Food prep advice - newbie!

What I do (but I cook for 5, so obviously it could be much simpler for 1 person):
- make sure I have some basic supplies at all times, like pasta, rice, dried beans and lentils, olis, some frozen vegetables, canned tomatoes, frozen fish / seafood etc. These are replaced as needed usually on monthly basis and can be used for simple meals when there is no time for planning.
- on a weekly or usually biweekly basis, buy fresh fruit, milk, some basic vegetables for salads
- plan meals for the week every weekend and buy whatever is needed (added to the above list), usually meat, fish, eggs, specific vegetables
- on weekends, prepare more time consuming recipes, and whenever possible, make extra and either store in the fridge for eating later during the week, or freeze so they can be eaten when there is time for nothing else
- during the week, prepare meals that require either little time (like e.g. a stir fry or grilled things etc) or that require little supervision (e.g. single-pot meals that you can let cook for a couple of hours without worrying about them). I usually cook in the evening, the food for the next day.
- whenever there is no time, or I am not in the mood, take out from the freezer something previously frozen, or prepare something that requires just a few minutes, like pasta, rice, omelettes etc.

I pre-log at least a meal in advance and on my most successful days I log the full day in advance. I change it on the fly or edit amounts when I need to but it gives me a good idea of what I can expect for the day.

Most of my meals are simple and require little prep (grilled chicken or meat, veggies done in the microwave) so I can make them just before eating them. I do prep a few things, like overnight oats, but the main aim is to save time in the mornings as I work full time and would rather have extra time for sleeping than making breakfast.

I also find leftovers to be an excellent time saver. Whatever I cook for dinner is often also my lunch the next day, that way it is easy to weigh and dish up my evening meal and also weigh and dish up the next days lunch into a tupperware at the same time. That tupperware could also go into the freezer to be eaten in a few days, with a sticker on top reminding me of the weight, or I just pre-log the meal a few days in advance.

I make about 10 hard boiled eggs at a time. That is 2 per day for my work week. I make enough salad for about a week in a big bowl but then portion it out for meals. I use a lot of deli meat (turkey and chicken mostly), I weigh it out and pre-make my sandwiches. I use bagel thins, flat rounds or wraps (whole wheat). Have enough fruit for the week on hand. I also eat almonds with my afternoon snacks. 15 pieces in a ziplock bag. Just grab and go.

For me, prepping simply means trying to make my evenings a little easier so I'm not spending an hour in the kitchen after work trying to make a meal. Some things you can do towards this end:

• Buy meat in bulk, cook it up and separate it into freezer bags that fit your servings sizes. I like to do this with ground beef, in particular.
• Cook a large batch of a meal and portion the leftovers for future meals. If you choose to freeze for meals a week or two out, use a calendar to track which day you plan to eat them so you don't end up throwing them away a year from now. Soups, stews, casseroles and chili work great for this.
• Make meals that re-use items you made extra of earlier in the week. For example, have a roasted chicken and mashed potatoes on Sunday night (or any day you have more time to cook). Use leftover chicken on Monday in a big salad. Use leftover mashed potatoes on Tuesday to top a shepherd's pie.
• Find a really good meal planning app or use a calendar. I really like Cozi.com. It has a meal planner, recipe box, shopping lists and calendar all in one. And it's free.

This is what I do:

Sunday for the week ahead, prepare two different meats that can be used in a variety of dishes. Baking, grilling, seem to be the most time consuming for me. Why heat up the grill 5 times if I can do it once instead?

-Grill 5 chicken breasts, shred. Now I can add this to taco salads, taco bowls, as a salad topping, or into a soup.

-Bake turkey meatballs. Use this for meatballs+ marinara along with zoodles or polenta, with an asian sauce for an meatball/rice bowl, chop up and use in lettuce wraps, etc.

-Cook batch of rice for above dishes.

I buy fruits and veggies as well and try to incorporate what I have on hand. I also prefer to do things that freeze well so I can save the portion for the next week if I don't eat it all.

janejellyroll wrote: »

Kalikel wrote: »

If it needs to be chopped, chop it. If it needs to be marinated, marinate it.

Am I misunderstanding the question?

You just do whatever needs to be done to make whatever you're going to make.

I believe OP is using "food prep" to describe the practice of making meals for multiple days in a row and having them ready to eat.

Oh. Makes much more sense!

Can you can? You can make a crapload of food, can it and have a year's supply in the house, made healthy and exactly as you like it.

Canning is harder than it sounds, but a lot easier than it seems when you begin to learn how. In a few weekends, you can make a ton of food.

Oh! And baked tofu for a meatless additive. This gets added to a dinner and a couple lunches, changing the vegetable pairings.

And! Beans. I put out beans to soak then look up a recipe. Made in the crock pot, I'm going to get several meals out of it. And beans just taste even better reheated.

We pulled out some frozen soup this week, Bab Leves. I am very fussy about my soups, but this, warmed up the second time, was even better. Rich and satisfying.

What I do is take a few hours on the weekend and cook a bunch of stuff.

I weigh portions of chicken breast/beef and grill them all up. Then I put them into tupperwares along with a measured portion of a frozen veg. Then I freeze them, and have meals for the work week. I'll microwave a sweet potato to go with it sometimes.

I sometimes get a pound of bacon and cook/freeze that too. I keep eggs hard boiled in the fridge, so a quick "running out the door" breakfast is a couple eggs and heated up pieces of already cooked bacon.

I make turkey chili and keep portions frozen.

It takes a few times doing it but it gets to be routine and it's so nice to have meals all ready to go.

Kalikel wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

Kalikel wrote: »

If it needs to be chopped, chop it. If it needs to be marinated, marinate it.

Am I misunderstanding the question?

You just do whatever needs to be done to make whatever you're going to make.

I believe OP is using "food prep" to describe the practice of making meals for multiple days in a row and having them ready to eat.

Oh. Makes much more sense!

Can you can? You can make a crapload of food, can it and have a year's supply in the house, made healthy and exactly as you like it.

Canning is harder than it sounds, but a lot easier than it seems when you begin to learn how. In a few weekends, you can make a ton of food.

I used to have soups and stews on hand when I was younger. I love my pressure canner.