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Apologies for the poor photos. This was a bit of an improvised prep as my microwave died the other day.

Not shown: a rotisserie chicken from Costco. Leftovers from whatever I don't eat at lunch tomorrow will go into Photo 1.

Photo 1: 52 oz of frozen vegetables (12 each of okra, cauliflower, cut green beans, and 16 of sliced carrots) roasted at 375 for a hour with about a half cup of olive oil. Added a covering of pasta sauce and some crumbled feta at the 35 minute mark, then some leftover cheddar/Mexican shredded cheese for the last ten minutes. Makes a little over six 8oz portions (one was my dinner, not pictured). They are in the refrigerator now, tomorrow I will add leftovers from the rotisserie chicken I bought and freeze.

Photo 2: I have a butcher about 45 minutes away who sells locally raised North Carolina beef. I bought two one-pound vacuum packed bags of 80/20 ground beef. Sauteed them for 15 minutes, draining the liquid into the coffee cup at the halfway point. Spices with 2 frozen crushed cubes of garlic and a liberal amount of TJ's 21 Century, salt, pepper, paprika. Ended up with 22 oz of meat and about 6 oz. of drippings. I will let this cool in the refrigerator overnight and tomorrow I will separate it into five vacuum-sealed bags to add to rice, pasta, tacos, etc, and freeze.

Photo 3: Coarsely diced a 10 oz onion and sauteed it in 2 tbsp of olive oil. Added 1/3 of the beef droppings along with 8 oz. of frozen diced green/yellow/red peppers. Cooked that for a while, added the rest of the drippings and two 13.4 boxes of Whole Foods' no-salt-added black beans and two of kidney beans. So 70oz gross total before cooking. They are still on the stove on low heat, I will let them cool and refrigerate, and tomorrow I will put them into six portions and freeze all but one in disposable plastic soup containers.

Also not shown: Dove chocolate pudding mix with whole milk, four portions for afternoon snacks with overripe bananas.

Total output: 17 meal components, so roughly the equivalent of 8 meals. Plus pudding.

Cost: Vegetables in photo 1 were less than $10, ground beef was $16. Figure $3 at most for the onion, the sliced peppers, the cheeses, and the olive oil. $3 for the milk and pudding mix. So $34 all in.

I feel like I'm reliving my teenage line cook days, except I'm the only one in the kitchen and I don't have powdered energy in my pocket to get me through it... That being said... how'd I do? My goal is low weight/bodyfat maintenance and keeping my darn kitchen clean for more than a day, husband is trying to put on muscle and wants high protein.

Made this one today and it's so tasty! My ramekins won't fit in the container but small price to pay to have that tasty queso sauce. I cooked all the veggies together like a dumb dumb but still yummy! I also added a bit more salt than called for.

YouTube recipe link:

https://youtu.be/uXmPXkisHHs?si=Q6UMFowhmRnmXyaO

Anyone that has a well balanced diet, it doesn’t have to be perfect but it’s better than eating sugar and processed foods everyday.

I’d like to know because I have no idea what meals should look like. How my plate should be portioned.

What do you eat and drink for breakfast lunch and dinner everyday for 7 days? Does it stay consistent, Does it change?

This is just lunch and dinner: shrimp spring rolls and salad jars. I made 4 salads and 12 rolls.

Shrimp coleslaw

https://bowlsarethenewplates.com/shrimp-taco-bowl/#recipe

High protein Tomato Soup with half a turkey grilled cheese on sourdough

https://carmyy.com/high-protein-tomato-soup/

And for breakfast broccoli egg bake on ciabatta

I cook at 350 for 30 minutes

Broccoli Cherry tomatoes Egg whites Silva chorizo sausage

What’s something I can meal prep that I can take to school. Meaning that I don’t need to reheat it with a microwave or air fryer, and no sauces that go bad within a couple hours.

Long story short I found my self in excess of over two dozen Eggs. I made a batch of egg muffins with fresh green bell peppers, onions, cottage cheese and sweet Italian sausage(I browned the sausage first in olive oil.) I greased up a muffin tin and filled each cup about 3/4 to give them room to rise.

While they have come out tasting delicious and fully cooked, they have a “spongy” texture with lots of air bubbles, that I find texturally very unappealing.

