The terms meal prep and ingredient prep get thrown around a lot, but do you know the difference? They are both similar in that they help you get prepared for the week ahead. Plus, being prepared can help you stick to low FODMAP portions! Read on to learn about the difference between the two and whether you’re team meal prep or team ingredient prep.
What’s the difference?
Whilst they may sound like the same thing, ingredient and meal prep are slightly different. Meal prep refers to cooking whole meals or snacks at one time, so they are ready to go when you want them. However, meal prep is not for everyone, especially if you find you get bored of eating the same thing every day.
Ingredient prep on the other hand refers to prepping a variety of ingredients (such as baking or pre-chopping vegetables) so they’re ready to throw in when you go to cook your meals or snacks. Both methods can help you to be more prepared for the week ahead which can allow you to consume a healthy and balanced diet. Plus, it can actually save you time and money!
Low FODMAP Meal Prep
There are a variety of different low FODMAP meals and snacks that you can prepare at the start of the week. To make sure you’re prepping a balanced meal, aim to include a good source of protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats and lots of vegetables (we love a colourful meal). For more tips about exactly what this could look like, check out our blog post!
To spice things up throughout the week, try prepping a variety of different dressings for your salads/meals. This can help to prevent you from getting bored of the meals you’ve made. Some of our favourite low FODMAP meals to use in our meal prep include:
- Stir-fries such as our all in beef stir-fry with chilli and ginger
- Salads such as our Asian beef salad
- Pastas such as our Bolognese with low FODMAP veggies
- Stews such as our chilli con carne recipe
Low FODMAP Ingredient Prep
Ingredient prep refers to batch cooking or preparing one type of food. This is perfect if you get sick of having the same thing every day. By prepping the ingredients, it means they’re ready to throw into whatever meal you feel like making at the time.
Ingredient prep allows you to be more prepared when it comes to mealtime without compromising on variety. Our favourite ways to ingredient prep include:
- Cooking up a few different low FODMAP protein sources (such as chicken, beef mince or tofu) to add to your salads, wraps and sandwiches
- Cooking up a tray of roasted low FODMAP vegetables (such as Japanese pumpkin, carrot and potatoes) to add to your meals throughout the week
- Pre-chopping some low FODMAP veggies (such as carrots, capsicum, cucumber and broccoli heads) to cook when it comes to dinner time or to eat with some low FODMAP dip as a snack
The only downside when it comes to ingredient prep on a low FODMAP diet is that you still need to be cautious of your portion sizes when you’re preparing your meals. A great way you can account for this is to separate your pre-prepared ingredients into low FODMAP portions. By portioning out your ingredients in containers you can make sure your meals are always low FODMAP.
By Ellie Thompson and Amanda Gaukroger
IG: @thefodmapchallenge
Image sourced from @Pinterest
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