Is Meal Prep intimidating to everyone, and is it worth it?

bms34b

Hello!

I am a teacher working as a waitress during the summer, and I go back to school August 17th. Last year was my first year teaching and my eating was totally unmonitored.

I'd like to give myself this next week to wrap my head around "meal prep" recipes, how to prep the most in the least amount of time, etc. There's so much to think about!!!

Who has ventured into this meal prep and can offer words of wisdom?

aledba

Batch cooking is your friend and Mason jars are awesome for storage. Find a protein you like that is going to taste good reheated in the microwave (if you use one). You can cook up chicken breasts, quinoa, beans, steak, tofu etc... and pair these with different grains or cut up vegetables in a burrito bowl style. Add salsa, cheese, yogurt etc...

Cottage cheese is a snack that goes great with fruit. Making steelcut oats on Sunday night, they last a week in the fridge. You can pre-portion these items in mason jars to take in the morning. If you like fish, you can make it for dinner and then mix it with some herbs/yogurt or mayo for sandwiches or wraps.

If you make salad, building this in a jar (from bottom to top) as dressing, protein, fruits/seeds/nuts/veg, cheese or avocado and then adding greens on top stops the greens from becoming wilted. You just empty it into a bowl at lunch and enjoy. You usually can get away with making these 3 days ahead.

Pre-portion PB and cut up apples or nuts to pair with dried fruit. If you like eggs, you can soft or hard boil them ahead of time too. I just draw a little face on them to keep them separate from the raw ones.

timmemin

Bump.

JoRocka

I don't understand how it's intimidating?
Pick a day when you have some time- I usually do it the same day I shop (sunday for me)

make all the chicken/meat/main meal/Make all the veggies/side dishes.

When you're done- portion them out into tupperwear for the rest of the week- or how much is left.

I meal prep by buying my yogurt in the big container- then separate it out into smaller ones.
I buy a big bag of carrots- peel them- and put them into little baggies.

it's not really doing anything different than prepping food every day- you're just doing more of it so you don't have to do it the day of.

amgreenwell

Meal prepping is amazing and you'll be so happy with what you have to eat all week. The crock pot is your friend and can save you time/money/frustration when you just aren't sure where to start. Look up slow cooker recipes and you'll eating happy and healthy all week. Good luck!

engodwin

Crock-pot meals are my friend. Prep them and toss in the freezer - put them in the crockpot in the morning come home to tasty viddles at night - make enough that you have lunch the next day. Batch cooking is also very helpful. Cook Xnumber of chicken breast (bake or grill) at the beginning of the week then just figure out sides throughout the week. Google Once a Month Cooking - or something to that effect and give it a try.

happysquidmuffin

Last night I made an amazing creamy kale veggie soup. It took a long time, measuring every single ingredient and then weighing the finished soup to figure out how many portions to split it into. Was it worth it? YES. because I ended up with 15 portions (270 grams - just over a cup each) of delicious soup, and I get the satisfaction of knowing each serving has exactly (or darn-near exactly) 145 calories. It's so satisfying to do it even though it's time consuming.

Sbrewster09

I am completely with you. I myself am a waitress during the summers and we all know if you don't bring a health snack you will be eating fries or bread and drinking soda before you can stop yourself. A few things that helped with my meal prepping because my husband can eat a good portion himself and prepping food more than twice a week was not happening.

1.) Make a soup once a week. There is only two of us but I try to make a recipe for 6-8 serving. We eat that for dinner for two days and the rest I put in a gallon zip lock bag for a future time.

2.) Over night oats will save you and help you in mornings you sleep in. There is a ton of recipes on Pintrest. I found they were to sweet for us but here is a recipe to try.
1/2 Almond Milk
1/4 Steel Cut Oats
1 Tbl Chia Seeds
1 Tbl Almond Butter
some frozen fruit on top
I add all the ingredients into a mason jar and put in the fridge for up to 3 days. I make 5-6 at a time, usually when i serve at night my husband just has that for dinner. EASY!

3.) We try to stay away from plastic as much as possible. For salads for the week I use old pasta sauce jars and cup enough lettuce and added veggies to next 4 days.

4.) For very busy weeks on my prep day I make a large quiche in my lasagna pan.

I know this isn't your typical prep list but my husband and I are trying to loss weight and watch our portions. With these main dishes during the week it makes it very easy to loss weight and not eat out.

