Meal Prep, or meal preparation, is just what it sounds like: Preparing meals or snacks for yourself in advance. You have probably seen images on social media of beautiful identical Tupperwares lined up, filled with colourful vegetables and perfectly roasted chicken breasts, but it really doesn’t need to be that pretty (unless that makes you happy, of course).

A lot of us know what we should be eating, but for some reason find it hard to execute good nutrition in our daily lives. Knowledge and execution are two very different beasts! Preparation is key to execution. Having healthy meals prepared for yourself can help save you time, ensure you eat what you want to be eating, and keep you from making food decisions you may regret later. Meal prep is basically letting your wise and level-headed Sunday-self make decisions for your hungry and tired Thursday-self.

This page provides an example of what meal prep could look like. We are not recommending only eating the following meal, but wanted to provide an example of step-by-step instructions on what to buy, and how to schedule your time in the kitchen to get it all done in 3 hours or less. Like anything, getting good at meal prep requires some practice, and we would encourage you to eventually adapt these recipes and instructions so that they best work for you. 

5-day meal prep (basic)

Prep INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-Prep

  1. Start with a clean kitchen.

  2. Read over each recipe to make sure you have everything you need, and plan for any substitutions you may need to make.

  3. Ensure that you have enough containers- you can use 5 same-size or similarly-sized containers if you want to divide the meals in the beginning, or large containers for each component (meat, vegetable, etc.) if you will be eating the meals at home.

Cooking Steps

  1. Begin with the pork.

  2. While the pork is in the oven, bake your sweet potatoes in the microwave

  3. Take the rest of the time to clean up, check/flip your potatoes.

  4. While you are letting the pork and sweet potatoes cool, make your salsa.

Assemblage Notes

  1. It is best to let things come to room temperature (or at least not piping hot) before you store in Tupperware and put in the fridge.

  2. Put a generous handful of baby spinach into each Tupperware.

  3. Scoop the sweet potato out of their skins, and distribute equally into each container. Sprinkle with a bit of salt.

  4. Divide the pork and salsa equally into each container.

  5. Enjoy!

 

Overview

  • Number of meals: 5 (identical)

  • Eat within: 5 days

  • Skill level: Beginner

  • Total time: <1 hour

Grocery List

  • 2lbs pork tenderloin (this is usually 2 tenderloins)

  • 3 large sweet potatoes

  • baby spinach (or arugula, kale, or other salad green of choice)

  • jar of sugar-free store bought salsa, OR:

    • 4 plum tomatoes

    • 1 lime

    • 1 small white onion

    • cilantro (optional)

    • garlic

  • Spices/Cooking fats (you may already have some of these):

    • chili powder

    • cumin

    • smoked paprika

    • cinnamon

    • salt

    • pepper

    • olive oil (but can subbed for any cooking fat of your choice)

 

 

 

Recipes

Southwestern-Spiced Pork Tenderloin

Southwestern-Spiced Pork Tenderloin

8-minute Sweet Potato

8-minute Sweet Potato

Basic Salsa

Basic Salsa

Alternative Prep Options

If you have the money, and are looking for ways to eat healthy and save time with groceries/food prep, check out:

  • Maple Ridge Farms: A local farm offering a variety of organic and grass-fed meats, delivered weekly.

  • Executive Nutrition: A local Kingston meal delivery service offering 5-15 meals/week.

  • Good Food: A Canadian grocery delivery service. They provide weekly recipes and the groceries to prepare the meals.