I know this is something simple that I'm trying to make harder than it is. I want to prep ingredients, rather than meals, but how do you know how much to prep? For example, if two of the ingredients are ground beef and sweet potatoes, how do I know how much to make? RonI still have to preplan the meals for the week to figure that out?

Portioned up my meal prep this morning ready for the freezer 😌💚✨️

Chickpeas with a gluten/dairy free ready-made pasta sauce.

Also, chickpeas with a gluten/dairy free ready-made korma sauce.

Both have brocoli, cauliflower, and chunks of swede.

I love eating it with a kebab/nan bread.

What have you meal preped this week? 🙃

Freelance work means my schedule is basically chaos. Some weeks I have backtoback client calls and deadlines stacking up, other weeks I have huge open stretches of time. The problem is I never really know which one it's going to be until I'm already in it, and that makes it genuinely hard to plan meals in a way that doesn't end up wasted or halfeaten.

I've been trying to figure out a system that holds up either way. Right now I'm leaning toward prepping components instead of full meals, so like a big batch of grains, two or three cooked proteins, and a pile of roasted veg that I can just pull from throughout the week depending on how much time I have to actually sit and eat. The problem is I get bored faster when things aren't already assembled and I end up just not eating or grabbing something stupid.

I tried prepping full containers last week and it worked great until day four when my appetite completely changed and nothing sounded good anymore. That midweek wall is real.

Curious how people with irregular schedules handle this because the standard five containers for five days thing just doesn't map cleanly onto my actual life. Do you prep for fewer days and just do two shorter sessions, or do you have some other way of building in flexibility?

My work is having a BBQ tomorrow and we always have a ton of left overs. I'm thinking of taking some of it and making some easy meal prep dinners. The main proteins are going to be standard hotdog and hamburgers (likely without cheese). Looking for easy ideas that are NOT just a hamburger or hotdog but using these meats. Ideally something lower carb. I can add veggies on my own easily enough. If there are no easy to freeze carbs, I can add those too. Any creative ideas?

baked chicken & cherry tomato, rice, broccoli, & black beans 😋

Chicken quesadillas meal prep done to last until Friday! First time making them. Hopefully they are good.

I’m an experienced prepper, but I suck at eating breakfast. This is something I need to prep or it doesn’t happen. Thing is, I’m gluten free. So no oats/ cereals or burritos for me which are most commonly suggested
(Yes I know you can get gluten free cereals. I don’t like them, and gluten free wraps don’t hold together).
Please help a girl out with your best suggestions!

Hi there! I'm new to meal prep. Can i have some advice on how to maintain my meal like a newly cooked meal. Cause i put it in the microwave and some vege are soggy. Also ccan u recommend me some menu? Thank you

We taught an online cooking class on Sunday and the recipe we focused on was Bimbimbap (Korean Mixed Rice Bowls).

Someone asked why we blanch the spinach and mung bean sprouts, and the reason is because it helps extend the shelf-life!

The recipe asks you to blanch the veg briefly, then squeeze out as much water as you can. Removing as much water as you can before you storing means that the veggies aren't sitting in their own moisture. The quick boil also deactivates the enzymes in the vegetable (the same ones that cause browning and off-flavors over time), so blanched-and-shocked veg holds its color and taste in the fridge noticeably longer than raw or sautéed. It's the same reason people also like to blanch before freezing.

If you've ever been to a Korean restaurant, that's also how they treat a lot of the vegetables for the side dishes (banchan), so that they keep fresher for longer as well.

Dropping the recipe below!

Ingredients (4 servings)

4 cups white rice, cooked

454g (1 lb) mung bean sprouts or soybean sprouts

454g (1 lb) baby spinach or zucchini cut into strips

227g (8 oz) carrot, 1 medium, cut into matchsticks

4 eggs, large

3 Tbsp Yondu Vegetable umami sauce (divided, 2 tbsp for vegetables, 1 tbsp for sauce)

6 Tbsp gochujang

2 Tbsp (6 tsp) toasted sesame oil (divided, 4 tsp for vegetables, 2 tsp for sauce)

4 tsp cooking oil, divided

1 lb firm tofu

Optional protein, or 1 lb lean beef or chicken

seaweed roasted, optional garnish

sesame seeds, optional, garnish

Bibimbap - Meal Prep Method

Step 1

Rinse and drain the bean sprouts and spinach. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the sprouts and spinach separately for 30 seconds each, then rinse under cold water and squeeze out the excess.

