Table of Contents 
What is the Mediterranean Diet?  
How to Eat Like You Live by the Mediterranean Sea 
Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan for the Week 
More Mediterranean Diet Recipes 
Your Gameplan for Eating Out on the Mediterranean Diet 

What is the Mediterranean Diet? 

The basis for the Mediterranean diet began when scientists in the 1960s and 1970s started looking at communities living by the Mediterranean Sea. They noticed that even impoverished locals living there lived longer and healthier lifestyles on average than wealthier citizens living in larger, more developed American cities like New York.  

The reason for this? People in New York indulged in rich diets composed of red meats and other fatty and processed foods. Even though people in countries like Italy, Spain, and Greece were eating high amounts of fat in their diets, they experienced less heart disease, obesity, mental decline, and other health issues like inflammation and eye disease.   

Science Supports the Mediterranean Diet as a Great Way to Stay Healthy 

Biologist Ancel Keys and chemist Margaret Keys were forerunners in publicizing their findings about the Mediterranean diet. Their Seven Countries Study results showed that following a Mediterranean-style diet could lead to a lower risk for cardiovascular diseases like hypertension, stroke, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Though the study’s details are debated in some scientific circles today, nutritionists and doctors still support the Mediterranean diet as a solid way to lessen mortality rates and improve heart health.  

How to Eat Like You Live by the Mediterranean Sea 

The next best thing to actually living on the coast-side with warm sea breezes is eating like you do. You don’t need to live by the Mediterranean Sea to be as healthy as the people living there! 

Today a Mediterranean diet meal plan is defined as eating high amounts of olive oil, legumes, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, fatty fish, a moderate amount of dairy and wine, and a low amount of non-fish meats. 

Here is a Mediterranean diet food list for the best foods that fulfill these categories: 

The Mediterranean diet also considered olive oil and avocado oils large diet staples. Replacing butter and vegetable oils with these healthier fats can have a dramatic change on your health. Use them whenever you can! 

Limit Added Sugar and Processed Foods 

Though this diet is more about what you add than what you take away, it’s always a good idea to stay away from foods that can hurt your health. These can include processed foods and foods with added sugars: 

• Added sugars – (does not include naturally occurring sugars like fruit has!) Usually found in baked goods, sodas, fruit juices, and other prepackaged fast-grab snacks. Look for words ending in –ose like “maltose,” “glucose,” and “sucrose” as a hint, as well as syrup and molasses for an indicator that something has added sugars.  
• Refined grains – Anything that isn’t whole grain: white breads and pasta, chips, crackers, pasta, etc. Even multi-grain foods are refined and are not as healthy as whole grain foods! 
• Trans fats – #1 suspect containing trans fats are fried foods, but they can also be found in margarine, baked goods, pizza, coffee creamers, fast foods, and many packaged store foods. 
• Refined Oils – Soybean oil, canola oil, and grapeseed oils are some examples 
• Processed meats – Sausages, hot dogs, deli meats, beef jerky, bacon, and any other meat that has been preserved by smoking, salting, or curing.  

Poultry, eggs, and other dairy products should be limited to less than one serving a day to one serving a week. These are still healthy options but are not staples in a Mediterranean diet meal plan.  

What About Wine? 

Yes, a small amount of red wine is permitted on the Mediterranean diet! About one glass a day can lower inflammation in the body due to its high level of antioxidants. There is some debate about how effective red wine can be against heart disease, so it’s perfectly okay to skip this! However, if you want to imbibe in some Friday-night socializing, red wine is the healthiest and most preferred option on the Mediterranean diet.  

 
Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan for the Week 

This is meant to give you a starting point! If you’re totally lost, these recipes are all Mediterranean diet-approved and are ready to go for any beginner. But you should feel free to alter them and change them to fit your dietary needs and personal preferences. 

Sunday 

Breakfast – whole grain toast topped with almond butter and sliced bananas 

Lunch – garlic shrimp zoodles garnished with parsley and avocado slices 

Dinner – baked lemon salmon with roasted brussels sprouts 

Snack – a whole pear, sliced 

Dessert – pitted Medjool dates stuffed with peanut butter and peanuts and dipped in melted chocolate. (Great as a Snickers copycat!) 

Monday 

Breakfast – mushroom, tomato, and onion omelet  

Lunch – Caprese grilled sandwich with portobello mushroom “bread,” slices of mozzarella, tomato slices, balsamic vinegar, and fresh basil.  

Dinner – salad with arugula and kale, olives, feta cheese, farro, grilled chicken, and cherry tomatoes 

Snack – baby carrots with spicy hummus 

Dessert – chia pudding 

Tuesday 

Breakfast – oatmeal with raisins, walnuts, apple slices, and blueberries 

Lunch – baby kale, pear, and carrot salad drizzled with olive oil 

Dinner – sea bass, tomato, and avocado ceviche  

Snack – Greek yogurt topped with nuts 

Dessert – cottage cheese with peach slices  

Wednesday 

Breakfast – sautéed vegetables and scrambled eggs 

Lunch – roasted halibut and mixed grilled veggies 

Dinner – quinoa, black bean, and tomato stuffed roasted bell peppers 

Snack – sliced bell peppers and guacamole 

Dessert – olive oil cake topped with a small dollop of low-fat whipped cream or berries 

Thursday  

Breakfast – cauliflower chicken and vegetable wrap  

Lunch – whole grain sandwich with cucumber, bell pepper, onion, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, hummus, shredded carrots, and baby spinach 

Dinner – pesto marinated cod with white bean salad 

Snack – a bowl of mixed berries 

Dessert – strawberry nice cream topped with dark chocolate shavings 

Friday 

Breakfast – chickpea quinoa breakfast bowl 

Lunch – tuna salad lettuce wraps 

Dinner – salmon, crab, and sweet potato fish cakes 

Snack – a half cup of mixed nuts 

Dessert – baked peaches sprinkled with cinnamon, served with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream 

Saturday 

Breakfast – Greek yogurt parfait with pomegranate seeds, whole grain granola, and mint leaves 

Lunch – farro bowl with grilled salmon, squash, bell peppers, feta cheese, and tzatziki 

Dinner – broiled salmon with brown rice and garlic asparagus 

Snack – a small bunch of fresh grapes 

Dessert – fudgy “brownies” made from dates, cocoa powder, oat milk, and wheat sourdough 

More Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan Recipes 

Want step-by-step recipes instead? Check out our 5 Step Chef page for even more Mediterranean diet meal recipes! 

Breakfast 

Mediterranean Egg Frittata 

Tomato Basil Pesto Tofu Scramble 

Avocado Pancakes 

Smoked Salmon Egg Muffins 

Lunch 

Mediterranean Protein Bowl 

Savory Chickpea Pancakes with Kale 

Sesame Tofu Poke Bowl 

Turmeric Dill Tuna Salad 

Dinner 

Turmeric Flax Porridge 

Cauliflower Totchos 

Fried Cauliflower Rice with Mushrooms and Toasted Cashews 

Salmon Meatballs with Coconut Cream Sauce 

Your Gameplan for Eating Out on the Mediterranean Diet 

The Mediterranean diet is as much a lifestyle adaptation as it is a diet, which means that you should enjoy the experience of eating as well as the food. Eating with friends and family helps you slow down and make healthier meal choices, so never fear a night eating out! 

Many menus will have food you can still eat while you’re on the Mediterranean diet. Look at their “healthy” meal sections if they have one, as these will likely be full of vegetables and healthy proteins. Overall, these are the best tips for choosing better dishes when you’re eating out: 

• Choose meals that have fish as their main dish 
• Choose whole grain options whenever you can! 
• Avoid fried dishes (“crispy,” “battered,” “golden”) and instead opt for baked or grilled options 
• Drink water before and during your meal instead of soda to feel fuller and digest better 
• Order your meal before everyone else so you aren’t tempted to change your order! 
• Make healthy swaps whenever possible – Ask for the vegetable side option over french fries or use olive oil instead of dressing 
• Ask for sauces and dressings on the side 
• Avoid the tempting breadbasket or ask your server to skip bringing it entirely 
• Order a salad to start instead of another appetizer 
• Do your research! Just because a menu claims a dish is “paleo-friendly,” sugar-free, low-carb, or low-calorie, make sure you read the menu description to confirm it aligns with your diet. 
  

Want a shortcut? Let us do the cooking for you. Get delicious, Mediterranean diet meals from our physician-approved menus delivered to your door. 

The post Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan (7-Day Guide for Beginners) appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

While there are different versions of the keto diet which can allow for more protein intake, a flexible eating schedule, or vegan-friendly eating habits, this is a keto diet plan that you should feel free to alter to fit your lifestyle needs. 

Table of Contents 
Keto Diet Plan Basics 
Suggested Keto Shopping List 
7 Day Keto Diet Plan  
Tips for Sticking to Your Keto Diet Plan 
Where to Go from Here 

Keto Diet Plan Basics  

On a typical keto diet plan, you would eat no more than 20-25 grams of net carbohydrates—that means the number of carbs you eat minus the amount of fiber/sugar alcohol you eat per day. When beginning a keto diet plan, however, it is more common (and easier!) to start out with a higher amount of carbs —up to 50g a day.   

To enter ketosis, you will need to keep track of your macros. How long it takes to get into ketosis depends on your body and how strictly you follow your diet. It usually takes most people 1-2 weeks before their body produces the ketones it uses to fuel their body. As long as you keep your carb intake between 20 – 50g a day, your body will be able to enter ketosis.  

Typically, macronutrients are divided this way on a keto diet: 

• 55% to 60% fat 
• 30% to 35% protein 
• 5% to 10% carbohydrates 

Since you’re eating so little carbohydrates, making sure the rest of your diet is well-rounded is very important. Adding more protein and fat to your meals gives your body what it needs and reduces your chances of experiencing the dreaded keto flu. 

Still confused about how many carbs to eat on keto? You can always sign up for Fresh N Lean’s keto meal plan and we’ll do the hard work for you! We’ll calculate all the carbs and macros so all you have to do is enjoy delicious chef-prepared keto meals.  

