Simple meal prep ideas?

adambrown01

Alright MFP Community,

I could use some help. I am official tired of searching the internet for meal prep ideas. It seems like no matter what I search for I get a way too fancy food site that has 50 pictures of food and someones life story associated to every damn meal AND OMG WHAT IT ONLY TAKES 10 MINUTES OR LESS.

Just... sick of it.

Here's what I'm looking for:

• SIMPLE meal prep ideas. Less ingredients is good. Less time in the kitchen - even better.
• The more meals the better. Seems like there are a lot of recipes out there that make 3 meals. Not quite ideal for me. If I could meal prep once a week, that'd be pretty sweet.
• Healthy options. Complex carbs and unsaturated fats.

To give more context and help steer responses - my current go to meal prep for lunch is brown rice and chicken. I'll put some seasoning on the chicken if I'm feeling fancy. See? Simple. I'll also do a muselli. Now that one I love. Dump a bunch of stuff into a big zip lock bag and I have a weeks worth of breakfast.

So that's it gang. I don't have a ton of time to spend in the kitchen and to be honest I dont like cooking. And just to throw it out there - yes I very much realize that I'm asking for a lot. I dont expect a lot of responses but if I get a few ideas that will help branch out on my current meal preps that will be a win in my book.

Thanks in advance everyone!
-Adam

adambrown01

Breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack ideas are all welcome!

alicebhsia

maybe try some easy slow cooker meals? if you are a red meat eater, i used to make pot roast for my ex. with potatoes and carrots. they take a long time to cook though but are usually pretty simple. nice for making a lot at once.

adambrown01

alicebhsia wrote: »

maybe try some easy slow cooker meals? if you are a red meat eater, i used to make pot roast for my ex. with potatoes and carrots. they take a long time to cook though but are usually pretty simple. nice for making a lot at once.

Yeah! Great idea. I'd do chicken or turkey instead. Now to figure out how long to slow cook proteins!

simbame1

You can do a pork roast in the slow cooker as well. I like sauerkraut but you can just do vegetables. It would make a lot of meals for one person.

LovesDogsAndBooks

Instead of finding things that only take ten minutes or so to fix, consider bulk cooking. I often make a huge pot of soup and freeze portions, usually have at least 3 different soups in the freezer. Same with meat sauce, chili etc., cook once, have X meals. I personally don't like cooking only 1 or 2 portions of something, it takes almost the same amount of time as it does to make 7 or whatever portions.

adambrown01

LovesDogsAndBooks wrote: »

Instead of finding things that only take ten minutes or so to fix, consider bulk cooking. I often make a huge pot of soup and freeze portions, usually have at least 3 different soups in the freezer. Same with meat sauce, chili etc., cook once, have X meals. I personally don't like cooking only 1 or 2 portions of something, it takes almost the same amount of time as it does to make 7 or whatever portions.

I hadn't considered this at all. I'll check it out!

tulips_and_tea

adambrown01 wrote: »

alicebhsia wrote: »

maybe try some easy slow cooker meals? if you are a red meat eater, i used to make pot roast for my ex. with potatoes and carrots. they take a long time to cook though but are usually pretty simple. nice for making a lot at once.

Yeah! Great idea. I'd do chicken or turkey instead. Now to figure out how long to slow cook proteins!

That will depend on it's form, i.e., whole chicken pieces or ground turkey. Be careful if you cook chicken (or any meat) on the bone in a slow cooker. If cooked for too long the bones can break and make a mess of your meal.

Bulk cooking is a good idea, especially if you can freeze things. That way you have more of a variety rather than eating the same thing for 3 - 4 days.

I dislike recipes that have way too much story and pics, too, so I avoid blogs for that reason. Simple sites like allrecipes.com or epicurious.com are helpful.

BladedKiwi

Try this....

6oz tuna, 1 tbsp light mayo, .5 tbsp relish(or cut up pickles), hard boiled egg, 30g celery, 4oz cucumber with peel. slice up celery and cucumber. mix tuna, mayo,relish and cut up egg and the celery. Season the mixture if you like. Then place the mixture on top of cucumbers and eat. <--- can be made ahead even. Also, don't have to cut up cucumbers or celery. Could use them as dipping sticks for the meat.

