We prepare several different snacks in the course of batch cooking day. Hardboiled eggs are one of our protein snacks of choice, and we generally prepare a dozen at a time. The wife and I boil eggs differently, so here are the two ways we use:

The wife: Set the eggs gently in a pot and cover with water. Put pot on burner on high heat and bring to a boil. Turn off the burner and put a lid on the pot. Let set for 20 minutes. Take eggs out of hot water and put in cool water. Done again.

Me: Set eggs gently in pot and fill with water to cover. Put pot on burner on High heat and bring to a boil. Let boil for 9-10 minutes. Take the eggs out of the hot water and put in cool water. That’s me done.

Both ways work, so do what suits you. We just put them back in the egg carton, write HARD on the side, and we’ve got snacks for days.

Note: Older eggs are better for hard-boiled eggs—they peel much more easily than fresh eggs. If you raise chickens and have your own eggs to choose from, choose the oldest. If you’re buying them from the store, any egg will probably be old enough to work well.

My primary duty on batch cooking day is chopping vegetables.

For snacks I cut a bag of carrot and a bunch or two of celery into sticks and put them into containers that I keep in the fridge. These make great snacks. If you want a little more flavor, dip them in peanut butter or almond butter. (The wife is currently dabbing tiny bits of Ranch dressing on hers, but that obviously not as healthy as the nut butters, but whatever gets you to eat your vegetables.)

After a couple months of cutting, I made a “carrot jig” (a 5-inch L-shaped piece of wood) to use as a guide so that each cut is the same length. It makes the chopping process incredibly fast and, really, it just makes sense. Then again, maybe that’s too uptight for you and that’s fine, if you’re okay with underutilized space in the container due to uneven carrot lengths.

I also eat a lot of fruit for snacks. We have several fruit bowls that we fill each week with bananas, apples, oranges, pears, nectarines, grapes, or whatever’s in season. Because they’re always on display, and in a central location, I just grab what I want.

Of course I still eat Builder Bars and Skittles when I train, but I have found that the batch cooking approach to snacks has helped me make much better decision on a daily basis.