a bunch of different types of food on a table

Living in London

Stay Nourished and Stress-free: A Guide to Meal Prep

By PaulineComms 30 Oct 2023

Picture this: you’re sitting in your last lecture of the day, your stomach rumbling, daydreaming about the amazing, hot dinner awaiting you at home. When you get back, you discover that all you have in the fridge is a banana, some butter and moulding light cheese. The ingredients may be different, but we’ve all been there. Let’s learn how to avoid that from ever happening again, shall we?

Maria Efthymiadou

Here’s how to use meal prep to your advantage:

🛒 Aim for targeted shopping trips
Before your weekly food shop, aim to take a list that you’ve been developing throughout the week with you. If you’re going for the ultimate level of organisation, you may even want to plan out what meals you want to have and note down the recipes! This way, you’ll be thinking in terms of meals, not singular random ingredients. This will also help to reduce how much food you end up having to throw away. Remember to keep expiration dates in mind!
🧑‍🍳 Make time for cooking
Meal prep is, at its core, cooking in bulk, so aside from energy it also takes time! Do note, however, that it’s so much easier to go through the cooking-cleaning cycle once or twice a week rather than every day! My suggestion is that you take a long, hard look at your weekly schedule and figure out which day you’re willing to spend some extra time in the kitchen. Having a plan in mind always makes it easier to go through your week without stress!
❄️ Freeze Meals
Take it from someone who ate chicken and rice for 5 days straight during the first week of uni: you’ll want to freeze meals. My suggestion is to cook food that’ll last you a week and alternate between the different dishes on your weekly menu. For example, if you’re aiming for 3 pasta-based dishes, 2 salads and 3 chicken-based dishes, leave one of each in your fridge and freeze the rest! That way, you have the next 3 days covered but won’t need to worry about finishing a specific type of dish because it’s most likely to go bad, and you can just pop out whichever meal you’re craving for the day out of the freezer once you’re done with the refrigerated ones.
🥨 Always have packed things on hand
This one will be especially useful if you’re not a morning person! Having packed snacks can make the difference between catching that bus to uni and watching it drive off just as you near the bus stop (it hurts, doesn’t it?). I can’t tell you how many times a cereal bar has saved my life. Just remember that anything is better than nothing! Also, it doesn’t hurt to keep a snack drawer in your room for those midnight cravings.😉

🥣 Be creative!
It’s safe to say that most of us don’t know how to cook the widest range of meals…don’t worry! You can spice up a meal (pun intended, unless you don’t like spicy food) by using a different sauce, marinade or side dish and it’ll feel nothing like what you’re used to. Also consider presentation! For example, a chicken wrap feels completely different to chicken with rice and salad, but requires no extra cooking/skills on your part.

Very few of us are actual cooking whizzes, and there’s no shame in getting inspiration from other sources! There are so many content creators out there with fabulous meal prep tips and ideas. You’re not alone!💪 If you don’t know where to start, check out these videos!

All in all, I think we can all agree that there’s more hope for us than we thought. It doesn’t have to be that difficult! All you have to do is stay on top of your shopping list, make time for cooking (which can also be a huge help in relaxing and unwinding!), experiment with ideas and not be afraid to turn to easier, pre-packed options or frozen meals if it’s just one of those weeks.

Happy prepping!🥘