Meal Prepping & Storage

chubbard9

Hello there

I work retail most days of the week, and most nights I never have enough time to cook anything(well, I'm just lazy late at night) and often just munch on a little string cheese, or whatever's around, before going to bed.

My question is, what kind of foods can you make ahead of time, and how do you store them? I have plenty of canned/frozen vegetables, chicken breasts, eggs, etc. I just want to be able to make something creative and delicious/healthy that I can pop in the microwave/oven when I get home nights... And I would like to make enough food to last over a week, but I just don't have many ideas... I'm a very "blah" kind of cook, so I'd definitely be open to some healthy/savory options!

I'm just at a loss, because I'm not good when it comes to planning ahead, and I don't want to come home one night and devour all the food in the house(which could one day be a possibility, even if it's not now)!

Queenmunchy

I freeze everything. I pretty much don't cook during the week.

I pretty much always have some kind of burgers, nuggets, meatballs, burritos, chilis, soups, stews, curries, etc in my freezer in individual portions.

I sent you a message with more details on how I do it and some easy recipes, but I'd start with just something simple. Make one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner and divvy it up for your freezer. That way you have the option to eat that OR something else that you cook. Just having a tired day and being able to use a meal one time a week is amazing.

As you go on, you just make 1-2 dishes a week and freeze. Then you have an entire arsenal of meals/dishes at your disposal.

Susanna5781

I think the key is to designate a day off of work as your prep day, weigh and portion everything. I invested in a digital scale and it has made a huge difference. Even prepacked food is almost always inaccurate to their nutritional labels, therefor going over calories was happened quite frequently when I thought I was being good.

I make ground turkey with taco seasoning, quinoa, chicken, sometimes turkey burgers. I weigh and divy everything and put into baggies and freeze. Im a big fan of plain frozen veggies (not the stuff with sauces in it), so when I grab my lunch for work I grab a meat/carb baggie and then my frozen bag of veggies (we have a microwave at work) I eat half the veggies and bring the rest home to eat for dinner.

I always have snacks on hand, yogurts, string cheese, nuts etc. Again all weighed out so I do not have to think about it during the week.

I find that being prepared gears me up for success. When I do not have something immediately available I cheat and go for the nearest quickest answer.

chubbard9

Susanna5781 wrote: »

I think the key is to designate a day off of work as your prep day, weigh and portion everything. I invested in a digital scale and it has made a huge difference. Even prepacked food is almost always inaccurate to their nutritional labels, therefor going over calories was happened quite frequently when I thought I was being good.

I make ground turkey with taco seasoning, quinoa, chicken, sometimes turkey burgers. I weigh and divy everything and put into baggies and freeze. Im a big fan of plain frozen veggies (not the stuff with sauces in it), so when I grab my lunch for work I grab a meat/carb baggie and then my frozen bag of veggies (we have a microwave at work) I eat half the veggies and bring the rest home to eat for dinner.

I always have snacks on hand, yogurts, string cheese, nuts etc. Again all weighed out so I do not have to think about it during the week.

I find that being prepared gears me up for success. When I do not have something immediately available I cheat and go for the nearest quickest answer.

Thank you. I do weigh all my foods out and I do have pre-weighed nuts and all that already set up (I weigh those out the same day I buy them, so I don't have to think twice). I've been weight all my foods since February, so I've got a handle on how prepackaged food isn't as it seems.. The idea of bringing veggies/meat is good, I just have to choose my next day off to package/cook everything... It often seems like when I have a whole day off I get too caught up with everything else going on around me....

JessicaThompson12

One of my faves is couple chicken breasts, a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch, and Frank's Wing Sauce in the crockpot for a few house. I can eat off of that all week for lunch. Whether in a wrap, by itself or what have you.

chubbard9

JessicaThompson12 wrote: »

One of my faves is couple chicken breasts, a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch, and Frank's Wing Sauce in the crockpot for a few house. I can eat off of that all week for lunch. Whether in a wrap, by itself or what have you.

OMG that makes me think of this buffalo chicken dip I used to make... It had cream cheese in it though, but it was so seriously delish... I can only imagine the sandwich now that you mentioned it! Sounds like a yummy one!!! I'll have to look into the calorie count for that!

melissamarah

Slow cooker recipes are fabulous. I make a chicken taco soup sometimes and it's enough for two to eat for about 4 meals. Plus, I just dump stuff in the slow cooker and leave. Nothing's better than coming home after a long day at work to yummy smells!

Queenmunchy

Lighter Buffalo Chicken Dip is so good!

For prepping I was thinking you could make something like an egg bake and cut it into portions for the freezer (or fridge for a week).

Then a freezer meal or two for lunch or dinner.

One of those could be a crockpot meal. It doesn't take long at all if you cook simple foods - maybe an hour!

chubbard9

Queenmunchy wrote: »

Lighter Buffalo Chicken Dip is so good!

For prepping I was thinking you could make something like an egg bake and cut it into portions for the freezer (or fridge for a week).

Then a freezer meal or two for lunch or dinner.

One of those could be a crockpot meal. It doesn't take long at all if you cook simple foods - maybe an hour!

That egg bake looks SO delicious! I will definitely give that a shot!
And those 10 meals all of them are making me so hungry!!! Lol!

Thank you so much for the links/recipes!!!

rjmudlax13

I like to grill up a bunch of chicken on Sunday night. I grill it using McCormick spice blends, chop it up and mix it with some rice. I then store it in individual containers and all I have to do is throw one in the microwave and I have a quick meal when needed. Sometimes I'll throw some veges in there as well although I like to make my veges fresh as they can get soggy and nasty when reheated.

chubbard9

rjmudlax13 wrote: »

I like to grill up a bunch of chicken on Sunday night. I grill it using McCormick spice blends, chop it up and mix it with some rice. I then store it in individual containers and all I have to do is throw one in the microwave and I have a quick meal when needed. Sometimes I'll throw some veges in there as well although I like to make my veges fresh as they can get soggy and nasty when reheated.

Thank you hun
That's a good thought about the veggies... I could probably get steamer packs and just do it that way, maybe...
(psst! Hello to the second Connecticut person in the thread @Queenmunchy Is from CT too... Thought it was interesting

G33K_G1RL

Meal prep has been one of the most important keys to my weight loss. I usually prep something on Sunday and on Monday night, pack everything in ziploc rigid containers and my meals are ready for the week. Then even if the week goes crazy busy, no need to order delivery, all my meals are instantly ready. I plan week to week so I don't usually freeze my individual meals.

Meatballs, chicken fried rice, slow cooker zuchini lasagna, roast beef, maple glazed salmon and paprika baked chicken are some of the recipes that come again and again, but I always mix in some new recipes that I want to try. Everything weighed and portioned, worry free.

It feels like a lot of work in the beginning, but once it becomes habit you'll see how much of a time saver it is. And slow cookers are awesome. When I'm stuck for time, or planned badly, I can always throw in meat, onions and whatever root vegetable I have in there overnight and have meals for the next day.

slimzandra

In for the egg bake! Tx Chub. I now have next week solved. I like the site too. Hoot.

segacs

Get some tupperware containers with dividers and make yourself your own bento box style lunches ahead of time: protein in one compartment, carbs/starch in another, veggies in another, etc.

chubbard9

Thank you all for the ideas.... I will reread this in the morning and throw some meal together for the week!