Meal Plan vs. Meal Prep
Did you know there is a difference between Meal Planning and Meal Prepping?
Yes! Meal Planning is when you plan your meals in advance. Perhaps weekly you sit down, assess your pantry, freezer, and fridge and plan out your breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. I do a variation of this, and I plan my family dinners around our busy plans so I can do 1 shopping trip. (I personally repeat my breakfasts and have leftovers or salads for lunch, so I don’t find it useful to plan those ahead of time, but you should find the routine that works best for you!)
This helps us have a variety of meals throughout the week, and sometimes I double up on ingredients for meals, but more about Ingredient Prep another time. My family likes to eat different things from day to day, and this helps us have a bunch of cuisines and meals on those busy days.
For some folks, Meal Prepping is a great tool for those who don’t like to cook often, and don’t mind eating the same things over and over. Meal Prepping is when you cook a lot at the beginning of the week and pre-package meals into containers for your meals. For example, you might cook a whole pot of white rice, and get some black beans from cans, grill a lot of chicken, and make some burrito bowls for your lunches or dinners all week. Cook once, and have your meals portioned and ready to go! Folks with health goals who are counting calories and macros appreciate meal prepping so they can measure out their food and know their meals are helping them stay on track.
Which one is better? Well, ultimately, it all depends on YOUR lifestyle and what works best for YOUR routine. If you want a variety of meals and enjoy cooking, and maybe have a family to feed, then meal prepping could work great for you. If you like the same meals everyday, and the ease of cooking once and not having to make as many decisions, or you’re feeding just yourself or a small group, meal prep could be your easy way to cook once, and eat many meals.
And just to throw another option in there, sometimes I do both. I love soup and bean salads, which my family does not. Sometimes in the summer I make a big bowl of salad or coleslaw and portion that out for my own personal lunches. In the cooler months, I’ll make a big pot of soup and freeze portions to enjoy for an easy lunch down the road. And then I’ll plan the dinners for the week based on our plans, and am sure to have a take-out night in there for the busy weeknights.
What do you like to do? Whichever works best for you at this season in your life, I hope it brings you peace. Cheers!