Suggested Keto Shopping List 

While these are not exhaustive lists, they may come in handy to memorize these keto diet plan approved foods the next time you’re out shopping. As a rule of thumb, it’s always better to go for grass-fed and lean meats, and organic vegetables and fruits; these tend to be the healthiest versions of your groceries. If you’re unsure if something is low carb or not, check out the nutrition label or do a quick Google search!  

Be sure to check out a longer keto food list for do’s and don’ts here: 

Keto Food List: What to Eat and What to Avoid 

Great Keto Foods to Look for 

This list also contains some foods that are okay in moderation but may not be as healthy in the long run. This is why keto is typically meant for short-term dieting. If you’re looking to stick to keto longer, high-fat foods like cream, butter, and beef become less healthy the more you consume them. To stay heart-healthy, mix up your food rotation and look for healthy fats over high fats in general.  

Foods to Avoid or Limit 

Just like not all fats are created equal, some foods can surprise you with their carbohydrate content! Even good for you fruits like bananas, beets, winter squashes, and black beans are packed with high amounts of carbs and should be avoided or limited on the keto diet.  

7 Day Keto Diet Plan 

Keto dieters average about 2 meals per day. However, when first starting, it’s difficult to make that shift without feeling like you’re starving. So, for the first week, don’t feel guilty about having your full 3 meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (plus snacks if you’re feeling extra peckish!).  

These easy keto recipes can be adjusted to fit your preferences and can be used for week-long meal prep if you make extra. Remember: if you feel under 25g a day is too difficult to manage, you can increase the amount to under 50g a day! Make your keto diet plan work for you, not the other way around.

Easy ways to boost your carb intake would be to snack on an extra serving of food, or to add starchy vegetables and grains to your means. Whole grains, legumes, potatoes, and berries will easily boost your daily carb intake.  

Sunday (~19g total carbs) 

Breakfast – Scrambled Lox Eggs: Mix pieces of salmon lox, and capers, and top with goat cheese crumbles (~4g carbs) 

Lunch – Keto Philadelphia Sushi Rolls (6g carbs) 

Dinner – Bunless Burger: substitute buns with two lean beef patties and fill with the rest of your favorite burger toppings (~5g carbs) 

Snack – A handful of mixed, salted nuts (~4g carbs) 

Monday (~21g total carbs) 

Breakfast – Raspberry & Cream Pancakes (8g carbs) 

Lunch – Blackened salmon with Cauliflower Rolls: coat a salmon filet with Cajun seasoning and heat with avocado oil in a skillet (6g carbs) 

Dinner – Keto Chili with Ground Beef & Spicy Green Peppers (5g carbs)  

Snack – Sliced cucumber seasoned with lemon and Tajin (~2g carbs) 

Tuesday (~21g total carbs) 

Breakfast – Berry Keto Smoothie: Blend unsweetened Greek yogurt, ice, and ¼ cup of mixed frozen berries (~2g carbs) 

Lunch – Mini Charcuterie Board: Almonds, mixed berries, cubed cheese, sliced salami, olives, and beef jerky (~8g) 

Dinner –  “Potato” Leek Keto Soup (6g carbs) 

Snack – Almond Butter Cups: Melt dark chocolate, pour into a mold, add a layer of almond butter, another layer of chocolate, and freeze (~5g carbs) 

Wednesday (~24.6g total carbs) 

Breakfast – Broccoli Cheddar Quiche Cups (4g carbs) 

Lunch – Veggie and Hummus Sandwich: Try our keto-friendly bread recipe that only has 1g of carbs per slice (~11g carbs) 

Dinner – Lemon Chicken with Steamed Asparagus: Season boneless and skinless chicken thighs with onion powder, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Pan sear in olive oil and steam asparagus with a tablespoon of butter (~.6g carbs) 

Snack – A Healthy Parfait: Plain Greek yogurt topped with coconut flakes, cacao nibs, and sliced peaches (~9g carbs) 

Thursday (~22.7g total carbs) 

Breakfast – Keto Omelet: Cooked eggs, spinach, cheese, and chopped bacon (~4.7g carbs) 

Lunch – Shrimp Scampi Zoodles (11g carbs) 

Dinner – Creamy Keto Soup with Shredded Lemon Chicken (3g carbs) 

Snack – Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (4g carbs) 

Friday (~23.7g total carbs) 

Breakfast – Keto Big Mac Sliders (11g carbs) 

Lunch – Tuna Salad with Pork Rinds: Canned tuna works! Just add olive oil-based mayo, celery, salt, and pepper. Use the pork rinds instead of crackers for a perfect scooper (~2.5g carbs) 

Dinner – Asian Shrimp and Brussels Sprouts: Toss shrimp and brussels sprouts with olive oil, monk fruit sweetener, and sesame oil. Bake on a sheet pan (~8.2g carbs) 

Snack – 2 hardboiled eggs topped with paprika (~2.2g carbs) 

Saturday (~25g total carbs) 

Breakfast – Egg, Spinach, and Ricotta Muffins (3g carbs) 

Lunch – Cauliflower Pesto Flatbread paired with a skinless grilled chicken breast (6g carbs) 

Dinner – Instapot Beef, Kale, and Carrot Stew: Chuck roast, baby kale, carrots, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and some choice spices and you’re good to go in about 15 minutes (~9g carbs) 

Snack – Sliced cucumbers with cauliflower hummus dip (~7g carbs) 

Tips for Sticking to Your Keto Meal Plan 

1. Remember there’s an adjustment period: Your body isn’t used to being deprived of carbs, and there are bound to be uncomfortable adjustments. Minimize them with well-planned meals.  
2. Keep trying until you find what works for you: If achieving ketosis seems difficult for you, shift what times you eat, or what you’re eating. 
3. Have your meals ready to go: Keto meal prep is essential! It sets you up for the rest of the week and minimizes the effort you put into each mealtime. If you’re tired or short on time, having something ready to eat can keep you on track.  
4. Seek moral support: Find someone to do keto with! Or ask a loved one to cheer you on when you feel discouraged. It also helps to let others know when you’re on a keto diet so they’re supportive when choosing restaurants and going grocery shopping.  
5. Drink water: This can minimize the effects of the keto flu and will keep you well-hydrated. Drink a glass with every meal to feel fuller and improve digestion.  
6. Supplements are your friend: if you’re worried about getting proper nutrition while restricting your diet, supplements are a great way to give your body what it needs without running the risk of eating foods that will break your ketosis.  
   
   

Where to Go from Here 

We hope this example meal plan gives you an idea of how to set a menu for yourself for the week. For more keto dinner ideas and recipes like keto fried chicken and chicken keto casserole, check out these easy-to-follow keto chicken recipes. And read more here for even more keto snack ideas. 

Don’t have the time to cook each week? We got you! Just subscribe to Fresh N Lean’s keto diet plan (or one of our other super healthy plans) and have us do the hard work for you.  

The post Easy 7-Day Keto Diet Plan (for Beginners) appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

Fresh N’ Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N’ Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep. 

Meal prep can be enough of a challenge.

Throw the keto diet into the mix, and it’s even harder to plan your meals for the week and make sure you’re purchasing the right ingredients and using them to their fullest.

However, as long as you have a few tricks up your sleeve, you’ll be able to create delicious, planned meals that’ll last you all week long, for lunch, dinner, snacks, and more.

Plus, you can then make sure you’re eating healthy foods that are keto-friendly, rather than resorting to fast food or something available at work that’ll kick you out of ketosis simply because you were pinched for time and didn’t have something prepared on hand.

Keto Meal Prep Tips

Here are a few keto meal prep hacks from Ginger Hultin, MS, RD, keto expert, and Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

1. Chop Veggies Ahead of Time or Get Pre-Chopped

Whichever you choose, having vegetables on hand that are already sliced and diced will make it easy to whip up a stir-fry, throw into a soup, add to zoodles or burger recipes, and more.

“A ketogenic diet should include as many low-carb veggies as possible while maintaining your carbohydrate limits so prepping them ahead of time or purchasing them prepped will save you time,” she adds.

Since low-carb veggies, like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, are a huge component on keto, it’s smart to have them on hand to prevent reaching for something that’s not keto-approved. Plus, since they’re low in carbs and can be tossed with a fatty sauce or topping, like avocado dressing, oil, or butter, they’re a great vehicle for adding in more fats to reach your ratio requirement. (To recap, about 75 to 80 percent of your calories will come from fat on the keto diet.)

2. Don’t Fear Frozen Foods

“Frozen spinach and other veggies can be cost-saving, reduce food waste and help with meal prep on a ketogenic diet. Evidence shows that frozen foods maintain their nutrition very well so using frozen can help reduce how much fresh produce you need to purchase and store,” she says.

However, make sure whatever frozen foods you use are low in sugar and sodium, as some can be high, as shown on the label. (Hello sneaky sauces.)

With the right picks, you’ll have meals in no time, and if you’re eating frozen vegetables instead of fresh, they’ll have a long shelf life to go into various dishes.

3. Get Avocados in a Variety of Ripeness

As if anyone needed more reason to love and buy avocado, it’s pretty much an essential ingredient for those on the keto diet. Why? Well, it’s high in fats, low in carbs, and still has some good protein to keep you full and satiated.

“Buy avocados in a variety of ripeness. As you’ll likely be eating a lot of avocados due to their high fat content, purchase some ripe and some unripe so that you will always have the perfect one all week long,” she says.

Then you can use for anything—spread on low-carb toast, add to eggs, cover burgers, meat, or fish, create a creamy dressing for salads, use as a “boat” for tasty fillings, and more.

4. Buy Herbs and Spices Ahead of Time

Keto can become routine, where you really need a punch of flavor to go over that piece of plain meat or fish. “Eating keto gets much more enjoyable when the food tastes fantastic. Don’t be afraid to start using more herbs and spices in your food if you do go keto,” she says.

Some options? Basil, dill, oregano, parsley, cilantro, cinnamon, and turmeric are just a few, but there are so many more that all contain very small amounts of carbohydrates, but tons and tons of flavor. Just make sure to store them properly if fresh to extend their life, and if they’re dried, you should be okay!

5. Drink Up

Not booze—but water!

