Food prepping tips: How to prepare veggies and meat after grocery shopping so that they are ready for cooking at any time!

Food prepping post #4

July 22, 2020

Hello World!!  What do you do with the veggies and meat that you just bought when you get home from grocery shopping?  I think it is essential that we process these items as soon as they arrive at our kitchen!  That is because the longer they sit in the fridge in the original package, the longer it will take to cook them!  By the way, every Wednesday of this month I have been writing blog posts on how to food prep with a view to alleviating the stress of doing everything at once when cooking at home and also to motivating us to cook more with less resistance!  If this sounds good to you, please keep reading!  😊   I have shared 5 secrets that every home cook should know about food prepping (July 1, 2020). I would encourage you to click the link to find out what they are!  😊

Last week, I talked about how to grocery shop: money and time saving grocery shopping strategies. (please click the link once again if you haven’t had a chance to.  😊) Today I would like to talk about the third  secret to a successful food prepping:  how to process veggies and meat product so that they are ready for cooking.

Processing veggies and meat as soon as you get back from grocery shopping has many advantages.  First, produce will stay fresh longer.   I found that vegetables tend to stay fresher when they are washed and stored right away in a container (preferably in a glass container, but I occasionally use plastic containers for convenience.)  Meat product such as fresh chicken, pork or beef will stay fresher when they are processed with spices and marinades.  The seasoning agents will not only flavor the meat but also act as preservatives. 

Second advantage of advance prepping would be the easier cooking process, as you just have cook!  Making a salad would be much easier, of course.  You can use the meat right away as it has been already seasoned.  Having main ingredients of a dish all ready to go is definitely a huge help that you want to resort to as much as possible!  :) 

Here’s an easy marinade that I use for prepping meat.  Sometimes I cook the meat or sometimes freeze it in portions.  

Easy Korean pork marinade: 2 parts soy sauce, 1 part white wine, sesame oil (small amount)

pork (ribend) in the easy Korean pork marinade

This recipe works very well for pork, but you can also use it for chicken or beef, or even for seafood!   You may want to adjust the amounts as soy sauce tends to have varying degrees of saltiness.  You may also add some sugar (or sweetener of your choice), if desired.  In general, you will need about ½ cup of marinade for about 2 pounds of meat, but this again depends on how strong you want the marinade to be in the meat. 

Photos of veggies washed and prepared.

wash veggies right after grocery shopping: kale and 
rainbow chard in the wash

Store veggies in large containers for longer shelf life:
kale, leaf lettuce, green cabbage washed and cut

So, there you have it!  Advance prepping could be a huge kitchen helper you can rely on when things get really hectic and you don't feel like cooking!!  Hope you find today's post helpful.  :)

Thanks for visiting my blog and please share your thoughts in the comments~~ 😊💗