Lessons From Meal Prep

Yesterday I set out with the plan of making 9 meals worth of nutritious, delicious food which I could then enjoy throughout the week without having to cook again (I ritualistically eat lunch out on Fridays). It was a precedented disaster, but I thought it would be fun to share what specifically went wrong and what I learned from the experience.

Lesson 1 - actually buy the ingredients before you cook the dish

I had been planning all week to make a lentil curry. I had the lentils. I had rice. I bought vegetables to with them. However, I did not think to buy curry powder (or indeed any other spices) until I came to began cooking at 7pm on a Sunday, by which time the shops were shut.

Lesson 2 - don't just wing it!

I am not a good cook, but at least understand some of the basics. Make things hot and they'll taste better (or indeed, become edible at all). Use salt and pepper and garlic, not too little but not too much. You're not Heston Blumenthal, so pick traditional, non-experimental flavour combinations. If you are cooking one portion of food, I think these principles are enough where one could essential wing it.

If you are cooking an entire week of food, you clearly cannot rely on your self-inflated ambition to get the job done. In fact, my 'curry' turned out to be a bland mush that is only palatable with copious amounts of sriracha. Do not be like me - follow a recipe, you fucking idiot.

My 'curry' turned out to be a bland mush that is only palatable with copious amounts of sriracha. Do not be like me - follow a recipe, you fucking idiot.

Lesson 3 - ensure you have enough containers for the food you are going to make

When you are making this quantity of food, weigh it - please. I made too much rice. I had too much lentils. The curry did not fit into the wok I own, so I had to fire up an auxiliary overflow pan. Then, when it came time to dish everything up, I didn't have enough containers for the food I'd made (as it turned out, I only had 8 containers, and I'm an idiot). I had to call my mother and ask her to bring me some of her tupperware so none of the food would go to waste. It was embarrassing, and I wouldn't recommend it in the slightest.

I'm going to try it all again this Sunday, and I'll let you know if it goes any better.