MEAL PREP GADGET ESSENTIALS

Meal prepping is something I get a lot of questions about. Most recently, I was straight up asked "How do I meal prep? I don't know even know where to begin." So we'll try to cover this in a series of videos, articles, and recipes.

One place to start, we need to have the right equipment to prepare all of these meals. Obviously you need some decent cooking utensils, pots, pans, knives, cutting boards, other cookware and mixing bowls. But here are a few of the things I have and use weekly or daily:

Food Scale: https://amzn.to/2GULEwZ I do not have this specific one as I picked mine up at Walmart, but I wanted to put something cheap on this list. This doesn't need to be anything extravagant. Just need to be able to weigh out and portion out your foods. This is the 'Amazon Choice' one so you know with 21,000+ ratings it has to be sufficient.

Rice Cooker: https://amzn.to/38WsGSl This was the first rice cooker (8 cup size) I bought and now also have a larger one as well (16 cup). This makes cooking rice so simple. Put in rice, add water, power on. Can't beat it. So I will pair this with the next item for mass production of carbs.

Large Pet Food Storage Container: https://amzn.to/37PuZqf I actually use this air-tight pet food container to store my rice. Why such a large container? I personally buy 25lb bags of Jasmine rice at Costco at a time and only need to buy what I believe 2-3 per year.

"Tupperware" Containers: https://amzn.to/2RJMjr3 These have been my favorite size containers. Time and time again I look for possible new ones and come back to these. The size just fits very well and they fit well storing in the refrigerator or your daily cooler. These are the exact ones I use but I believe you can find them cheaper at Walmart. We might have 30+ of them that we use on a weekly basis.

Reusable Keurig Coffee K-Cup: https://amzn.to/2GKALxo If you are a coffee drinker and chances are that if you are reading this you like to eat on a cheaper budget like myself, these are an easy way to cut back on daily coffee expenses. That is, if you have a Keurig. Buying K-cups can get pricey, but using these and buying your own ground coffee comes out much cheaper.

"Chopper": https://amzn.to/2GKzfLW This thing is a huge time saver when dicing up vegetables. Mostly use this for onions and bell peppers, but obviously you can get as creative you want with vegetables.

Air Fryer: https://amzn.to/2OhtcCF We haven't had one of these for a long time, but the more we use it, the more we love it. We have this exact one, but there are multiple of them out there. 2 of our favorite things we make with this is fried asparagus and chicken wings. I really like being able to make wings and then add whatever sauces I want to have a fun variety.

Vegetable Spiralizer: https://amzn.to/2Ohkd4o We have a small version of this and as I am writing this just bought this one. Excited for this to save use some time and effort in this process. We use this to make zucchini noodles for keto-friendly recipes.

Apple Corer: https://amzn.to/36O6msJ This is another 'Amazon Choice' selection as we have had one forever. Makes eating apples (and dipping them in nut butters) much easier.

Crock Pot: https://amzn.to/2tm5yh6 You can get a crock pot for like $10 on Black Friday, but you'll thank yourself for spending a little more and getting this one. The lid locks on and had a programmable cooking timer so you don't end up over-cooking your food. So easy to use and SO many recipes available out there (check Pinterest for ideas)

Baking Dishes w/ Lids: https://amzn.to/2OhpbOy We have these exact baking dishes. Great to be able to seal up larger quantities of food once you use them to cook with and you can throw them right into the fridge. You can't bake with the lids but they also make for easy transport if you ever have to take your food to parties.

Food Thermometer: https://amzn.to/3b3qo5F This is an 'Amazon Best Seller" with 17,000+ reviews. I have this exact one and use it weekly when finding the safe and right cooking temps of my proteins. So far so good in reliability and ease of use.