Tortilla plus scrambled eggs

shrimp + half inch of water and a little butter and seasonings like garlic, oregano, herb medley. cook until pink and then a couple more minutes if you don't like shrimp to taste fishy. Add with steamed veggies, and if you have time put the steamed veggies into the broiler for a couple minutes for a grilled taste.

put shrimp in water and boil until pink + a couple minutes for no fishyness, immediately drain and run under cold water, then add a little cocktail sauce and a lemon squeeze.

turkey burgers like ones from costco are simple and easy to make.

if you have 15min, this one is pretty good...
1/4 cup pinto beans from can, .5 ounce of fat free ranch, tortilla triangle chips, 2 oz diced Tomatoes ( or canned diced tomatoes works) 5.5 oz shredded chicken ( i use canned chicken breast to shred) Add beans and chicken and a little bit of water just for keeping things moist into a pot on medium heat, warm it and then add ranch and tomatoes and add taco seasonings and cook until warm or simmer it a little more for the tomatoes to get mushy and create more liquid. They wont create much but just a little bit extra. Then, put on a plate and crunch up like 4 chips and add raw diced onion or shredded lettuce if you like.

There's my favorite go to quick meals. the ratio's are for my diet at the moment, feel free to adjust.

Hope that helps, I personally hate figuring out meals all the time and totally hate the fancy meal sites..things should be simple

MichelleWithMoxie

pre made salads, other pre made single meals (snap kitchen has some good ones - bit pricey though), tuna, spaghetti squash + ground turkey + pasta sauce + mushrooms and/or artichoke hearts, etc (whatever you want to add).

alicebhsia

Also, a really good cookbook to have is Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. Lots of easy recipes and everything I've made from there has come out good. Common ingredients, nothing fancy. Your basic kitchen bible.

dklibert

I made turkey meatloaf in a muffin tin and mashed cauliflower tonight. I put two meatloaves and a serving of cauliflower in meal prep containers. I also made quinoa. I add stuff to the quinoa for bowls or salads for lunch.

Quinoa + corn + black beans + cilantro + lime Juice + olive oil
Quinoa + parsley + tomato + cucumber + red onion + lemon Juice + olive oil
Quinoa + shredded carrot + cucumber + shredded chicken + lime juice + cilantro + crushed peanuts

I like sheet pan meals. You can roast a protein, a carb and veggies on one sheet pan in the oven. Then divide into containers. Sheet pans are great for meal prep. You can divide it into sections with foil and season chicken three ways. I have seen someone do roasted chickpeas that way for snacks. https://fitmencook.com/time-saving-chicken-meal-prep/ forkly.com/recipes/one-pan-roasted-chickpeas-4-ways/

A pot of chili can be used many ways too. On salad as a taco salad, in a sweet potato for stuffed potato, over brown rice, etc.

I know you said you are tired of blogs and so on. But it is worth mentioning that these YouTube channels do tons of meal prep: Domestic Geek, Fit Couple Cooks (did a full week video recently and just released a book), Fit Men Cook, Mind Over Munch, Flavcity with Bobby Parrish.

Angieve1

Easy recipe for slow cooker. I put a nice size pork roast on low for 6 to 8 hours depending on the size then I let it cool off and it will make an awesome pulled pork to put in rice with veggies or to eat in a wrap with my favorits veggies a little cheese. I cook my roast with no salt added I just add pepper to taste.

adambrown01

BZAH10 wrote: »

adambrown01 wrote: »

alicebhsia wrote: »

maybe try some easy slow cooker meals? if you are a red meat eater, i used to make pot roast for my ex. with potatoes and carrots. they take a long time to cook though but are usually pretty simple. nice for making a lot at once.

Yeah! Great idea. I'd do chicken or turkey instead. Now to figure out how long to slow cook proteins!