Don’t forget your water bottle when heading to work. “Especially in the beginning of the ketogenic diet, dehydration can be a very real danger,” she says, and even after you’ve transitioned, you might still experience dehydration, where that water will hydrate you and give you mental and physical energy to carry on with your day. Plus, it’s de-bloating, which will help you really see those results from keto you’re looking for.

“Make sure to include your hydration plan in your weekly keto meal prep. A variety of plain and carbonated water and feel free to include herbs or veggies like basil or cucumber and tea should be planned into your diet, too,” she says. That way, you’re getting water content from low-carb foods too, along with straight water.

“Keep track of your intake with a water pitcher or water bottle so that you know you’ll be getting enough,” she suggests, and pay attention to pee color. If it’s yellow, drink a glass or two of water.

6. Use that Muffin Tin

If you’re keto you’ll need to make recipes in bulk to have on hand for the week, and ones that can be portable so you can eat them whenever you need a boost of fuel.

Make “egg cups” in your muffin tin! You can eat eggs on keto, so make eggs with vegetables, high-fat cheese, and/or a meat, like bacon, chicken, chorizo, or turkey, with a dollop of avocado or some smoked salmon and sour cream on top for a protein-packed, high-fat egg cup to hold you over until your next meal.

Play around with various recipes—it’s easy to experiment with new savory flavors.

Here’s an easy 6-ingredient recipe to try: Keto smoked salmon egg muffins

7. Leave Shake Ingredients in Baggies

Making a shake is super fast and easy, but not when you need to gather all the ingredients from scratch to throw into the blender. Instead, create “baggies” of keto shakes and smoothies on one day of the week to keep in the freezer to last for the next couple of days. You can then open up the baggie, throw everything into the blender, add some liquid, and you’re set.

8. Keep Lettuce in the Fridge

Since you can’t eat bread on the ketogenic diet, lettuce wraps are the go-to when you want to stuff something into a sandwich or eat on the go. Keeping lettuce cups on hand is a great keto meal prep hack, as you can literally put anything in there last minute for an instant meal you can take anywhere. Think of lettuce as the vehicle for delicious keto-friendly meals to bring all the ingredients together.

The post 8 Meal Prep Hacks that Support Your Keto Diet appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

Fresh N’ Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N’ Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep. 

When you embark on your meal prep journey, choosing the right containers to do the job can be a bit of a minefield.

Sifting through all the different shapes, sizes, and materials on your own is enough to make your head spin. As if you weren’t already busy enough.

Today we’re going to take you through a fool-proof guide to buying the best meal prep containers for your goals. We’ll go over what to look for, what to avoid, and much more.

Best Meal Prep Containers

We researched and tested some of the best meal prep containers to find the options that are both affordable and durable.

Single Meal Containers

Bowls:

Great for salads, stews, casseroles, and soups.

• Round Plastic Containers -10 Pack 
• Round Glass Containers Mixed Size – 26 Pack
• Round Stainless Steel Meal Prep Containers -5 Pack

Rectangle:

Super versatile containers that work well for just about any meal.

• BPA Free Plastic Containers – 50 Pack
• Glass Rectangular Meal Prep Containers – 5 Pack
• 3-in-1 Metal Meal Prep Storage

Jars:

Excellent for breakfast dishes like overnight oats and smoothies.

• 24oz Mason Jars – 6 Pack
• 16oz Mason Jars – 12 Pack
• 12oz Mason Jars – 12 Pack

Bulk Meal Containers

Great for dividing your ingredients into separate compartments.

• 4 Compartment Meal Prep Boxes – 12 Pack
• 3 Compartment Plastic Bento Box – 20 Pack
• 2 Compartment Glass Containers – 10 Pack

Portable Cups

Essential for transporting liquids like smoothies or juices.

•  32oz Acrylic BPA Free Tumblers – 3 Pack
• 18oz Glass Smoothie Containers – 6 Pack
• 16oz Glass Mason Jar Cups With Straws – 6 Pack
• 5oz Eco Reusable Coffee Cup

Sauce Containers

Great for homemade snacks, sauces and condiments.

• Stainless Steel Condiment Containers – 3 Pack
• Small Glass Jars – 4 Pack
• BPA-Free Food Dressing Containers – 8 Pack

Lunch Boxes + Bags

Essential for the traveling meal prepper.

• Insulated Large Cooler Bag
• Insulated Lunch Bag With Strap
• Insulated Leakproof Lunch Bag

Veggie Storage + Produce Containers

Great options for storing meal prep ingredients in bulk.

• Mini Airtight Produce Keeper
• Large Produce Keeper
• Reusable Mesh Produce Bags
• Reusable Eco Freezer Bags

Dry Goods + Grain Storage

Storage options for dry ingredients like rice, beans, and oats.

• Assorted Dry Goods Storage
• Large BPA Free Storage
• Premium Cereal Storage Containers
• Lock + Lock Bulk Storage Bin

How to Choose the Perfect Meal Prep Containers

Before you jump in and purchase a bunch of different food prep containers that may or may not be suitable, there are a few simple questions that can help you figure out exactly what you need.

What do you need your containers for?

This will help you determine the size and material you should choose for your containers.

• What type of meals you’re looking to prep?
• How much do you typically eat?
• What method of meal prep are you likely to use?

For example, containers for your breakfast meals might need to be smaller than your typical lunch and dinner time containers. You might even need a few miniature pots if you’re looking to prep snacks, condiments, or desserts.

And if you’re going to be bulk cooking ingredients as opposed to individual meals, you might want to opt for bigger storage containers as opposed to single portion ones.

Do your meals need to be reheated or frozen?

It’s important to keep in mind that various meal prep container materials respond differently to heating and cooling.

The Pros and Cons of Meal Prep Containers

Here’s a comparison of different types of food storage containers to help you decide which type is best for you.

Glass Containers

• Store well in the fridge.
• Perfect for reheating in the microwave or oven.

• Non-porous and super easy to clean.
• Freezer-safe options are available, but standard glass typically doesn’t respond well to freezing (and may shatter).

Plastic Containers

• Great for refrigerating and freezing.
• Can usually be reheated in the microwave if it is microwave-safe.
• May stain or hold onto odors.
• Typically not good for oven reheating as it may melt.

Metal Containers

• Store well in the fridge
• Can be reheated in the oven.
• Microwaving is a big no-no as it results in uneven heating (and may also be a fire hazard).
• Like glass, the smooth surface makes metal containers super easy to clean.
• Can be stored in the freezer, as long as you leave room for food to expand.

The takeaway:

For cold meals: Glass, metal, and plastic containers are all great options if you’re storing your meals in the fridge and then eating them cold.

For warm meals: If you want to heat your meals up, glass container is the most versatile option (unless you’re storing in the freezer, in which case you’re better off with metal or plastic containers).

Pro Tip: If you opt for plastic containers, BPA free is the way to go.

The chemical has been shown in research to leach into the contents of containers (your food). While small bouts of exposure are probably okay, more prolonged ingestion can potentially have negative impacts on the brain, prostate and blood pressure.

Container Size Matters…

If you’re seeking a one-size-fits-all approach, containers that are 6-9 inches long by 6-9 inches wide, and 2-3 inches deep typically work well for most people.

Meal prep containers can be found in all shapes and sizes. What’s important is that you find a container size that fits in with your current dietary goals.

That means shooting for something that’s not so small that you’re likely to undereat, but not so big that you’re going to fill up on more food than you need. We’re looking to hit that sweet spot somewhere in the middle.

Travel-Friendly Meal Containers?

Many people get into meal prep because it’s a convenient way to have healthy food on the move. If that’s you, it’s important to make sure your containers are as secure as possible.

When you’ve been looking forward to reheating that homemade curry at lunchtime, the last thing you want to discover is it coating the inside of your bag…

Plastic and metal containers are typically more travel-friendly than glass, as they’re less likely to break.

Most will come equipped with a tight, leak-proof lid, but it might be worth doubling up your container inside a ziplock bag and surrounding it with some padding if it’s likely to get bashed around en-route.

There you have it.

From shape to materials and everything in between, everything you need to know about meal prep containers.

Have a favorite vessel? Anything we missed on our shopping list? Get in touch and let us know.

Happy meal prepping!

The post How to Choose the Right Meal Prep Containers appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

SUMMARY

Certain meal prep hacks can save you time and money. For example, you can make your tomatoes last longer by storing them stem-side down, and you can easily pit cherries using a beer bottle and a chopstick.

Fresh N’ Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N’ Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep. 

Paleo or plant-based, keto or carb loading, we can all agree on one thing: Meal prep makes a whole lot of sense.

It frees up precious time, saves money, and makes it way easier to stay on top of your nutrition. If you’ve already delved into our ultimate guide to meal prep for beginners and you want to make your life even easier, today you’re in luck.

25 Genius Meal Prep Hacks

We’ve put together 25 genius meal prep hacks for supercharging your nutrition and taking your diet to the next level. They’re absolute game-changers, each and every one of them.

Let’s take a look…

1. Keep your tomatoes longer

Most people don’t realize that storing your tomatoes stem side down helps to prevent air from entering and moisture from exiting the scar where the vine used to be. This slows down the ripening process.

Keeping them at room at room temperature can also help, as the fridge tends to have a higher moisture content.

2. Stop bananas from over-ripening

If you’re more of a green banana kind of person, good news! Simply separate each one from the bunch and wrap the stems with plastic wrap or foil to keep the ethylene gas from releasing.

3. Help brown sugar from hardening

To keep your sugar soft, add some orange peels or a thick slice of apple in a storage container (along with the sugar of course). If it’s already hardened, you can microwave the sugar next to a small cup of water, about 6 oz for 1–2 minutes.

4. Check for rotten eggs

Pro tip – if a raw egg sinks in a bowl of water, it’s good, but if it floats, it’s near the end of its rope. This is because the longer eggs have been kept, the liquid inside begins to evaporate so the air pocket inside grows.

5. Pit cherries faster

Place a cherry on top of your beer bottle and use a chopstick or skewer to push the seed into the bottle. A great excuse to have a beverage before you make that cherry topped cheesecake…

6. Peel ginger faster

Ginger is always a fiddly one, but not many people realize you can simply use a metal grapefruit spoon to scrape away the skin. It’s much easier to get into those nooks and crannies.

