Since we’re on the topic of grocery shopping and food waste, let’s consider how to prep meals throughout the week. I’ve never been a meal prepper. I tend to buy canned goods that are easy to prepare. The cans, at least, can be recycled. I’ve got friends who prep out their meals for the entire week and spend the weekend cooking and getting it all ready. This has always intrigued me, but it’s a new habit I’m yet to try. This is what Kathryn covers about meal prep in the Zero Waste Challenge:
In a nutshell, if you devote 2-3 hours to making meals in bulk, you’ll have your breakfast, lunch, and dinner ready to go throughout the week. Some people make a huge crockpot of soup and freeze off portions. Some chop up all the necessary ingredients for a salad bar. Others make more elaborate dinners. The key is to make what you need and have the meals ready to go, so it also saves you time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to scramble for a quick lunch and ended up going through a drive thru. I’m trying to cut down on the fast food because nothing about it is eco-friendly.
Since my kitchen is not yet ready, I can’t try out this challenge quite yet, but I am pretty good about making simple meals and having the essentials ready to go. And now that I grocery shop more often, I buy less and this saves me the headache of wasted food and wasted money. As soon as my kitchen is done, I’m going to give meal prep a try. For a list of meal prep ideas, consider one of the following resources:
https://thegirlonbloor.com/best-meal-prep-ideas/
https://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/19-healthy-lunch-meal-prep-ideas/
Good luck!