Meal prep

likenikejustdoit

I’m new to meal prepping.
Exactly what is it?~ do you just cook and portion your entire menu for 7 days?

Joanna2012B

I don't cook and portion a menu for 7 days exactly. I am sure there will be many different answers but this is what I do to meal prep for me and my family. I usually roast a pan of protein, it could be pork tenderloin, fish or boneless skinless chicken breast or I cook up a bunch of ground beef. I then bake some potatoes or make a large pot of rice. I roast a bunch of different veggies. I cut up raw veggies. I hard boil a bunch of eggs. I make muffins, granola bars and cookies. I prepare several jars of overnight oats. How much will depend on who you are meal prepping for. Each person then dishes up their own meal. It took me a long time to find what works, but now I am lost if I don't have food prepared and I stress if I have to get something on the go. I find that takeout does not satisfy me as much as my own food.

RealWorldStrengthLLC

I meal prep my breakfast and lunches, and rather than once a week I do Sunday and Wednesday so Friday at lunch I'm not eating chicken that sat in a Tupperware for 6 days.

Camaramandy648

I have no idea how to do this successfully. My daughter is autistic so a VERY picky eater (though, she is improving every day) so she's out. My son will eat whatever I make. BUT WHERE THE HECK DO I FIND THE RECIPES AND WHEN DO I HAVE TIME TO SIT DOWN AND CREATE THE GROCERY ORDER. The idea of it stresses me out so bad that it's unreal.

Usually, I'll make the next day's breakfast and lunch the night before and then usually for dinner, I have an idea of what i'm going to make.

gallicinvasion

Meal prepping is just preparing meals in the days before you plan to eat them. There are many ways of doing this, and you can prep breakfasts only, lunches only, dinners only, or some combination. It’s not all-or-nothing. And the goal is to reduce the amount of time you have to worry about preparing meals, as well as making it easier to stick to an eating plan. Basically, you have to think about how it will best fit your schedule.

For instance, I usually have downtime on Sundays, love eating leftovers, and love cooking big batches. So on Sundays, I choose one recipe, grocery shop, and I prep one big dish with five to ten servings for the week (packing them up in individual Tupperware). I also have the same breakfast every day (homemade trail mix) so I make that and portion it out on Sundays as well.

Then I only have to worry about dinner! I might have an extra lunch portion, cook something easy and quick, or have a freezer meal from a past week.

So I meal prep, but not every single meal. Just breakfasts and lunches. Find what works for you.

JennJ323

I love food prepping! It may take some extra time on the weekend, but it makes the hectic mornings before work a little bit easier!

I make my grocery list (and plan what my meals will be) the week beforehand.. get my list organized and go shopping Saturday or Sunday morning. Usually Sunday afternoon I'll spend an hour or so (depends on what I'm prepping) cooking up my meals. I do the same thing each day for breakfast & lunch, so I'm really just making big batches and dividing them into 5 separate meals. Then each morning before work I just grab the containers and am out the door. Makes logging easy too, since it's the same thing each day. Dinners are different each day and made fresh. But they are also planned out in advance, so I'm not scrambling at 6pm on what to make that night.

Dkenya2017

I find meal prepping frees me up during the week. I make huge batches on the weekend, portion out and freeze. I always have fresh salad stuff in the fridge. So I just add a salad to my lunches and dinners, or shiritaki noodles, or cauliflower rice. I usually make enough meals for 14 days - pasta less lasagne, chicken chilli, lamb cubes and Mediterranean veg, butter chicken, tuna cakes, beef and veg stew, slow cooked short ribs, pork roast with spinach and roast cauliflower etc. Options are endless.

sytchequeen

I menu plan on Thursdays ready for doing the shopping Fridays.

Sundays I prep my workday breakfasts for the week.

Work lunch is aways made the night before.

Sometimes I batch cook at weekends and freeze my own ready meals - by checking my freezer list I can plan "convenience" dinners some nights a week. Other dinners are cooked from scratch when I get home, but by having my menu plan and all the stuff I need ready I don't have to think about it, just get on with it.

Just find a way that suits you. What WILL hold you back is zero plan and just winging it. That way the Take Away Menu lies... (not always a bad thing, just not too regular!)