Preparation is Key! Tips for Smooth Meal Prepping

Today was the day for our meal prep workshop!

10 dishes prepped in 2 hours!
To everyone who participated, you all did a fantastic job.

I am often asked, "How are you able to cook so many dishes in such a short amount of time?"

So, this time, I will share tips on how to organize your workflow to cook efficiently in a short time!

3 Tips for Becoming Better at Organizing Your Workflow

Tip 1: Prepare thoroughly

Getting everything ready is the absolute foundation for cooking efficiently.
It is no exaggeration to say that preparation is 90% of the work!

Before you start cooking, make sure to finish the following:

• Wash the dishes piled up in the sink

• Take out the necessary ingredients from the refrigerator and remove any bags or packaging

• Prepare the seasonings, pots, and cooking utensils you will use

Why is preparation important?
For example, if you frequently have to stop what you are doing to "look for seasonings" or "take ingredients out of the fridge," your workflow will be interrupted every time.
Also, touching the refrigerator or shelves with dirty hands is not good for hygiene.

In the past, I also had an experience where I ran out of time and panicked because I neglected preparation. Since then, I have keenly felt the importance of this "advance preparation"!

In my meal prep workshops, I also carefully teach this preparation step first. That is how essential preparation is to the success of cooking.

Tip 2: Be conscious of your end time

In cooking, being conscious of "when you need to finish by" is extremely important.

When I worked in a school lunch facility, there was a set "eating time" (the time when meals had to be served). I developed the habit of working backward from that time to ensure I met the deadline.

For example

• In a company cafeteria, the lunch break is short, so delays in serving meals affect operations.

• In a hospital, if meal times are delayed, it interferes with medication schedules and treatment plans.

• In elderly care facilities, it is necessary to consider the schedules of those who require meal assistance.

Leveraging these experiences to devise the optimal procedure for finishing meal prep in two hours is the foundation of my meal prep course.

Part 3: Working in Parallel

To cook efficiently, you need to find ways to group tasks or perform them in parallel.

For example,

• Finish all prep work at once: If you cut all the vegetables before you start cooking, things will proceed smoothly.

• Perform tasks in parallel while keeping cooking times in mind: Make a salad while a stew is simmering, effectively utilizing "waiting time."

Thinking through the cooking process like solving a puzzle takes a bit of brainpower, but this is the shortcut to becoming a master of planning!

Planning techniques you can use in daily life

Actually, this "planning" can be applied to household chores other than cooking.

• A challenge to clean up children's toys in 5 minutes! (Involve the kids too)

• A challenge to finish hanging the laundry in 10 minutes!

• A challenge to finish organizing 10 emails in 10 minutes!

When you set time limits like these, you naturally start thinking about efficiency. Everyone, please give it a try!

Next Preview: More Tips for Becoming a Master of Preparation

How did you like these preparation tips? There are still many secrets I haven't been able to share yet!
Next time, I would like to talk about the following topics:

• How to choose cooking tools to make meal prepping even smoother

• How to think about cooking processes to clarify priorities and proceed smoothly

Please look forward to it!

Also, if you are interested in our meal prep course, please come visit our cooking class.
Let's aim to become masters of preparation together!

[Click here for our online cooking class]