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Where my meal preppers at?

goal06082021

Hello!

I've been meal-prepping my lunches for work for a while now - I make a big batch of something on the weekend, then pack up 5 servings into containers that I can just grab and toss into my lunch bag along with a side or two (generally fruit and/or Greek yogurt) and a beverage (usually flavored seltzer). I also recently started prepping breakfast - I've found I can make 10 breakfast burritos for about a dollar and ~550 cal apiece, enough for me and my husband for the week. I usually just cook dinner, but in recent weeks I've been gravitating toward recipes that will yield leftovers so I don't have to cook every night, LOL.

But, this is a forum, not my personal blog. SO! If you also live that mealprep life, what are your go-to recipes? Where do you find your inspiration? Any recommendations for gear, storage, shopping tips?

Replies

firephoenix8

I cook for one and I don't love cooking, so meal prep is the only way for me. I do it like the OP says; I prepare a meal that has a defined number of servings and portion it out into containers so it can be my meals for the week. Usually I make two things and I alternate them, one for lunch and one for dinner. I try to be constantly trying new things so I don't get bored. For me it's important to have things portioned out into containers even if I'm eating at home because otherwise it's just leftovers and it's more complicated to figure out how much to eat and it's a different head space to eat leftovers than to eat "the meal I prepared in advance".

This week, I'm doing a pot roast in the crock pot with carrots, little heirloom potatoes, and onions as one meal. I may end up freezing half of it because it was a big roast, idk, it's not done yet. The second meal is "Skillet Gnocchi with White Beans and Chard", which is an eating well recipe. I follow the recipe pretty exactly: to make it meal prep, I separate the gnocchi out into 4 small containers, prepare the sauce part which is onions, garlic, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of white beans and a diced bunch of red or rainbow chard (put in last and wilted) and separate that into 4 medium sized containers. When I'm ready to serve it, I put the sauce and gnocchi together with shredded mozzarella and parmesan and warm it up.

Other favorites include:
Beef and bean chili (kidney beans, mushrooms, barley, calls for beer but I usually use red wine, makes 6 servings)
Mashed potatoes (3 lb bag of russet potatoes with 1/2 cup of milk and 2 T butter makes 6 servings) - if you have the calories you can add some melted cheese on top
Kale, sausage and lentils - not a soup as the liquid reduces down
Lentils, carrots, diced tomatoes as a soup with spinach added at the end (for meal prep, you keep the spinach in separate containers)
Quinoa and garbanzo beans as the base for a cold salad or whatever vegetables you love: I like bell peppers, tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers (I don't like salad dressing but YMMV)

2furryfriendz

I can't have the same thing every day so I make a couple of different recipes then I make something else during those off days.
This is my egg roll in a bowl and Greek Turkey meatballs plus homemade tzatziki sauce ( not pictured)

acpgee

I do a lot of partial meal prepping. I make shellfish bisque on the weekends when I have a large bag of prawn shells saved up in the freezer and freeze in small portions. I make herb oils to rescue soft herbs like coriander, parsley, basil or mint when they are starting to look sad and wilted. The herb oils keep in the fridge for a few weeks. Makes a dinner like this very quick to pull together on a weeknight. Pan fried fish (cod tonight) served on a bed of tinned beans warmed up in bisque with any chopped leftover veg thrown in. Garnish of gremolata (best made fresh) and coriander oil.

Chef_Barbell

Made a batch of lentil, sweet potato and spinach soup. That will be lunch for today for hubby and I.

erosemiller314

Hello Meal Preppers! I am very new to meal prepping. I am trying to meal prep for both my husband and myself and so I need things where I can easily make different size portions. Also I am finding that when I Google search for meal prepping ideas, it is a lot of what my husband would call "fancy" food. hahaha! Could anyone recommend some blogs or YouTube channels that include recipes and/or meal prepping that would work for couples that are not super outside my husband's comfort zone? Or what key words should I be using when searching?

erosemiller314

2furryfriendz wrote: »

I can't have the same thing every day so I make a couple of different recipes then I make something else during those off days.
This is my egg roll in a bowl and Greek Turkey meatballs plus homemade tzatziki sauce ( not pictured)

I would love recipes or just the ingredients for both of these! They look delicious!

goal06082021

Hello @erosemiller314! I don't know what your husband considers "fancy," so I'm not sure I can be much help on that front. Is he one of those guys that thinks it's somehow un-manly to eat vegetables?

I'm not the one that posted the egg roll in a bowl but I'm planning to make the same thing next week for our lunches, and here's the recipe I'm going to follow.

For 10 servings:
2 lbs ground pork
8 cups shredded cabbage and/or coleslaw mix (depends on how big the cabbages I can find are)
3 tablespoons minced ginger
3 tablespoons minced garlic
4 tablespoons soy sauce
Scallions to taste

Method: Just put it all in a big ol' pot. Brown the pork, add the cabbage and saute until soft, add the ginger and garlic and finish with soy sauce. You might want to work in batches depending on how much you're making/how big your pots are.

Serve with duck sauce and sriracha. I may get some kind of crunchy vehicle to serve this egg roll filling upon, like baked pita chips or something. I haven't decided yet.

I prepped Salisbury steak with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and roasted broccoli with parmesan cheese for lunch this week - 8 servings, under 600 cals apiece, and just using a standard recipe for everything, no weird ingredient tricks or substitutions. I used 2 lbs of beef to make 16 patties, 2 per meal, and 2 heads' worth of broccoli florets (I didn't include the stems, although they are perfectly edible). I put the broccoli on top of the steak and potatoes in our little prep containers, so you gotta eat your way down through the green stuff to those delicious beef nugs and buttery potatoes, bwahaha. Though the shredded parm does help those little trees go down easier - and just 10g of cheese per serving is plenty.

2furryfriendz

erosemiller314 wrote: »

2furryfriendz wrote: »

I can't have the same thing every day so I make a couple of different recipes then I make something else during those off days.
This is my egg roll in a bowl and Greek Turkey meatballs plus homemade tzatziki sauce ( not pictured)

I would love recipes or just the ingredients for both of these! They look delicious!

@erosemiller314 .. sorry for the late reply.

Greek Turkey Meatballs
https://www.skinnytaste.com/greek-turkey-meatballs/

Egg roll in a bowl
https://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/keto-egg-roll-in-a-bowl/

I get a lot of my recipes on Skinnytaste.com.

acpgee

I just made pho broth from 1.5 kg beef soup bones ordered from the butcher. Too much work for the amount of stock I got. Next time will triple the order from the butcher.

erosemiller314

2furryfriendz wrote: »

erosemiller314 wrote: »

2furryfriendz wrote: »

I can't have the same thing every day so I make a couple of different recipes then I make something else during those off days.
This is my egg roll in a bowl and Greek Turkey meatballs plus homemade tzatziki sauce ( not pictured)

I would love recipes or just the ingredients for both of these! They look delicious!

@erosemiller314 .. sorry for the late reply.

Greek Turkey Meatballs
https://www.skinnytaste.com/greek-turkey-meatballs/

Egg roll in a bowl
https://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/keto-egg-roll-in-a-bowl/

I get a lot of my recipes on Skinnytaste.com.

Thank you!! I'm excited to try both!

acpgee

The Dutch hubby is making traditional split pea soup. We will have some for dinner tomorrow with toast and will put a couple of portions in the freezer.
https://www.thespruceeats.com/traditional-dutch-split-pea-soup-1129011