Food Preppers... I NEED your help!

M00NPYE

I have got to start eating cleaner healthier foods and I know the only way is to pre cook or "prep". I use my lack of time as an excuse to eat healthy. (EX: I like brown rice but it takes forever to cook, so I never make it... can you heat it without it tasting like cardboard?) What are the best food to pre-cook to use throughout the week?? I want to know breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks! I will start food prepping this weekend, please give any suggestions before I go to the grocery store. The more the merrier since my husband is picky... TIA!!

tikki801

For lunches, I almost always do leftovers, a salad, or a sandwich on wheat bread.
I make sure to write my weekly meals down on a dry erase board, so they are mapped out in front of me, while I write up a shopping list. If later in the week I have a meal using chicken, I can always cook extra then for chicken on my salad, or for leftovers the next day.
Fruits, veggies, low fat cottage cheese, low fat greek yogurt, hard boiled eggs, protein bars are pretty quick on the go snacks!
Shakes are good for breakfasts
I eat Isagenix protein bars and shakes

stardancer7

Whole wheat couscous--can't get easier than pouring some boiling water over that and waiting for five minutes! Even better, using chicken stock made from the carcass of a rotisserie chicken--great flavor and stretches our dollars!

tikki801

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/
Here is a site for some healthy recipes!

PriceK01

For breakfast, I sometimes do a week's worth of steel cut oatmeal in the crockpot. Also look for "egg muffin" recipes. Most of the time, I just do a protein smoothie in the blender each morning. Takes no more time than waiting on my tea kettle.

kiern18

Whole wheat couscous--can't get easier than pouring some boiling water over that and waiting for five minutes! Even better, using chicken stock made from the carcass of a rotisserie chicken--great flavor and stretches our dollars!

I do this too! Couscous is so easy and filling. And it will keep for a whole week if you leave it plain. If I know I am going to be out all day, sometimes I will pack a salad in a ziploc container with the dressing in another container. Buy a large sized lunch box at Target or TJ Maxx so that you're prepared for cooling your lunches. I also love carrots with garlic hummus, any type of fruit, or veggie wraps.

And I love to make homemade corn chips! I do this in advance as well. I break the small tortillas into quarters, bake at 350 degrees for about 5-10 minutes and add a touch of sea salt on top. It's a very good snack and I can portion them out into bags. They can burn easily so you have to keep an eye on them. I often eat this with hummus or some salsa.

07JKGirl

Bump

M00NPYE

For breakfast, I sometimes do a week's worth of steel cut oatmeal in the crockpot. Also look for "egg muffin" recipes. Most of the time, I just do a protein smoothie in the blender each morning. Takes no more time than waiting on my tea kettle.

egg muffins... brilliant!!! :flowerforyou:

My son and I like oatmeal... How do you do steel cut oatmeal in the crockpot?? I'm only familiar with Quaker instant packets...

InstantKarma24

Quinoa stays good for a week or so in the fridge; I just cook a bunch on Sunday's and we eat it throughout the week. Good chili's and whatnot also work, as you can make them in the crockpot on a slower day, and then store for the rest of the week...

M00NPYE

Whole wheat couscous--can't get easier than pouring some boiling water over that and waiting for five minutes! Even better, using chicken stock made from the carcass of a rotisserie chicken--great flavor and stretches our dollars!

I do this too! Couscous is so easy and filling. And it will keep for a whole week if you leave it plain. If I know I am going to be out all day, sometimes I will pack a salad in a ziploc container with the dressing in another container. Buy a large sized lunch box at Target or TJ Maxx so that you're prepared for cooling your lunches. I also love carrots with garlic hummus, any type of fruit, or veggie wraps.

And I love to make homemade corn chips! I do this in advance as well. I break the small tortillas into quarters, bake at 350 degrees for about 5-10 minutes and add a touch of sea salt on top. It's a very good snack and I can portion them out into bags. They can burn easily so you have to keep an eye on them. I often eat this with hummus or some salsa.

ok, I don't know if we like Couscous or not, but I'm willing to give it a shot! and hummus, I've had it once I think I liked it ok. So yea, this is good stuff. Thank you!

