Food Prep Tips

I have always been fascinated with the concept of food prep. I was particularly interested in the group of women who got together and prepared enough food for their families to eat for an entire month. I also enjoyed looking at photos of food prep sessions online. My problem wasn't so much the ingredients but the time it took to food prep. An entire day or weekend? No way I could fit that into my schedule.

As the years rolled by, I found something that works for me. Here are my food prep tips:

• Focus on staples. Our family's stables are rice, black beans, banana nut muffins, mixed veggies. Every week, I cook our staples plus, I freeze an extra batch or two for those days (or nights) I'm in a hurry and I need do put dinner on the table quickly.
• Keep it simple. Someone once told me I should pack my salads in a jar. I have also seen food prep with matching containers, alphabetized by the ingredients used (slight exaggeration here). I pack my means in whatever containers I have available. I keep it simple because the goal is to have healthy food prepared ahead of time.
• Commit to the cooking day. Lately, my cooking days have happened between Saturday and Monday. My days are fluid because of the different commitments we have. The goal is to commit to preparing food, no matter when it happens.
• Eat the food. It sounds silly but I have heard people tell me that after they prep their food, they choose to eat something else. Eat the food you cooked. If you feel like you cooked too much, cut back. There is room for improvement every week. Don't waste good food that will make you feel better and save money my friend.
• Wash dishes quickly. I bet a a lot of people get discouraged because of the number of dishes involved with food prepping. If you wash your dishes quickly, you will avoid looking at multiple dirty dishes mounting in the sink. Do yourself a favor and wash as you go.

What about you? When you prep your food? What are your favorite food prep hacks?