Is Meal Prep intimidating to everyone, and is it worth it?

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  • misschoppo
    misschoppo Posts: 463 Member
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    I do big Sunday meal preps if I know I have a particularly busy week coming up & so I do batch cooking/portioning into containers to make it easy to grab my meals for the day.

    Other than that though my usual "meal prep" only extends to pre-logging & organising my breakfast / lunch / snacks the night before for the following 1 or 2 days max and then I'll cook evening meals fresh each day.

    I really enjoy being in the kitchen so prepping all my evening meals in advance/ reheating them isn't something that appeals unless my schedule a particular week makes it more practical to do so. I do find the larger scale prepping very useful when I know I will be time limited & plenty of great ideas already posted on how to do it :)
  • LaurenNotLaura
    LaurenNotLaura Posts: 64 Member
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    I always make big batches of soups and sauces and freeze out portions so I have it for the month. I also pre clean and cut most veggies so that when I or my kids are looking for a snack, it's readily available to just eat so it's as easy to grab as the bag of pretzels or anything else. My kids always go to the fridge first for snacks now rather than the pantry! Definitely worth it! I also make bigger batches of brown rice and quinoa so I can throw that into salads, frittata, etc whenever the mood strikes
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I don't like reheated food, and I need variety, so I just prep components - buy frozen vegetables, single frozen pieces of meat if possible, or freeze in individual baggies. Decide dinner the night before and defrost meat and vegetables in fridge. Salt, pepper, meat in oven. Cook some rice or potatoes, maybe make mash. Turn off heat, vegetables into oven. Always delish.

    I make exceptions for casseroles and soup - I make that for two days.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    You don't HAVE to meal prep. The extent of my meal prepping is making a double or triple batch of something so I can have more later, and cooking an extra chicken breast if I'm going to cook one anyway as I can fit two on my grill. But otherwise it's just as fast for me to open a package of chicken and getting one breast out when I feel like having chicken, instead of having to dedicate a big chunk of time for something that would otherwise only take one minute anyway. Plus maybe next time I'll want chicken with another type of marinade and spices anyway.

    Besides, I can't imagine eating something that was prepped 5 days earlier. No thanks. I like my food fresh. Plus I find eating more enjoyable if I can have whatever I'm craving today instead of having to eat something specific because I prepared it 3 days before the craving hit and it will go bad if I don't eat it now. I feel more satisfied and more likely to stick to my goal that way.

    So I just buy a bunch of proteins, some veggies, then figure out meals as I go (unless I have a specific craving, then I buy the ingredients for that obviously). I also always have lunch meat, pasta, and frozen veggies and shrimp on hand.

    You have to do whatever works for you.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    I cook dinner almost every day and make enough to have 1-2 meals to take to work for lunch as well. It does not take me any longer to cook a little extra and it saves me time and money on lunches.
  • kkzmom11
    kkzmom11 Posts: 220 Member
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    aledba wrote: »
    Batch cooking is your friend and Mason jars are awesome for storage. Find a protein you like that is going to taste good reheated in the microwave (if you use one). You can cook up chicken breasts, quinoa, beans, steak, tofu etc... and pair these with different grains or cut up vegetables in a burrito bowl style. Add salsa, cheese, yogurt etc...

    Cottage cheese is a snack that goes great with fruit. Making steelcut oats on Sunday night, they last a week in the fridge. You can pre-portion these items in mason jars to take in the morning. If you like fish, you can make it for dinner and then mix it with some herbs/yogurt or mayo for sandwiches or wraps.

    If you make salad, building this in a jar (from bottom to top) as dressing, protein, fruits/seeds/nuts/veg, cheese or avocado and then adding greens on top stops the greens from becoming wilted. You just empty it into a bowl at lunch and enjoy. You usually can get away with making these 3 days ahead.

    Pre-portion PB and cut up apples or nuts to pair with dried fruit. If you like eggs, you can soft or hard boil them ahead of time too. I just draw a little face on them to keep them separate from the raw ones.

    i LOVE all these suggestions. I will have to think about using these. I have a sit down desk job, so having pre-portioned food with me will help a lot, with not spending $ mostly. :p

  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    I used to do it all on Sundays but now I just "prep" in the mornings

    the biggest tool I use is the crock pot
    second is the freezer

    I used to make a couple batches of chicken thighs and rice. have spinach on hand.

    if a huge meal prep is intimidating. just start with a meal. I think dinner is the easiest.