7. Speedy citrus peeling

Turns out there’s more than one way to skin an orange.

The rolling method: Simply roll your chosen citrus fruit gently over countertop to help loosen the pith from flesh, and enjoy easy-peeling.

The microwave method: Use a fork to poke a couple of holes in the skin, then microwave it for a minute. Let it cool for 20-30 seconds and then start peeling.

8. Fast hard-boiled eggs peeling

Add 1 tablespoon baking soda or 2 oz vinegar to the pan when boiling your eggs. Both help separate the egg white from the shell when cooking.

9. Even faster egg peeling

This technique works well if you don’t mind your eggs looking like a hot mess… Simply place your eggs in a lidded container with couple tablespoons of water, and shake for 30 sec to 1 minute. Your egg shells will crack and loosen from the egg with vigorous shaking. It’s not pretty but gets the job done.

10. Remove stem from strawberries

Use a trusty straw and press from the bottom of strawberry until it breaks the hull (white part) and removes the stem/leaves. So satisfying.

11. De-seed your pomegranate

Start by cutting a shallow cone in the flower end of your pomegranate. Then simply score along the ridge lines, peel apart, and pull the middle pith out. Simple!

12. De-kernel corn faster

Placing the pointy end of your corn into the middle of a bundt cake pan, slice downwards with a knife using an angular motion to keep from cutting the core.

13. Grate soft cheese easier

Freeze soft cheeses such as fontina, mozzarella, gruyere for 30 mins before grating to get the perfect pizza coverage.

14. Cut onions without crying

There are a couple of options available if you’re trying not to sob your heart out while you slice your onions:

Option 1 (freezing method): Freeze those onions for 1 – 2 hours before cutting. This only works however if you’re cooking the onions that same day, otherwise when they thaw, they will be mushy.

Option 2 (bread method): Alternatively, if you don’t mind looking a bit daft, you can cut your onions with a slice of bread in your mouth, partially sticking out. Bread helps absorb irritating gases before they reach your eyes.

15. Decrystallize your honey

Place your honey container in hot water for 5 – 10 mins to get rid of any pesky crystallization.

16. Microwave food without drying it out

To prevent your meals from drying out when you reheat them in the microwave, simply place a cup of water in the microwave along with the item to add moisture to the air. This works great with muffins, pizza, brownies, bagels, and baguettes.

17. Prep your peppers faster

Here’s how to prep your peppers like your name is Gordon Ramsey:

• Cut off the top and bottom.
• Cut a slit into one side.
• Place your pepper on its side and roll the knife through pith and seeds.

18. Replace lost lids with a balloon

Lost a jar lid? No problemo. Use a balloon instead! Inflate a standard balloon to size and place it over the container. Press down and release air to tighten around the opening, and hey presto, you have yourself a makeshift lid.

19. Chop cherry tomatoes quicker

This one is an absolute lifesaver… Instead of chopping every tomato one by one, place them all between 2 plates and carefully run your knife through the middle of the opening.

20. Know your male vs female bell peppers

Fact of the day: male bell peppers have 3 “butts” and are best for cooking, whereas female peppers have 4 “butts” and are sweet to eat raw.

21. Remove fishy odors

If you’ve been cutting fish and can’t seem to shake the smell, try using toothpaste to clean your hands. Sounds strange, but works surprisingly well!

22. Separate yolks from whites

Two ways to separate your yolks like a pro:

Option 1 (the funnel method): Place a funnel over a cup, crack your egg into it and let the whites drain down.

Option 2 (the bottle method): Crack your egg onto a plate. Then take an empty plastic water bottle, squeeze the air out, place over the yolk and suck it up.

23. Keep your avocado from browning

Two easy ways to protect those sacred avocados:

Option 1: Chop an onion, line the bed of your container with the pieces, then place the avo skin side down on top of the onions. Seal it up, and the gases from the onion can prevent the avo from browning.

Option 2: Baste your avo with lemon juice and the citric acid in the liquid will help keep browning at bay.

24. Label your prep

If you’re a smart cookie and you prep food ahead of time, be sure to label your containers with a marker – the type of meal if it’s not a clear container, and most importantly, when you made it. Food poisoning is never fun!

25. Make your own spray oil

Mix one parts oil with five parts water, add to a squirt bottle and you have your very own cooking spray.

Share your meal prep hacks!

So there we have it:

25 genius food prep hacks that will save you time and generally make your life easier in the kitchen.

Have a hack of your own that we didn’t mention above? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post 25 Meal Prep Hacks to Supercharge Your Nutrition appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

SUMMARY

Breakfast meal prep can be a true time saver. These meal prep recipes incorporate staples such as eggs and oatmeal, and they can be prepared in mere minutes.

Fresh N’ Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N’ Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep. 

A balanced breakfast is essential for getting through the day, but not everyone has time to spare over the stove in the mornings.

This is where breakfast meal prep can be a real lifesaver.

With these delicious breakfast recipes, you can meal prep over the weekend and get yourself set up for a week of healthy, hassle-free mornings.

It’s often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Despite this, 31 million Americans still give it a miss on a regular basis (and you may well be one of them). The truth is, if you get your breakfast meal prep right, you’re already off to a winner. Your body and mind are primed for whatever challenges may lie ahead. Get it wrong or skip it entirely, and your productivity, motivation and energy levels plummet – setting you up for a struggle from the get-go.

Related: 25 Meal Prep Hacks to Supercharge Your Nutrition

If you often find yourself grabbing a last-minute coffee on the mad dash to work, or improvising a measly breakfast from a mix of children’s cereal and stale bread, fear not…That all stops today.

Join us on our mission to upgrade breakfast as we explore 17 healthy (and delicious) meals that take next to no time to prepare. It’s time to finally get on top of your AM nutrition and start every day as you mean to go on!

Let’s take a look.

The Perfect Meal Prep Breakfast Ideas

Scroll down to check out a varying collection of incredible breakfast recipes – perfect for getting all the nutrition you need with minimal hassle.

Under each staple ingredient, we’ve included recipes that are suitable for:

• Grab and Go: These are meals you fully cook or prep ahead of time – perfect if you’re always in a rush in the morning. They may require quick reheating, but otherwise, need minimal work in the AM.
• Partially Prepared: These are meals that are partially cooked/prepared. Most of the work is done, but they may still require a little morning prep to enjoy the finished dish.

Breakfast Meal Prep: Egg Recipes

1. Scrambled Tofu Breakfast Burrito – 8 min prep time / 22 min cook time

Start your day the right way with this brilliant fast breakfast idea. From start to finish, this vegan breakfast burrito takes a mere 30 minutes to whip up. It’ll keep you feeling full all morning long thanks to the protein powerhouse combo of tofu and ultra-tasty avocado. It’s packed with veggies and healthy spices, making it a well-balanced way to get going in the AM.

2. Scrambled Tofu Breakfast Tacos – 5 min prep / 10 min cook

Need a little fresh breakfast meal prep inspiration? Say hello to scrambled tofu breakfast tacos. Seasoned with a savory array of spices, these tofu tacos can be made completely vegan-friendly by swapping out the goat cheese for a dairy-free substitute. You can also skip that step altogether. Make them ahead then just reheat and eat in the morning.

3. Oven Baked Eggs – 0 min prep / 15 min cook

For a fast, healthy breakfast when you’re short on time, oven baked eggs can’t be beat! Put these in the oven for fifteen minutes while you go about your morning routine. They’ll be ready to pop into a whole wheat English muffin by the time you’re ready to head out the door – flawless breakfast on the go.

4. Vegetarian Black Bean Breakfast Burritos – 15 min prep / 25 min cook

We can’t say it enough. The breakfast burrito is a thing of beauty. They’re outstanding candidates for freezer-friendly meal prep and are easy to take to work if you happen to sleep through your alarm (we’ve all been there.). This vegetarian black bean breakfast burrito boasts 16 grams of protein and loads of flavor.

Breakfast Meal Prep: Oatmeal Recipes

Overnight oats recipes

5. Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats (Vegan Option) – 5 min prep / Ready to Eat

Not only is this overnight oats recipe absolutely mouth-watering, but it’s also ideal for anyone looking for high protein breakfast meal prep ideas. Bringing together protein-packed foods like oats, peanut butter, and Greek yogurt, this is one breakfast that won’t leave you feeling hungry. You can even take your protein consumption to the next level by swapping out the almond milk for soy milk.

6. Overnight Oats Five Ways (Vegan Option) – 5 min prep / Ready to Eat

Can’t get enough overnight oats? Here are five takes on this super easy meal prep breakfast classic. Just further proof that oats need never be boring.

7. Overnight Chia Oats with Coconut Yogurt  –  5 min prep / Ready to Eat

Overnight oats with coconut yogurt is the vegan-friendly breakfast meal prep plan for anyone who wants to stay healthy while satisfying their sweet tooth. Fresh fruit, nuts, and seeds help make this a complete, nutritious breakfast to see you through until lunch while a drizzle of honey or maple syrup gives a perfect hit of sweetness.

8. Vegan Protein Smoothie Bowl – 10 min prep / Ready-to-Eat

This plant-based smoothie bowl is packed with up to 15 grams of protein, perfect for a boost of energy in the morning.

How to make overnight oats:

• Start with a clean jar with a lid
• Add your dry ingredients: oats, chia seeds, flax seed. Add spices and flavors (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.)
• Cover with wet ingredients (milk or yogurt)
• Add toppings: nuts & seeds, fruits
• Close & refrigerate

Oatmeal breakfast bars

9. No Bake Meal Prep Breakfast Bars – 10 min prep / 5 min cook

If your busy lifestyle precludes you from making breakfast in the morning and has you scrambling to find time to do meal prep, here’s a great premade breakfast idea for you. No bake meal prep breakfast bars take about ten minutes to put together, plus an hour in the fridge. It really doesn’t get any more convenient.

10. Healthy Banana Porridge (Vegan Option) – 5 min prep

Porridge is absurdly healthy, very filling, but doesn’t need to be plain. Think of porridge as a blank canvas you can customize to suit your tastes. This recipe is superb for warming up on those chilly mornings when you have a bit of extra time to spare.