That will depend on it's form, i.e., whole chicken pieces or ground turkey. Be careful if you cook chicken (or any meat) on the bone in a slow cooker. If cooked for too long the bones can break and make a mess of your meal.

Bulk cooking is a good idea, especially if you can freeze things. That way you have more of a variety rather than eating the same thing for 3 - 4 days.

I dislike recipes that have way too much story and pics, too, so I avoid blogs for that reason. Simple sites like allrecipes.com or epicurious.com are helpful.

Wonderful advice. Thank you.

adambrown01

Thank you all for taking time to share your ideas! I really didn't think I would get this much help.

Bailey00030

I do a lot of cooking on Sunday and it lasts for most of the week. Crustless quiche for breakfast (quick to make and it is six servings. Add in whatever veggies you like). Baked Oatmeal- makes 6 servings. Mason jar salads- the one quart mason jars filled with lettuce/veggies/chicken- they last 5-6 days-perfect for lunches). I also make either a chicken/black bean chili or a homemade soup and have this for my dinners with a veg or salad. I work a lot so cooking for the week really helps me stay on track. I also do turkey meatloaf in a muffin pan- 12 servings and great for portion control.

peaceout_aly

Hard boil 18 eggs as snacks to have on hand. Cook 2 lbs. ground turkey and two bags of those Bird's Eye protein blends (they literally go in the microwave, so easy). BAM. Meal prep made simple.

LaughHappy907

Soup, like really. I make a pot of soup on Sunday - maybe 30 minutes actual active cooking time - and have enough food for 6 meals. If you have a bigger pot than I do, you'd make more meals. Its really easy; just pick a bunch of veggies you like, I typically go for cabbage, carrots, celery, squash, tomatoes, corn, whatever I have on hand either fresh or frozen. Then add a source of protein to keep you full - chicken, tofu, beans, pork, whatever. Add water/stock and season it. It can be that simple. Just tweak it till its something you can eat lots of. Its really easy to track the recipe too, just weigh the whole ingredient going into the pot and make the number of servings the number of total means you get out of it.

I've made soups that keep me full at 180 calories for a 2 cup serving and more decadent 280 per 2 cup serving, just by adjusting what ingredient you use that week.

OH and the cheapo ziploc twist off lid containers are 2 cups and do a good job of not letting the soup spill all over your lunch bag. I use my store's bargain brand. They are like $1.99 for 4 of em.

adambrown01

Very cool. Thank you guys.

mic1018

For my breakfast meal prep, I thaw and saute one bag of frozen California Blend veggies (Broccoli/Cauli/Carrots) in a bit of butter. When they are hot, add a handful of greens (Kale/Spinach/whatever)...saute til slightly wilted....Add 10 beaten eggs, S&P and whatever spices you like...Italian, Mexican, Greek, etc......Portion into 5 containers. Each day, add a bit of cheese to the container and microwave for 1-2 minutes. I add Sriracha or salsa after cooking for even more flavor. Simple and tasty....Takes less than 10 minutes to make 5 days worth of breakfasts...

mic1018

Make a big batch of your favorite tuna salad or chicken salad. Portion it into 5 containers. To each container, add celery sticks, carrot sticks, olives, and a couple of cubes of cheese. Store in fridge. Eat as is, or add crackers, or a wrap for variety.

madwells1

Imagine a weeks worth of food:

Don't have to prep:
• Bagged lettuce
• Avocados
• Hard boiled eggs
• Black beans
• fruit (any kind, but if you have melon you have to prep)
• Nuts
• chicken stock
• Wraps or bread
• Ham or tuna
• Sliced red peppers/green peppers
• Sweet potatoes
• Spinach
• regular eggs
• Peanut butter
  
  Have to prep:
• Chicken thighs or chicken breast (skinless, boneless)
• Chopped tomatoes
• Chopped cucumbers
• Brown rice or other type of grain
• Broccoli/cauliflower
  

Now imagine how many different meals you can have that week given the list (sandwiches, burrito bowls, chicken and vegetables, chicken vegetable soup, the list goes on with vegetarian options and egg dishes. The prep work (chopping) can be done altogether when you have 15 minutes (when the chicken is cooking).

