Does three hours of cooking every Sunday sound like an unbearable chore?
Linh Dao and David Tran say it helps their whole week run smoothly and weeknights less frantic.
The couple, who live in Naarm/Melbourne and share meal prep tips online, say it took time to develop a system they enjoy.
An organised approach to meal prep
The couple's meal prep starts on Thursday, when they choose four meals (with four portions per meal) to prep. This covers four days of lunches and dinners for the following week. David says this gives them enough flexibility to go out for dinner or cook something specific if they want to.
Linh says if it's an unusually busy week, they might only cook one or two meals on Sunday or rely on their freezer supply.
Shopping happens on Sunday morning before the couple spend three hours (or less) doing the bulk of the week's cooking together.
Not everything is cooked in advance. The couple prep fresh greens by washing and chopping them, so they are ready to add to a soup or sauté as a side just before they're eaten.
Variety is important to the couple, so a week of meal prep might include Vietnamese lemon chicken, garlic soy lamb chops, Mongolian beef stir-fry, and a carrot, daikon and chicken soup. Or char siu pork, rosemary lamb chops, soy sauce braised chicken wings and a chicken soup.
How they developed their system
Linh and David mostly work from home (Linh in social work and David in sales) and they've come a long way from their first meal-prep marathon, which took seven hours.
"It took us quite a lot of trial and error," says Linh.
The couple persisted because they wanted to cut down on the time they were spending planning, shopping for and cooking their meals.
"We wanted to eat good food but figure out how to save time," David says.
They became faster by playing to their strengths.
"Linh loves to cook more stews and soups ... whereas I like to barbecue."
What they gain from their efforts
Without their meal-prep sessions, Linh estimates it would take about two hours to cook dinner and clean up after work.
This way, they've often eaten and washed up by six in the evening. It gives them more time to spend together and time for Linh to call her family in Vietnam in the evenings.
She says they also eat more healthily by planning ahead. For example, "portion control is very easy when you've already mapped out how much you're eating for the week".
David says they save money by eating out less and it means they can spend a bit more when they want to.
Looking for a place to start? Try an 'amnesty week'
Clare Collins, a Laureate Professor in nutrition and dietetics at the University of Newcastle, says research shows people who cook and eat at home are more likely to be meeting their nutritional needs.
While her routine is less structured, she tends to cook two meals on Sunday that set her on the right path for the week.
If you want to be more organised when it comes to food, she says a good place to start is working out how much you spend.
She recommends an "amnesty week", when the household adds up all their food and grocery expenses.
Often savings can be made on expenses such as food delivery services, which could be spent on some more interesting ingredients during the grocery shop, she says.
Tips for getting ahead in the kitchen
If a three-hour prep session doesn't sound realistic, Professor Collins says there are small changes that can help make preparing and eating home-cooked meals easier.
She's part of the team behind healthy eating website No Money No Time, which she says you can use to filter recipes by ingredients, cooking appliances and cost.
Professor Collins recommends organising your lunch for the next day as part of your dinner routine. "If you leave making lunch sandwiches to the morning, you won't do it half the time."
She says putting some — individually portioned — meals in the freezer can save you from buying lunch or dinner during a busy week. Bulking out recipes with a tin of legumes (such as lentils, kidney beans, black beans or chickpeas) can help you prepare extra, she says.
Keeping a bag of frozen veggies in the freezer means you will always have some healthy cooking staples to work with.
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