Meal Planning Has Gone to The Grills

Forget the Slow Cooker, Oven and Instant Pot…
Get Out of the Kitchen and on the Grill.

If you’ve ever followed a meal plan, you’ve experienced at least one Sunday where you’ve spent hours in the kitchen, pots on the stove, pans in the oven and Tupperware everywhere, preparing for the following week. But have you ever considered batch cooking your healthy food on the grill? Cooking on the grill cuts back on cook times and cleanup, plus food on the grill is so much more flavorful. Wouldn’t it be great to be excited about the food you’ll be eating all week? We’ve curated our best tips, tricks and recipes for meal prepping on the grill.

Have a Plan

It sounds simple but it’s the first thing we neglect when we get busy. Start by figuring out what you’re trying to do:

• Cut out carbs?
• Reduce your calorie intake?
• Build muscle mass at the gym?

Develop a menu around your goals. Are you cooking for the work week (which is 5 days) or the entire week (which is 7 days)? How much of each food item on your menu will you need? Do you need any oil? Seasonings? Do you have fuel for your grill? Taking a little time to plan ahead will ensure you can get in and out of the grocery store without forgetting any key ingredients.

Get the Gear

GrillGrates, the GrateTongs and the GrateGriddle are all meal plan must-haves.

GrillGrates give you a raised cooking surface with no risk of dropping your food in the fire while the valleys catch and vaporize food drippings, making food more flavorful. Over time, your seasoned GrillGrates will become more non-stick, another important feature for grilling lean meats and fish. With our GrateTool and the GrateTongs you’ll have the ability to get under your  food and LIFT it off the grates as opposed to traditional spatulas that use a scraping action. The GrateGriddle is ideal for eggs and even chopped veggies.

Tip: Don’t wait until you’re done grilling all this food to discover that you don’t have enough Tupperware to store it all in.

We recommend these simple, dishwasher safe, compartmentalized meal prep containers from Amazon:

We had some fun with them the other day at the office, you can get them here.

Fill the Grill

Make the most of the space you’ve got on the grill. If you have extra space after adding your protein, add extra vegetables! If you’re out of veggies, throw on some pineapple or watermelon. Both are excellent grilled and provide a healthy alternative to satisfy a sweet tooth while you’re trying to eat healthy.

Measure Your Meals

Any nutritionist or dietitian will tell you that one of the keys to losing weight is portion control. Make sure that you’re measuring and weighing your cooked foods before separating into containers for the week. This will also make sure that you don’t run out before you’ve divided everything up.

Amazon has this digital food scale from Ozeri. It has over 14,000 reviews, 4.5 stars and it’s the #1 Best Seller. AND it comes in a variety of colors, so you can get one that will match your kitchen.

You can get the scale here.

Lastly: FOLLOW THROUGH!

Now that you’ve done all this work, make sure you follow through and eat all these great meals you’ve prepared. We all know how mornings can be when you’re running around getting ready for school, work, or trying to get kids out the door. Find a reminder method that works for you:

• Set an alarm on your phone for 10 minutes before you need to leave to pack your meals.
• Put a post-it note on the door or in your car.
• Put your lunch bag right next to your purse, keys or wallet so you’ll see it empty before you leave.

AND, don’t forget to drink plenty of water!

We think you’ll find that meal prepping on the grill is cleaner, easier, and more flavorful than any meal prep you’ve ever done before.

Grill Grate and Eat Well!

-Meagan

Food for Thought – Tips and Tricks for Healthy Grilling

• Meat is not the enemy – just don’t burn it.
  Charred, burned meat does contain known carcinogens but there are plenty of ways to off-set them. Eliminating flare-ups is the best way to control char and the bottom plate of GrillGrates does just that. Better control of the grill will allow you to cook your food to goal temps without cooking everything to the point of “well done”. Additionally, marinating your meat before grilling can help reduce carcinogens by up to 99%*.
   *Check out the infographic from Dr. Axe on our Healthy Grilling page for more information on the benefits of marinating

• Get very good veggies without baskets or butter.
  • Cut vegetables into larger pieces to make for easier handling on the grill. They can always be sliced up smaller prior to serving.
  • The grill will bring out the amazing natural flavors in your veggies – all you need to season with is olive oil, salt and pepper.
  • Experiment with new veggies like beets, Brussels sprouts, eggplant and artichokes. You’ll be surprised what you might like when it’s grilled.

• No need to foil your fish.
  • The non-stick surface of GrillGrates is ideal for cooking fish – put fish directly on the grates without any aluminum foil or baskets. Use your GrateTool and GrateTongs to lift fish without scraping.
  • Before cooking, prepare fish with oil and any seasonings you plan to use.
  • Make sure your grill is HOT (450° to 500°F) and clean or fish may stick.

• Consider meat alternatives
  • Salmon Burgers, black bean burgers, and even portobello mushroom burgers are all tasty alternatives to red meat burgers.
  • Plant-based products from companies like Beyond Meat who offer The Beyond Burger that promise to “look, cook and satisfy like beef”.

For more information about Healthy Grilling, visit www.grillgrate.com/healthy-grilling.