Simple meal prep ideas?

ritzvin

I found washing containers (a sizable number of floating plastic items that also readily absorb soap taste if allowed to soak were a dreaded nuisance) and pre-planning exact meals to be a p.i.t.a. personally - and switched over to baggies for individual meal items.

CatchMom11

Pina Colada Green Smoothie
*1 cup pineapple chunks (fresh or canned in 100% juice)
*1 banana
1 cup fresh baby spinach
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup ice
2 tsp raw honey (optional)

1. Add * pineapple & banana to ziploc bag (do not add the spinach - the citric acid from the pineapple can take away some of the nutrients from the spinach)
2. Make a week's worth
3. Freeze
4. Pull from freezer when ready to use & place in blender
5. Add remaining ingredients and blend to desired consistency.

NOTE: DOES NOT TASTE AT ALL LIKE SPINACH. My husband HATES spinach and he will drink these.

I usually add a scoop of Isopure Unflavored Protein to mine and sometime a sugarfree red bull.

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
1 fresh pineapple cut into bite sized pieces (can sub canned in 100% juice)
2 tbsp light brown sugar (I sub splenda brown sugar)
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

Add ingredients to freezer bag, adding the chicken last - remove as much air as possible from bag before closing.

The night before cooking, move frozen bag to the refrigerator to thaw.
Pour contents into slow cooker, cook on "LOW" for 3-6 hours, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Crafty_camper123

The idea of spending a day to cook everything for the week overwhelms me. My weekends are busy enough. What I rely on is planning what I want to eat for the week and writing it down to start with. Then I either bulk cook something that I can get multiple meals out of or bulk cook a protein that I can get multiple types of meals from. For example at the beginning of this week I slow roasted a pork shoulder. For my DH and I, we were able to eat pulled pork sandwiches twice, have tacos another night, and get a few lunches of salads and sandwiches from it as well. I rely heavily on my slow cooker and use dump, set and forget recipies frequently. It takes 20m of prep tops to put together a chili I can eat on for a few days. I love recipes that I can turn into a couple different kinds of meals. For example a roasted chicken and veggies one night can turn into chicken fried rice the next. Chili one night can be chili baked potatoes the next. I just picked up an electronic pressure cooker (instant pot) and have a feeling it's going to be a large part of my quick weeknight meals as well.

WilmaValley

Great ideas!!!

Evamutt

here's what I do: I make 4.5 oz ground chuck & ground turkey patties, put them in sandwich bags then into a large freezer bag(this way they freeze individually) you can also cook them first then freeze them. I bake chicken breasts in foil with seasoning & a little butter & they keep in fridge for a week. I buy fresh & frozen "steamers" veggies. there's always something to eat in a hurry. For a recipe, I just take out as many patties as needed.Also when I cook, I cook enough for 2-3 days. I made some roasted beet & potato soup yesterday, enough for 3 days. I washed & saved the stalks & sauteed them with kale, onions & garlic & sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on them, tasty

GothicsDarkAngel

I will start this post by stating, I can eat the same thing everyday, and I generally alter my menu week to week, NOT day to day.

SO....breakfast I make fresh every day (2 eggs and 2 slices 45 calorie bread), lunch this week is tuna with low fat ranch and either 8 saltines OR romaine lettuce. I open all my cans of tuna at the beginning of the week, then I separate them into sandwich bags with the ranch dressing. I will also portion the saltines in advance as well. Dinner this week is a filet of salmon, 113g brown rice, and 2 C broccoli. I also pre-portion that in the beginning of the week and pop it into the freezer. My two snacks for the day are a greek yogurt with a whole orange, and almonds with a string cheese. All of that is bagged at the beginning of the week. So then everyday, I just pop everything (except for breakfast) into my lunch bag.

No fuss, no pain....no thinking. I find that if I preplan, I tend NOT to binge or fall of track. I literally spend about 90 minutes TOTAL in my kitchen a week.


There you have it.
1200-1400 cals a day, down 55lbs.

ugenethejeep12

Chicken bourbon bowl
Cooked rice topped with
Thawed frozen broccoli topped with
Chunks of chicken breast cooked however
Topped with sweet baby ray kickin bourbon (make sure and measure this by serving)

Optional top with seeds, trader joe bagel seasons, cilantro , a fried egg, green onion , red pepper flakes