11. Healthy No Bake Almond Breakfast Bars – 10 min prep / 5 min cook

Granola bars are a great pick-me-up for when you’re on the move, but store-bought bars tend to have undesirable extras. These fantastic no-bake granola bars have a mere five ingredients and are packed with healthy proteins. Make ahead and stash a few in your bag or desk to keep your energy up throughout the day.

12. Protein Breakfast Bars (Vegan and Paleo) – 5 min prep / 15 min cook

Seeds are a super healthy, nutrient dense food which are a must for anyone looking to improve their diet. These delectable protein bars are packed with seeds and other healthy ingredients to create an absolutely divine flavor combination.

13. Toasted Coconut Quinoa Breakfast Porridge – 10 min prep / 20 min cook

Seriously though, who doesn’t love the taste of toasted coconut? This phenomenal porridge recipe brings together the irresistible taste of coconut with quinoa and oats, two plant-based superfoods that everyone can benefit from adding to their diets.

14. Grab & Go Breakfast Oatmeal Cups – 10 min prep / 20 min cook

Love the idea of a breakfast muffin but want something more nutritious? Check out this breakfast oatmeal cup recipe. They’re a stellar gluten-free, vegan-friendly healthy meal prep which you can munch down on the commute to work or pack for a midday snack.

4 ways to liven up oatmeal:

• Black Forest: Dark chocolate + fresh cherries
• Apple Pie: Apple + cinnamon
• PB Jelly: Banana, raspberries & PB
• Pistachio Pear: crushed pistachios & diced pears

Breakfast Meal Prep: Parfait Recipes

All yogurt recipes below can be made vegan by switching conventional dairy yogurt for plant-based variations (soy, almond, coconut etc.).

15. Cinnamon Pecan Vegan Yogurt Parfait – 10 min prep / Ready to eat

If you’re a fan of doing all your meal prep for the week over the weekend but want to keep some variety to your breakfast rotation, this round-up of five easy breakfast meal prep ideas for fall is perfect for you. But let’s be honest. These recipes are so delicious you’ll want to make them all year round!

16. Simple Fruit and Yogurt Parfait – 15 min prep / Ready to eat

With its high protein content, yogurt is an excellent way to set yourself up for the day. These lovely parfaits are perfect for getting in a serving of fresh fruit as well. Plus, the handy trick to keep the granola fresh and crunchy is pure genius. Great on the go.

17. Easy Parfait Breakfast Meal Prep – 5 min prep / Ready to eat

Simple, tasty breakfast meal prep which can be done in five minutes is something we can all get behind. This easy parfait recipe is so quick to make you can whip it together if you have a little extra time in the mornings. Of course, you can also make it ahead to really get a jump on the day. For a healthier option, swap out the vanilla yogurt for Greek yogurt or coconut yogurt if you’re dairy-free.

Partial Prep Smoothies

Partially-made smoothies are a great option for a healthy breakfast on the go. All you need to do is refrigerate your favorite mix of yogurt and fruit in single portion bags at the start of the week, and then blend with your choice of liquid in the morning when you’re ready to go.

Pro Tip: To stop sliced fruit from oxidizing and going brown during storage, dipping the slices in lemon juice or lightly brushing them can help slow the enzymatic reaction and keep them fresh!

Some great-tasting fruit combinations include:

• Mango, pineapple, and banana
• Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries
• Banana and blueberries
• Apple, pear, and raspberries
• Dates, banana, and cocoa
• Acai, blueberries, and banana

Why Should You Meal Prep for Breakfast?

Breakfast. It’s widely regarded as being the most important meal of the day (just ask your grandparents). But it’s perhaps not surprising in our fast-paced modern world that 31 million Americans skip their morning bite on a regular basis.

Why is this such an issue?

The big one for most people is that it can result in lower energy levels and focus throughout the AM. There goes your productivity out the window.

And if you’re looking to lose weight, there’s not much good news either…

You might think that skipping breakfast is an easy way to reduce your caloric intake, but in actual fact it can mean you’re more likely to overeat in later meals, making it even harder for you to reach your body goals.

It gets worse…

If you’re someone who’s currently dealing with health challenges such as diabetes, you may need to be even more careful. Missing breakfast has been shown to cause greater spikes in blood sugar levels in subsequent meals, which can wreak havoc in the body.

So what’s the solution?

It all comes down to preparation.

By setting aside a little time for breakfast meal preparation, you can avoid the morning rush and still have healthy, delicious food on hand to fuel your day.

Let’s take a look at exactly how to get started…

What makes a balanced breakfast?

The beautiful thing about nutrition is that there’s not necessarily a one-size-fits-all approach.

This means there are a whole host of foods that fall under the umbrella of ‘healthy breakfast options’, and plenty of room for creativity.

What you should look for:

• The ideal breakfast is hearty, filling and nutrient dense. You want something that will keep you satisfied, alert and energized all throughout the morning, with no blood sugar spike and crashes, and no pesky brain fog to distract you during work.
• It almost goes without saying that to ensure you stick with your healthy breakfast in the long-run, it’s also got to taste good too.
• In order to achieve this, it’s important to shoot for variety.
• As a general rule of thumb, a combination of lean protein with complex, fiber-rich carbs (like whole grains, fruits, and veggies) is a great place to start.

Why?

High protein breakfasts have been shown in scientific literature to help maintain satiety and reduce overeating throughout the day (compared to higher carb, low protein meals).

Likewise, opting for whole-grain, complex carbs instead of simple sugars can help reduce energy intake in subsequent meals, and result in less desire to opt for refined, processed foods to keep you going.

3 Breakfast Staples to Prep Into Balanced Breakfasts

If you find yourself perpetually hitting the snooze button, skipping breakfast and making the mad dash to work in the morning with a quick cup of coffee (at best), we’ve got you covered.

No more missing out on important morning nutrition – we’re going to share a few simple principles (and delicious recipes) you can use to get a great headstart on the day (without having to spend hours in the kitchen).

If you want to go super minimalist, a balanced breakfast can be as simple as eating 1-2 hard boiled eggs, an apple, and drinking a glass of milk. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that if you don’t want it to be.

But if you want to liven up your mornings and enjoy speedy, great-tasting, gourmet-esq meals, here are some simple ideas for you to play around with.

All you need to get started are these three breakfast staples:

Breakfast Staple #1: Eggs

There are a whole host of reasons why eggs are an awesome way to kickstart your morning:

• For starters, they’re packed with protein to aid in muscle repair and keep you feeling fuller for longer.
• They’re also super rich in fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamin K, Omega-3 fatty acids, and minerals like iron and magnesium.
• On top of all that, they contain disease-fighting carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin.

To make any egg-based meals even more satisfying, add a source of high-fiber carbohydrates, such as whole grain toast, English muffins, tortilla, vegetables, or a side of fruit.

Another massive benefit of opting for eggs is that they’re so versatile:

• Hard Boiled eggs
• Sunny Side up eggs
• Simple Scrambled eggs

Breakfast Staple #2: Oats

It may not get as much press as quinoa or spirulina, but the humble oat might just be one of the most nutritionally complete foods on the planet today.

• Used as fuel by fearsome Scottish Highlanders as they headed into battle, oats make for an incredible source of high-fiber, low-GI carbs – perfect for slow-release energy.
• Oats contain a surprising amount of protein too, along with a healthy dose of unsaturated fatty acids.
• They’re also rich in energizing B-Vitamins and a wide range of important minerals too, including selenium, manganese, magnesium, and zinc.

Overnight oats are a perfect breakfast meal you can grab and go when you’re in a rush. Get creative and tantalize those tastebuds by experimenting with various fruit, nuts, and seeds for toppings, and milk or yogurt varieties for soaking.

Breakfast Staple #3: Yogurt

Yogurt is another excellent source of protein (particularly Greek and Icelandic varieties), and it’s also jam-packed with important micronutrients like calcium and phosphorus.

One important thing to note:

When it comes to choosing the perfect yogurt, it’s important to read your food labels, as many varieties labeled ‘low fat’ are instead packed with processed sugars.

If you’re lactose intolerant or simply trying to limit dairy, the good news is that there are more and more plant-based options available these days – including coconut and almond-based yogurts.

To really spice things up, you can mix your yogurt with a variety of toppings or incorporate it into a smoothie blend to really craft that perfectly balanced breakfast.

Conquer Your Morning & Win The Day

No more skipping breakfast and feeling sluggish until lunch. You’re now armed with all the knowledge and recipes you need to take back control over your breakfast and get a great headstart on the day.

All you have to do is start putting things into action.

Remember to start small, have fun experimenting with the recipes, and above all, find what works for you and allows you to make breakfast meal prep a permanent habit.

The post Easy Breakfast Meal Prep Recipes For Healthier Mornings appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

SUMMARY

Eating fresh, delicious food usually means spending a bit of time in the kitchen. While cooking can be really enjoyable, there are some tasks everybody would rather avoid. Here are seven of them, and how to make them easier so you can focus on crafting your dishes.

Fresh N’ Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N’ Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep.

Cooking can be great if you have the time to devote to producing healthy, nutritious and fresh meals every day.

But when time is short, cooking can start to seem like one big chore.

While you’ll always need to spend a little bit of time over the stove if you want to cook something from scratch, there are some cooking chores that everybody would rather not have to do. These are the tasks that turn a quick, convenient cooking experience into something tiresome and irritating, but there are ways you can make it easier for yourself.

Related: 25 Genius Meal Prep Hacks

1 – Peeling Vegetables

Eating plenty of vegetables is one of the most important and simplest ways to improve your diet and eat clean. But the delicious bits of the veggies are hidden behind often thicker, harder-to-eat or just unpleasant skins. To get to the part of your carrot or potato that you actually want to eat, you have to take your peeler out and spend a lot of time carefully going over every inch of skin on the vegetable. You’ll achieve the result you want, but not before you spend your precious time hunting out the skin on your veggies and getting flakes of peel all over your countertop and probably the floor.

