Once a week cooking and prepping ideas

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  • SPeffer1
    SPeffer1 Posts: 74 Member
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    I don't always have full meals cooked ahead, but I always cook on Saturday to make prep easier for the rest of the week.

    For instance, this is what I prepped this Saturday:

    Home made wheat pancakes for my son (he ate some and I froze the rest)
    Boiled and soaked black beans for the week
    Baked tofu to use in several dishes
    Washed/cut all the fruits and veggies I wanted cut up
    Crock pot oatmeal for five days
    Made spaghetti squash to use for the week

    I also enjoy making soups or sauces ahead and freezing them. I'm always looking for new ideas!
  • EandA85
    EandA85 Posts: 63 Member
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    For lunch for the week I like to make a huge batch of either rice and black beans or quinoa and beans - sometimes I add shredded chicken, lots of spices, hot sauce, cilantro, diced tomatos, chiles, shredded kale, broccoli....whatever I'm in the mood for. It's yummy hot or cold.

    I also make and freeze breakfast burritos for the week with turkey sausage, tortilla, salsa, eggs, cheese
  • PibbleLover88
    PibbleLover88 Posts: 40 Member
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    Tonight, I'm prepping 20 individual breakfast burritos to go into the freezer. I'm using regular flour tortillas, southwest style egg beaters, diced potatoes with onion and pepper, shredded cheddar cheese, turkey breakfast sausage, and salsa. Each burrito will be 260 calories, wrapped up in saran wrap, and put in a gallon bag in the freezer. Then I can just pull one out in the morning and microwave as needed.

    My normal dinner is a fruit, a vegetable, and some sort of meat (chicken breast, fish, etc.) So my biggest goal in the early part of the week is to have two giant bowls in the fridge. One bowl of cut up fruit, another of cut up vegetables that are ready to be grilled or roasted.

    I used to love to make the meals that just involve putting a bunch of cut up meat/veggies/sauce in a freezer bag and freezing it until it is ready to be dropped in the crockpot. (See - http://www.mamaandbabylove.com/category/slow-cooker/) Since I moved recently, I don't have adequate freezer space, and don't do this as often. If I were to start doing this again, as a single person that doesn't care for left overs, I would probably get smaller bags and freeze them as individual portions, and drop them in my tiny crock pot meant for things like dip and little smokies! :-)
  • Bounce4
    Bounce4 Posts: 288 Member
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    Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks guys, keep it coming. The more ideas the better, and even places you've found batch cooking recipes. I cannot eat a sandwich everyday, boring! I really like the ground turkey and a ground turkey wrap would be cool. I could cook on Sunday and add spices as I like and portion out in the freezer for lunches or on top of salads for supper after yoga.

    Bounce4, how do you store your cooked rice and how long will it keep?

    I just put it in the fridge. It said on the package how long it will keep. 2 days I think but personally I'm sure it would be fine for three. I think I'll try a stuffed pepper recipe tomorrow to use the rest up. I have read that you can freeze it but I've never tried that.

    I'm going to try some refrigerator oatmeal. It sounds terrible honestly but everyone says it is delish so I'll give it a whirl, lol.

    If you have a microwave at work a baked potato or sweet potato is also a really comforting lunch. If you have some steamed broccoli and cheese to put on top even better! .
  • caroldavison332
    caroldavison332 Posts: 864 Member
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    Saturday I cook a pound of beans. I reserve 2 cups for hearty soup making sunday and freeze the rest in 2 cup portions.

    Sunday I make hearty soup by browning meat and onions. Adding broth spices beans and kale.
    I eat out of it all week.

    I cook 2 quarts of cinnamon steel cut oatmeal. I eat out of it all week with flax and fruit.

    I also make a fish or meat loaf Into burgers and grill on my george foreman. I freeze individually in a ziplock.

    I also hard boil a dozen eggs for meals snack and protein.

    I grill fish friday with a tablespoon of pesto. Ginger. Mustard or other sauce.

    I eat fish again on friday.

    I have a dr. Joel fuhrman gombs salad daily. Bitter greens collards kale turnip greens watercress. Onions. Beans. Berries. Seeds. No dressing cheese or meat.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks guys, keep it coming. The more ideas the better, and even places you've found batch cooking recipes. I cannot eat a sandwich everyday, boring! I really like the ground turkey and a ground turkey wrap would be cool. I could cook on Sunday and add spices as I like and portion out in the freezer for lunches or on top of salads for supper after yoga.

    Bounce4, how do you store your cooked rice and how long will it keep?

    I just put it in the fridge. It said on the package how long it will keep. 2 days I think but personally I'm sure it would be fine for three. I think I'll try a stuffed pepper recipe tomorrow to use the rest up. I have read that you can freeze it but I've never tried that.

