Meal Planning + Meal Prep

Littleknownfacts · 2016-05-15T17:36:14+00:00

For meal planning I like the website and app PepperPlate. It takes a bit of effort to build up your recipe library, but from some websites you can just put the URL in and it will transfer the recipe over for you. Then you can add recipes to the planner, and the ingredients to a shopping list. From the shopping list view you can sort things by isle or by recipe. The app is great specifically because if my bf doesn't know what's scheduled for dinner he can look on his phone or keep it a surprise lol.

I do the grocery shopping on Friday, it's busier at that time but I do most of the cooking on Saturday and Sunday so I want my groceries to be at their freshest. What I make for breakfast and lunch on Saturday I eat on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Sunday's meals I eat on the alternate days. I also keep some easy go-to foods every week in case I something in my schedule goes screwy, such food also work as snacks so they don't go to waste.

I don't really do a rotation since I get bored with repetitive meals. But if there's a recipe my SO and I really like I favorite it on the app, I'll do one or two of these meals a week and the rest is new stuff.

jade_cat · 2016-05-15T17:55:15+00:00

I'm still building my meal planning/prepping skills, but here's what I do so far :

Meal planning

Look at flyers to see what's on sale
Make a bullet list of ingredients I have in the fridge + what I will buy on sale
Find recipes with above-mentioned ingredients
Make a pinterest "Weekly meal planning" board for quick access to the recipes
Write down the meal planning on a magnetic weekly planner that's placed on the fridge.

Meal prepping

Reat the recipe the night before : Too often I would open the recipe near supper only to realize that I needed to marinate the fish overnight or that the baking time was twice as long as I thought. To stop making such mistakes, I read the recipe the night before and make a mental note of when I should start making supper. However I intend to write that time down on my magnetic board (and maybe set an alarm on my phone).
Prepare ingredients the night before : e.g. take out frozen ingredients and thaw them in the fridge overnight, marinate ingredients overnight, etc.
Cut vegetables beforehand : I know cutting some vegetables too far in advance isn't good, but if I don't cut some in advance, I end up skipping on vegetables a lot, and that's really bad. Of course, I would not do that with stuff like tomatoes, but I find that cutting broccoli, cucumbers and zucchinis in advance helps me eat much more vegetables than I normally would.
Prepare dips to go with said veggies : Veggies and dips make a quick and nice side dish when you've just had a big day and can't make an elaborate dinner, especially when they are prepared beforehand.
Another thing I don't do yet, but that I want to start doing, is to prepare meals for the slow-cooker in Ziploc bags, then freeze them. Then you just need to thaw it the night before in the freezer, and dump it in the slow-cooker in the morning. Very useful for busy days!

Husband's lunches

We are two humans in the house, but I cook dinner for four. The remaining food is used as lunches for the day after.
I also put cut veggies and dip (see above) as a side dish.
For dessert, it's usually fruits.
I prepare the tupperwares the night before, so in the morning it's a breeze to prepare the lunchbox.

Favourite resources

Pinterest : For trying new recipes and making my weekly list
Yummly : A great site for finding recipes while using filters (based on one or several ingredients, time, allergies, diets, techniques, etc). Requires an account, but it's free.

I hope some tips will be useful for you! :)

Sunhappy_DC · 2016-05-16T13:59:23+00:00

I don't meal plan as I'm lazy!

But when I do, I check out /r/mealplansunday!

liftinginthemoment · 2016-05-16T16:15:20+00:00

I have to admit that these days I'm lazy and actually use a meal delivery service for some of my meals (2 a day delivered, I eat 5-6 times a day). I have roommates but essentially I just fend for myself so this ended up being the better option as I get more variety in my diet (as if I cooked for myself it'd be chicken and sweet potato 3 times a day...).

What I do though is cook a big batch of chicken, portion it out into freezer snaplock bags and freeze it so I'm set for a couple of weeks for one of my other meals or for whenever I need emergency protein. Before using a meal delivery service I would do this with other proteins (steak, occasionally fish), carbs (rice and sweet potato mostly) and veggies. Sometimes I'd freeze them as a complete meal but usually I'd find it better for space if I measured out everything and froze it all separately.