    I find it helps with mindless eating. I know what I am eating because I already prepped it. it's easy to grab then
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    Is it worth to have a plan for this. Is it ever a disadvantage to have a plan set on what to do for anything.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    I'm weird and meal prep gives me anxiety. There is no way I'm cooking a bunch of food on Sunday to prep for the week. I finally got into at least packing my lunch the night before, or for a couple days, and it is good.
  • andrikosDE
    andrikosDE Posts: 383 Member
    edited August 2015
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    To answer the OP's original question:

    "Is Meal Prep intimidating to everyone, and is it worth it? "

    I don't see it "intimidating" insomuch as "sad", "boring" and "chorey".

    I consider cooking a pleasure, even more so than eating, and the fact that I can whip up a different thing every day according to my inventory, mood and audience, makes it exciting and fun.

    Diff'rent strokes I guess but if I'm armed by thousands of hours of cooking experience, I'm gonna damn well use my tool. I never eat out unless I go to a high end restaurant but that's more of an experience rather than just "eating"...
  • oh_happy_day
    oh_happy_day Posts: 1,138 Member
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    Meal prep is the only way I manage to eat within my calorie allowance and meet my macros. I usually prep 2-3 days ahead of time as well as batch cook for the freezer. I also do a meal plan for the week so I know when I need to cook and get groceries. It solves the "oh let's just get takeout" problem. And at work I'll just eat what I've brought so I'm not tempted to go elsewhere.

    I rely heavily on the crockpot - it's fantastic for healthy cooking in bulk. For work lunches I usually do salads, soups and fritattas. I also portion out my snacks and make overnight oats for breakfasts. Sure it's boring and I usually spend 4 hours in the kitchen on a Sunday by the time I do meals for me and DH, plus a extra 20-30 minutes in the evenings. I'd rather be doing something else but I've accepted that this is how I can meet my nutritional needs, calorie allowance, time limitations and budget.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    OP, why don't you try one single dish - make a chili or something, portion it and freeze it. If it helps you over the next few months to have a quick dinner or lunch, then you can try making two recipes, etc.
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    What was helpful for me was to get ahead of myself - throwing 1 meal in the crockpot and then making something else on the stove or in the oven, then doing the same thing the following weekend. Then I had 4 different meals to pick from and something like 12 portions in the freezer, plus 2 in the fridge. From there I could just make 1 thing over the weekend and be done :)

    I also loosely plan out my dinners right now - once fall hits, I'll probably be a little tighter about it. Monday and Wednesday or Thursday are typically something from the freezer so I take it out the night before so it can thaw. Tuesday I run with a group so I have a protein bar and some cereal since I'm short on time and not very hungry. Wednesday/Thursday I bake some chicken and pop a bag of Steamfresh veggies in the microwave (again, taking chicken out the night before to thaw). Friday I'll cook a proper meal or go out for dinner.

    Weekends can be flexible since I'm home a good chunk of the time anyway.

    It was definitely a little intimidating at first but now I find it lots of fun and much less stressful to figure out what's for dinner. This has meant I go out less often and I'm saving money, so there's an added bonus!

    ~Lyssa
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
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    Small pots of food take marginally less time to make than large pots. I have two stock pots that get used for soups and stews. Yes, TWO of them, plus tons of plastic containers for taking stuff to work. Multiple cookie sheets and baking pans, too. Almost anything can be baked at an alternate temperature for a different time. Most veggies should be nuked, chopped up, and tossed into the pot to finish cooking in that order. Less effort and less for the air conditioner to deal with.

