Meal prep newbie

I've been trying to follow a coworker's advice, of cooking on the weekends, or in the week when there is time, portioning out the recipes into individual containers and freezing them. Then pulling out a selection of containers for the cooler for the day, including snacks, lunch and breakfast. By the time lunch rolls around, the frozen things are well into defrosting and can be microwaved.

Keep replenishing the stash, eating new things every day.

Crock pot recipes!! Awesome!

There is a website called Emeals, too that will help plan for the week, with grocery lists and price estimates. So you'll have beef for this recipe and that one... super neat to look at.

Can you grill outdoors? That's another quick dinner. Grill some meat or fish and eat with salad or frozen vegetables.

I do have a grill outdoors. I live in Southern NJ and it will be warm usually until mid October, end of Oct if we are lucky. I wont have time to do that though when I start school. I will be going right from work to an internship. Thanks for the input though!

I was thinking that if I cook a lot on Sunday and then freeze it, I can throw things in the crock pot in the morning on days I won't be interning and then have dinner when I come home. It's gonna be a long few months from Sept-May...but it'll be worth it!!

I personally wouldn't put cooked food in a crockpot in the morning. Depending on what it is, I think it's most likely going to be overcooked glop if it cooks all day and is already cooked. I would instead just put the cooked food in the frig and nuke a dish to rewarm it when I got home. I'd rather eat 5-day frig leftovers than freezer ones, though. If you prefer frozen leftovers, you could also nuke those. But from Sunday-Friday, I think the frig is ok for most cooked foods (probably not fish).

Good luck!

A lot of people who prep their meals will have a mass cooking day at the weekend (usually Sunday) and make a loads of meals which will keep for the week/freeze. These can be anything you want - stew, chicken and rice (you obviously need to be careful with cooked rice in terms of storage and reheating), bolognese, chilli - you can then just heat them up in the microwave, or eat cold depending on the food. Wack your food in the microwave when you get home, get changed/make a drink/go for a wee, and your meal will be done by the time you get back to the kitchen.

I prep all my meals for the week, except dinner. Luckily I am able to cook in the evening but I prepare all my breakfasts, lunches and snacks for the week - this stops me venturing to the shops each day for naughty treats and just stick to what I have prepared myself. I also find preparing meals helps with prelogging each day. I am much more comfortable knowing in advance what my calories/macros look like. That way I am able to fit in unplanned snacks if I need to.

edit to correct spelling!

I am a professional dieter. That means I have joined about every group and tried every diet in the universe known to man and some I made up myself. The one I have had the most success with is one of my own which has 2 rules. Eat only when you are TRULY hungry and stop eating when you feel full. Every diet or group I ever joined functions on three basic rules--Eat right, exercise moderately and drink the water. why pay some group x dollars a month to tell you to eat Lean Cuisine? One thing I have found is that if you cook prepared meals the recommended length of time, the meat becomes very tough. So I take out what I am going to have for dinner, let it thaw on the counter all day so less cooking time is required. All you're really doing is heating those things up any way. Maybe you could try that if you use prepared meals. Clip coupons and watch flyers for sales and it cuts the cost. I love this site for the calorie counter. And logging in what you eat really helps.