Meal Prep Thread
 

As suggested by /u/MSREE, creating a thread for us to share ideas and what's worked for us.

I'll kick this off!

Containers: I find IKEA's glass containers very reasonably priced (~$5 a piece). Have had really bad experience with Rubbermaid Takeaways.

Recipes: My favourite recipe thus far is Bulgogi Bap. You can load it with veggies as needed. Takes roughly 90 minutes for 4 portions.

• Spinach: boil for 60 seconds, squeeze water out, mix with sesame oil + salt + sesame seeds
• Cucumber: julienne the cucumber, then follow the process for spinach
• Peppers & Carrots: cut up and pan fry on low-medium heat
• Bulgogi: usually use a sirloin tails from the local butcher

Photo:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/KC...O=w149-h220-no

MyFitnessPal:
https://screenshotscdn.firefoxuserco...9988d4f7b9.png

Hey bud! Awesome I love this.

Do you use a scale at all for portioning? I’m wondering if it’s in my better interest to get one again lol.

Containers: I bought my round plastic takeaway containers from a store called Henlong is Surrey. I think they came in stacks of at least 50 pieces each. Have to buy containers + lids separately and they were about 9.95 each stack at the time so I paid about $20+tax last year. I still have a ton left and quality is decent enough for reuse. When I did the math it runs about .44 cents per container. It’s one of the most cost effective container options I’ve found.

More to share?

Anyone have any low calorie dishes they enjoy making every so often?

My go to was just chicken Caesar wraps. (chicken, low calorie Caesar, romaine lettuce, and whole wheat wraps)

i don't know what is low calories, but i do a bit of low carb.

i do lots of lettuce wraps; anything lettuce to substitute the buns for burgers etc.

I must be the most boring meal prep guy....

salmon, chicken, or BBQ ribs

veggies is mixed of fresh green veggies or costco bagged when im lazy

brown rice with low portion compared to others to stay lean


all can be done in like 15 minutes lol

I am not cutting carbs out because I'm trying to gain weight and I this is what I made today. I may need more seasoning.

https://spaceshipsandlaserbeams.com/...ger-casserole/

@verdasco I’m with you on that. For diets my body is pretty particular, and only seems to respond to very low carb diets. My usual simple meal prep is also pretty cheap

- mixed veggies from Costco, frozen
- big pack of ‘stew beef’ from Costco. They’re just the tip ends from the butchering, keep an eye and you can get packs of almost entirely top sirloin etc. Cut smaller at home and freeze
- rotisserie chicken, shred and debone
- canned tuna, almost straight as is. Can be delicious
- weekend treat a frozen salmon steak. Cooked right is amazing.
- eggs with sautéed spinach for breakfast

Right now I’m not trying to drop pounds like a madman so I’m not super strict. Mostly quinoa salad with chicken (think greek salad, remove the feta and add quinoa), some yogurt, cut obvious carbs like bread and pasta, no pops or junk food. Down about 6 quality pounds in 3 weeks. Getting married and enjoying the first year saw me get up to about 215. Once down to about 200, I can start going a lot harder

Started meal prepping breakfast this week - making a bunch of Frittatas over the weekend and microwaving in the morning works for me.

I've usually got.....
- Kale/Spinach/Broccoli
- Bell Peppers
- Onion
- Turkey Bacon/Ham/Roast Beef

Thinking of adding some carbs back in.... maybe Fibre1 Cereal?

Breakfast:
Vessel/canvas: English muffins + wrap + toast + Pita + bagel
Filling: ham + eggs + avocado + bacon+ lettuce.

I've been very lucky this has worked really well. Put the bread in oven night before; wake up to turn on toaster and by the time I finish washing up, it's perfectly toasted on low. Then I fry my eggs etc.

Eating mcmuffins / Tim horton bagels once or twice a week for a month freaking adds up...

Just made cauliflower rice and meatballs for this week!

brown rice
chicken
mushroom spinach onion pan sear

am i doing this right?

That sounds delicious! might have to make that sometime.

Started using spinach pasta... adds about .75 servings of veggies to each meal prep.

Also discovered that work has a bunch of V8 drinks that add another serving of veg... a bit high in sodium though.

Gonna try broiling some black cod this week. Not sure what to pair with it though... thinking some sort of japanese pasta?

^ fuck that; just buy a tub of green power and add it in a smoothie and bam, you got like 5 serverings right there ahahaha.

Spanish rice + chicken.

rice + can of tomato + mixed greens, chicken pieces, chicken broth, all in a bowl. bam, done. I did it in a la creuset, the crispy burnt bottom is so good.

Is that this one here?

https://www.starwest-botanicals.com/...enpower-blend/

^ any brand from amazon will do.

Ahhh gotcha. Some of them looked like they didn't have very much nutrition so I was kinda confused - gotta be careful with picking one haha

The pandemic was a good time for the wife and I to test out recipes to see what works, and also learn a lot of stuff. We don't have kids so we only need to prep for ourselves. We have 4 recipes that are in regular use. It allows us to cook a lot of stuff, and then freeze it for later consumption. The air-fryer is the weapon of choice for reheating our food.

1. Turkey Meatballs
Takes less than an hour to make, and packs a good amount of nutrients into a spherical shape. The recipe makes around 3 dozen balls that can be stored in a single container. To consume, air fry for 10 min. Outside gets nice and brown while the inside is still steaming.

2. Meatloaf
It's a loaf of meat made with 2lbs of ground beef, and other ingredients. It's got a nice glaze made out of ketchup and brown sugar. There's more ingredients than the turkey balls, but it is worth the extra trouble. Once it's cooled down from the cooking, we cut it into slices and divide it into 2 containers. Paper is used to keep the pieces separate, and make it easier to remove individual pieces. Meatloaf air-frys great. Chuck it in for 15 min, and you can get a nice crust all-around while the inside is still steamy.

3. Lentil Soup
My FIL made great lentil soup, but it was inconsistent depending on ingredient freshness and availability. We managed to wrestle the recipe from him (not linked) to make our own. We make it a lot better. The secret is sautéed onions. We pour the soup into 1 cup molds that we can freeze and package for later. Reheat on the stove. Add lemon juice and sriracha to taste.

4. Kale Vegetable Soup
My wife doesn't like vegetables, and this recipe offers a great way to consume those servings. We use a big soup pot and make around 10 liters at time. Once it's cool, we load up the soup molds and freeze them. Cook it on the stove, and then top it with shredded cheese before eating.

the kale veg soup may be a great pair with chicken and pasta. Thanks for sharing this!

Egg Muffins

Egg muffins is an easy breakfast food that heats up quick. I forgot about these in my last post, but that was because it was a big PITA to make. Since then, we have perfected the process of easy preparation, as well as clean-up.

Prior to our revelation in efficiency, we had to deal with muffins that stuck to the pan and/or the paper muffin cup. There was a lot of wasted food because of sticking. Then, for Christmas, a friend gave us a bunch of gear to up our cooking game, which included silicone muffin cups. They are a game changer! The muffins pop right out, and nothing is left behind/wasted.

We scaled the recipe to make 2 dozen muffins at a time. Instead of bacon, we use a ham sliced to a size that fits the cup.