    I assume that people who don't do their own cooking in batches either have more spare time or went bonkers long ago. Or don't cook, though that's a recipe for eating rubbish.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I am loose and creative with my meal prepping. I think if I pre-cooked a bunch of chicken breasts and tried to meal that every day I'd go insane. Instead, I have a few routines that get me a bunch of meals in a single sitting. For instance,
    • Even though there's just the two of us at home, I still bulk buy ground turkey and ground beef and repackage in to single servings. I make a huge tray of meat balls all at once, take out some for our meal, and freeze the rest. The same meatball recipe can be stuffed in to a throwaway foil container to be baked as meatloaf later.
    • Roasts. Roast on Sunday, Stew on Monday, leavings in wraps for lunch, and bones stowed away for soup later.
    • Crock pot meals are just as easy to make for ten as for two. I regularly make Stews and Chili's to put away for later.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,398 Member
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    Honestly, we cook fresh pretty much every day, and it hardly ever takes more than 30 minutes including cutting vegetables (and meat if necessary), cooking and serving. There are lots of quick wok and pasta dishes out there, and even if we do something like steak it only takes a few minutes. Cooking doesn't need to be complicated. If we do something like spaghetti bolognese, a few soups and stews then the cooking takes somewhat longer, but the portions are usually such that we can eat two or three times from it.

    For work we have real old-fashioned old world sandwiches: cut a slice of brown bread in half, put butter on if you like, a slice of cheese or deli meat, put other half on top, ready.
  • SarahLeeB23
    SarahLeeB23 Posts: 4 Member
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    I'm big into Paleo atm, so I all I really need is to go to that paleo subreddit for ideas and set aside a Sunday to prepare meals throughout the week.

    It's not scary as much as it is boring (thank you netflix!)
  • fycekpublisher
    fycekpublisher Posts: 2 Member
    edited May 2018
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    For me, "Meal prep" is what allows me to stay under my calories. I work right next door to the town's shopping centre and one of my worst habits was to buy lunch every day (sometimes breakfast/morning tea too!). Now that I have lunch ready every day, I don't even feel tempted.

    I have come across three really big points that have been essential:

    Tip 1: Weigh your meat accurately.
    Step 1. Weigh raw meat.
    Step 2. Cook.
    Step 3. Weigh cooked meat.
    Step 4: Use http://www.percentagecalculator.net and use the "Increase/decrease" function to work out the percentage difference. Use this percentage difference to work out how many calories your cooked meat actually is using the raw meat entry.

    Tip 2: Cook only what you can freeze
    For me, I make about a months worth of meal prep at once and everything needs to be frozen to stay good. Unless you can commit to eating the same thing for four days in a row, only prep what you can freeze.

    Tip 3: Mix and match your foods
    I like to have veggies, carb and protein combinations for lunch. However, when I was freezing the meals as an "all in one" it got pretty boring. I had days when I wanted chicken, sweet potato and veggies and all I had left was chicken, rice and veggies. I now freeze the individual components in zip lock bags and can mix and match, or even just grab out a bag of chicken for a salad or breakfast omelette.
  • fycekpublisher
    fycekpublisher Posts: 2 Member
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    or me, "Meal prep" is what allows me to stay under my calories. I work right next door to the town's shopping centre and one of my worst habits was to buy lunch every day (sometimes breakfast/morning tea too!). Now that I have lunch ready every day, I don't even feel tempted.

    I have come across three really big points that have been essential:

    Tip 1: Weigh your meat accurately.
    Step 1. Weigh raw meat.
    Step 2. Cook.
    Step 3. Weigh cooked meat.
    Step 4: Use http://www.percentagecalc.net and use the "Increase/decrease" function to work out the percentage difference. Use this percentage difference to work out how many calories your cooked meat actually is using the raw meat entry.

    Tip 2: Cook only what you can freeze
    For me, I make about a months worth of meal prep at once and everything needs to be frozen to stay good. Unless you can commit to eating the same thing for four days in a row, only prep what you can freeze.

    Tip 3: Mix and match your foods
    I like to have veggies, carb and protein combinations for lunch. However, when I was freezing the meals as an "all in one" it got pretty boring. I had days when I wanted chicken, sweet potato and veggies and all I had left was chicken, rice and veggies. I now freeze the individual components in zip lock bags and can mix and match, or even just grab out a bag of chicken for a salad or breakfast omelette.

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