Is the homemade corn chips that much healthier than the ones in a bag??

candacefausset

Once a week or every other week I bake various healthy muffins for my family to eat early in the mornings. I make banana, blueberry, etc but all are fairly low in calories- use natural sweeteners (fruit) and most use applesauce as a sub for butter. I also make what I call oatmeal muffins which are just individual portions of oatmeal, portioned and baked in muffin tins/muffin wrappers. Each can have toppings like fruit added to it. I freeze a couple dozen of them at a time and we all eat one in the morning or sometimes as a mid day snack. I also throw an egg or two into my mircrowaveable egg cooker (look on amazon). It only takes about 1 minute to heat up my muffin or oatmeal from the freezer and about 40 seconds to cook my egg. Don't try precooking and freezing eggs. They are chewy and gross every time!

For lunches and dinners I always cook in bulk so I make large portions of whatever food we are having that night, every night for one week, freeze the leftovers in individual or family sized portions depending on what I need and reheat whatever I happen to want that day for my lunch and for our dinners. Some months I only cook one weeks worth of nights and we just reheat stuff throughout the rest of the month.

M00NPYE

Quinoa stays good for a week or so in the fridge; I just cook a bunch on Sunday's and we eat it throughout the week. Good chili's and whatnot also work, as you can make them in the crockpot on a slower day, and then store for the rest of the week...

I will have to try this Quinoa too! I feel so deprived by not knowing all these different healthy foods!

dbmata

I tend to make up 6 or so marinated chicken breasts on the grill. Good for snacks or meals.

As for beyond that? Leftovers from dinner become lunch. I also keep salad materials on hand at all times.

kiern18

You can also do this with whole wheat pasta or quinoa! These are great for leftovers. Yes corn chips are definitely better for you than processed chips in the bag because they're real corn tortillas and you can control the amount of salt/oil you put on them. I use Pam Organic Olive Oil spray which is zero calories, or you can use regular olive oil.

runzalot81

I make oatmeal muffins and freeze them. This recipe makes at least 24 http://www.sugarfreemom.com/recipes/personal-sized-baked-oatmeal-with-individual-toppings-gluten-free-diabetic-friendly/. I also cook up a package of bacon on Sunday and we eat it all week.

Another easy meal I've been having is a beef patty topped with half a tomato and half an avocado. Perfect, easy and delicious.

I love to make casseroles on Sunday and just poke at it all week. Some favorites on my Pinterest board here http://pinterest.com/runzalot81/tried-and-true-alissa-approved/. The chicken and artichoke lasagna... and the smothered chicken... and the meatloaf... amazeballs.

roxierachael

When you're cooking, don't just make enough for tonight, make a second meal and freeze for another time. When it comes to rice, you can cook it ahead of time, freeze in portion sizes and reheat in the microwave with a splash of water. Jasmine rice stays the fluffiest.

Definitely invest in spices. Lots and lots of spices.

dbmata

Quinoa stays good for a week or so in the fridge; I just cook a bunch on Sunday's and we eat it throughout the week. Good chili's and whatnot also work, as you can make them in the crockpot on a slower day, and then store for the rest of the week...

I will have to try this Quinoa too! I feel so deprived by not knowing all these different healthy foods!

Quinoa is delicious, treat it like couscous or tabouleh when you cook it. Let it steam, then add things to make it most excellent. I like roast garlic, cranberries, herbs, black pepper, salt, and a little butter. For a warm one.

mssierra2u

I freeze individual servings of freshly cooked rice or quinoa. If you take it from the freezer to the microwave for 2 minutes, it'll taste like you just cooked it. I also make ground turkey "stew" with garbanzo beans. That will take you through several meals during the week. It also helps to pre-chop veggies for side dishes during the week.

prozac5489

Hey, it is TOTALLY easy to make brown rice that doesn't taste like cardboard when you reheat it. There's just a couple tricks. You do need to toss a little salt and a little oil into the mix (just a touch of each, really), and you need to re-heat it in a microwave (gets too chewy/brittle/weird otherwise).

