Turning a Weekly Chore Into a Ritual You Actually Look Forward To

Meal prep has a branding problem.

Somewhere along the way, meal prep got a bad rep: Sunday scaries, messy Tupperware drawers, and the (sometimes not-so) quiet resentment of eating the same thing five days in a row. No wonder so many of us have fueled the 70% growth of Uber Eats over the past 5 years.

But here’s the truth: the most sustainable habits aren’t the most efficient ones.

They’re the ones you romanticize enough to repeat.

Step One: Set the Mood (Yes, This Matters)

Before you chop a single vegetable, put on a playlist you love. This is non-negotiable. We don’t make the rules!

Maybe it’s some Billy Joel while you whip up chicken piccata, transporting you back to Little Italy on a summer afternoon. Maybe it’s an early-2000s throwback playlist—because duh. Or maybe it’s a podcast you’ve been saving all week (we cannot get enough of Good Hang with Amy Poehler). The point is to signal to your brain: this time is yours.

Feeling extra? Light a candle. Pour a glass of something you enjoy. Crack open the windows. 

Don’t view this as a chore to rush through but a weekly reset setting you and your family up for success throughout the week. 

How Romanticizing Meal Prep Actually Reduces Waste

When meal prep feels punishing, we avoid it. When we avoid it, food goes bad.

The average American household wastes 30–40% of the food he or she buys, and most of that waste isn’t about bad intentions. It’s about overwhelm and decision fatigue.

Romanticizing the process helps remove that friction. It makes starting easier, and starting is usually the hardest part.

(If produce storage is usually where things fall apart for you, our guide on how to store produce so it actually gets eaten is the next best read for you.)

Think “Building Blocks,” Not Meals

Meal prep doesn’t have to mean chicken, rice, and broccoli every day. Unless that’s your jam, then jam away. 

What we recommend instead of prepping full meals is to prep ingredients that can become many things. Like a capsule wardrobe. 

Set the stage for the week with: 

• One flexible protein (beans, lentils, baked tofu, rotisserie chicken)
• Two comforting carb bases (rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes)
• Three vegetables you actually enjoy

These are ingredients you can remix based on your mood. Bowls one night, tacos the next, soup when you’re tired or it’s a dreary day out. 

If planning those combinations still feels like mental work, our guide on How I Use AI to Reduce My Food Waste shows how to offload that thinking entirely.

Cook for Future-You (She’s Tired)

When you’re already cooking dinner, make extra.

Not because you’re being productive, but because future you deserves it. There is nothing more romantic than opening your freezer and realizing past you thought of you. Although ethically soured diamond tennis bracelets will always be romantic to me.

Stacks on Stacks of Mismatched Tupperware

I don’t know if you’re Type A like me, but I need a system. One that’s easily repeated so I’m not reinventing the wheel each week. 

My key to success in this area is containers that easily stack or nest. Different sizes and shapes for your protein, condiments, snacks, etc. 

Check out our guide on Produce Storage to learn which containers are Finch-approved. 

Rewrite the Schedule to Match Your Life

If Sunday meal prep drains you and you’d rather enjoy the day, don’t feel the need to force it. 

I did exactly that. We like to spend our Sundays doing something as a family, binging our favorite shows (hooked on Ponies as of late), and keeping things stress-free. So we shifted our routine to grocery shopping and batch cooking on Monday nights. And we try to make it fun for everyone. As the kids get older, we’ll include them more and more, making sure they aren’t the 25 year-olds who are just learning how to cut an onion. 

That change alone made meal prep feel supportive instead of suffocating.

Romanticizing your weekly meal prep isn’t about pretending life is slower than it is.

It’s about creating small moments of calm inside the chaos and building systems that make sustainability feel like care, not sacrifice.

Keep Going:

• New to storing prepped food so it actually lasts? → Read our Produce Storage Guide
• Want help planning meals around what you already have? → Read how I use AI to help reduce my food waste (really)