How do you plan your meals and set aside time to prepare food? Let’s get into meal prep mastery and learn simple strategies on how to prepare your meals, stay on track with your food and schedule them all into your meal plan. You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode35. Topics Discussed in this Episode: The mentality we want to have when it comes to meal planning Strategies for meal prep mastery How to evaluate your schedule when it comes to meal planning What it means to start small and to prioritize when it comes to meal prep Clever ideas to save time and money Getting creative with delicious marinades and dressings Key Takeaways: It’s so much harder to reach your health goals or manage some type of disease or condition if you’re not cooking your food at home. Studies show that cooking meals at home are linked to better dietary habits like eating more fruits and vegetables, and spending less than one hour a day preparing foods at home is associated with eating more fast food. Action Steps: Set yourself up for success by having a strategy in place when it comes to meal planning. Evaluate your schedule. Figure out how many meals you think you’re going to need for the week before you even hit the grocery store. Start small. If you’re a newbie to this, don’t go all in and try to make your entire weekly menu ahead of time. Pick one or two recipes for your first week, and as you get more comfortable with that, you can prep more and introduce more recipes. Prioritize. Choose recipes that will make the biggest difference in your week right away. Create a master recipe list. Have a list of those go-to meals that you’ve tried before and you know you can easily put together. Overlap the ingredients whenever possible to save time and money. Write out an actual grocery list. Prep foods you will actually eat. Be realistic about your taste in food, but also try to vary your menu enough so that you don’t get bored and resort to takeout. Chop your food. Prep your meal ingredients ahead of time. Get roasting. Pair vegetables that have a comparable roasting time. Cook your protein ahead of time and store it in the fridge and/or freezer to ensure that you’ve got meals on hand. Find different marinades and dressings that you really enjoy. When it comes to food storage, make sure you have the right containers on hand. Use glass containers instead of plastic. Use the food quickly as best as you can. Label the food in your freezer.   Samantha said: “Having a strategy in place is so important, that why most of us when we go to the gym, we kind of know what we’re doing. We don’t just really walk in there aimlessly. And it’s kind of the same mentality we want to have when it comes to meal planning.” “If you’re a new meal prepper and this is all kind of new to you, then stick to ingredients that you know you like, because the worst thing is going to prep something and then wasting the food, and then you feel just like hopeless and you feel like you failed at the whole process.’   Thanks for listening! Important Announcements: If you’ve got any questions or other meal prep tips that have worked for you in the past, I would love to hear from you over on Instagram @holisticwellnessfoodie. Do share your food prep and meal prep tips and maybe your cooking tips as well!   Where you can find me: Samantha’s Facebook Samantha’s Instagram Samantha’s Website Samantha’s Twitter Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook How you can work with me: 6 Week Healthy Hormones for Women Intensive - Use the coupon code PODCAST at checkout to save 60%. Healing & Dealing with Hashi’s Sponsor Link: PureFeast - Save 10% off of your first THREE orders over $75 + free shipping with coupon code  HOLISTICWELLNESS Perfect Keto - If you’re in the U.S, save 15% off your purchase with the coupon code  HOLISTICWELLNESS