Meal Prep and Food Safety

by | Jun 27, 2019 | Meal Prep

cutting vegetables and safely storing food

Way back when it wasn’t cool to meal prep, my wife and I premade meals to save time and money. By today’s curated Instagram standards we were on the low brow spectrum. Calling it meal planning is actually kind of a stretch. By meal prep I mean making lots of food and freezing portions we didn’t eat. There was really no plan, just cooking, eating and then freezing leftovers. Sure, we sometimes wrote the date on the outside of the aluminum foil wrapped repurposed Country Crock tub, but other then that, there was no tracking time spent in the deep freeze. Nor did we think too much about food safety while we sipped wine and let leftovers sit out for a little too long.

Food Safety

That was back then when it was just us. Now that we are little older, a smidge bit wiser, and have kids to feed, more thought goes into meal prep than it did in the past. The one biggest and most important food prep topic that doesn’t get much Instagram fodder is food safety. And why would it? Mold is not pretty and neither is a case of food poisoning. Now that I say that, I’m sure there’s someone out there writing a book on Campylobacter and its weightloss benefits.

4 Days Is the Max

According to the USDA’s latest reminder, the max time for premade, precooked, ready to eat, whatever you want to call it, is 4 days. I don’t know about you, but when I hear this, 4 days seems long to me. But, I have trusted their recommendation and it’s a little more convenient and a whole lot more tasty than freezing on Monday and thawing on Thursday. Check out Erica Chayes Wida’s piece that gives you the lowdown on the topic at the Today website.

Food Handling No-brainers

Okay, so these tips are going to seem obvious, but just bear with me here. I am writing these not just for you but as reminders to myself.

  • Only use clean containers
  • Don’t let food sit out too long – no more than an hour
  • Use gloves, your hands are gross
  • Label foods with a use-by date, not the date it was made
  • Keep food prep surfaces clean and use antibac cleaners that are non-toxic