Meal Prepping

Courtney344

So I've decided to start meal prepping to help me stay focused on my healthy food. I would love for people to give me recipes they use and even tips on prepping in general. I've never done this before so I hope I do it right.

MelaniaTrump

Question: Is meal prepping when you cook everything one day and store it all week long in the fridge?
I make a menu instead once a week.
I buy things like frozen fish, chicken, broccoli, peas, carrots, etc, and just defrost it the night before.
Bean dishes are super easy to make in 30 minutes.

The word meal prepping confuses me. I can't imagine eating a cooked potato or cooked fish a week later.
And do people do it for all 3 meals a day?

debbep

What works well for me is prepping salads twice a week. I make four days worth of green salads at a time. I use large quart glass mason jars, put the shredded carrot, shredded cabbage, cucumbers and peppers on the bottom then the lettuce and spinach on top. You can actually put the dressing in the bottom too, but I always just add when I eat it. This is the only way I have found to keep it fresh all week, using the glass jars really seems to help. I also make a large batch of vegetable soup, (or any soup, but I am a vegetarian) and put into one serving size containers and freeze. In the morning I just take one out to thaw for dinner. I cook up a few cups of Quinoa at a time and then add it to my salad or heat it up in the morning to have as my breakfast cereal.

ew_david

I meal prep my lunches. I usually do about 2 pounds of chicken in the crock pot and portion it out into 5-6 meals. This week I did buffalo chicken: 1 bottle Franks Red Hot, 8 oz cream cheese, 2# chicken. I paired it with asparagus. Sometimes I do rice, but not this week.

Pinterest has a lot of crock pot ideas.

Dandelie

For the most part, I try to make larger meals and use the rest to portion out the rest of the week. If I make chicken breasts for dinner, I make a whole tray. I weigh them, mark the bag, and pop it into the fridge for easy meals. I make large portions of rice, quinoa, beans, etc. Then when I don't feel like cooking, there are meals in the fridge all ready to throw in the pan. I also make large portions of particular sauces like honey garlic sauce or teriyaki. Makes it so much easier!

kommodevaran

You can use ordinary recipes. It's the workflow/organization that is special for meal prep. But there isn't one right way to do it, you have to experiment and find a solution that fits you and your lifestyle. There are lots of tutorials, tips and videos on the net, go to youtube or search google.

Meal prep is only helpful and rational if it really makes your life easier. I have always believed that the best way to do things is the one that produces the wanted outcome, with no adverse effects, for the smallest possible effort. But it should also be fun

I considered meal prep myself, but I figured out that 1) I want my food to be as fresh as possible, 2) I need variety, 3) I don't want to buy any more plastic boxes.

Instead I plan my meals in advance, shop accordingly, and prep components: cut/portion, freeze/box, thaw/soak. The cooking itself doesn't take long.

My tip would be to start small and with something you already know you like.

Pinkylee77

I will often on Sunday, prep my veggies to be cooked during the week, or if I am making mac and cheese from scratch (I often add squash) I make the sauce ahead and then make the pasta and mix during the week. So I partial make some of my food so I can quick cook them during the week. I also make meals in the crock pot

positivepowers

I use my slow cooker a lot. I can make a chicken one day, then chicken salad, chicken enchiladas, chicken and noodles, etc. on subsequent days. Allrecipe.com has some awesome, customizable recipes and ideas. Someone on MFP once mentioned looneyspoons.com and I have to say that I am glad she did because they have some delicious recipes on that site.

ETA: I don't know your situation but my deep freezer comes in handy too. I freeze leftovers for lunches and dinners when I don't feel like cooking.

tabithawilkes

This week I prepped 5 English muffin breakfast sandwiches (egg & vegetarian sausage patties) and 5 containers of cottage cheese with fresh fruit to carry to work all week. The sandwiches hold up very well for a full week in the fridge and warm up in 30 seconds in the microwave.

Courtney344

I'm actually making the meals for me and my fiancé because we both decided to eat healthier. I sat down the other day and made a grocery list and little menu for the week so I knew what to make. The meals are basically breakfast, lunch, dinner and the snacks. I have did a little meal prepping before myself mostly just breakfast and lunch. With my new work schedule I figure why not make the meals that way I can just pop them in the microwave. I will definitely try the salad in the jars though!