Food Preppers... I NEED your help!

I like food that I can cook in the oven and ignore while I'm doing it. This makes it easier to prep something like brown rice. I always cook it in the oven. Google "brown rice oven" and lots of recipes pop up. I use Alton Brown's. Then you can freeze the brown rice in meal sized portions and just microwave it when you want to eat it.

You can also roast other things for later use while the rice is cooking like white potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, butternut squash, and other veggies. If you wrap them individually in foil before roasting, they will stay moister and you can just toss them in the fridge for later unwrapping and eating. Most root vegetables handled this way can spend several days up to a week in the fridge before they get funky.

I use my freezer liberally to pre-prep as much as possible. For example: I'll buy a big bunch of spinach (or 3), 6 red peppers, a bunch of onions, dried chickpeas, dried black beans, etc (basically, anything I use regularly as raw ingredients for my recipes.) Then, I'll spend one afternoon every few weeks chopping or prepping (in the case of beans) the raw ingredients to freeze. So, I;ll wash and chop the spinach, then freeze in a big gallon container. Chop, seed, etc. the red peppers and freeze them. Cook up a huge batch (8-10 cups) of chickpeas and black beans and freeze those.

For things that I prefer fresher, like carrots and beets, I'll shred a big batch for the week and keep them in the fridge.

Then, when I'm hungry, most of my foods are halfway or more than halfway ready to go. Batch of hummus: thaw the chickpeas and mix with garlic and olive oil and a bit of tahini. Omelette: saute the already-chopped onions, spinach, red peppers, and then add in the eggs to finish. Rice and beans; I can easily cook up a big batch of quinoa or rice early in the week and then keep re-heating as I want portions. For more complicated dishes, like lasagnas or many-ingredient soups, I'll make a batch, then freeze individual portions.

Basically, I was standing in at the frozen aisle in the grocery store one day, and had the epiphany that I could totally be my own freezer aisle with just a bit more planning.

We always have:

Hard boiled eggs - quick to grab for a snack, or on top of salads etc.

Chicken drumsticks - I remove the skin and cook up around 15 at a time. We eat them cold, or we warm them up with some bbq sauce.

Veggies - carrot sticks, celery sticks, peppers, peas, salad. All cut up, in tuppperware, ready to grab and eat. We throw them in baggies to take with us, or add them to whatever we're cooking.

Fruit - There is always a container of grapes (red and green) pineapple, and apple slices. I soak the apple slices in water/lemon juice for a few mintues to keep them from browning. They only last for a few days before going brown, but we usually eat them in that time. I'm way more likely to grab a few slices then an entire apple.

Jerky - homemade and ready to grab and eat. Its my daughters favorite.

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i agree with the couscous. i just made some whole wheat couscous (a couple servings) and put it in a plain container, that way i can use it as a base for other meals.
i like using things that i can use for multiple dishes, and just switch up the flavor of it.
i diced a bunch of veggies (eggplant, peppers, onions, mushrooms), the peppers and onions freeze well. the eggplant, i used a portion with the sliced peppers and onions to throw together a curry and put over the couscous. mix it with some tomato paste, cumin, cayenne, chili powder, mustard and put some coconut milk in it, soo good!
the rest of the diced eggplant i used to sautee with mushrooms and throw together as a sauce for a pasta dish.
you can cook a bunch of pasta ahead of time, toss it with oil and then use that with different varieties throughout the week. i will make a roasted red pepper sauce and freeze that, then pull that out when i need it, or have the pasta with a pesto sauce that i made ahead of time as well.
i also like to buy dried beans and cook those in teh slow cooker ahead of time, that way throughout the week i can toss them together in something with a tortilla, or with a salad or something.
rice as well, make that plain, you can turn it into sushi bowls, a stir fry dish, or with veggies and seasoning.
i have no problem eating the same thing, so i will make a veggie soup in the slow cooker then bring that for lunches.
you can also make oats in the slow cooker for the week then just throw in whatever toppings like fruit, granola, applesauce, spices.
another thing i will do is use the boca crumbles, and just cook them generic with some veggies. then later inn the week i can add spices to make it like a taco dish, or use it as a meat sauce or for a shepherds pie.
good luck!
lunches - you can use leftovers or make like egg salad in advance using hard boiled eggs and that day mix an avocado in, use greekk yogurt instead of mayo.
wraps/sandwiches on whole wheat is good and easy to throw together, i bring oatmeal to work too since we have hot water here to use.
breakfasts you can hardboil eggs ahead of time, also can make like keish things in a muffin tin and grab them to go. i like to make my own fiber bars with chocolate dates and coconut those you grab and eat with some fruit. or throw together a shake with yogurt fruit and some protein powder or something similar.
snacks: string cheese, veggie slices, homemade pita chips, make a batch of hummus ahead of time (cook a bunch of chickpeas at once then use the leftover chickpeas on salad or make a chickpea mash salad). pre portion snacks in containers or baggies for the week so you can grab them easily

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!!