I hope this helps you!

Sam29a

I used to do it and although I found it helpful, I hated the day I had to cook so much! I did it for around a year. I would spend a good three hours cooking, then have a kitchen full of dishes to wash and had to weigh everything equally into boxes. Even after all that I wasn't finished, as then I had to add the ingredients onto MFP to calculate the calories per box. Also, frozen food just doesn't taste very nice when defrosted.

Now I cook something every few days, it usually lasts around 3-4 days. That works out much better for me as I can just refrigerate it.

bepeejaye

My meal plan includes 5 meals a day and a snack. As someone else mentioned, meal prepping may seem a lot at first, but soon enough you get used to it, and its convenience!

I wholesale-buy on Saturday, and make my sweet potatoes that evening.
Sunday mornings are for cooking all food for the week (I bake, grill, crock-pot or stew chicken, grill asparagus, microwave/sautee spinach and broccoli) then portion them out into three-divider Tupperware, then label each meal with a post-it flag). I then store them in the fridge (the one in the garage is mostly for this purpose, and looks all colourful with all the labelled Tupperware that I put in it once finished lol).

I also make a lot of steel cut oatmeal (for meal #1/breakfast for each day), then I divide into 7 Tupperware for each day of the week, add my whey protein isolate and almond butter, with just a hint of cinnamon and a drop of vanilla extract. This way, when I head out to the gym at 4 am, I just grab and go. If I do not have time to use a spoon to eat, I use the blender bottle, and drink it that way.

I also pre-fill all my MFP meals a day ahead in my food diary. If I do not eat a certain meal, or tweak something, then it is easier to take it out, than trying to enter all I ate at the end of the day (and faster food diary completion/signing if in a hurry to go to bed for me )

Try it and see what works for you. Good luck!

Queenmunchy

I batch cook and freeze nearly every weekend. I just feel like if I'm making meatballs, should I just make 3 or go ahead and make an entire pan and freeze the rest for easy weeknight meals! I do a lot of soups, stews, chilis and other one pot meals - just portion into individual containers and freeze. That way we can grab and go for lunches or easy dinners. I also make things in muffin tins, nuggets, form burger patties, sauces in ice cube trays or jars, or burritos to freeze, and I make frittatas once so I can eat them all week. I can't imagine making one jar worth of marinara or bolognese! I have to make at least 3 at a time for me to feel like the cooking is worth it. I also make casseroles and cut them into portions before flash freezing so we can grab a portion at a time.

It's really not that hard - and it helps me tremendously so I don't have to cook at all during the week.

GiveMeCoffee

Make a weekly plan on what you want to eat for the week, I do this while looking through sales flyers, write your grocery list. Go buy everything, come home and cut up veggies, cook what you want and portion into containers.

Here's an example: This week I grilled 3 lbs of chicken breast, made a huge pot of ratatouille that was later used to make Monday night - zucchini boats stuffed with chicken & ratatouille, Tues - sauce for pasta, Weds - chicken parm, Tonight - Polenta squares with ratatouille. Tomorrow will be either chicken & bacon sandwiches or pizza I also ate the leftovers the next day for lunch.

Having one or two base things made that you can build off of makes it easy. Meal prep just takes a little planning but is really easy and makes life much easier on here as well as on the budget.

gaelicstorm26

I'm also an educator. I find that the biggest difficulty is actually finding the time to eat what I've prepared!

During the school year I also meal prep on Sundays. If I don't cut up fruits and vegetables then, then it probably isn't going to happen. That's just the truth. I have to plan out what we are having for dinner every night to keep our family on track. We have a few crock-pot meals but my husband isn't really the adventurous type so we use those sparingly. We have a few core things we use it for: chili, shredded chicken, shredded pork, and pot roast.

In the fall and winter I'll sometimes make a batch of soup and then portion it out and refrigerate. Depending on the quantity I have to freeze some, which is fine because I can take it out of the freezer and put it in the lunch tote without an ice pack and just heat later.

Dinner is the most difficult meal. By the time I'm home from work and my husband and kids get home, we're beat! We stick to simple meals because my husband and the kids don't get home until 5, and the kids are still young and are in bed by 8. That means that we need something that can be ready to eat by 5:45 or 6 at the very latest to leave time for homework, showers, and all of the other stuff that needs to be done before 8 PM hits! Planning our meals out for the week on Sunday afternoon really helps us to stay on track. I know what each night will be and hubby and I compare late meeting schedules with work to decide when to have those quicker crock-pot meals.

