. 
  • Meal prep but make it ✨ fun ✨- Listen to vinyl, save the newest episode of a podcast you love, drink some kombucha, whatever makes you romanticize and look forward to the process of meal prepping (see here: habit stacking). 
  • FIFO, first in first out. A service industry rule about putting the older foods in front so you use them first. Confront the scary Tupperware in the back of the fridge and if needed swap last week’s bag of spinach with the hopes of using the new one this week. 
  • Pack it the night before. Running late is a whole brand with iced coffee in hand, however, packing your lunch the night before can make it so quick and easy to grab  on the way to the office (or wherever you might be headed).
  • Share your food and these tips with friends. Meal prep can be a form of self care for yourself and for those you love. 

Spread these tips like butter, and if you use them tag us at @hatchcreatives so we can cheer you on and be inspired for our own meal prepping!