6 Meal Prep Myths that are Wrong

Debunking some Meal Prep Myths and Frequently Asked Questions when it comes to meal prepping on a Mediterranean diet.

Mediterranean Diet Meal Prep Week

Last week we shared on social media that we were dedicating this week to Mediterranean diet Meal Prep!

A whole week of meal prep tips, tricks, myths and recipe ideas all dedicated to making the Mediterranean diet easier for you at home.

We posted a few surveys about what YOU wanted to see and what issues you currently had regarding meal prep and we had some great results.

Over 100 people responded to our questions, so we wanted to compile a summary of thoughts as well as squash a few Meal Prep Myths and answer some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) based on the responses.

Meal Prep Myths

I’ve personally been doing some form of meal prep for about 7 years. It was about the same time as I quit my job to stay at home once my daughter was born. We went from a two paycheck couple to newbie parents living on a single income…things changed quick.

Over the years I’ve picked up some handy tips when it comes to different styles of meal prep. The most important being –

Meal Prep Doesn’t Mean the Same Thing to Everyone

The Domestic Dietitian

There is no right way or wrong way to meal prep. Some common myths we’ve encountered include –

1. You have to Make Entire Meals at One Time

Nope, you sure don’t. Meal prep can simply mean prepping a few snacks, pre-cutting veggies, or making a batch of rice to save time in the kitchen later on.

You can also just prep “components” of a meal to mix and match later on. For example, you can boil a batch of pasta, pre-cook some chicken, or roast some veggies that you can use to create a pasta dinner or chicken sandwich for lunch during the week.

2. Meal Prep Means You Have to Eat the Same Thing Everyday

Meal Prep doesn’t mean you have to pack an entire meal into a square container and eat the same thing Monday through Friday.

Later this week we’ll be sharing ingredients that you can batch prep to make meal time easier but also give you options as well. We call it “component cooking” and it allows for multiple meals from a single ingredient.

3. You Have to Spend 3 Hours Prepping Meals Every Sunday

Thankfully this is not true. Meal prep takes however long you want it too.

• If you have 15 minutes – awesome! You can meal prep a lot in that time.

• Got 30 minutes to spare on a weekend afternoon? Great, you can pull together a lot of things to make your week easier.

• Maybe you have an extra hour on Sunday to spend in the kitchen – fantastic, there’s a ton you can prep in an hour.

4. Meal Prep Takes Up a Lot of Room in your Fridge

This one is tricky because it definitely can take up prime space in the fridge. However, it doesn’t have too.

Some of the things I meal prep include pantry staples like making a batch of trail mix to have on the counter, keeping crackers on hand for an easy cheese & cracker snack, or making sure I have a carton of my favorite 5 minute prepackaged soup in the pantry for a quick side dish.

We’ll be sharing some non-fridge related Meal Prep Ideas later this week.

5. You Can’t Meal Prep if You Are Cooking for One

My husband used to travel for work about 2-3 days every week. During these days I would meal prep just for myself. So you can absolutely meal prep, even if you are just cooking for one.

One of our favorite tips for meal prepping for yourself is making a double batch of your dinner and then using the leftovers as part of your next meal. We’ll be sharing some tips soon on how to repurpose leftovers into different dishes.

6. Once You Meal Prep You are Stuck Eating What You Planned

Nothing is written in stone when you meal prep. Just because you have something prepped and planned doesn’t’ mean you have to eat it as scheduled.

There are constantly weeks where our weekly “meal plan” looks like a puzzle with menu items crossed out or moved to different days. Life is ever changing and some times stuff comes up. There are also times when you open the fridge and you just don’t feel like eating whatever you had planned for that day. Guess what…that happens to us all. It’s perfectly fine to change your plan or switch meals.

Heck, there are days when nothing sounds good except a bowl of cereal for dinner. You do you.

Frequently Asked Meal Prep Questions

We received so many great questions from you last week that we hope to touch on this week.

Some of the top questions we heard included –

• Can you meal prep on a budget?
• What if you don’t have access to a fridge or microwave at work?
• How do you reheat leftovers safely?
• What’s the best way to store meal prep items in your fridge?
• Do you recommend any certain containers or kitchen items to make meal prep easier?

More Mediterranean Diet Meal Prep Tips

We rounded up some of our favorite Mediterranean diet Meal Prep recipes and ideas all in one space. To make it even more helpful, we broke it down by time – Meal Prep Ideas if you have 15 Minutes to spare, 30 Minutes, or 60 Minutes.