Meal Prep – The Other Shift

Meal Prep Tools

Do you meal prep? Or do you visit the grocery store every single day? To save time, money and also your waistline, we always recommend putting some thought into what you eat during and around your shifts. But the technique you adopt and the tools you use need to be efficient and work in well with our busy schedules.

So, here are 5 kitchen / food transport items we recommend for all shift workers to save time and create “finger licking” good meals:

These items are found in our kitchen setup and are a staple of our everyday living. If you have great knives and you’re happy with your saucepan, stick with those. But just remember, you don’t have to waste precious time and energy on equipment which is letting you down.

Global Knife Set

Our Global Knife set is hands-down the top recommendation on this list.

We don’t have the time or energy to waste on blunt, flimsy knives that struggle to even cut a carrot.

The Global 7-piece Knife Block Set from Amazon.com may require a little saving to make the purchase, but we honestly cannot recommend a product higher.

All six knives vary in size and have a particular use. They sit snug into the very classy knife block, that will fit nicely with any decor. The handles on each knife are all part of the blade so there will never be any issues with the blade slipping or becoming disconnected (this caused some “bloody” issues for Dan in the past).

And they can clean slice tomatoes with EASE!

Em says they are simply the best knives she will ever use (within a shift workers price range).

Individual knives and the 2 Piece Set are also available if you just want to try them out before committing to the whole set. They also sell a great knife sharpener (click to see the Amazon link). We have had our knives for 3 years now and haven’t needed to sharpen them more than a handful of times.

*Top tip – to preserve our knives they NEVER go into the dishwasher. We simply wash them by hand. It takes 30 seconds, no big deal.

Global Knife Set — Our set of Global Knives

Click to explore Global Knives via Amazon

Slow Cooker

This appliance single handedly makes shift work better.

We discuss the reasons why we love them, particularly when preparing for the night shift in this article here.

The one we currently use is the Crock-Pot 4-Quart Manual Slow Cooker. While it’s okay and does the job, it is not ideal for shift workers and probably too small for a family or more than two or three people.

We need a timer, the ability for it to switch settings and program different options and this model just doesn’t offer those things. We rushed here, because it was on sale and in hindsight, would make a different decision.

Therefore we recommend Crock-Pot 6-Quart Cook & Carry Slow Cooker. It has a timer, it’s programmable, shifts to the warm setting automatically and has a lockable lid keeping your kids (and husband) away from stealing the meat! And of course, it’s also great when needing to transport.

It’s a perfect size to feed a family of four or a single person, who enjoys leftovers. It’s also dishwasher safe if you’re feeling lazy, which funnily enough, was a must-have feature for Dan and I.

If you are more into pressure cookers, we recommend the Instant Pot 7-in-1 Multi-Use Pressure Cooker. While we are more privy to the slow cooker purely due to experience, this model is hugely popular both within our shift work community, workplace and also our families.

This pressure cooker is pretty amazing with what it can do. Not only does it pressure cook, to support our generally rushed lifestyle, but it’s also a slow cooker, warmer, rice cooker, steamer and yogurt marker. It has a ton of different features meaning you can cook really whatever you want with the touch of a button.

Slow Cooker

Pressure Cooker

Cookware

When we started working shift work and living together as a couple for this first time, we didn’t appreciate what a good saucepan felt like. Fast forward a decade, we have developed a love for T-fal products; high-quality nonstick pans that clean easily.

We just don’t have time spending hours buying special cleaners and using particular cooking techniques to make a meal. Time is precious for shift workers.

We recommend the T-fal Titanium Cookware Set. Dan and I, plus our extended family, uses this set and love it.

This is what we love about them:

Dishwasher safe but also super easy to wash by hand
Stackable
Heats evenly
Easy to hold handle
Not too heavy
Nonstick
12-Piece
Our favorite piece, 3 qt Deep Saute pot with a lid! This is very rare in other products
Trusted brand
Lifetime limited warranty
Great price for 12 pieces of high-quality

Glass Containers

When thinking about containers to transport our precious meal and snacks to a shift, there are a few things we want and need in a container.

They can’t stain and show the spaghetti we had a few weeks ago
They can’t smell weird
The lid must fit on perfectly without needing to use our whole body weight to shut it.
Freezable
Safely re-heatable (to high temperatures)
Dishwasher friendly (even on the bottom rack)
Different sizes but all matching so they stack easily
Durable and environmentally friendly as we want to stay away from plastic

We found a set of containers which ticks all these boxes and they are Utopia Kitchen [18-Piece] Glass Food Storage Containers with Lids from Amazon.com

Here is also why we love them:

Great variety of different sizes for your meal and condiments.
Clear lids mean you are able to see any gunk and clean it properly. Colored lids available in other brands make this difficult.
Four-sided locking system takes a few extra seconds to secure, but it makes us feel safer when transporting food to work.
Great freezer protection not giving your food “ice crystals.”
Great customer service if there is an issue with the product.

*Note: When transporting soup the only thing we ever trust is the Thermos Stainless Steel Compact Bottle. We have a full recommendations page about this bottle and also tumblers you’ll find here.

Mobile Silverware/Cutlery

How many times have you needed to eat cereal with a fork? Or steak with a spoon while at work. It’s awful.

One cannot have confidence on the silverware (cutlery) in your work tearoom. It either doesn’t exist or it’s filthy dirty and you’ll catch something from using it.

We recommend the Xpeciall 9 Piece Silverware Set for a few reasons:

It’s stainless steel which is a lot nicer to use than plastic and is more durable.
It comes with a bag to keep the utensils clean
It comes with a long teaspoon. This is what makes this set stand out from the others. We don’t want to use a big soup spoon to eat our breakfast yogurt. Plus, the long size of this teaspoon allows you to use a long skinny mug or tumbler and not have to dip your fingers in.
Chopsticks
x2 straws of varying sizes with a straw cleaner.
Very reasonably priced