Any Meal Prepping Tips?

Rsmgon
Rsmgon Posts: 2 Member
edited November 2024 in Recipes
:) Hello!

Sunday will be my first attempt at meal prepping for the entire week. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I have started creating recipes on MFP and I love how the app calculates nutrition info for all ingredients.

I'm hoping to find a good meal planning/grocery shopping template, or create one.

My goal is breakfast under 300. lunch and dinner 400-500. Recipes or pics appreciated :#



Replies

  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I don't do meal prep, but I keep some of the recipes I tried and liked in pinterest boards sorted by calorie count. Maybe you could do something similar with your MFP recipes? Maybe by using a search-friendly naming strategy (example: [recipe name], breakfast, under 200 calories). Next time you want to plan something, you would have some modular ready recipes. If you feel like having something that has 400 calories, and your budget for that meal is 600 calories you would be able to easily search your recipes by typing "200" as a keyword.

    This is what my pinterest boards look like (go all the way up to 800+):

    be7dhckxfos1.png
  • AndOne8675
    AndOne8675 Posts: 152 Member
    I try to plan ahead for up to 5 days..after that some of the food loses its appeal.
    I make ahead 3 breakfast usually overnight oatmeal and sometimes I will make breakfast burritos roll and freeze..12 at a time his lasts me 3-4 weeks. Snacks extra cut up veg, fruit and sometimes a hard boild egg. For lunch prep I make a grain like bulgar or quinoa, roast about 6 C veg like broccoli carrots and cauliflower and make a big green salad. I cut up raw veg, have nuts and dried fruit to toss in salad and make a homemade vinegarette. I will roast chicken (insert protein of choice
    Or omit) to portion over 5 days.
    I usually plan friday and shop that eve or Sat, prep sunday. it takes a lot longer at first but then you will get a routine and knock it out without much effort.
    I have a fam with 2 kids so during the work week we have simple easy and healthy dinner go to's literally 5 or so recipes and just vary the spices, veg etc. Lots of soup, stir fry and build your own baked potatoes. It's cheaper for us and everyone ends up eating more veg and still have variety. The freezer is your friend, make a double batch of whatever soup and freeze half...then some of your cooking for another week is done.
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,787 Member
    I don't have any template ideas, but if you put "meal planner template" in your favorite search engine, there are a lot out there.

    I like Evelyn Tribole's cookbooks: "Healthy Homestyle Cooking", "More Healthy Homestyle Cooking", and "Healthy Homestyle Desserts". She shows how to lower calories in recipes through substitutions. You might also enjoy her "Stealth Health", which has suggestions for improving the nutritional value of your recipes (and gives tips for sneaking things like vegetables into recipes for family members who don't like them). Don't know if all these are in print any more.

    Also, try searching for "recipe makeovers" or "how to reduce calories in recipes".
  • Rsmgon
    Rsmgon Posts: 2 Member
    :) you guys are awesome! Barberellas, I like the burrito freezing idea. I'm also thinking about freezing meals like chicken and veggies. hopefully they're not soggy afterwards.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories