Meal prep tips and ideas

Meal planning is the first step to prepping. I see what is on sale and plan accordingly. I also like to do one big thing on Sunday and then use it for the next several days. Example -1) bake one or more (depending on family size) large chickens for Sunday dinner. Use left overs for chicken tacos on Monday and chicken salad wrap for Tuesday lunch. 2) Bake a large beef pot roast for dinner - leftovers can be used for a chili or for beef stew as well as a sandwich or wrap.

I find that making a batch of quinoa on Sunday helps because I can mix it with stuff all week. It works in Salad, as a side or also as a breakfast with fruit and cinnamon heated up!

I like to cook and freeze dishes. To start, pick a one pot meal - stew, chili, curries, or soup (easiest to get the hang of) - cook, cool, portion into individual containers, and freeze. Sauces like marinara, enchilada sauce, or BBQ sauce can be frozen the same way.

You can also freeze things like meatballs, homemade burritos, breakfast sandwiches, nuggets, taquitos, mini-pot pies, stuffed peppers, or mini-meatloves by cooking, cooling, freezing on a baking sheet (flash freeze) then transferring the frozen items into a freezer bag. The baking sheet keeps them from freezing together so you can take out as many or as few as you want to eat at that time.

Casseroles can be frozen for a few hours until semi solid, then cut into portions and you can put the portioned squares into a freezer bag to take out one serving at a time.

Batch/freezer cooking has been my savior. details here. I've done it for about 8 years and I'll never look back. I cook VERY rarely during the week. Occasionally I cook something that isn't freezer friendly - like stuffed zucchini boats - at night after eating dinner so that we can just pop it in the oven the following day.

You can also prep crockpot meals at one time so that you can easily throw them into a crockpot in the morning with no prep like this.

I pretty much make a breakfast frittata/crustless quiche and keep it in the fridge to heat up one piece every morning, then I grab one of my frozen portions of food and I pack it in my lunch bag. Sometimes I make a salad or grab something leftover instead, but at least 3 out of 5 workdays are usually something from my freezer.

We use components of freezer meals (like making pita pizzas with marinara that was pre-cooked), or having zoodles or pasta with meatballs (precooked), or cooking rice to go along with dal (precooked), or putting toppings on chili (precooked), etc so that dinners are easy. I admit that now that I'm no longer a single mother, we tend to eat more meat plus veg (and sometimes starch) meals.

I've always "packed" breakfast the same way I pack my lunch - the night before (so not a morning person).

Breakfast 1 (yogurt parfait): I portion out high fiber cereal & nuts a ziplock sandwich bag. Then I put yogurt & berries in a covered bowl in the fridge. In the a.m. I just mix together.

Breakfast 2 (oatmeal): Mix sugar, nuts, and seasonings (or canned pumpkin, sugar and seasonings). Portion out and store. Then I pour boiling water over oats. Snap a tight lid on and "soak" overnight. In the a.m. I dump the seasonings in a microwave 1:30 minutes. This works great for 5 minute oats.

On Sunday I grill a bunch of chicken breast. I portion meat into ziplock bags and freeze. Then I have chicken for salads - Asian, Cesar, Taco, Harvest....I copy fast food salads. All the fixin's can be portioned out too....nuts, craisins, shredded cheese, etc.

i usually do this

breakfast: eggs, toast, coffee, tomatoes, sometimes yogurt, 1/2 an avocado, or a few nuts. sometimes a piece of prosciutto. i might put some spinach in the eggs, or fry them in green onions.

lunch: a sandwich and/or soup, either out or at home. Starbucks sandwiches are predictable and not horrible (unlike their coffee which is predictable and horrible).

dinner:
- 200 grams/7 oz of meat (usually chicken breast, steak, pork chops, shrimp, salmon, ground beef)
- 1/2-1 cup starch (potatoes or rice are better calorie value than pasta; i boil baby potatoes when i have 30-40 minutes, while jasmine rice cooks in 10-15 mins, depending on the brand. sometimes it's just a piece of bread)
-1 cup fibrous veg (broccoli, asparagus, brussel sprouts) or a bean or lentil dish. (sometimes i do the beans/lentils instead of a starch.) sometimes a salad, but it doesn't take me as far as broccoli or legumes do, hunger-wise.

sometimes i am just lazy and have rice or pasta with frozen meatballs or shrimp (takes no time to defrost or cook) and jarred tomato sauce. or i get deli roasted chicken instead of cooking it. (or tacos or a pizza slice or korean takeout.)

my priority is being able to cook fast and keep it simple. if i have time, that's when i do the legumes (chili, channa masala, dahl).

evening snack:
- oatmeal, hot rice cereal, a banana, a small peanut butter/jam or ham sandwich.

my preferred way of doing it is to cook dinner every other night. i'm just cooking for one, here. so i'll make 2 portions of a meat and starch on Monday (eg chicken and boiled potatoes), leftovers are dinner on night 2. veg is fresh every time.

shopping: i shop every 2-3 days for dinner stuff, with protein in mind. i'll get eg 2 pieces of chicken breast (for eg Mon & Tues dinner) + 500 grams ground beef (for Wed / Thurs). or some pork chops + a steak. (steaks i just make that night, but they take no time). i also pick up one salad (will last ~3 days) and 1-2 kinds of fibrous veg for steaming. and tomatoes for breakfast. bananas, maybe.

weekly shop: eggs, cream, bread, yogurt, nuts, sometimes coffee or sugar if i'm out. ham, prosciutto, calabrese, tuna for sandwiches. cheese, maybe.

monthly shop: frozen shrimp and salmon. they take no time to defrost. i also get frozen chicken strips and meatballs for lazy/hungry days.)

not so into batch cooking. sometimes i freeze leftover chili or bean things that would go to waste.