Prepare your weekly ingredients

Getting your ingredients ready before you need them is an essential part of successful meal prep. It ensures you can put everything together quickly and cuts down on the total cooking time. Exactly how you prepare your ingredients depends on how you plan to use them. For simple salads and soups, that might mean washing, peeling, and chopping veggies. For a mid-week barbeque, that might involve marinating some meat. If you love padding out meals with sweet potatoes, that might mean pre-cooking a few.  Once properly prepared, place the ingredients in separate containers or bags and store them in the fridge or freezer.