I like to make huge batches of brown rice and then portion them out into small plastic bags or other containers and freeze them. The night before I want the rice, I toss a frozen package into the fridge to thaw, and then just pop that into the microwave for a minute or so. Perfect every time!

Now that I have a rice cooker, I pretty much do all my brown rice in that. If I don't use my rice cooker, I always bake my brown rice and it comes out perfectly. This is the recipe I use.

COOK's ILLUSTRATED's FOOLPROOF OVEN-BAKED BROWN RICE
Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 80 minutes
Makes 4 cups

To minimize any loss of water through evaporation, cover the saucepan and use the water as soon as it reaches a boil. An 8-inch ceramic baking dish with a lid may be used instead of the baking dish and foil. To double the recipe, use a 13 by 9-inch baking dish; the baking time need not be increased.

1 1/2 cups long-, medium- or short-grain brown rice
2 1/3 cups water
2 teaspoons unsalted butter or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Adjust the oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread rice in 8-inch square baking dish.
2. Bring water and butter or oil to boil, covered, in medium saucepan over high heat; once boiling, immediately stir in salt and pour water over rice. Cover baking dish tightly with doubled layer of foil. Bake rice 1 hour, until tender.
3. Remove baking dish from oven and uncover. Fluff rice with dinner fork, then cover dish with clean kitchen towel; let rice stand 5 minutes. Uncover and let rice stand 5 minutes longer; serve immediately.

Reprinted from the May/June 2004 issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine.

beelanc

Quinoa stays good for a week or so in the fridge; I just cook a bunch on Sunday's and we eat it throughout the week. Good chili's and whatnot also work, as you can make them in the crockpot on a slower day, and then store for the rest of the week...

I will have to try this Quinoa too! I feel so deprived by not knowing all these different healthy foods!

I finally tried Quinoa I loved it. Can easily replace rice in any dish. So quick and easy to make.

thistimewillbedifferent

Food prepping has been a lifesaver for me. I notice a HUGE difference in my success the weeks I have prepped in advance versus the weeks I have not. Here are some of the advance prep steps I take during the wkend, usually right after I get home from the grocery store so that I can do much of it while putting away the items I purchased:

* cook several boneless, skinless chicken breasts, package them in 1/2 cup portions (I live alone), and freeze. throughout the week I use the cooked chicken in salads, in wrap sandwiches, on homemade pizza, or even just for a protein snack.

* brown ground turkey. sometimes I use it to make turkey chili, which I then freeze in one cup portions; other times I use it in burritos or nachos (in which case I freeze it in 1/2 cup portions).

* cook black beans. throughout the week, use in salads, burritos, nachos, quinoa, etc.

* hard boil eggs. I use the hard-boiled whites as a great snack when I need more lean protein; if I'm extra hungry, I fill them with hummus and/or a little avocado.

* preportion things like hummus, almond butter, light cream cheese, natural peanut butter, etc. into small 2-oz plastic containers so that during the week I can grab a hummus container and some carrot sticks when I need a snack.

* cut carrot sticks, radish slices, and celery sticks, all of which I store in water in the fridge until the day I want to eat them -- keeps them super crisp.

* cut up or even just portion a variety of fruit and put it in one-cup plastic containers.

* portion out nuts into one-serving baggies. SO easy to just grab a serving on the run this way.

* prep some sort of whole grain like brown rice, quinoa, or couscous, then portion into individual servings so that I don't have to measure later in the week.

* roast some veggies to toss into salads, on sandwiches, or on pizza throughout the week.

* sometimes I'll go even further and make a full recipe or two to eat during the week -- could be a healthy version of a quiche, a pizza, a healthy version of a pasta recipe, whatever. I then portion out and package the servings individually.

By Monday morning, my fridge is really fun to look at, with rows and rows of little individual servings of various healthy foods -- allows me to grab and go throughout the week with no stress. It took me awhile to get the hang of it, but now that I'm in a routine I can usually do my weekly food prep in about one hour total, which for me has been totally worth it.

Best of luck with your efforts!