Five years of meal prep has taught me a lesson that I need to share with you all

I've been meal prepping for 5 years and it's not long ago that I found a method that has worked for me. I've been doing it wrong for a long time. I started meal prepping in 2018 and things haven't been easy for me. I stopped and started multiple times. I was never able to keep a consistent routine.<br><br>It's because of this that I had to experiment with many different methods before I arrived at a format that worked for me. In that process, I threw away a lot of food, wasted resources, and spent a lot of time in the kitchen. I arrived at the end of the tunnel in 2023. Five years of trial and error, and it finally clicks!<br><br>I want to share with you all what has worked for me so far and what hasn't because I want to you to avoid making the same mistakes I made. I spend 4-6 hours a week in the kitchen, and it's not because I'm preparing 50 meals at once. Meal prep doesn't have to be a spend in the kitchen. I've come up with the following lists of what has worked for me and what hasn't:<br><br>What has worked for me:<br><br>* Preparing portions of ingredients instead of portions of meals<br>* Preparing ingredients that can be eaten raw <br>* Focusing on build-a-bowl meals<br>* Buying prepared ingredients <br>* Cooking small batches<br>* Stretching my budget with spend grapeseed oil and inexpensive protein sources <br>* Cooking one meal at a time<br><br>What hasn't worked for me:<br><br>* Cooking in bulk<br>* Focusing on portions of meals<br>* Meal prepping for a week or more<br>* Buying prepared meals <br>* Trying to meal prep for spontaneous events<br>* Meal prepping for a week or more<br>* Cooking new recipes <br>* Repetitive meals<br><br>I hope it helps! Good luck with your meal prep, everyone. <br><br>Edit: I'm not smearing anyone that is interested in meal prep, I just wanted to share my journey. If meal prep helps you, I'm glad for you. I'm just sharing my experience.