How to Peel Your Vegetables Quickly and Efficiently

But if you’re smart about peeling your vegetables, you can make the process a lot simpler. A good example is a squash. Most people use the standard technique for peeling a squash and run the peeler down every bit of the skin until it’s bare, but there is a much easier way. Cut the squash in half horizontally, separating the wider section at the bottom from the thinner section towards the top. Take off the top of the squash with a knife and then stand it up on one end. Now instead of peeling, slice sections of skin off with your knife, running it down the edges from top to bottom. This still requires a bit of work (and you do lose a little bit of useable squash), but it drastically reduces the amount of time you’ll spend peeling.

Potatoes are another vegetable you’ll find yourself spending a lot of time peeling. If you’re boiling your potato, though, you can make this process substantially quicker. Boil the potatoes with the skin on, and when they’re cooked, put them in a bowl of ice water for 15 seconds. After this, the skin will easily peel off in your hand – no knife or peeler needed!

2 – Cleaning Leeks

Using leeks in your cooking adds an onion-like flavor to your dish and is a great way to boost the number of veggies in your dish. But the multi-layered structure of a leek makes it a challenge to wash, with the leaves being particularly effective at trapping bits of dirt. Since you have to clean your leek before you use it in a dish, this is an annoying downside to using the versatile vegetable. You’ll have to chop your leeks before you clean them if you want a good result, and a salad spinner can be an effective way to deal with the task. But undoubtedly the easiest way is to get your leeks prepared for you so you can focus on enjoying them!

An Easier Way to Work With Leeks

If you’re using small pieces of leek for a soup or other recipe, the simplest way to deal with it is to chop them into small pieces and immerse them in water. Then you can agitate them with your hands to clean, before retrieving them with a slotted spoon or a sieve.

If you need the leeks whole, it seems like it would be much more challenging to complete the task. But there is an easy method for this, too. Slice into the leek – but not all the way through – from about a quarter-inch below where it starts to open out. Cut right down to the pale part but leave that intact. Now you can fan out the leek at the top and run in under cold water to clean.

3 – Mincing or Chopping Garlic

Garlic adds heaps of flavor to a huge range of dishes, but it’s easily one of the most irritating and fiddly ingredients to prepare. You need to remove the cloves from the bulb, take the skin off the cloves and then cut them up into tiny little pieces or mince them to add to your dish. Chopping garlic takes a lot more effort than mincing – the precision cutting to make the pieces small enough sees to that – but either has its downsides. Mincing doesn’t take as long, but cleaning the mincer or garlic press is not a simple process. And no matter what you do, you’ll be left with garlic-y fingers for way longer than you’d hope.

A Simple Trick for Mincing Garlic

You can make mincing garlic a much simpler process with the aid of a fork. Yes, you read that right! Remove the skin from the garlic – however you do this is fine, but you can give the clove a twist and then peel it quite easily – and then put it down on your chopping board. Cut off the hard section at the bottom that was attached to the clove. Now get a fork and simply mash the garlic down into the chopping board. Rotate your fork 90 degrees and do the same thing again. This minces your garlic in a fraction of the time it would take with a knife and with much easier cleanup than with a purpose-built garlic mincer.

4 – Chopping Onions

Onions aren’t as fiddly as cloves of garlic, but they present a whole different problem when it comes to preparation. Removing the skin and the actual chopping can be challenging enough – you have to get your technique down – but the eye-irritating chemicals they release can leave you streaming tears by the time you’ve done chopping it up! There are solutions – just breathing through your mouth, putting a spoon in your mouth or wearing goggles will do it – but none of them make chopping onions an especially enjoyable process.

Chopping Onions With Less Effort

Leaving the root (the hard bit at the base of the onion) alone will make the chopping process much easier and reduce the chance it will irritate your eyes. Remove the skin and chop the onion in half, so each part has half of the root at the base. First, cut the onion finely with your knife pointing towards the root. The aim is to cut as closely to the root as possible without going right through the onion. Next, make two horizontal slices into the onion at different heights, again getting close to the root without actually cutting through it. Finally, grip the onion at the sides so it maintains its shape, and dice the onion with your knife parallel to the root. Leaving the root in place keeps the onion in a single piece until the dicing is complete.

5 – Pitting Olives

You can buy pre-pitted olives, but if you get fresh olives then you have to remove a large pip in the center you have to remove before using them in a recipe or eating them. The process of pitting isn’t too complicated but going through it with every single olive you have is a huge pain. If you want fresh olives but don’t have the time to pit them all, buying pre-pitted olives is pretty much your only option.

How to Pit Olives

The simplest way to pit an olive is to crush it under the flat side of your knife. The olive will split open and reveal the pip, which can be easily removed with your fingers. You’ll have to do this many times, but the process is straightforward.

6 – Washing the Dishes

Most of the cooking chores on this list relate to the actual process of cooking, but the most hated chore for many Americans actually comes after the cooking. When you’ve used chopping boards, pans, plates, knives, cutlery and much more in the process of making your meal, you might find yourself faced with a miniature nightmare when you go back into the kitchen. If you don’t have a dishwasher – and sometimes even if you do – it feels like a big job and it’s one you have to do pretty much every day. Scrubbing sauce-covered plates and pans with burned-on stains before you go to bed is something we’d all avoid if we could.

Making Washing Up Easier

There is only so much you can do – short of buying a dishwasher – to make washing up easier. However, one very simple tip that will save you from scrubbing dried-on food is to rinse your plates and pans just after you use them. You don’t need to wash them up straight away, but running them under the tap for a minute gets any food residue off before it’s had the chance to dry on and make your life more difficult.

7 – Cutting Squash or Pumpkin

Squash and pumpkin offer you a lot of opportunity to make interesting dishes, but you have to get through them with your knife first! As well as removing the thick, inedible skin, you have to remove all the pips from the center – an unpleasant experience in itself – and cut through the remaining vegetable with a knife. While both pumpkin and squash go deliciously soft when thoroughly cooked, when they’re fresh they are very sturdy and not easy to get a knife through. Throw in the fact that they’re quite big vegetables and you can see why it’s one of the most hated cooking chores around.

The Value of Softening Your Squash

The best trick for making it easier to cut your squash is to soften it up beforehand. Score the squash around the sides and put it in the microwave for five minutes. The flesh inside will slightly cook, but this will make the cutting process much simpler. Wait for the squash to cool, then peel and chop as you usually would, but with the benefit of much softer flesh on your squash!

Taking the Work Out of Cooking

The unavoidable truth of the matter is that cooking fresh and healthy food is time-consuming. The result is delicious and nutritious food, but getting there means you have to source high-quality ingredients, complete many of the unpleasant chores listed above and then combine them into a cohesive dish before you get something you can actually eat.

If you need fuel for your busy life, chopping opinions, pitting olives and hacking your way through a squash are probably not high on your to-do list. The problem isn’t that cooking is inherently un-enjoyable, but that you have so many things to do in your leisure time that it’s not something you can make time for often.

But with the aid of a few simple meal prep tips and tricks, you can make cooking much less work. You’ll still have to put some effort in, but just by altering your techniques ever-so-slightly, you can make a big difference to how easy and enjoyable your cooking experience is.

The post 7 Cooking Chores Everyone Wants to Avoid – And How to Make Them Easier appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

SUMMARY

Are you interested in meal prepping, but clueless as to what it’s all about? Here are five simple steps to meal prepping for beginners.

Fresh N’ Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N’ Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep. 

People that succeed with healthy eating and see long-term results usually have one crucial thing in common: They know a thing or two about how to meal prep.

It’s a ritual they’ve ingrained into their everyday life, allowing them to put their diet on autopilot (and enjoy an extra serving of leisure time instead).

You might be sitting wondering:

“Meal prep sounds like a great idea, but it seems so complicated and scary”.

Whether you’re a seasoned healthy eater or you’re just getting started, don’t fear… You can also make it even easier, check out our ready-to-eat meal plans. Delivered.

If you’re ready to make it yourself, we’ve put together an in-depth meal prep guide. It has everything you could possibly need to know about prepping healthy meals and seeing sustainable results with your diet. From which containers work best to all the delicious recipe options you could hope for – we’ve got you covered.

Let’s dive in…

All you need to do is follow along below five simple steps, and you can enjoy delicious, nutritious meals whenever you like.

Table of Contents

The Big Benefits of Meal Prep

The Different Levels to Meal Prepping

5 Steps to Successful Meal Prepping

Meal Prep FAQs

INFOGRAPHIC

Beginner's Guide to Meal Prepping

Are you new to meal prepping? Do you want to learn the best way to prep your meals for the week? Learn how to meal prep efficiently in five simple steps.

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The Big Benefits of Meal Prep

Before we look at exactly how to get started with your meal prep journey, let’s take a quick glance at some of the amazing benefits it has to offer (some of which might surprise you).

“When you prep your food with the intention of maximum health benefits, you’re going to be eating a solid meal every time.”

– Mike Israetel, Ph.D., U.S. Olympic Sports Nutrition Consultant

The Top 4 Meal Prep Benefits

1. Save 9 Days A Year. On average, Americans who cook at home spend 7 hours plus on food prep and cleanup each week – equivalent to more than 2 solid weeks of the year (15.8 days) just in the kitchen! Seasoned meal preppers, on the other hand, can batch cook a week’s worth of meals in one speedy 1-4 hour block (this lady took just 30 minutes). Using a conservative figure of 3 hours still leaves you with more than 9 extra days every year to fill doing things you love!
2. Make Healthier Choices. The Harvard School of Public Health concluded that meal prep can “help with weight control [and] contribute to an overall more nutritionally balanced diet”. The simple truth is that by creating meals from scratch, you have complete control over what goes into your body. And because everything is pre-made, the temptation to buy unhealthy snacks or resort to Uber Eats is no longer an issue…
3. Supercharge Your Productivity. Innovative leaders like Steve Jobs and Einstein were known for wearing the same outfits every day. Why? It’s all about eliminating decision fatigue. By minimizing the number of decisions in your day, you have more time and energy to be productive. Likewise with your meal prep. You no longer have to worry about what you’re going to eat multiple times a day – freeing your mind and skyrocketing your productivity. And by always having healthy meals on hand, distracting hunger pangs and pesky brain fog are no longer on your radar either. Win-win.
4. Save $215,000 (+Reduce Waste by 62%). Waste is a growing problem worldwide, so anything we can do to reduce our footprint is great news. By planning your meals, you buy only the ingredients you absolutely need. Not only does this mean way less food wasted at the end of the week (up to 62%), it also results in a whole lot of money saved too. For the average American, meal prepping could potentially add an extra $215,000 to their retirement fund. Not bad for a little bit of forward thinking.