Change protein weekly to what you find that is on sale or what is fresh and looks good.

ritzvin

I usually cook up an entire batch of meat at once, let cool slightly, toss into baggie(s) and refrigerate and/or freeze for later. Same with frozen bags of vegetables.

• Slice (if in whole roast form) and pan sear whatever you can fit in 1 or 2 skillets. Don't overcook. Cool and bag. (pork sirloin roasts slice up for some tasty pork chops and were on special for $2/lb last week at Aldi). Above also applies for fish.
• Frozen pre-cooked shrimp. (microwave for like 30 seconds and toss on top/to side of veggies).
• Throw whole pork roast or package of boneless/skinless chicken into crock pot/instapot/etc. Shred. Make chicken/pork salad (add mayo) or pulled pork/chicken (add BBQ sauce). Bag.
• Dump 1-2 bags of frozen veggies into skillet. When thawed, add some seasonings, drizzle some oil, cook a bit more. Cool a bit and bag.
• Chili/Soups/stew

When you're hungry, then just grab something out of a bag of meat and weigh onto plate, repeat with some vegetable, repeat with some filler carbs (if desired), and microwave (~2 minutes if from fridge rather than freezer). done.

ritzvin

Note: if I don't have time to pre-prep.. it'll be a bit more bland (which can be made up for with seasonings, balsamic glaze, grated parmesan), but the frozen bagged vegetables can just be microwaved as is, and even the frozen salmon comes out surprisingly well when just microwaved from the bag.

pessxx

Some ideas, also there are a lot of instagram ideas, if you want i will post them

victorious4ever

Here's one of my lazy healthy meals:
Open a Heinz lentil soup can, pour contents into a glass bowl, and throw in a can of tuna. You can add onions, cheese and chilli if you have time. You can squeeze a lemon into it as well. Mix it all up. Microwave for 3-4 minutes.
Eat with Oatcakes or just on its own. You can add any seasoning to it you like.

Weestevie

My breakfast every day consists of:
1

shinycrazy

I do my lunches for work in a batch on sunday using a food scale.

Prep boston lettuce for wraps. (pull apart, rinse, stack with paper towels)
Roll deli meat into 3oz portions.
Plop cottage cheese and jam/apple butter/pom arils(whatever I have) into portion containers.
Cut bell peppers into slivers and portion in to snack baggies.
Portion pork rinds.
It's about 30 minutes total if I focus. There aren't many carbs here as I'm diabetic, but maybe there is inspiration here somewhere. Good luck!

ETA: My husband usually preps protein for weeknight dinners Sunday too. He'll grind a top round into ground beef and bake in the oven. He drains it well and it keeps in the fridge all week. Same with ground pork. We always have a container of cut salad at the ready for dinners too.

Mjones23456

Buy the premade salads, there is microwave brown rice and most grocery stores have rotisserie chicken. Take off the skin and cut it up. Ready to go.

Link2Life

This is simple (although all meal prepping takes time). I make enough for both my husband and myself to last M-F.

* 5 large similarly shaped sweet potatoes and bake them, then peel the skin off and put 1/2 potato in each container.
* 3 broccoli crowns (fresh) and 1 bag of baby carrots and steam cook them.
* boneless chicken thighs bulk pack and make this recipe. It calls for 4 thighs but I have more like 18! (I cram all chicken thighs into a 9x13 pan - I want to try them in a crock pot next week).

Been making this each weeks since Jan 2 and we haven't gotten sick of it yet!

Breakfast is a crustless broccoli quiche with some protein (ham, bacon, or sausage) baked in a 9x13 pan. I double the eggs and use more broccoli than the recipe calls for. My hubby eats this and I have a protein shake for breakfast.

3 compartment containers
bowls

adambrown01

Everyone, thank you so much! I'm getting a lot of really good ideas. I'm planning on meal prepping this weekend. I'll try to remember to take some pictures. No promises. I'm usually a whirlwind of productivity while I'm in the kitchen because I want to get done asap, but I'll try.

Thanks again!