    I'm going to try some refrigerator oatmeal. It sounds terrible honestly but everyone says it is delish so I'll give it a whirl, lol.

    If you have a microwave at work a baked potato or sweet potato is also a really comforting lunch. If you have some steamed broccoli and cheese to put on top even better! .
    I've frozen rice before. If it sits in the freezer too long it can get freezer burned and get a little crunchy, but usually that's just a few grains. I think I've gone a few weeks before I had problems.
  • Kitship
    Kitship Posts: 579 Member
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    On Sundays, I cook a huge batch of eggs/veggies. Super easy and yummy for any meal.

    Just heat up a little olive oil, add chopped baby bella mushrooms, onions, peppers, or whatever you like. Sautee them, then add the eggs. I usually make my skillet with about 7-8 eggs. Lasts me the whole week. I usually just grab a low carb/high fiber tortilla and wrap up the heated egg mixture in it. Maybe add a little sour cream and hot sauce. Delicious breakfast! :wink:
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
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    You just need to bear in mind that vegetables start losing their vitamins (and therefore become less nutritious) as time passes once they've been cut up. If you can possibly chop fresh before you use them you'll be getting more from them.
  • PaytraB
    PaytraB Posts: 2,360 Member
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    We make quesadillas in the batches.
    Thinly slice and marindade the meat as per your tastes. We marinade for 1-2 days. We use a different meat each time we make these for variety.
    Saute sliced onions, mushrooms, peppers, pickled jalapenos, olives with salt, pepper and garlic. This is the minimum base. We've added other veggies as desired and available (cooked asparagus or broccoli...anything that can take a spicy touch).
    Saute the meat.
    Mix the meat & veggie mixes together.
    Sprinkle some grated cheese around the edges of half a tortilla wrap, add some of the meat/veggie mix to center of that half & sprinkle a bit more cheese around the meat edges. Fold over the tortilla wrap and press flat. In a dry pan, saute the quesadilla until the cheese melts (1-2 minutes per side) and holds the halves together. Remove from heat and cool.
    These can be kept frozen for a long time. We usually make about 24 quesadillas, using a variety of tortilla wrap flavours.

    Pea or Lentil soups freeze well. And I always make chili in the largest pot we have when I make it.

    Another thing I'll do is make up about a large batch of meatball mix and bake the meatballs in the oven on cookie pans, then freeze them in bags of 10-12. Four to five lbs of meat makes about 100 or more meatballs. Good for spaghetti sauce, soups and stir-fries.

    Once a week, I throw any "old" veggies (those left from last week, lettuce that's getting a bit wilty, etc) into a juicer and freeze the juice in ice cube trays (later put them into a freezer bag) to use for soups, sauces and/or gravies.
  • zeal26
    zeal26 Posts: 602 Member
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    I often make Skinnytaste's Baked Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese. I half the recipe and get 4 portions out of it.

    For lunches, I like to make up a big batch of vegetable soup. Healthy, tasty and low cal.
  • Mizzl52386
    Mizzl52386 Posts: 7 Member
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    I like to make ground turkey sausage and eat that during the week. Thia is what my breakfast usually consists of:
    Mini whole wheat bagel toasted
    1-2 tbs of Chive and onion cream cheese on the bagel
    reheated turkey sausage patty
    (eat these 3 ingredients as a sandwich)
    paired with greek vanilla yogurt and a couple of strawberries and some blue berries (fresh or frozen but if using frozen put in a bowl the night before)

    I am a classic last min person and this is quick for me :)

    Here's the basic recipe I follow, i have changed it to suit my moods:
    http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/sage-turkey-sausage-patties
  • Skye_NS
    Skye_NS Posts: 214 Member
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    We make quesadillas in the batches.
    Thinly slice and marindade the meat as per your tastes. We marinade for 1-2 days. We use a different meat each time we make these for variety.
    Saute sliced onions, mushrooms, peppers, pickled jalapenos, olives with salt, pepper and garlic. This is the minimum base. We've added other veggies as desired and available (cooked asparagus or broccoli...anything that can take a spicy touch).
    Saute the meat.
    Mix the meat & veggie mixes together.
    Sprinkle some grated cheese around the edges of half a tortilla wrap, add some of the meat/veggie mix to center of that half & sprinkle a bit more cheese around the meat edges. Fold over the tortilla wrap and press flat. In a dry pan, saute the quesadilla until the cheese melts (1-2 minutes per side) and holds the halves together. Remove from heat and cool.
    These can be kept frozen for a long time. We usually make about 24 quesadillas, using a variety of tortilla wrap flavours.

    Pea or Lentil soups freeze well. And I always make chili in the largest pot we have when I make it.

