Meal Prep
Ideas for Everyday Life

One problem many parents face is feeding their families: Between work, school, daycare, extracurricular activities, and household chores, there’s often little time left for cooking. Still, many parents want varied and balanced meals that everyone will enjoy.

This is exactly where meal prep can be a solution: If you prepare certain basic ingredients or entire meals in advance, you’ll save time during the week and ensure that lunch or dinner is on the table much faster.

Here you’ll find lots of tips and simple meal-prep ideas to make your daily life easier while still cooking balanced meals.

The Most Important Things at a Glance: Meal Prep Recipes and Tips

• Save time and reduce stress: Even preparing meals two to three days in advance can make a noticeable difference in making everyday cooking easier for families.
• Make the most of versatile basic recipes: A homemade vegetable-tomato sauce can be used in a variety of ways—with pasta, in wraps, in casseroles, or in chili.
• Cooking Double Portions: Making a double batch requires hardly any extra effort, but it easily fills up your fridge or freezer.
• Don’t forget to label them: Label all the prepared containers immediately with their contents and the date to keep track of them.
• Everyday Self-Care: Supplementary nutrition routines provide reliable support for you and your family on particularly hectic days.

What meal-prep recipes are good for beginners?

An ideal meal prep recipe is versatile and can be easily adapted. Our favorite family-friendly meal prep recipe is this homemade vegetable-tomato sauce.

You need:

• 2 onions
• 3 carrots
• 2 zucchini
• 2 bell peppers
• 2 cans of chopped tomatoes
• a little olive oil
• Seasonings to taste, such as salt, pepper, (smoked) paprika, and Italian herbs

Here’s how it works:

1. Wash the vegetables and cut them into cubes of roughly the same size!
2. Sauté the onions in a little oil!
3. Add the remaining vegetables, season with salt, and let them cook for a few minutes!
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and season the sauce to taste!
5. Let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes, then taste it again to adjust the seasoning!
6. Puree the sauce until smooth and freeze it in individual portions!

How can you use the meal-prep sauce?

You can use it as a sauce for pasta or rice, turn it into chili, use it as a filling for wraps, and much more. This kind of versatility is worth its weight in gold, because you can cook a large batch once and then use it in a variety of ways. The vegetable-tomato sauce is great for:

• as a vegetable-rich sauce to serve with pasta or rice
• as pizza sauce
• as a base for chili con carne or chili sin carne
• for a lasagna
• as a filling for wraps
• as a soup (thin with broth)
• as a base for a stew
• as a dip for vegetable sticks

Especially handy: What looks and tastes like a simple tomato sauce to kids is actually packed with nutrient-rich vegetables. Be sure to try this meal-prep recipe!

How can I get started with meal prep?

Anyone who’s into meal prep can easily feel overwhelmed. Where do you start? How do you manage to stay organized while preparing meals?

These tips will help you if you want to cook in bulk:

• Tip 1: Start with two or three days!
• Tip 2: Use basic recipes!
• Tip 3: Prepare ingredients instead of ready-made meals!
• Tip 4: Always cook double the amount!
• Tip 5: Don’t forget to label them!

Which ingredients are good for preparing in advance?

You don’t have to cook a week’s worth of meals right away. Start with just two or three dishes—that alone will make cooking much easier!

Pre-prepared ingredients also help you whip up a variety of meals in no time. For example, chop vegetables and lettuce, cook pasta, grate cheese, and prepare hard-boiled eggs, or sear chicken breasts! You can then use these ingredients to quickly whip up salads, bowls, vegetable stir-fries, casseroles, wraps, or other meals.

What’s the advantage of cooking double the amount?

Cooking double the amount takes hardly any extra time and is an easy way to stock up on meal prep supplies. So if you’re cooking anyway, just make a double batch! One serving is for today, and the other goes in the fridge or freezer.

Why is labeling especially important?

When freezing food or filling plastic containers, people often think they’ll remember what’s inside later. In reality, though, it’s very easy to lose track of things. So make it a habit to label all prepared ingredients right away with what’s inside and the date!

How can I support my body’s nutrient intake?

Meal prep is a fantastic way to save time during the week, reduce stress, and add variety to your meals. But we all know those days when the family calendar is packed, unexpected things come up, and even the best planning reaches its limits.

To reliably support your body and your family—even during particularly busy times—you need solutions that can be easily incorporated into your daily routine.

With the high-quality products from DR. RILLING HEALTHCARE, you and your loved ones can enjoy well-planned nutritional support without any extra time spent in the kitchen. We rely on carefully formulated recipes and first-class raw materials that you can depend on unconditionally every day and that can be easily integrated into your daily routine.