Best wishes!

ald783

I find it's a bit less tedious if i do some on Sunday and some smaller things throughout the week. On Sunday I'll usually prepare whatever I'm having on Monday and have it assembled in the fridge so I just stick it in the oven on Monday. I might prep a few things in advance for other days (like cooking pasta or quinoa or dicing up some veggies) but do some of that the night before I'm making it. I don't spend a lot of time on weeknights doing this stuff, just defrosting meat, cooking grains and cutting veggies so when I get home the following night I can throw it all together much more quickly. It also helps to plan easier/quicker meals for nights you get home later.

And then I eat leftovers for lunches and some dinners throughout the week.

jaqcan

If it's intimidating to you, it might do you good to pay for a menu planning service for a couple months. I've personally used emeals.com and savingdinner.com Once you get the hang of it, it becomes easier.
Once a month cooking might also be a good option.
If you're ok eating the same thing a few days in a row, batch cooking can be really easy. A mixed vegetable rice or rice and beans, and easy to add some grilled chicken or other protein.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

No it's not intimidating
Yes it's worth it

lemurcat12

Queenmunchy wrote: »

I just feel like if I'm making meatballs, should I just make 3 or go ahead and make an entire pan and freeze the rest for easy weeknight meals!

I think this is a good way to ease into it for the OP.

Don't feel like you have to plan out a week's worth of food. Just make a few meals and triple the portions and save the leftovers. Do that for a while and it will start seeming easy.

kryss247

Yea it is worth it. Makes me eat healthy and not bad food or snacks bc its already made.

Timshel_

So easy. I have found several recipes that I like, including leave in the morning crockpot ones that are ready to be portioned, frozen, and reheated whenever. I also like chicken salads so I grill up a bunch of breasts, freeze them and I prep three salads at a time. (I find three last well enough but any more is pushing it and the lettuce wilts, etc). sandwiches, turkey burgers, large portions of veggies I can eat for the week. All super easy to do.

I do meals on Wednesdays and Sundays and it works for me. SAves a lot of money and takes the guess work and temptation out of daily eating.

Unknown

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KateTii

For me, "Meal prep" is what allows me to stay under my calories. I work right next door to the town's shopping centre and one of my worst habits was to buy lunch every day (sometimes breakfast/morning tea too!). Now that I have lunch ready every day, I don't even feel tempted.

I have come across three really big points that have been essential:

Tip 1: Weigh your meat accurately.
Step 1. Weigh raw meat.
Step 2. Cook.
Step 3. Weigh cooked meat.
Step 4: Use http://www.percentagecalculator.net and use the "Increase/decrease" function to work out the percentage difference. Use this percentage difference to work out how many calories your cooked meat actually is using the raw meat entry.

Tip 2: Cook only what you can freeze
For me, I make about a months worth of meal prep at once and everything needs to be frozen to stay good. Unless you can commit to eating the same thing for four days in a row, only prep what you can freeze.

Tip 3: Mix and match your foods
I like to have veggies, carb and protein combinations for lunch. However, when I was freezing the meals as an "all in one" it got pretty boring. I had days when I wanted chicken, sweet potato and veggies and all I had left was chicken, rice and veggies. I now freeze the individual components in zip lock bags and can mix and match, or even just grab out a bag of chicken for a salad or breakfast omelette.

misschoppo

I do big Sunday meal preps if I know I have a particularly busy week coming up & so I do batch cooking/portioning into containers to make it easy to grab my meals for the day.

Other than that though my usual "meal prep" only extends to pre-logging & organising my breakfast / lunch / snacks the night before for the following 1 or 2 days max and then I'll cook evening meals fresh each day.