The Different Levels to Meal Prepping

Meal prepping is a fine art, and there are many ways to skin the orange. The two main methods include:

Option 1 – The Partial Meal Prep

As the name suggests, partial meal prep means you prepare most of your meal beforehand, but it still leaves you with a little work to do before it’s complete.

So you might cook up a big batch of grains or a wholesome salad that you can dip into and transform into a variety of culinary masterpieces as you see fit.

The big benefits?

Partial prep doesn’t take a big chunk of time to get started with, and it gives you a little more room for creativity when it comes to meal times.

The downside is that it requires a little more time and effort in the moment to complete your meal before you can tuck in.

Option 2 – Fully Cooked Meal Prep

If you go the whole way and prep your entire meals, the big plus point is that there are no steps required prior to cooking. You can just heat and eat whenever you feel, and you’re good to go.

Sure, you need to set aside a bigger chunk of time initially. However, in the grand scheme of things, you’re cutting down your total time in the kitchen.

In terms of what you actually eat:

These could be homemade meals you’ve already portioned out yourself, or ones bought and stored in bulk. It’s a great option if you’re looking to maximize the amount of time saved and minimize the number of decisions you need to make in a day.

5 Steps to Successful Meal Prepping

Learn how to meal prep like a pro in five easy steps.

Step 1 – Plan Your Prep

*for fully cooked individual meal prep

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”

– Alexander Graham Bell

As with many things in life, a little planning with your meal prep can go a long way.

Not only does it make things easier for you in the kitchen, but meal planning has even been linked to improved health. A 2017 study showed that thinking ahead when it comes to your nutrition is associated with better food quality and variety, and lower incidences of obesity.

So what are the main things to consider when doing just that?

First up – choose when you’d like to cook your meals

It may sound like a trivial step, but it’s probably one of the most important.

Here’s the thing:

Our guess is that you’re already super busy. Juggling work, family commitments, school, household chores – let alone finding the time to do something for you…

One of the biggest reasons why people struggle to make lasting changes to their diet isn’t because they lack willpower – it’s because of the method.

Preparing meals from scratch day in day out becomes another daunting task to add to the infinitely long to-do list.

The great thing with meal prep is that it only takes a chunk of time once or twice out of your week. You can pick whenever suits you best!

Many people have success making their meals on a Sunday afternoon (#SundayMealPrep) and maybe topping up the stock on a midweek evening.

Why do Sundays work so well?

For most people, it’s the day we’re most likely to be able to create a block of free time. Prepping on a Sunday also means you’re set for the start of the workweek. It’s the perfect way to kick things off on the right foot and build a healthy dose of momentum to carry you through.

That being said, the most important thing is to find a time that works for you and to put it into the calendar. If you can make it a priority, it’s more likely to stick as a habit, and you’re going to start seeing those lasting results.

Secondly – decide how many meals or days you want to cook for

Ultimately this is going to depend on your lifestyle and personal preferences.

If you’re a meal prep beginner, it may be wise to start with just one meal for the whole week. There’s no use in biting off more than you can chew and getting overwhelmed right off the bat.

So you could set aside a few hours Sunday afternoon to prepare one of the delicious recipes linked below, and have that for lunch every day throughout the following week. Easy-peasy.

When you’re comfortable preparing one meal, you could then progress (at your own pace) to making two or three meals at a time. It’s important to note that you might not get it spot-on the first time around, but don’t let that deter you!

If you find yourself struggling, take a step back, revisit these steps, and keep trying your best.

Before you know it, you’ll be a meal prepping wizard. Your fridge will be stacked with delicious, nutritious meals, on hand whenever you need.

Last but not least – do you have everything you need to start meal prepping?

Cooking at home doesn’t mean you need a Michelin star esq kitchen. However, a few basic utensils and ingredients can make your meal prep much easier:

Kitchen + Cooking Basics

• Heat: stove, oven, microwave, toaster oven, rice cooker
• Pots/pans
• Baking sheets
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Spatula
• Food thermometer
• Foil
• Measuring Cups (for dry and liquids)
• Measuring spoons
• Containers (more on this in step 2)

Pantry + Grocery Basics

• Protein sources: Lentils, beans (such as black, kidney, and pinto), tempeh, tofu, nuts, seeds, wild salmon, sardines, grass fed beef, free range chicken, eggs.
• Grains/starchy vegetables: Buckwheat, brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, whole wheat pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkin, plantain, corn.
• Non-starchy vegetables: Spinach, leafy greens, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, cabbage, artichokes, peppers, garlic, ginger, eggplant, carrots.
• Vegetable oil/unsaturated oil: Olive oil, avocado oil, walnut oil, coconut oil.
• Seasonings: Salt, pepper, dried herbs + spices

Step 2 – Choose Your Meal Prep Containers

Whether you’re looking to enjoy your meals at home or eat them on the go, your container choice is super important to think about.

Why?

There are a few crucial factors that are easy to overlook when it comes to picking the perfect vessel for storing your meal. It may sound trivial, but your container choice could make or break your meal prep journey, so listen in for the lowdown…

How to choose the perfect meal prep containers:

Will your meals be hot or cold?

Glass containers: If you’re looking to reheat your meals in the oven, glass containers would be the best way to go. They’re super sturdy and respond to heating well.

Glass or BPA-free plastic containers: If you’re more likely to use the microwave, glass or BPA-free plastic containers are your best bet.

“Why BPA free?” you ask.

The pesky chemical used in certain plastics has been shown in research to leach into foods and drinks – potentially impacting the brain, prostate and blood pressure.

Not ideal…

Metal containers: If you want to eat your meals cold and skip the reheat altogether, metal meal prep containers are a reliable option (as well as glass and plastic).

However, it’s important to remember that most metals are not safe for reheating in the microwave.

The metal reflects the electromagnetic waves away from the food, resulting in uneven heating, damage to the oven and potentially even a fire hazard!

Bonus pro tip for cold foods:

Glass mason jar containers: If you really want to look like you know what you’re doing, glass mason jars make for super Instagrammable salads and breakfast pots. #INSTAFood

Container size matters…

As you’ve likely noticed, meal prep containers come in all shapes and sizes. The most important factor here is to find a container that’s right for you and your current goals.

The Goldilocks principle is what we’re shooting for:

Not something that’s so small you’re likely to undereat, but not so large you’re going to fill it up and eat more than you need. Find that sweet spot in between.

For many people, meal prep containers that are 6-9 inches long by 6-9 inches wide, and 2-3 inches deep typically work the best.

Travel-friendly containers?

If you know you’re going to be traveling to and from work or school or wherever it is your adventures take you, make sure your containers are secure.

That means a tight clip lid to prevent any leakage. You might even want to use extra padding around the vessel if it’s likely to get bashed around.

The last thing you want to discover on your lunch break is that the lentil stew you spent hours slaving over on the weekend is now decorating the inside of your backpack…

Meal prep containers we like

With all of the above in mind, here are a few meal prep container options that work well:

• Fitpacker BPA-Free Plastic Meal Prep Containers
• Airtight Glass Meal Prep Containers
• BPA Free Plastic Bento Style Meal Prep Bowls
• Mason Jar Containers

Step 3 – Picture Your Portions

Now that you have chosen your containers, portioning your food will come easily. Thinking about portion sizes before cooking is a crucial step in creating nutritionally balanced meals. It also makes it easier to see exactly what you need to shop for. This means less food waste at the end of the week – saving you money and helping out the planet.

The Breakdown – The Easy Way!

On an average day, health professionals recommend 45-65% of calories to come from carbohydrates, 20-35% from fat, and 10-35% from protein. Portioning out your meals can help achieve that breakdown, but put the calculator away! Simply looking at your container will give you an idea of how to puzzle together a balanced meal.

For a lunch or dinner meal:

As a general rule of thumb, about a quarter of your container would be filled with protein, another quarter with whole grains or starchy vegetables, and the remaining half with non-starchy vegetables or salad greens. Take a look at the infographic below to see what we are talking about:

You can also use your hand as a reference. If using meat, fish or poultry for protein, a good portion would be around the size of your palm. For grains or starchy vegetables, aim for a portion the size of your fist. Non-starchy vegetables and leafy greens tend to be packed with vitamins and minerals but low in total calories. Feel free to fill the rest of your container with as much as you’d like.

Healthy fats can be incorporated into the meal through the use of oils during cooking or in salad dressings. Other great sources include oily fish, avocados, nuts and seeds.

When it comes to breakfast:

Some people enjoy eating a lunch-like meal, but many lean towards smaller portions. Unless intermittent fasting is a part of your nutrition practice, it’s a good idea to prioritize a healthy breakfast. This will help you maintain a stable appetite and energy levels throughout the day.

Again, make sure to incorporate good sources of protein, healthy fats, and fiber-rich carbs to keep you fuller longer. Check out our breakfast recipes later in the guide for some inspiration!

Step 4 – Choose Your Recipes and Get Cooking!

Time for the fun part…

With the groundwork set and the planning complete, you’re now ready to choose your recipes and get cooking!

Use the portions outlined in step 3 to craft your own amazing recipes, and get your chef on!

Protein Recipes

• Easy Broiled Chicken Drumsticks
• Baked Chicken Breasts
• Easy Honey Baked Salmon
• Garlic and Lemon Baked Salmon
• Easy Roast Beef

Non-Starchy Vegetable Recipes

• Easy Roasted Broccoli
• Rainbow Roasted Veggies
• Garlic Seasoned Steamed Veg
• Italian Roasted Vegetables

Whole Grain/Starchy Vegetable Recipes

• Black Beans and Rice
• Sweet potatoes
• Stove-top Rice

Meal Prep Roasting Basics

If it’s not already, your oven is about to become one of your best buddies.

