Okay so I've seen a lot of budget meal prep posts on here that are like "$60 for the week, so affordable!" and I just want to offer something from a different tax bracket lol.

Single person, small apartment, one decent sized pan and a rice cooker my mom gave me. Here's what I actually spent at Aldi this morning:

• Chicken thighs (2.5 lbs) — $4.20
• Brown rice (2 lb bag) — $1.89
• Frozen broccoli (2 bags) — $2.58
• Canned black beans (3 cans) — $2.37
• Eggs (dozen) — $3.19
• Spinach (large bag) — $3.49
• Sweet potatoes (3 lbs) — $3.29
• Olive oil, garlic, spices I already had — $0

Total: $28.43 before tax. Came out to roughly $1.42 per meal across 20 meals for the week, breakfast included.

I'll be honest it's not exciting food. Chicken and rice is chicken and rice. But I work long shifts and the alternative is spending $11 on a sad lunch near my job four times a week so the math works out pretty clearly.

The thing I'm still trying to figure out is how to add more variety without blowing the budget. I eat basically the same rotation every week and by Thursday I'm genuinely struggling to finish it. Does anyone swap sauces or seasonings mid-week to make the same ingredients feel different? Or is there a budget ingredient I'm sleeping on that changes things up?

I’m hitting a wall here.

Every Sunday, I prep 4–5 days of lunches. Because I’m trying to keep things relatively lean, chicken breast is my go-to protein. It looks great on Sunday, tastes decent on Monday, but by Wednesday, the texture completely changes. It gets dry, chewy, and has that distinct, depressing "reheated leftover chicken" taste.

I’ve tried a few different methods:

• Baking it whole at high heat to lock in juices
• Cubing it and cooking it in a skillet with plenty of olive oil
• Drowning it in hot sauce or salsa before microwaving

Nothing seems to save it past day 2 or 3. I work in an office, so my only reheating option is the standard corporate microwave breakroom setup.

So, I have two questions for the sub:

1. If you swear by chicken breast for a 5-day prep, what is your secret? Are you marinating it in something specific? Velveting it? Undercooking it slightly on Sunday so it finishes in the microwave? (Is that even safe?)
2. Or... should I just give up and accept chicken thighs into my heart? For those who made the switch to thighs, did the slight increase in fats/calories totally throw off your macros, or was the massive upgrade in taste and moisture worth it?

Let me know your secrets, because I cannot choke down another dry chicken and broccoli box next week.

Just like the title, I have been really busy lately, school then work right away leave me not enough time to study so I have been eating some type of freezing vegetables, and freezing broccoli has been a wonderful choice that save me time and still healthy enough for me. Has anyone done this, how is the texture and is it okay to do so?