THE 7 LEVELS OF MEAL PREP to fit your
TIME ENERGY MONEY You have three basic resources in life:
TIME ENERGY MONEY
Here's a brief guide to choosing how you should meal prep, based on the resources you have.
LEVEL 1 EXCELLENT
Grow it Yourself EXCELLENT
SCARCE PROCESS: > Build a garden; buy seeds & top toil > Kitchen: mint, rosemary, basil, thyme > Balcony: tomatoes, kale, cucumber, zucchini > Garden: apples, lemons, carrots, corn, avocado
PAYOFF: > $15-30/week for the average garden
*$680 (yield) - $240 (set-up), via Journal of Extension; Apr. 2014, Vol. 52 (2) LEVEL 2 GOOD
Grocery Store GOOD
TIGHT PROCESS: > Pick it up yourself > Cook it from scratch > Examples: Whole Foods, Urban Fare, Safeway, SaveOnFoods, Walmart, Superstore, No Frills
COST: > $50-300/week LEVEL 3 DECENT
Grocery Delivery DECENT
OKAY PROCESS: > Order online > Cook it from scratch > Examples: Spud, Instacart, InABuggy
COST: > $100-350/week LEVEL 4 TIGHT
Prepped Delivery DECENT
DECENT PROCESS: > Order online > Ready to cook & serve > Examples: HelloFresh, FreshPrep
COST: > $150-400/week LEVEL 5 TIGHT
Pre-Cooked Delivery LOW
GOOD PROCESS: > Order online > Reheat & eat > Examples: Frankie's Meals, FitnessFoods, Vancouver Muscle Meals, Eat Your Cake
COST: > $200-550/week LEVEL 6 TIGHT
Hot Meal Delivery LOW
GREAT PROCESS: > Order online > Tip & eat > Examples: Uber Eats, DoorDash, Foodora, Skip The Dishes, GrubHub
COST: > $300-850/week LEVEL 7 LIMITED
Personal Chef LIMITED
FLUSH PROCESS: > Pick out your favourite recipes (anything) > Go to the kitchen and eat > Examples: Thomas Davidson (Vancouver)
COST: > $1,000-3,000/week ASK YOURSELF:
Which have I been optimizing for? Which should I be optimizing for?
AND THEN GO DO THAT.