Meal planning

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___jnolsson
___jnolsson Posts: 10 Member
in Food and Nutrition
For those of you who prep your meals! What do you like to make and how do you cook it?

Healthy family dinners? My husband doesn't eat as clean as I do and I like to cook for us but I want to make things he will like but still keep it healthy for me.

Also, feel free to add me!

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  • IncredibleMulk77
    IncredibleMulk77 Posts: 63 Member
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    I prep breakfasts and lunches for me, my kids and my wife on Sundays as well as plan out dinners for the week. I like having the breakfasts and lunches ready to go...but we all prefer our dinners cooked the day of. What I've found is, overtime, we've all adopted a cleaner eating regime. It was gradual.

    For breakfasts we keep it fairly simple; lots of boiled eggs, we put together our own pre packaged oatmeal, muffin omelets and protein waffles. Lunches tend to alternate and we usually make 3-4 dishes for variety and make a lot of them so we can freeze a few servings for weeks that we may not be as disciplined to meal prep or if we run out of time to cook dinner. Some of these are spaghetti squash and meatballs, fajita burrito bowls, steak and sweet potatoes, grilled chicken and various sides. We try to add something new every couple of weeks to keep it interesting and add to our recipe collection. Dinners are kind of a mixed bag of recipes. We make a LOT of stir frys, usually changing the kind of sauces we use with them. We also like crockpot recipes for the sake of sanity and ease. Also, homemade pizzas is a family favorite.

    Cooking and eating well was far harder than getting the exercise part moving smoothly...but we have stayed consistent and it gets easier with each passing week. It's been especially gratifying to see my kids tastebuds adapt to like the healthier options.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    I cook entire dishes on weekends: all different varieties of soup, chili, curry, stuffed peppers, stew, casseroles, meatballs, nuggets, burritos, meatloaves, etc and freeze them in individual portions. On each container, I label the date and calorie count. I've done it for almost 8 years, so in the morning I can grab and go and my family always has a healthy option to warm up in minutes.

    I also like to prep my breakfast on weekends. On a Sunday night I may make some kind of frittata to eat a wedge everyday over the week, I may make hard boiled eggs, or I may roast some vegetables or make a shakshouka (don't poach the egg yet), so that I can just warm that up and cook my egg each morning.

    We also meal plan dinners together as a family. Toward the end of the week I'll ask my husband and daughter what they want to eat the following week and incorporate what I have that needs to be used up. I write them down and post the menu on the fridge, and then grocery shop over the weekend based on that (and whatever dishes I plan to freezer cook). Sometimes I may not eat every component of a meal, but we make it work.


    Some of my favorite food blogs are:

    skinnytaste.com
    theskinnyfork.com
    slenderkitchen.com
    budgetbytes.com
    cookinglight.com
    eatingwell.com
  • Numer1ca
    Numer1ca Posts: 284 Member
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    I pre make Bree
    Alfaro, which are breakfast oatmeal muffins.

    I bought the prep dish menu plan, which is working well for the family (I make 4 dinners a week) we usually have leftovers for lunch. I might make the dinners a little bigger to ensure that.

    Or we'll have sandwiches.

    We have a weekly seasonal soup for when our veggie friends are over.

    And then healthy balanced snacks.
  • lucys1225
    lucys1225 Posts: 597 Member
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    Queenmunchy wrote: »
    I cook entire dishes on weekends: all different varieties of soup, chili, curry, stuffed peppers, stew, casseroles, meatballs, nuggets, burritos, meatloaves, etc and freeze them in individual portions. On each container, I label the date and calorie count. I've done it for almost 8 years, so in the morning I can grab and go and my family always has a healthy option to warm up in minutes.

    I also like to prep my breakfast on weekends. On a Sunday night I may make some kind of frittata to eat a wedge everyday over the week

    Some of my favorite food blogs are:

    skinnytaste.com
    theskinnyfork.com
    slenderkitchen.com
    budgetbytes.com
    cookinglight.com
    eatingwell.com

    This. Except I don't calorie count and the prep is only for me...most of the time. 80% of the time I eat differently than my husband and son so I meal prep for me and cook daily for them.
  • NattySchmatty
    NattySchmatty Posts: 103 Member
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    We meal prep on Sundays. Boiled eggs are a staple for breakfast and snacks. I boil and peel them and keep them in the fridge. I cut fruit and weigh it out for the week. I try and have a general Idea of what dinners I am going to prepare for the week. Crock pot is really helpful- roasts, chicken, pork- you can throw pretty much anything in there.
    Tonight is crock pot chicken spaghetti: skinless leg quarters (breasts are acceptable as well, these were on sale), an onion chopped, 3 toes of garlic chopped, green bell pepper chopped, Italian seasoning to taste, I stalk celery chopped, a jar of Prego Traditional Heart Smart. Throw it all in, set it on low, cooks in 6-8 hours. Remove bones. I will serve it over baked spaghetti squash. This feed 3 of us 2 nights in a row.
  • NattySchmatty
    NattySchmatty Posts: 103 Member
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    IncredibleMulk77 wrote: »
    I prep breakfasts and lunches for me, my kids and my wife on Sundays as well as plan out dinners for the week. I like having the breakfasts and lunches ready to go...but we all prefer our dinners cooked the day of. What I've found is, overtime, we've all adopted a cleaner eating regime. It was gradual.

    Yes, Exactly.
  • Numer1ca
    Numer1ca Posts: 284 Member
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    Bree Alfaro = breakfast.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,121 Member
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    Numer1ca wrote: »
    Bree Alfaro = breakfast.

    weirdest autocarrot ever.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I meal plan extensively - I plan/log all meals in a spreadsheet and I also have a 12 week rotational, weekly themed, dinner system, sounds complicated, lol, it really isn't, it provides structure (I got help in here to set it up) and I usually shop for fruit and vegetables twice per week - but I only prep components - freeze portions of raw fish/meat, and thaw/soak overnight, cut and box certain fruit and vegetables (melon, pineapple, pomegranate, carrots, rutabaga etc), maybe cheese, slice and freeze bananas for smoothies. Dinner is usually oven baked meat/fish and cooked rice or mashed potato/sweet potato and peas or green beans heated in the oven after I've turned off the heat, or soup/casserole (chili, pasta, risotto, blended vegetable soup, stir-fry. Breakfast/lunch is usually crispbread or porridge, lunch can also be salad or noodles or unplanned leftovers, evening meal nuts/cheese/smoothie. Fruit and raw vegetables for every meal except dinner.

    I don't eat clean as I don't know what that is, but I do base my intake on home cooked/assembled meals made with real, basic or single ingredient foods, but shunning nothing I like. I have come to the conclusion that that makes a tasty and healthy diet, not giving up either. Losing the fear of fat was a game changer. I prefer my "own" food to "convenience" and "fast" food now :D
  • CrabNebula
    CrabNebula Posts: 1,119 Member
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    I generally pick some time during the weekend where I prep 1-4 weeks worth of breakfast and lunch items for my whole family. I also make all of my freezer doughs for about 2 weeks during this time.

    Sometimes, I'll make a few dinners in advance like chili, bruschetta, curries, frittatas, etc.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    Numer1ca wrote: »
    Bree Alfaro = breakfast.

    weirdest autocarrot ever.

    LOL, autoCARROT
  • ___jnolsson
    ___jnolsson Posts: 10 Member
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    Thanks everyone, this is incredibly helpful!

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