How To Prepare for Meals in Advance

There are many reasons to prepare a meal in advance. Some basic skills and routines will make creating a delicious and wholesome meal easier.

Preparing in Advance to Make a Meal

1. Make sure your kitchen is clean. Dirty dishes are confusing and can lead to unwanted mishaps because you can grab a dirty dish and use it before thinking. Clean workspaces, free of items that are not necessary, make it easier to work and prevents accidents.
2. If you are not familiar with the recipe for the meal, read it through several times. If it is recipe you use frequently, take a moment to run through the process in your head. If you’ve had problems at any point in the recipe, try to decide if there is a better way to approach that step. This is a good time to review the timeframe so that you know when you will need to complete various steps in order for the meal to be ready when you want it to be.
3. Get out the tools you will need to make the meal. This is when you need to get out the food processor, blender, mixer, breadmaker or any other large countertop appliance. If your kitchen is not laid out with ingredients ready at hand, get out the ingredients you will need for the recipe.
4. Begin to measure ingredients into individual containers, grouping them together whenever possible. For instance, spices are usually added at the same time so measure all the spices into a small container. If wet ingredients are added at the same time, measure them together into the same container. If you need to chop vegetables, chop them up and put them aside so that they are ready to add at a moments notice.
5. When your kitchen is clean, the tools laid out and the ingredients measured, you are ready to make your meal.

Making the Food

1. If you are ready to make it immediately, proceed to make the food.
2. If you are planning to make the food later in the day, make sure to put lids on all the containers. All perishable items should be placed in the refrigerator until you are ready to make the meal. All non-perishables can remain on the counter but should have lids on them to prevent mishaps such as children sticking fingers in them, water being splattered into them, or insects finding their way into them. If fruit and veggies are part of the preparation, make sure to protect them from decay. Some can be left out but many fruits and vegetables will benefit from being covered with water and placed in the refrigerator until you need to use them at which time you can drain them and use them.

Ways to Maximize Meal Planning

1. Look at your daily schedule. Most people find that the time around the evening meal is hectic. Preparation for most dishes can be made up to twenty-four hours in advance unless the item is extremely perishable. For working parents, it might be easier to measure things out and get them ready the night before while the children are in bed. For a stay-at-home mom or a work-at-home parent, a good time might be in the morning before the children wake up or immediately after the children go to school. Think outside the box and do not limit yourself to food prep immediately before the meal.
2. If you are teaching a child or spouse how to cook, this is an ideal way to make the project easier. You can prep the food in advance and let them put the meal together. As the gain confidence in the kitchen, then you can have them start helping with prep.