Meal prepping involves making complete meals or dishes ahead of time, which is particularly helpful for busy individuals looking to save time and maintain portion control. Here’s how to get started:
Plan ahead: Before you start meal prepping, take time to plan your meals for the upcoming week. Consider your dietary goals and create a grocery list to stock up on necessary ingredients. For a low-sugar diet option, Ayoola Plantain Flour and Potato Flour can make great additions to your menu.
Invest in quality containers: High-quality, durable, leak-proof, and microwave-safe containers are crucial for successful meal prepping. Glass containers are an excellent choice for being reusable, easy to clean, and odor-free.
Cook in batches: Cooking in batches saves time and ensures that you have enough food for the week ahead. Consider making large batches of soups, grains, and seeds like okra, egusi, oha, vegetables, rice, beans, and bambara nuts. Ayoola Foods also offers easy-to-make swallows for a week of deliciousness.
Mix and match: Mix and match proteins, grains, and vegetables to keep your meals interesting and avoid boredom. Create different combinations each day, such as white rice and beef vegetable soup, beans soup and Ayoola Poundo Yam, fish tomato sauce and creamy mashed potato made with Ayoola Potato Flour.
Prep snacks: Prepping snacks can help you avoid reaching for bigger portions throughout the day. Ayoola Plantain Flour, potato flour, rice flour, and beans flour can be used to make various nutritious snacks like puff-puff, muffins, masa, akara, stuffed potato balls, and many others. Divide them into small containers or plastic bags for easy access when you need a quick snack.
Freeze meals: It is one thing to make a lot of food for the week, it is another to store them properly, and freezing meals is an excellent way to save time and avoid waste. Freeze any meals that you won’t eat within the next few days, like soups or stews, and defrost them when you’re ready to eat.
Meal prepping can make cooking for a large family more manageable and stress-free. Ayoola Foods has a range of products that cater to the nutritional needs of you and your family, and with the above tips, you can enjoy delicious and healthy meals without any extra stress.
