We don’t meal prep, but we meal plan. So we have a meal plan for the week and all the ingredients. Every evening we make dinner. Knowing what to make makes life much much easier for me. Meal prep for a week sounds unappealing to me.

For a week I'll make:

Frozen keto sausage biscuits: https://howtothisandthat.com/keto-breakfast-biscuits/

Spicy frozen beef or chicken burritos: https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/how-to/article/how-to-make-frozen-burritos

1/2 dozen hardboiled eggs

Roast pecans in oven with olive oil & salt

I'll keep ingredients on hand for smoothies with avocado, peanut butter, almond milk, and chocolate protein powder

I have no desire to eat 5 day old salads, beans, roasted chicken, veggies, etc. I just eat simple things like plain yogurt with fresh berries, oatmeal, whole fruit, raw veggies and hummus, eggs, turkey or veggie sausage, nuts, eggs for breakfast, lunch and snacks. No real prep needed.

Most of that is healthy enough that I feel no guilt about eating whatever DH makes for dinner (he likes cooking and I don't)

The key for me to eat healthy is to have healthy options prepped and ready to go. When I get home from the store, I immediately cut up my fruit and veggies and put them into single serving containers. It makes it very easy to grab a snack throughout the week and pack my lunch. I usually bake 3-4 chicken breasts and eat those for lunch during the week. I typically cook 2-3 dinners a week and I keep them as simple as possible. Each meal lasts 2 days (depending on what it is, I might get 3 days out of it) so I don't have to cook every day.

I make a batch of veggie slop every Sunday. Its 1 pound 93% lean ground turkey and veggies. It makes 4 portions so I eat that for lunch M-Th. I brown the meat and add in seasoning. Usually its tex mex flavors (taco seasoning) or Asian (sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic and ginger - I use the frozen cubes from TJs). After the meat is cooked, I throw in whatever veggies I have: spinach, shredded cole slaw mix, peppers, zucchini, cauliflower rice, tomatoes, celery. Really just about any veg will work! I top w Sirachi or hot sauce and done. This takes 30 min at the most and my daughter helps me.

I also eat the same breakfast everyday - oatmeal mixed with protein powder and greek yogurt, I top with blueberries. Its so much easier if you eat the same thing - it takes all the thinking out of it. And it makes it easier to have the ingredients/know what to buy.

But dinner...is a free for all! I haven't quite figured this out with picky kids/husband.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP, I am truly interested in all these answers. Those of you who prep meals and/or components of meals for lunches do you also do dinner? Right now I let my kids watch a show or two while I throw together a fast healthy enough dinner each night and will probably keep doing that because I just can’t give up time to prep dinner too but I’m just curious.

How old are your kids?
I got mine involved with the food prep since they were tiny. Butter knifes can cut mushrooms or tofu. Kids can help pull apart broccoli and cauliflower into florets. They snack a little on what they're prepping and feel like they're getting away with something! They love to use the salad spinner and mash avocados.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP, I am truly interested in all these answers. Those of you who prep meals and/or components of meals for lunches do you also do dinner? Right now I let my kids watch a show or two while I throw together a fast healthy enough dinner each night and will probably keep doing that because I just can’t give up time to prep dinner too but I’m just curious.

Here is a tip I learned from another DCUM food section lurker - no produce goes directly from the grocery store into the fridge without some prep. That really stuck with me. So when I bring home groceries I cut the broccoli into florets, I pit the cherries, cut the pineapple up etc. that way everything is ready to cook on weeknights with extra steps and it makes things much easier if you don’t need to chop peppers and onions first (or whatever it is). And then I have fresh fruit ready to put in front of the kids when they need a pre-dinner snack, or at breakfast.

It’s not really a meal planning hack but it has helped me use more produce before it goes bad! Looking at you, head of cauliflower always sitting at the back of my veggie drawer…

You pit cherries?!

Anonymous wrote:This is OP, I am truly interested in all these answers. Those of you who prep meals and/or components of meals for lunches do you also do dinner? Right now I let my kids watch a show or two while I throw together a fast healthy enough dinner each night and will probably keep doing that because I just can’t give up time to prep dinner too but I’m just curious.

Here is a tip I learned from another DCUM food section lurker - no produce goes directly from the grocery store into the fridge without some prep. That really stuck with me. So when I bring home groceries I cut the broccoli into florets, I pit the cherries, cut the pineapple up etc. that way everything is ready to cook on weeknights with extra steps and it makes things much easier if you don’t need to chop peppers and onions first (or whatever it is). And then I have fresh fruit ready to put in front of the kids when they need a pre-dinner snack, or at breakfast.

It’s not really a meal planning hack but it has helped me use more produce before it goes bad! Looking at you, head of cauliflower always sitting at the back of my veggie drawer…

I do meal prep on weekends. Same as other posters, big salad in a bowl to portion daily. Cook quinoa, black beans and chick peas, then store. Chop peppers, cucumbers and make hummus and hard boiled eggs. Then we grill some type of protein. If I want Mediterranean or Mexican then I have multiple types of bases. For dinner- I also cook two big meals on Sunday, usually one to eat that evening and one to use later in the week. I work from home a few days a week and it’s easy to make my lunch. Days that I need to make another dinner I typically do a soup and salad and sandwiches. Very straight forward and quick.

This is OP, I am truly interested in all these answers. Those of you who prep meals and/or components of meals for lunches do you also do dinner? Right now I let my kids watch a show or two while I throw together a fast healthy enough dinner each night and will probably keep doing that because I just can’t give up time to prep dinner too but I’m just curious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trending in TikTok - ordering chipotle catering for meal prep. $120 for 10 meals

That's not really healthy though.

Protein, beans, salad, guac, veggies, rice

It's as healthy as you want it to be

It’s sooo much sodium

agreed. more concerned with how and with what the protein/beans/salad/guac/veggies and rice are cooked...

...seed oils are a huge deterrent for me in seemingly healthy fast casual

We will grill chicken and veggies on the weekend. Toss over greens with homemade dressing I prep on Sunday. Also throw in cucumbers and tomato. Takes five mins, tops. Delish and easy salad!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trending in TikTok - ordering chipotle catering for meal prep. $120 for 10 meals

That's not really healthy though.

Protein, beans, salad, guac, veggies, rice

It's as healthy as you want it to be

It’s sooo much sodium

I also WFH and I make a big batch of a base salad that I keep in a very large bowl with one of those locking lids - base of different lettuces/spinach with carrots, radishes etc that I would use in every salad. That way I can just grab out a portion and add a couple other things to it for lunch. Today I added some avocado and leftover grilled chicken from dinner. If I get tired of salad, then I make a big batch of some kind of soup and just portion out 5 servings for lunches.

I don’t have the meal planning gene ( or patience) - I get the bags of chopped salad. Open in a bowl, try not to use all the dressing, and eat. Quick and easy.