When it comes to meal prep, roasting is a super convenient way to batch cook ingredients with minimal effort required. All you need to do is slice, dice, season and relax.

If you want to get creative and play around with your own seasonings and roasting recipes, follow this chart from the Food Safety guys at for some inspiration.

And remember:

Safety first!

Different foods cook best at different temperatures, so make sure you’re following recipe instructions and food safety guidelines to ensure your food is not only delicious, but also free from harmful bacteria.

Step 5 – Pack and Store

With your mouth watering meals prepared, now it’s time to pack them away so they’re ready to consume whenever you need them.

A few storage basics:

1. Portion. Start by evenly portioning out your meals into your containers of choice. Measuring each time using a weighing scales can help you be more accurate with portion sizes, but it’s totally optional.
2. Organize. Store those containers in the fridge or freezer (within two hours) to help prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria. Bonus points for organizing your meals for each day of the week.
3. Enjoy. When you’re ready to eat, reheat your nutritious meal to the correct temperature (defrosting if needed) and tuck in!
4. Be Safe. If you’re unsure how long a certain food will keep after refrigeration, refer to the chart provided by the Food Safety Administration

Meal Prep FAQs

You ask, we deliver.

There’s a lot of information in this beginner’s meal prep guide, and we’re not expecting you to take it all in first time.

So with that in mind, here are some of the most common questions and struggles we see related to meal prepping, and how to conquer them:

Meal prep seems overwhelming… How can I make sure I stay on track?

Start slow and follow along with a process (download our free PDF checklist as a reminder). Once you get over that initial adjustment period of making the change, meal prep will quickly become an ingrained part of your lifestyle. You’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch sooner!

How do I avoid getting bored of the same old meals?

Using exactly the same ingredients for your week’s worth of meals is convenient, but it’s not necessarily the most inspiring way to go. Keep things fresh and exciting by experimenting with different flavor profiles. Use herbs and spices to dip into cuisines from all around the world.

What’s the difference between meal prep and meal delivery?

With meal prep, you set aside time once or twice to prepare your own meals. With a meal prep delivery service, you get to choose your pre-packaged meals, but with the added bonus of not having to plan them, shop for ingredients or do any prep.

How long does it typically take to meal prep?

This depends on how many meals you’re making at a time and how complicated each recipe is. Anywhere between 30 minutes to 4 hours seems to be standard for a week’s worth of meals.

Do I need to count calories?

Not necessarily. Some people looking to achieve certain body composition or weight loss goals can benefit from measuring their food and measuring their calorie intake. However, it’s not an absolute requirement to make meal prep work!

Is meal prep suitable for my diet?

Yes. Plant-based, Vegetarian, Paleo, Atkins, Keto, Whole30, Flexitarian, Gluten-Free – the great thing about meal prep is it can be tweaked to meet any dietary requirements you can think of.

How do I store meal prep and how long do they last in the fridge?

We recommend storing your prepped meals in BPA-free and microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe containers in the refrigerator for up to a week. Storing them in the freezer can extend shelf life for much longer. Follow this refrigerator and freezer guide by the Food Safety Administration for specifics.

How do I freeze meal prep?

Store your meals in freezer safe, airtight containers for optimal freshness. It is best to store each meal separately so that you are only thawing and reheating what you need when it is time to eat. Follow this refrigerator and freezer guide by the Food Safety Administration as a reference for storage times.

Where can I buy meal prep containers?

Meal prep containers can be found in the food storage section at a variety of department/grocery stores, such as Target or Walmart. You can also purchase them online on sites such as Amazon.

How many days can I meal prep for?

This number is completely up to you! Many individuals who work during the week prefer to prepare their meals on a Sunday to enjoy for the next 5 days. If you are looking to meal prep for more than 5 days, you can store your meals in the freezer to extend shelf life. Keep in mind that certain meals, such as salads, will not taste as good once frozen.

Why do people meal prep and is it worth it?

People meal prep for a variety of reasons. Many do it to help them save time during the week, eat a more balanced diet, or save money. It is totally worth it if you eat and enjoy the meals you prep!

Is meal prep safe?

As long as you are safe in the kitchen and store your meals properly, meal prepping is safe. Follow these Food Safety Tips by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for how to meal prep safely and avoid food-borne illnesses.

How do I cook rice and how much should I cook for meal prep?

This depends on how many meals you are prepping for. As a rule of thumb, one cup of uncooked white rice yields 3 cups cooked. One cup of uncooked brown rice yields 2 cups cooked. If you are prepping 5 meals, we recommend cooking 2 ½ cups of brown rice. You then end up with 5 cups (1 cup for each meal). Follow this Stove-top Rice recipe if you want to learn how to cook rice and don’t own a rice cooker!

How do I grocery shop for meal prep?

Grocery shopping for meal prep requires some planning. You need to get familiar with how much food you need, and what recipes you will be following before you shop. Follow our 5 step meal prep guide to streamline the process, and check out our “Pantry + Grocery Basics” list for grocery-cart worthy items!

Is a meal prep service worth it?

If you want the benefits of meal prep without any of the work, then a meal prep service may be worth it. Make sure you look for one that provides healthy, balanced meals that come in convenient packaging. Feel free to check out our meal delivery service – it’s what we live for!

Ready… Steady… Cook!

There you have it:

Everything you could possibly need to know about how to meal prep successfully and develop lasting, healthy eating habits – for yourself, and your family.

The remaining step is the most important one:

Putting the ideas we’ve talked about in this meal prep guide into action.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, remember to start small and move forward at your own pace.

If you can persevere and get over that initial hurdle, meal prepping will become a habit for life. One that will support you and allow you to stay on track with your health goals through thick and thin!

The post How to Meal Prep: The Ultimate Guide to Saving Time and Eating Healthy appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.

Fresh N’ Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N’ Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep. 

Mangoes are a delicious stone fruit that sometimes can be kind of tricky to peel and cut.

In this article, we will help you learn how to tell if a mango is ripe and how to cut a mango. We’ll even share some tasty mango recipes you can easily make at home.

How To Tell If A Mango Is Ripe

Before you even think about cutting into a mango, you have to make sure that it’s ripe first. Although there are delicious ways to eat green mangoes, if you’re looking for that ripe mango taste, you’ll be deeply disappointed if you cut into your mango before it’s ready.

Yellow mangoes usually start out as a light green color. When they’re this color they’re usually quite sour, almost bitter. The mango will eventually start to turn yellow and red. At this point, the fruit will taste more tart than sour. Eventually, the entire mango will turn yellow. This is a sign that the mango is at a point where its fruit will taste sweet. The mango will eventually turn a darker yellow and the fruit will be as sweet as it will ever be before it starts to go bad.

It’s important to remember that there are different types of mangoes, and not all will turn yellow when ripe. The color might not be the clearest sign for ripeness.

A better way to determine the ripeness of a mango is by touch. A rock-hard mango is not yet ripe. It will probably taste either sour or tart, but a soft mango will taste much sweeter. Better yet, try to squeeze the mango and see if you smell a sweet scent coming from either stem-end. When you can smell a mango’s sweetness it means that it is definitely ready to be eaten.

Once your mango is ripe, you can cut it.

Best Ways To Cut A Mango

There are a few ways to cut a mango. Below are five quick and easy ways it can be done.

Strategy 1 – The Old-fashioned Method

To cut a mango the old-fashioned way you first have to skin it. You can either do that with a knife like they used to do in the old days of the military or you can use a potato peeler.

Once you have your mango peeled, place the wider end of your mango on the cutting board. Place your knife on the topmost tip of your mango and cut straight down until you hit the large pit. Once you’ve come in contact with the pit, slowly angle your knife away from the center and cut as much of the fruit away from the seed as possible without cutting the seed as well. Once you’ve done this for one side of your mango, repeat the process to the other side.

At this point, you’ll have two halves of mango fruit which you can then cut into smaller apple slice-like pieces.

Strategy 2 – The Hedgehog Method

This method is similar to the old-fashioned method because you’ll be cutting your mango into two pieces. Unlike strategy #1 however, you don’t need to peel the mango. Instead, leave the peel on as you cut your mango halves.

Once you have your two halves, cut lines both horizontally and vertically into the fruit without letting your knife pierce the skin of the mango. After you’re done making your cuts, you can press the mango skin and flip the fruit so it is jutting out of the skin.

This is a great method if you’re looking to keep your fruit contained, yet easily accessible.

Simply cut a cube of mango whenever you want and leave the rest attached to the skin.

Strategy 3 – The Mango Splitter Method

Technology has made lots of things easier, including cutting mangoes. If you go to your local home goods store they’ll most likely have a mango splitter that you can buy that takes most of the work out of cutting mangoes. Use the splitter to cut open the mango and use your knife to cut the fruit.

Strategy 4 – The Drinking Glass Method

This is an efficient way to cut mangoes, especially if you have to cut a batch of mangoes for your Sunday meal prep. Cut your mango in half, then scoop out the fruit using a drinking glass.

Strategy 5 – The X Peeling Method

Using your knife, lightly cut an X mark at the top of the mango. Use your fingers to peel the skin in each direction. Then, simply cut and slice your mango.

Easy Mango Recipes

Mango is such a delicious and versatile fruit. It adds a sweetness and flavor that tastes good in almost any dish. Below are just a few of the more unique dishes you can make with mango.

Give one of them a try!

• Fruity black rice salad with cilantro, avocado, and pepitas in chili-orange vinaigrette
• Chicken, kiwi, and mango salad
• Mango honey jalapeno chimichurri
• Rice pudding with ginger, amaranth, and mango
• Chicken in coconut mango verde sauce
• Mango mousse pie

Fresh n’ Lean Makes Eating Easier

If you’d rather skip the planning, meal preparation, cooking, and cleaning involved with all of these dishes, you could simply order Fresh n’ Lean.

Fresh n’ Lean is a meal prep service that delivers you fresh, in-season meals right to your front door. All of our food is healthy, organic, vegan-friendly, and nutritious. Maybe just as important however is that every single Fresh n’ Lean meal is tasty. Try our menu and make eating fun, easy, and delicious again.

The post How to Cut a Mango appeared first on Fresh n' Lean.