Bring on the chills!

It’s probably safe to say that most people want to be healthy. They want to eat healthy, live healthy, and feel healthy. Despite this overwhelming desire, most don’t actually live up to their potential when it comes to planning and preparing healthy meals.

Think about the typical meal-time routine of many, many people: wing it for breakfast and rely on take-out for either lunch, dinner, or possibly both.

No judgment here. This is how I used to roll every day of my life. 

Why is this the case? Some say there’s not enough time, others say it’s too hard, but the reality is more likely a failure to plan.

This is a perfect example of trying to solve the wrong problem! 

If you believe the reason you are “winging it” for every meal is because you don’t have enough time to cook, you will never solve the problem.

You think the problem is not having enough time.

But that’s not the real problem. You can’t make more time. 

The real problem is that you are not planning. 

If you are planning your meals but are still winging it, the problem is that you are not executing the plan.

Those are both problems we can easily solve. 

But not having enough time is not the problem. So stop trying to solve it. It’s a waste of time!

Today, let’s upgrade one of my favorite tools in the kitchen! It will level up your meal planning and prep game and set you up to have healthy, delicious foods and meals ready on a dime!

What am I talking about?

Your freezer!

Strategically utilizing your freezer will help make sure you always have healthy food available! In this article, we’re going to talk about why and how your freezer should be your best friend in optimizing your meal planning (and prepping) efforts.

Let’s first differentiate the difference between meal planning and meal prepping. 

Meal planning is the process in which you decide what meals you’re having on what day (e.g. Monday: black bean burger with roasted potatoes and salad, Tuesday: veggie stir fry with basmati rice and spinach). 

Meal prepping is the process of actually cooking and preparing those meals (e.g. you spend a few hours on Sunday cooking to set yourself up for the week). 

Now that we’ve established the basics, let’s get to your freezer…

Your freezer is by far the best and most under-utilized aspect of the kitchen. Where else can you store the components of a healthy meal for months without spoilage? 

Healthy meals should always incorporate high-quality protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates (think vegetables, grains, etc.). Except for healthy fats (they’re usually on your countertop or in the fridge) we can stock your freezer with high-quality protein and complex carbohydrates to ensure you always have nutrient-dense food available to plan and prepare healthy meals.

While frozen vegetables typically get a bad rap, the truth is, they actually can be more nutritious than their fresh, grocery-store counterparts! Frozen vegetables are typically picked at the height of their ripeness when they’re bursting with vitamins and minerals (1). The process of flash freezing locks in those precious nutrients and halts the process of enzyme activity that begins to break down (and spoil) food. Frozen fruits and vegetables are superior nutritionally to those that are canned because the canning process tends to result in nutrient loss (2).

If you are choosing to include meat in your meals, there are some great services out there that ship high-quality frozen meat and wild-caught fish, but you can also ask your local butcher or fishmonger to pack up your protein to go straight to the freezer.

The benefit of having frozen meat and fish, again, is the fact that it won’t spoil for quite some time and you’ll always have this meal staple available. The one potential downside of frozen protein is the time it takes for said protein to defrost, but that’s where a weekly plan comes in handy (or an instant pot to cook from frozen!).

But let’s not forget that there are plenty of plant sources of protein that are quick and easy to prepare! Many whole grains and beans can be batched-cooked and then portioned out to freeze. Tofu is even better after it’s spent some time in the freezer! There are also some other great services that ship frozen meals or components of meals that are also plant-based. Meat isn’t the only way to get protein!

Think of the proteins, grains, fruits, and vegetables that you and your family love and that you cook with often. 

There is nothing worse than stocking your freezer with a bunch of stuff no one will eat! Such a waste of time, money, and space!

The best way to start your meal-planning efforts is to be organized! Take inventory of what you have in the house, write it down, and match up days to meals. You’ll never have to defrost frozen vegetables, so they’ll be ready when you need them. But if you are cooking meat, make sure to plan when to take those out of the freezer to defrost so they are ready when you need them.

I hope you see how valuable your freezer can be in creating healthy meals on a regular basis. The truth is, you can only be as healthy as your kitchen allows, so prioritizing healthy meal-time staples is a really important first step!

Did you know that meal planning training is included with my coaching services? Even better, I can provide my clients with customized meal plans and all the recipes! No more searching pages and pages of recipes on the Internet. Let me do the work for you! 

That is just one component of my program. I would love to tell you more about it and how I can help you reach your health goals! Click the button below to schedule your FREE consult!

Resources:

1. Munoz, Kissairis. “Frozen vs. Fresh Vegetables: Which Is Healthier?” Dr. Axe, 14 June 2021, draxe.com/nutrition/frozen-vs-fresh-vegetables/.

2. “Are Frozen Vegetables Healthy? - Ask Dr. Weil.” DrWeil.com, 3 Dec. 2016, www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/nutrition/are-frozen-vegetables-healthy/.