Save Time Meal Prepping With These Hacks

Thanks for sharing all your meal prep secrets with us! 😊 I’ll definitely be implementing A TON of these! Read on for 50 awesome tips from your fellow CSE Squad! And definitely bookmark this blog to reference when you need it!

1. Buy already peeled/minced garlic.
2. Shred cooked chicken with a KitchenAid or hand mixer.
3. Bake/broil bacon instead of frying it so you can cook a whole batch at once (and it won’t smell up your house).
4. Buy matchstick carrots when the recipe calls for chopped carrots.
5. Double the recipe for freezer friendly meals so you have dinner ready when you don’t feel like cooking.
6. Meal prep smoothies in freezer bags and store in the freezer, when you’re ready for one, add almond milk, blend, and voila!
7. Old blender hack, put your ice cubes in first so you don’t get any rough ice chunks in your smoothie.
8. Make double batches of multiple flavors of power bites at a time so you always have something on hand if you’re hungry.
9. Repurpose baby food jars as salad dressing jars.
10. Freeze ripe avocados. 
11. Use an ice cream scoop to make sure all your pancakes are the same size.
12. Go buy the Mini Dash Waffle Maker from Target for $10. It’s worth it! (linked here: www.cleansimpleeats.com/products-we-love)
13. If you don’t have an ice maker, buy a big bag of ice so you don’t have to keep refilling ice trays.
14. Use a veggie chopper or food processor to chop veggies, especially for your onions.
15. Buy 90-second microwave rice. Costco find!
16. Make a breakfast tray with all the common ingredients you need for breakfast. It’s easy to pull out of the pantry every morning and have everything you need on hand.
17. Use a salad spinner to get your lettuce really dry after washing it.
18. Put that mini-fridge you haven’t used in years to use and make it into a meal prep fridge!
19. Use silicone muffin trays.
20. Add a handful of spinach to every single smoothie. You don’t taste it. It’s less than 30 calories and gives you a little extra boost of healthy.
21. Always check the clearance section at the grocery.
22. Get the blank menu planner laminated so when you want to create your own week of meals you can keep track and reuse each week! You can download the blank meal planner HERE. The app is also a great meal planning resource!
23. Store your almond/peanut butter upside down so the oil isn’t right on top when you open it. Makes it a lot easier to stir!
24. Freeze single servings of extra sauces and dressings in an ice cube tray (I always have extra cashew sour cream and pesto sauce). Eliminates waste and when you are ready to add it to a recipe it’s easy to pop out and already have a single portion measured.
25. Use a cookie scoop for your power bites or spray your hands with cooking spray to roll so they don’t stick to your hands!
26. Prep in bulk when using similar ingredients.
27. Make one egg bake to last for breakfasts all week! Or prep a protein like ground turkey or shredded chicken that you can make multiple things with - salads, bowls, random veggies, etc.
28. One pan meals! You will save so much time on dishes!
29. Prep overnight oats in mason jars and keep in the fridge for the week.
30. Package snacks into individual servings for the week.
31. Recruit your family to help! Makes meal prep go by faster!
32. Buy rotisserie chicken!
33. Use frozen already prepped veggies!
34. INSTANT POT. A serious time saver.
35. Prep fruits and veggies right when you get home from the grocery store! Makes for easy grab and go snacking.
36. Clean out your fridge! It is much easier to organize and keep track of what you have.
37. Have plenty of reusable Ziploc bags and containers.
38. Multiple sets of measuring cups/spoons. No one wants to wash dishes mid-prep.
39. Set aside time in the week to prep for prepping! Knowing what you have and what you need for this week's meals will make crafting your shopping list and your grocery store experience a lot smoother!
40. If you have extra ingredients, search by ingredient name in the CSE+ app to find all CSE recipes that use your extra ingredient. Saves on food waste and $$$.
41. Make a double batch of pancakes Saturday mornings and freeze to have for breakfast during the week.
42. Have a good support group! Prep with friends or family and swap! It’s nice to be able to buy only a couple meal ingredients in bulk, plus you can try even more yummy recipes!
43. Look at what you need to make for the week and portion the meat out for each recipe so it’s ready to go. 
44. Read all the recipes for the week and rank them by difficulty and start with the things that will take the longest first!
45. Get your groceries on Saturday, so you can meal prep on Sunday morning. 
46. Whenever possible I weigh things (to avoid washing all the measuring spoons)!
47. One person does the dishes while the other cooks up a storm! 
48. Use an air fryer for quick protein prep. 
49. Write a sticky note of basic conversions on the front cover. Cuts down on needing to looking things up all the time. 
50. Freeze bananas in slices on a cookies sheet, so they don't get all mushed together. Then put the frozen slices in a container in the freezer for easy shakes.