I do meal plan to an extent- I follow macros and find it easier to eat the same throughout the week (I'll mix it up on weekends) so I know exactly what I need to shop for for the week. Some of my other meals/snacks I'll organise beforehand too in the Tupperware or ziplock bags etc.

happyhomedino · 2016-05-15T20:51:29+00:00

One of my best tips for meal prep is to have at least one meal that you can make entirely from nonperishable items, that both you and your husband enjoy and which is reasonably healthy. Then when ingredients go on sale, stock up! One of the big problems I run into is that often I will become too busy to shop midweek, or plans for dinner change, and suddenly I'm scrambling to put together dinner and there's nothing in the fridge! I then go for my emergency meal and my fiance is none the wiser. I can provide a recipe if you're interested for one of mine.

I have a routine I posted about yesterday. I've actually found that doing an long prep day with freezer meals doesn't work for me. They never taste as good as fresh made, and I would rather invest one hour a day cooking (which I can fit in when my fiance is busy with other things) and have both weekend days mostly free for quality time. I usually make my fanciest meal on sunday (whole bird, beef roast, etc), and usually the meat leftover can be revisited later in the week into a new recipe (soup, fajitas, pasta dish, chili, salad topping, etc.).

Irisandoleander · 2016-05-15T21:17:37+00:00

I use a website, gathered table. I try to use coordinating veggies all week so I have little waste. Additionally I always make leftovers on trash night so I can clean the fridge.

sierrasecho · 2016-05-15T23:30:24+00:00

No routine here, but lots of flexible planning, and that works for us. We pretty much exclusively eat meat + veggies, and now that we are into grilling season, there isn't much prep. We do groceries Thursday or Friday for the weekend on our way home from work (whichever is going to be home first, but usually me) and then again Monday or Tuesday for the rest of the week. I cook almost every single night, and we never order take out and rarely eat out, unless it is a "treat" with friends. Our schedule is very flexible, and we often meet up spontaneously with friends, or do some sort of longer unplanned physical activity, like a hike or long bike ride, in the evenings so we don't plan meals out usually anymore than the day before. We always have a few mains, and mix and match fresh veggies to go with it. Alas, both of our work schedules can often include be unpredictably long days, so again flexibility is key. We will marinate meats the night before often, but that's it. I always make enough for 4 servings at least - dinner and lunch for both of us. Leftover lunches are made at the same time as I plate dinner, and breakfasts are made as I make dinner or while we are eating (boiled eggs, yoghurt, egg tarts)

Our home is tiny, and I make efforts to do the little stuff everyday. It takes maybe half an hour or 45 minutes spread out over the day (laundry in the hamper or put away, dishes done -- no dishwasher --, bathroom wiped down, bed made, shoes put away, lunches packed, coffee stuff ready for the next morning, clothes set out) laundry gets done when the bag gets full (which is just the right size so that he has at least three more days of clothes.

We really prize spontaneity, and being able to work unexpected plans into our time. We spend most weekends out of town in some shape or form (sailing, camping or just road trips) and this setup really works for us. It helps that we've both been living on our own for 15 years, so I have a large stable of recipes to fall on. I try one fancier new to us recipe every week or so.

My one best tip that has been great for me is we don't have TV, and only watch any downloaded series in the winter when it's dark early. I used to post here a lot, but have drastically reduced my online time now to only the best parts of the web (like RPW) :) leaves more time for my man, for us to do fun stuff together, and for it to not feel like a burden to keep on top of things.

Best of luck!

Title	Meal Planning + Meal Prep
Author	margerym
Upvotes	13
Comments	13
Date	May 15, 2016 4:45 PM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/RedPillWives
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/RedPillWives/comments/4jgvdx/meal_planning_meal_prep/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/RedPillWives/meal-planning-meal-prep.209990 https://theredarchive.com/post/209990

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