Does anyone else meal prep?

BigLifter10

I do now (for the past couple of years), but am not a planner by nature as far as that goes. I don't like it, but am thrilled that I don't have to try to always think of something when it's time for food. I love it when people post pics and details of their foods as it give me additional ideas. I'm pretty basic with my food, although I have recently forayed into spices and healthier sauce options!

Edited to add: I usually prep twice a week so my Sunday isn't overloaded (because that's how I feel when I do a week at a time). So Sunday and Wednesday typically. I do occasionally eat out, so that throws me a little, but I try not to do that much at all anymore.

Brolympus

I really need to start doing this. I despise cooking everyday. Getting it done in a couple hours for the whole week would be amazing.

Queenmunchy

as9823 wrote: »

Queenmunchy wrote: »

Yep, for 7 years now!

Very impressive!

I was a single mom for a while (I'm now engaged), have a demanding job, and we have a lot of extracurricular activities. I would have never been able to feed myself and my child healthy meals everyday if I didn't prep Now it's second nature, and I just make 2-6 dishes/items every weekend and portion to freeze.

Brolympus

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

... Where are the vegetables? And the fat?

We meal prep on a weekend - it's necessary when we're prepping for a comp, and just easier when we're not. I can't imagine having to think every day about what I'm having the next day!

I would assume any veggie cooked and then left to sit in the fridge for days would be a soggy, nasty mess.

BigLifter10

FYI - Regarding veggies. I typically do them as needed (either steam or toss on the grill)....BUT....a handy little thing also is available: Ziploc Zip N Steam bags. There are 10 to a box and it shows the microwave guidelines on the bag for whatever veggie, fish, chicken you have to cook up. When I'm really pressed for time, I toss in my favorites of summer squash, zucchini and baby carrots, add 1 T water to the bag, season as needed and cook 2 min. Fresh, fast and flavorful!

Some people have an aversion to using plastic bags in the micro (this one is designed for food and micro use specifically). I don't personally do it everyday, but once a week or so, they come in very, very handy.

Just a tip if someone hasn't found these little gems yet!

Liftng4Lis

I cook in bulk on Sunday's and prep the day in the mornings for lunch and dinner.

kommodevaran

Do you eat the same things every day all week then?

csuhar

Sure do. Even before I was watching calories and macros as closely as I am now, it was just cheaper and more convenient to make the food over the weekend and reheat it during the workweek. That was a big help when I was finding myself working upwards of 12 hours in the office, because the last thing I wanted to do if I got home at 8 or 9 PM was cook.

Now that I'm watching calories more closely, planning ahead really helps because I can sometimes be looking at 3000-4000 calorie days and it's obnoxious to potentially have to ad-lib thousands of calories.

csuhar

kommodevaran wrote: »

Do you eat the same things every day all week then?

I do, but I tend to keep things interesting by using recipes from a wide variety of cookbooks and getting variety from my snacks. As long as a given recipe isn't disgusting or unappetizing, I can stand to eat it as the main course for the meal for 5 days in a row.

mls100771

I did the Sunday meal prep for a while. I found that by Thursday the food was starting to get a little funky and I was starting to get sick of it. Probably my fault for not including enough variety.

Anyway, I do meal prep to an extent. I make up 6 ounce portions of Cornelll marinated chicken breast and freeze them in ziplock sandwich bags. I did this the other night and have 18 portions ready to go. All I do is throw one in my cooler in the morning and it's usually thawed by the time I get to it.

Otherwise I do most of my food prep the night before. Takes me about an hour to get it all done.

"Failing to plan is planning to fail!"

JamieM8168

I prep for breakfast and lunch for during the work week on Sunday nights.
I don't prep ahead of time for dinners or the weekend but I keep a meal list of what will be made

Queenmunchy

kommodevaran wrote: »

Do you eat the same things every day all week then?

I don't. I freeze everything, so I can pretty much choose from 20-30 different meals at any time.

as9823

kommodevaran wrote: »

Do you eat the same things every day all week then?

I will have a choice of those three meals or a protein shake for all my meals this week yes. Next week there will be a new menu.

Oldbitcollector

That's awesome!

I'm doing good to "gym bag" prep the night before, but I'm positive I'll conquer that and be meal prepping soon.

Havasufalls

I always make the excuse that since I work 50 hours a week and have 4 children that go to different schools and all play sports that I don't have time, but I will find a way, very inspiring! Thanks for the picture !

MySignaturecolour

I was better at this last summer but getting back into it. Grilled chicken Sunday, prepped breakfast, lunches and snacks. The rest of the chicken went into the freezer. I love having a Foodsaver for freezing. I ususally don't prep dinner although I should.

nstock

Yepp! I spend 3-5 hours every Sunday meal prepping. I work 6, sometimes 7 days a week, so if I don't, I end up grazing on whatever food I can find. It sucks in the moment, but it's awesome when you just gotta warm your dinner up! Failing to plan, is planning to fail-- for me at least!