I really enjoy being in the kitchen so prepping all my evening meals in advance/ reheating them isn't something that appeals unless my schedule a particular week makes it more practical to do so. I do find the larger scale prepping very useful when I know I will be time limited & plenty of great ideas already posted on how to do it

LaurenNotLaura

I always make big batches of soups and sauces and freeze out portions so I have it for the month. I also pre clean and cut most veggies so that when I or my kids are looking for a snack, it's readily available to just eat so it's as easy to grab as the bag of pretzels or anything else. My kids always go to the fridge first for snacks now rather than the pantry! Definitely worth it! I also make bigger batches of brown rice and quinoa so I can throw that into salads, frittata, etc whenever the mood strikes

kommodevaran

I don't like reheated food, and I need variety, so I just prep components - buy frozen vegetables, single frozen pieces of meat if possible, or freeze in individual baggies. Decide dinner the night before and defrost meat and vegetables in fridge. Salt, pepper, meat in oven. Cook some rice or potatoes, maybe make mash. Turn off heat, vegetables into oven. Always delish.

I make exceptions for casseroles and soup - I make that for two days.

Francl27

You don't HAVE to meal prep. The extent of my meal prepping is making a double or triple batch of something so I can have more later, and cooking an extra chicken breast if I'm going to cook one anyway as I can fit two on my grill. But otherwise it's just as fast for me to open a package of chicken and getting one breast out when I feel like having chicken, instead of having to dedicate a big chunk of time for something that would otherwise only take one minute anyway. Plus maybe next time I'll want chicken with another type of marinade and spices anyway.

Besides, I can't imagine eating something that was prepped 5 days earlier. No thanks. I like my food fresh. Plus I find eating more enjoyable if I can have whatever I'm craving today instead of having to eat something specific because I prepared it 3 days before the craving hit and it will go bad if I don't eat it now. I feel more satisfied and more likely to stick to my goal that way.

So I just buy a bunch of proteins, some veggies, then figure out meals as I go (unless I have a specific craving, then I buy the ingredients for that obviously). I also always have lunch meat, pasta, and frozen veggies and shrimp on hand.

You have to do whatever works for you.

shadowfax_c11

I cook dinner almost every day and make enough to have 1-2 meals to take to work for lunch as well. It does not take me any longer to cook a little extra and it saves me time and money on lunches.

kkzmom11

aledba wrote: »

Batch cooking is your friend and Mason jars are awesome for storage. Find a protein you like that is going to taste good reheated in the microwave (if you use one). You can cook up chicken breasts, quinoa, beans, steak, tofu etc... and pair these with different grains or cut up vegetables in a burrito bowl style. Add salsa, cheese, yogurt etc...

Cottage cheese is a snack that goes great with fruit. Making steelcut oats on Sunday night, they last a week in the fridge. You can pre-portion these items in mason jars to take in the morning. If you like fish, you can make it for dinner and then mix it with some herbs/yogurt or mayo for sandwiches or wraps.

If you make salad, building this in a jar (from bottom to top) as dressing, protein, fruits/seeds/nuts/veg, cheese or avocado and then adding greens on top stops the greens from becoming wilted. You just empty it into a bowl at lunch and enjoy. You usually can get away with making these 3 days ahead.

Pre-portion PB and cut up apples or nuts to pair with dried fruit. If you like eggs, you can soft or hard boil them ahead of time too. I just draw a little face on them to keep them separate from the raw ones.

i LOVE all these suggestions. I will have to think about using these. I have a sit down desk job, so having pre-portioned food with me will help a lot, with not spending $ mostly.

mbaker566

I used to do it all on Sundays but now I just "prep" in the mornings

the biggest tool I use is the crock pot
second is the freezer

I used to make a couple batches of chicken thighs and rice. have spinach on hand.

if a huge meal prep is intimidating. just start with a meal. I think dinner is the easiest.

I find it helps with mindless eating. I know what I am eating because I already prepped it. it's easy to grab then

yopeeps025

Is it worth to have a plan for this. Is it ever a disadvantage to have a plan set on what to do for anything.

arditarose

I'm weird and meal prep gives me anxiety. There is no way I'm cooking a bunch of food on Sunday to prep for the week. I finally got into at least packing my lunch the night before, or for a couple days, and it is good.

andrikosDE

To answer the OP's original question:

"Is Meal Prep intimidating to everyone, and is it worth it? "

I don't see it "intimidating" insomuch as "sad", "boring" and "chorey".

I consider cooking a pleasure, even more so than eating, and the fact that I can whip up a different thing every day according to my inventory, mood and audience, makes it exciting and fun.

Diff'rent strokes I guess but if I'm armed by thousands of hours of cooking experience, I'm gonna damn well use my tool. I never eat out unless I go to a high end restaurant but that's more of an experience rather than just "eating"...