Sunday Night Prep

There are many things that you can quickly make that will help you make your meals faster! The trick is to maximize on the one night a week where more people have nothing to do-Sunday night! For me, this is the time where I do all my grocery shopping so it makes sense to go ahead and chop, cook, or marinate the foods I purchased. If you spend a couple of hours Sunday night, you can get breakfast for the week taken care of, school lunches out of the way, or even a couple dinners or two. Not to mention snacks nuts and produce.

• Marinate all meats and seafood and place in freezer bags. Freeze those you plan on using later in the week or for another time. For the meats and seafood that you plan on eating within the next 3 days, then you can place those bags in the fridge. 
• I like to just "marinate" my fish with spices and herbs, nothing to aqueous 
• For chicken, olive oil or canola oil make good bases for spices and herb to blend into. Any combination of garlic, parsley, black pepper, Dijon mustard, Italian dressing, red pepper flakes always hits the spot.
• For meats (particularly beef since I don't eat pork) I find that it is best to marinate your fridge portion with an oil base and your frozen portion in a sauce (like BBQ, ketchup). Just like with chicken Dijon mustard, black pepper, and garlic are great ways to spice up your beef. For an extra fancy touch, stuff your red meat with the garlic, jalapenos, or split your beef cut in half and  apply a spread in the middle. 

 

• Fruits: I tend to leave them alone since they oxide immediately and don't store that well. If you do want to cut up 3 days portion (after that, I feel that they don't taste that well) then I recommend that you put add in a citrus fruit. For example, cut up and apple in edible portion and add in  1/2 a  sliced grapefruit. You can even do a peaches, apples, and oranges mix. Of course, if you just do citrus fruit, then you do not have to add in any additional fruits. I would stay away from bananas since they tend to get mushy. Lastly, all kinds of berries and grapes do well alone but you are more than welcome to mix them with other fruits. Of course, make sure to squeeze all air out of the bags.
• Vegetables: Unlike fruits, they can store fresh by themselves.Since zucchini is a staple in my kitchen I always purchase a lot. You can slice, dice, and chop them for easier cooking. This same rule goes for leafy vegetables like romaine lettuce and spinach. You can wash and divide the bunch into equal portion sandwich bags. 
• While you are doing all of this, boil brown rice! It takes about 30-45 to make depending on the package directions. 
• Nuts typically come in either 1/4 or 1/3 cup portions so you bust out your measuring cup and sandwich bags and fill them up until the nut package is empty!
• If you can, make a menu of what all you have and what foods you can prepare with it. Just like with the fruits and meat, I recommend that you make dinners for 3 days in advance. 

      

-Eating Clean in College