Food Prep

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How often do you guys do food prep and what do you usually do? I'm trying to think of ways I can prepare and pre-package and maybe freeze some meats and veggies and even whole meals to make things easier.

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  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
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    I bought the most wonder BBQ grill ever made. I buy those huge hamburger meat (sausage looking) 4 lbs rolls 27% fat variety. (the high fat keeps it really cheap too!). I divide them up, make patties, then grill them. The grill uses the same amount of propane whether you put one or 16 burgers on it. So to make it more efficient, I put as many as I can get on it. When they are done, I bag them in a ziplock baggie that I buy at the Dollar store (much cheaper). I usually just put in fridge, then eat them asap. If I feel they have been in the fridge too long or if I know I can't get to all of them soon, I throw them in the freezer. Whether they come out of the fridge or freezer, they microwave very well (less than a minute) and taste great. I also weigh a few of them, then record how much meat I am eating in oz. in MFP.

    I do steaks, chops, and other meats the same, and weigh/record them.

    Oh, while you are at the Dollar store, buy a bunch of cheap containers to store your mass food prep in. Record on top how much they weigh. I do this with food from crock pot, soups mainly.

    Tuna fish salad, chicken salad are great to make in batches, then put in containers (weighing them of course). Take Pork rinds to scoop tuna fish and chicken salad.

    I also cooked a couple pounds of green beans one time with bacon, onions, spices, then did the same as above.

    Don't cook bacon by the slice, cook it by the whole package. Then just fridge the pieces you don't eat at the moment. They taste great cold out of the fridge! I grab them for my easy on-the-run breakfast going to work.

    If you plan and multi-task you can do several of the above in one evening, then as you go to work each day, just grab from the variety of things you prepared, that way your meals won't get monotonous.

    If you don't know already, in MFP, you can create recipes and portions so that you don't have to enter all the stuff every time you eat. I use it a lot, its one of the best features on MFP app/on-line.

    I hope this helps,

    Dan the Man from Prepared Food Land
  • melissa968
    melissa968 Posts: 57 Member
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    I cook three pounds of bacon every week. I cook it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. I keep the cooked bacon in a gallon zip lock bag in the fridge to use for breakfast, in salads and on sandwiches made with oopsie rolls. I also make the oopsie rolls and freeze them individually.
    Like Dan, I like to make chicken salad and tuna salad to keep in the fridge for a sandwich, salad topper, or to dip with pork rinds.
    Another favorite of mine is individual mini cheesecakes...OMG, so yummy when you think you need something sweeter. Who else other than keto/lowcarbers can have cheesecake on their diet?? I love this WOE!
  • hippygirl325
    hippygirl325 Posts: 223 Member
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    melissa968 wrote: »
    I cook three pounds of bacon every week. I cook it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. I keep the cooked bacon in a gallon zip lock bag in the fridge to use for breakfast, in salads and on sandwiches made with oopsie rolls. I also make the oopsie rolls and freeze them individually.
    Like Dan, I like to make chicken salad and tuna salad to keep in the fridge for a sandwich, salad topper, or to dip with pork rinds.
    Another favorite of mine is individual mini cheesecakes...OMG, so yummy when you think you need something sweeter. Who else other than keto/lowcarbers can have cheesecake on their diet?? I love this WOE!

    Ok I definitely need that cheesecake recipe! lol
  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
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    Yeah, I need the Cheesecake recipe too!

    Dan the Man from Michigan
  • jwins3290
    jwins3290 Posts: 41 Member
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    Ditto on the cheesecake recipe!
  • melissa968
    melissa968 Posts: 57 Member
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    By popular demand!

    http://t1dandglutenfree.com/cheesecake-cupcakes
    sometimes I add a little cinnamon to the crust mixture. You can also try using the flavored sugar free syrups to the cheesecake mixture. I freeze these and take one out while I'm cooking dinner so it can thaw and be ready for me afterwards. Great as a fat bomb too!
    I have a TON of lowcarb/keto recipes on my pinterest page :smiley:
    http://www.pinterest.com/melissa968/
  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
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    melissa968 wrote: »
    By popular demand!

    http://t1dandglutenfree.com/cheesecake-cupcakes
    sometimes I add a little cinnamon to the crust mixture. You can also try using the flavored sugar free syrups to the cheesecake mixture. I freeze these and take one out while I'm cooking dinner so it can thaw and be ready for me afterwards. Great as a fat bomb too!
    I have a TON of lowcarb/keto recipes on my pinterest page :smiley:
    http://www.pinterest.com/melissa968/

    Thank you Melissa for that! I added that website to my:

    DittoDan's Blog #11 Really Good Keto Websites

    Can't wait to make them. I may substitute strawberry flavored cream cheese for one of the two cream cheese packages called out in the recipe.

    I looked at other recipes on the site and saw a lot of other easy-to-make-sounds-delish recipes.

    That's why I love this group!

    Dan the Man from Michigan


  • hippygirl325
    hippygirl325 Posts: 223 Member
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    Thanks for that cheesecake recipe! Simple and yummy sounding since I been having a bit of a sweet tooth and missing sweet stuff lately. Just have to get a muffin tin, some Splenda and some vanilla.
  • tq33702
    tq33702 Posts: 121 Member
    edited January 2015
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    What a great Recipe Resource, Melissa.
    Thanks for posting...cuz
    I'm sharing your site on, too.
    Best2U,
    /tq
  • melissa968
    melissa968 Posts: 57 Member
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    oh, I forgot! To make it even less carbs, omit the crust. They cook and taste just the same :smile:
  • Alliwan
    Alliwan Posts: 1,245 Member
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    There is a whole movement out there called Once A Month Cooking or OAMC. Many of their recipes can be made lower carb and there are actually a bunch of sites dedicated to paleo/primal/LCHF with OAMC. Google either once a month cooking or freezer meals and the name of the WOE you follow.

    Its basically batch cooking so you either take it out of the freezer and bake it, microwave it, crockpot it, etc but you only cook once a week or month and put it into the freezer. Makes life easier if you cant cook many nights a week.
  • lebowski8
    lebowski8 Posts: 55 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I make giant batches of barbecue on my pit barrel cooker. last week i smoked 2 whole chickens and a boston butt -- 20 pounds of food in one go! I divided everything into single servings, put it into freezer ziplocs.