When you hear the word Meal Prep, two things probably come to mind – hours of work in the kitchen or a week of rice with vegetables.
Today we want to break with that a little and show you how you can prepare delicious food for the whole week with little effort. The trick? Prepare ingredients instead of whole recipes.
In the following, we’ll show you how we cook super simply for the week. Remember – our menu also changes every week and depends on what’s in season, what hasn’t been snapped up at the weekly market yet – and of course, what we’re in the mood for.
Here’s what you should watch out for, though:
- Protein: Prepare enough protein-rich foods. This can be organic eggs, but fish (e.g. cod) or lentils and beans work just as well.
- Vegetables: Of course – vegetables cannot be forgotten. Here you can do as much as you like. Broccoli, spinach, courgettes, … whatever tastes good goes on the plate. There are no limits to the way they can be prepared: simply sautéed in a pan, turned into noodles with a spiral cutter or as raw vegetables.
- Breakfast: It often has to be quick, especially in the morning. Overnight oats, sweet potato toast, chia pudding, or even prepared soy yoghurts work well here.
- Side dishes: If you have roasted nuts, chopped raw vegetables, boiled eggs, etc. at hand, it’s easy to prepare a delicious plate full of good things.
Remember, not every ingredient has to be ready and waiting for you in the fridge, but it helps to have a few things prepared. The more prepared, the better. It also helps to always have a few things at home that go with a lot of things: e.g. avocados, fruit, sprouts, and nuts.
Gemüse
Here are a few examples of how to prepare different vegetables. The key is to anticipate the steps. In other words, it’s best to wash all vegetables immediately after shopping. And if you have even more time, you can do the following things, for example:
- Zucchini: Waschen und anschließend mit Spiralschneider in Nudeln schneiden. Behälter mit etwas Küchenrolle auslegen und die Nudeln dann darauf legen. Im Kühlschrank aufbewahren
- Karotten: schälen, schneiden und in Wasser aufbewahren, so bleiben sie knackig. Kleiner Psychologie-Fakt am Rande: legt euch durchsichtige Glascontainer zu; wenn ihr das Gemüse im Kühlschrank seht, sobald ihr diesen aufmacht, seid ihr eher dazu verleitet, euch an dem zu bedienen, was sichtbar ist.
- Süßkartoffel: Waschen, dann Enden abschneiden. Mit scharfem Messer (oder Mandoline) in längs in Scheiben schneiden. Die Dicke könnt ihr selber bestimmen. Fertige Scheiben auf ein Backblech legen und dünn mit Olivenöl bestreichen, dann für ca. 30 Minuten bei 200 Grad backen (zwischendurch mal wenden). Bevor ihr die ‘Toasts’ wegpackt, lasst sie komplett auskühlen und legt den Behälter mit Küchenrolle aus.
- Sonstiges: Ofengemüse ist ein einfacher und schneller Weg viel Gemüse zu verarbeiten. Einfach Gemüse eurer Wahl kleinschneiden, mit Olivenöl und Gewürzen eurer Wahl benetzen und dann bei 200 Grad im Ofen lassen bis alles noch bissfest, aber schon leicht weich ist (ca. 20-30 Minuten).
Carbohydrates
This is probably the easiest step: just prepare your favourite (pseudo) cereal and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. We like to use:
- Quinoa
- Buchweizen
- Amaranth
Proteine
- Boiled eggs: Boil the eggs as you like. Important: Have a bowl of ice-cold water ready and put the eggs in it after cooking. This way you can easily get the shell off and store the eggs in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Organic chicken breast: Rub with a little olive oil and herbs of your choice and then bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 25-35 minutes. Cut into strips and store in the fridge.
Rezepte
Here are a few of our recipes that are great for Meal Prep. It’s worth trying them out!
