Ok, you might want to sit down and pay attention to this one. We follow a woman on Instagram who appears to be the queen of food prepping. And, after a close examination of her account, we have realized that “food prepping” and “cooking several meals at the same time”, are two different things. Food prepping is a simple method and the idea is that it’s so much more fun and easy to cook during the week if you have already prepared some of the ingredients in advance. It doesn’t have to be hard at all, many ingredients are simply peeled, rinsed or chopped, and then you’re done.

Some things will seem super basic, like peeling a carrot. However, we have also made the mistake of putting a peeled carrot in the refrigerator. Without their protective skin, they will quickly lose their moisture and dry out. Rookie mistake! All you have to do to keep the carrots crisp and fresh is to peel them, cut them into sticks, put them in a container of water and store them in the fridge.

Pick a time when you have some extra energy and when you’re already in the kitchen. We promise you, it does make a huge difference to have those carrot sticks ready when you’re tired, dinner is far from ready, and the kids come asking. Then you can simply grab the prepped carrot sticks (or cucumber or bell pepper, the options are endless when it comes to prepping food ahead of time), and you’ll feel like the best parent ever.

Ok, we hear you. Do we really need to peel and cut the carrots?

The answer is: Yes. You will thank yourself (and us) a couple of days later. Also, less prepping during the week means fewer things to clean up. But hey, you don’t have to overdo it. Don’t try to make ahead your entire weekly menu plan. Start out small, and you’ll be hooked once you see how easy it is.

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