I can't say what the best foods are because it depends on what you like to eat. You have to eat food that you'll be wiling to eat over time.

I cook brown rice in a rice cooker and it comes out perfect. My diet is basically brown rice, lentils, and steamed or blanched vegetables. I've given up junk food and don't have cheat days -- I can't eat in moderation.

* I make several cups of brown rice in the rice cooker, which lasts 2-3 days.
* I cook a pot of lentils, which don't require soaking and cook in about 30 minutes. They also last 2-3 days. I eat about 1 cooked cup per lunch and dinner.
* I also keep vegetables on hand in the fridge -- onions, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, radishes, tomatoes, avocados, kale, winter squash (acorn, butternut), etc. Sometimes I chop some ahead of time, sometimes not, but I make sure a variety are always around.
* I don't like to cook, so I don't have recipes. Rice, beans, and 2-3 veggies make up most of my meals.
* I make steel cut oats with diced apple for breakfast and cook enough for several days -- I just add a little water and heat up.
* Seasoning -- Tamari, salt, dry roasted/toasted sesame seeds (I toast them in a pan). I squeeze a lime on my salads instead of using bottled salad dressing.
* Snacks: apples, boiled eggs.
* Variety: once in a while I will eat an omelet, fish, soup, salad, or beans other than lentils. I cook the beans from scratch and don't use canned food.
* WATER: I bought a 32 oz sport bottle and fill it with filtered water and lemon slices. I try to drink 2 of these a day. The lemon makes me drink more water.

I don't eat a lot of meat, don't like to cook, and don't mind eating the same thing every day, so this works for me. Hope this helps!

I usually do all the prep work and cook all the meals on Saturday. I'm in the kitchen around 5 hours. I make about 8 pounds of chicken breast, buy a 6-8 pound eye of round roast and cut it into about 8 steaks, then i'll go to the flea market and buy all my vegi's straight from the farm and chop them all up and put them in big zip lock bags. Sometime I will make some sort of startch and that will be enough food for my lunch and dinner. I do a whey protein isolate shake with a cup of bluberries for breakfast. All this food feeds me, my wife and son until around Friday evening. Then on Friday my wife will take all the leftover veggi's and make pizza.

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!

Great ideas! I agree with portioning out everything into containers for the week. This makes it easy to keep on your plan (whatever your plan is) and saves lots of time.

I go to the Sat market and get kale, swiss chard, spincach and lettuce. As soon as I get home I cut up all the greens then put the salad into pint sized containers for all my lunches for the week. There's left over for dinners too. I keep a 4 oz jar of seeds in my lunch box so I always have that handy. I keep salad dressing at work. I grab a 1 C container of beans/gumbo/soup to go with my salad - easy and quick!

I like fruit smoothies for breakfast. I have 5 different recipes that I make Sun evening, put into freezer containers, keep in the freezer then pull one out each morning. I add flax seed meal, soy milk and blend. I let the smoothie set while I shower so the flax meal has a chance to soften.

Breakfast - Protein shakes.

I found a shake on facebook that my sister and her son love!
"Have you tried the Skinny Shake before, it tastes like a Wendy's frosty:
3/4 cup Almond Milk
about 15 ice cubes
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1-2 Tbsp unsweetened Cocoa powder
Banana
Blend."

And it does NOT taste like a Wendy's frosty....you need to add a Tbsp of Truvia THEN it tastes pretty darn good!

Lunch - I buy enough produce to make salads all week.

Dinner - I prep my meat on Sundays and buy enough portions to last the week. I use those roaster bags and marinate the meat and keep it in the fridge until I am ready to cook it, usually 3 portions per bag. I cook it up one night and have leftovers for 2 more nights. And the meat comes out very tender cooking it in the roaster bags. I live in a second story apartment so grilling is out of the question for me.