    Another thing I'll do is make up about a large batch of meatball mix and bake the meatballs in the oven on cookie pans, then freeze them in bags of 10-12. Four to five lbs of meat makes about 100 or more meatballs. Good for spaghetti sauce, soups and stir-fries.

    Once a week, I throw any "old" veggies (those left from last week, lettuce that's getting a bit wilty, etc) into a juicer and freeze the juice in ice cube trays (later put them into a freezer bag) to use for soups, sauces and/or gravies.

    @Plexgut, your quesadillas sound fantastic. What kind of meat do you use? We haven't branched out beyond chicken. :laugh:
  • lindseyas1
    lindseyas1 Posts: 25 Member
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    I am on the road a lot and eat in my car, so almost everything I do is cold or room temp. I love salads. One of my favorites is whole wheat pasta with salsa verde, avocado, celery, tomatoes, pinto beans, and cucumber. It's filling and fresh, and a little spicy. I make four to six servings on sunday and portion. I also make one with cous cous, roasted beets, and feta cheese with olive oil and lemon. I love bean salads too. Basically anything to keep me from getting bored! I try to make sure it all has a good mix of carbs, fat, and protein so I stay satisfied. One of my favorite make ahead snacks is two plain rice cakes sandwiched with a tablespoon of almond or peanut butter.
  • PaytraB
    PaytraB Posts: 2,360 Member
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    @Plexgut, your quesadillas sound fantastic. What kind of meat do you use? We haven't branched out beyond chicken. :laugh:

    We usually use either chicken or beef. For beef, flank steak, cut thinly against the grain is really tasty. It picks up the marinade well.

    One day, I'd like to try pork and/or lamb.

    I forgot to mention that we colour-code the tortilla wraps, too. I like slices of fresh tomato in my quesadillas and my husband doesn't. So, the red tortilla wraps are the code for "these quesadillas have tomato slices in them", the garlic/pesto ones are "these have more meat" (hubby likes these best) and the green ones are "these could be a mixture of whatever is left-over...that includes a possible tomato slice".
  • 40DayFit
    40DayFit Posts: 246 Member
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    bump for inspiration
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    Breakfast prep involves slicing up all three pounds of sausage bought at once and storing in a freezer bag. Then I grab a couple first thing in the morning, weigh them and throw them in the pan (add an egg or two as I go). It's usually cooking in between me getting ready for work.

    I also cook a pound of beans at once. Used to be a half pound then I started having to make them too often. These have been my lunch of recent. Portion of beans with a potato microwaved in the morning. I prefer to cook my starches right before a meal because these require little watching , cook fast and help me separate the I'm hungry and it's meal time vs. the "I wants." This lunch is starting to be "meh" enough that I could ignore it all day, though (full prep safe)

    Chicken or ground turkey I just make enough for multiple meals and store in the fridge. The ground turkey is great for burritos that just need cheese, refried beans, and sour cream added.
  • corinneselene
    corinneselene Posts: 306 Member
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    Totally felt the need to pipe in again...some of the things I do to stay organized:
    1. Make rice for the week with a rice maker: perfect sidedish, or you can make a fried rice, crack a poached egg on top with grilled veggies, make a south of the border wrap using lettuce leaves as the wrap (this way it isn't too carby)
    2. Make a pot of stock (veggie or chicken): you can make a million in 1 soups (tonight i just sauteed some broccoli, garlic, and cauliflower, added the stock i made this afternoon, added ginger powder, curry powder, mustard seeds, and s&P, emulsified and called it a day!) or throw it in the crockpot for whatever you may have
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
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    big old rice dish

    6 eggs
    1L egg whites
    make into omelettes

    1kg chicken and 750g bacon
    pan fry

    2kg of frozen veggies (microwave)

    2kg cooked rice (about 600g uncooked)

    combine all and then I will add different sauces/spices each day for variety (salsas, marinades, chilli sauce etc.)

    615 cals 60P/66C/9F per meal and makes 10. These are actual meals not snack sizes :smile:

    You will need big pots/pans.

    edit: tips for reheating fridge or freezer rice peeps?
  • Sarahnade42x
    Sarahnade42x Posts: 308 Member
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    Mm mm mm, bump to read later!
  • hstnljean
    hstnljean Posts: 52 Member
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    On Sundays, I cook a huge batch of eggs/veggies. Super easy and yummy for any meal.

    Just heat up a little olive oil, add chopped baby bella mushrooms, onions, peppers, or whatever you like. Sautee them, then add the eggs. I usually make my skillet with about 7-8 eggs. Lasts me the whole week. I usually just grab a low carb/high fiber tortilla and wrap up the heated egg mixture in it. Maybe add a little sour cream and hot sauce. Delicious breakfast! :wink:

    Sounds good you could use some fat free plain greek yogurt - extra protein

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