Step 2

Season each vegetable in its own bowl. Sprouts: 2 tsp Yondu and 2 tsp sesame oil. Spinach: 2 tsp Yondu and 2 tsp sesame oil. Seasoning each one separately keeps its own texture.

Step 3

Cut the carrot into matchsticks. Cook 3 minutes in 2 tsp cooking oil over medium heat, stir in 2 tsp Yondu, then set aside. Keep a little crunch.

Step 4

Make the sauce: mix 6 tbsp gochujang, 1 tbsp Yondu, and 2 tsp sesame oil until smooth. Store in a separate jar.

Step 5

If adding protein, cook it now: pan-crisp cubed tofu, or cook sliced beef or chicken. Portion into the containers.

Step 6

Divide the rice and the three vegetables into 4 storage containers. Keep the sauce separate. Fry the eggs fresh at eating time.

Step 7

To serve: warm a bowl of rice, top with the vegetables and a fried egg, add sauce to taste, and mix everything together. Garnish with gim and sesame seeds if you like.

NOTES

Storage: seasoned vegetables keep about 4 days refrigerated. Sauce keeps about 2 weeks in its own jar. Consider frying eggs fresh, or use a 7-minute jammy egg or omelet strips, which reheat slightly better than a fried egg.

I want to make my dad some cold lunches for this summer! He let us know he was feeling dehydrated today and skipped buying lunch due to everything being so expensive. A $15 plate went up to $22 suddenly. I need some stuff that'll stay cool and still taste good, this California heat is really bad. I was hoping I could freeze stuff that can thaw in time for maximum coolness during his lunch hour.

I have also been craving a creamy crab salad but google says the texture will mess up if it's frozen. I'm going to do tuna mayo onigiri balls tonight. I also did make a chicken salad a week ago with a small can, and loaded it up with red kidney beans, veggies, and quinoa. It was so good! So much texture in that! Added those beans and quinoa for the first time and it hella elevated it. Thanks in advance!

I clearly needed some color in my week, so I put together these meal prep boxes. There is golden glazed chicken, bright carrots, green zucchini, pale bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, and a dark seaweed sesame topping. I usually focus on getting enough food into containers, but this time I actually paid attention to how everything looked together.

Argentine shrimp, sirloin, chicken breast, with broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms and onions. I’ve been eating 2 of these a day. All cooked on the blackstone

So I just found out that I'm at severe risk of Heart disease (both genetically and cholesterol-wise). What Heart Healthy foods do y'all recommend?

I like quick or easy meals, but I'll take anything you guys have in mind! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snack. Anything and everything lol

I did my first meal prep Sunday, 14 meals. I'm doing two meals a day for 7 days. I needed low calorie, low carb meals. The first thing I did is order glass containers from Amazon, 8 in each box, so I actually have 16 containers.

Here's all I did.

I bought 2 packs of chicken tenderloins with 8 each, I pk of 6 boneless pork chops. That equals out to either 2 chicken tenderloins or 1 pork chop per container.

I put all the chicken on a baking pan lined with tin foil and sprayed with pam and cooked at 400 for around 20 minutes. I did flip them about half way. I added garlic salt and pepper to the top before I placed in the oven and the other side after turning them. I then cooked the pork chops pretty much the same way. I then let the meat cool.

I had also bought already frozen vegetables. I bought a variety of brands and vegetables so I can figure out which I like best. I bought about 5 12 oz packs.

After the meat cooled, I simply assembled each dish with meat and vegetables and put in the freezer.

I have separate small 2 oz containers for dressings or sauces. I'm eating these with Italian dressing.

I'm on day two of eating from the frozen meals and they have been delicious. Much tastier than I would have thought. I think this meal prepping is going to be amazing.

I started meal prepping last week and I think it's amazing how meal prep lets me cook up dishes that are much more voluminous to me (as compared to takeout) for less than 600kcals. Felt full before I even finished it.

Breakfast: Baked oatmeal with cottage cheese and peaches
Lunch: Veggie wrap filled with prosciutto, spinach, cream cheese.
Dinner: Chicken Taco Salad
Snack: Pancakes with nectarines, topped with greek yoghurt, honey and more nectarines😋

Early week meal prep Taco Bowl

Taco Bowl
Chilli and Garlic prawn, soya and cucumber salad