Meal prep.

bigmangettingthin
bigmangettingthin Posts: 30 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I would like to start meal prepping as when I use to I did better then when nothing was prepped. I would just heat my meals up but I found when nothing was prepped I would just microwave a frozen meal or pizzas which for me with high blood pressure is not good for me. But I find after a few meal preps I stop.
For those who meal prep how do you do it long term. Would you mind sharing a picture of your next finished meal prep.

Thanks

Replies

  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,508 Member
    Sunday is food prep day.

    Lotsa chicken breast gets grilled. Eggs get hard boiled. Veggies get diced and sliced.
  • AlyssaPetsDogs
    AlyssaPetsDogs Posts: 421 Member
    I don’t have any pictures at the moment, but honestly I just make whatever and make several servings and microwave the leftovers in individual containers. So I end up eating the same thing for a few days.

    This week I had the crockpot cheeseburgers (no bun)! I will do cabbage stew with ground beef a lot! Sometimes I do shredded chicken taco bowls or buffalo chicken dip with celery. I usually prelog everything as well! I’m not trying to be low carb but I used to do low carb and I tend to do things with less because I can eat more!

    Pinterest gives me a lot of ideas!
  • spdaphne
    spdaphne Posts: 262 Member
    I've been almost strictly eating food from home the past 2 months due to being on the elimination diet ... Few weeks left hopefully!!

    Anyway, I just do it. I think I'll be a lot more aware of what's in food, mostly prepackaged food.

    But when I cook, I batch cook beans like making chickpeas roasted in some maple syrup and cinnamon. I eat that as a snack for the week. Being able to put stuff in the oven is great, like chicken, turkey or making little patties from them. I make these great apple sausage patties that have like 5 ingredients in it. I'll use turkey or chicken to make them.

    Throwing potatoes in the oven and veggies is easy. Or I quick sauteed veggies with this homemade zucchini dill dressing adds a little more flavor.

    Oh roasting seeds like pumpkin or sunflower seeds is easy and makes for a great snack.

    Anyway, like with anything, it's a commitment and my gosh it saves money. I try to make food I look forward to so it also helps keep me from eating out. The only thing I ever buy in the frozen section are vegetables and fruits which can be used in smoothies or soups.

    I will say reducing my sugar intake and balancing my meals has helped with any cravings I used to have. Frozen meals often are high in sodium, fat and other junk that only make us more hungry for unhealthy food.

    Anyway, if it's important to you to reduce your blood pressure, make prepping healthy food at home a priority. Your body will thank you and help you feel better and look better in the long run rather than eating frozen meals. It takes practice and habits are hard to change, but if you stick with it, it will get easier. Best of luck!
  • crystalewhite
    crystalewhite Posts: 422 Member
    Motorsheen wrote: »
    Sunday is food prep day.

    Lotsa chicken breast gets grilled. Eggs get hard boiled. Veggies get diced and sliced.

    Agreed, lots of chicken! I will grill some with just salt, pepper and garlic powder and use different sauces during the week so I don't get bored.
    We will do steak once in a while too, but that's hard for me since I like it medium rare.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Sunday is meal prep for me... I usually do a tray of sausage and egg breakfast muffins, and something that goes into 4 portions for lunchtimes. They all go in the freezer.

    Other than that, I have a weekly menu for evening meals and prep my lunch the night before so I get ready for work, and just grab my lunchbox.
  • DiamondAllies
    DiamondAllies Posts: 1 Member
    I do all my meal prep on Sunday's. Here is my breakdown:

    Breakfast: Egg whites with salsa w/ 2 pieces of turkey bacon
    Snack: Greek yogurt or oatmeal
    Lunch: This week is Ground Chicken Burrito Bowls*
    Snack: Rice Cakes or String Cheese
    Dinner: Rotisserie Chicken w/ rice and a side of veggies

    My total duration is about 2 hours to get everything prepped and saves me so much time during the week.

    *I like to find a recipe to use on Saturday for what I will make for lunches that week. So each week is different. I can share the recipe if you'd like it. Super simple and very flavorful. You can add or take away whatever you'd like.

    I used to get home and hate making dinner but now I just weight out rotisserie chicken and heat it up. I also buy large quantities of uncle bens ready rice (brown or Spanish are my go to's) and steam a cup of veggies. My total dinner time is about 8 minutes and I don't feel guilty.

    Add me if you'd like some more friends for your journey. I'd love to help and encourage!
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    I love to meal prep. I simply choose a protein, veggie and carb (sometimes) and find recipes that sound appealing AND will reheat well. Fresh fruit and veg don't tend to reheat well, so I stick to soups, stews, chilis, curries, steamed/roasted veggies, pastas, rice, etc.

    I bought 150 microwavable meal-prep containers on Amazon for $20. I cook every Sunday, making 2 or 3 large batches to feed my fiance and I lunch and dinner for the rest of the week.

    Here are some of my meal-preps: https://imgur.com/a/Th0e5
  • jwilk241
    jwilk241 Posts: 43 Member
    I meal prep on Sundays. I've been eating avocado toast so not much to prep since I don't like to slice my avocados too far in advance. For my lunches and snacks I make everything at once. I just searched "meal prep" on Pinterest and went to town pinning a bunch of recipes. You can also search YouTube and find meal prep videos for days.
  • ChickieBoom22
    ChickieBoom22 Posts: 81 Member
    When I was on top of my meal prepping I would cook twice a week, Wednesdays and Sundays. I would chop up all my salad veggies (cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, raw broccoli) and keep it in a container. Then I could just grab a handful or two of lettuce (usually mixed greens or baby spinach) and I was able to have a quick salad with my lunch and dinner.

    I was eating really clean so only lean protein and vegetables but I don't mind eating leftovers for multiple days.

    For breakfast I would buy plain Fage yogurt cups and fruit (usually strawberries, blueberries, apples, peaches) and have that for breakfast most mornings.

    I took my breakfast and lunch to work every day and dinner was ready when I got home.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 8,004 Member
    I don't consciously meal prep, but whenever I make a dish that freezes well I will triple or quadruple the recipe and freeze in portions. Tripling a recipe is not three times the work, especially if you use the food processor for tasks like chopping onions. My typical recipes for batch cookibng and freezing:

    1. Braised meats. Coq au vin, chicken cacciatore, dak dori tang, boef bourignon, beef rendang, any stew or curry.
    2. Beans and protein. Chilli con carne, dutch split pea soup, cassoulet.
    3. Ground meat. Meatloaf and meatballs.
    4. Cooked potato. Gratin dauphinoise. Cottage pie. Mash. (Raw potato will convert starch to sugar in the freezer, so only freeze cooked potato recipes.
    5. Freezable pasta sauces. Bolognaise, vodka sauce, pesto.

    I have a sous vide immersion wand so will sous vide in large batches and toss the bags we don't eat on day 1 in the freezer to brown later either in the air fryer, under the broiler or in a cast iron skillet after defrosting. My sous vide go-tos are confit du canard, salt beef, pork loin char sui, gammon joints, cheap beef roasts like silverside (eye of round in the US) as low temperature sous vide produces edge to edge medium rare and is great for cheap cuts that are tough cooked with other methods.

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