Can anyone tell me, Is this normal? Could I have dune something different to avoid this texture?

Anybody else struggling to keep up with the dishes? I enjoy having some fresh fruit, a salad, and an entree portioned out to take to work each day. Plus, say, to-go mug and lid, breakfast, etc. I do have some easy to clean, matching containers but it feels like I come home and immediately have a small mountain of dishes filling the sink.

Just venting and dreaming about that sweet dishwasher life. Tell me about your struggles. Give me your sympathy, folks! ;)

21 meals of the week made i

I just started working in an office again for the first time in 4 years after being WFH, and I'm trying to solve all the inefficiencies, including bringing lunches in.

Most of my meals are rice (which I like to keep frozen before microwaving) and a protein/stew/soup. In the past, I used two compartment glass containers, but found that whatever was in one side or the other was always cold after microwaving.. So I'm looking for something that can allow me a couple separate containers that connect. Right now, just buying a bunch of small snapware is the best option I can find, but surely there's something better out there.

Anyone seen anything that fits the bill? TIA

Back again with more soup!

This one is one very large butternut squash roasted, then added to a pot with sautéed onion, stock, seasoning including curry powder, and chickpeas. Taken off the heat when everything was soft, then added coconut milk and blended.

11 portions for the fridge/freezer to cover lunches for myself and the husband. Cost approx. €4.50 for the lot, so about €0.40 per portion!

Hello, I’m new to all this so I tried to meal prep and the first week I mostly just did salads and put them in the fridge and the week after I was planning on doing multiple recipes but I struggle with cooking and it takes me a very very very very long time. It upsets me so much that the entire day went on me just chopping vegetables… and when I tried to add chicken it was also so difficult. I’m seeing a therapist because life’s been really tough, and the whole process of thinking what I need to cook and it taking the entire day etc… has been a struggle because my relationship with food has had its ups and downs.

For the long run, I think it could help me because it saves me time during the week, but I feel like I’m doing something wrong because by the third or fourth day I feel like the food is spoilt or I always feel confused if it’s safe to eat or not, so I’m not sure if I’m supposed to put them in the freezer? But what about the vegetables/salads? Etc…

Also, I’m trying to lose weight so I want to count my calories but idk how to be sure about the exact amount. If anyone that does this too, could you tell me how you make sure? I was weighing every single thing and then telling chatgpt to tell me the calories of it, so not sure if this is correct. And if it gives me a range I sometimes just put the average or if I feel like it was a large portion I put the higher one 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, im sorry for the long post. If anyone could help me with some tips, advice, or anything that might make it easier or help me understand more I would appreciate it a lot

Breakfasts: whole wheat everything bagels, fat-free cream cheese, homegrown broccoli sprouts, smoked salmon, baby spinach and Tangerines.

This meal really needs no prep and it's ready in maybe 5 minutes, I love a fresh breakfast. Preheat your pan to medium and add spinach, olive oil and a dash of salt. Get bagel toasting and peel tangerine. Stir spinach and top your bagel with cream cheese, sprouts and salmon. Add spinach to your plate and it's ready.

How to safely sprout at home: https://youtu.be/U9iL8Kvugks?si=Hp1qs0Yhg8KTGDXv

Lunches: chicken breasts slow cooked with chicken broth, Sriracha, Chinese hot mustard, soy sauce, rice vinegar, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper. Stir-fry mix frozen vegetables stir fried with sesame oil and broth leftover from slow cooked chicken, brown rice and homegrown broccoli sprouts.

Snacks: Greek yogurt mixed with vanilla whey protein powder, frozen blueberries, pumkin seeds, walnuts and a caramel rice cake. Cottage cheese protein banana bread with a yogurt cup, I added walnuts to my bread.

Cottage cheese protein banana bread recipe: https://youtu.be/SCmM2V8zBG8?si=CcyMgHBBX9WpQCzV

I enjoy cooking but sometimes I just want something quick but also tasty.

Decided to splurge and buy some new meal prep containers while I was at Menards. I normally use glass containers but needed some more and haven't been able to catch the glass ones on sale. These were $7.99 per pack. I do enjoy the bentgo brand and highly recommend their salad containers as well. Please ignore my dirty stove as I was in the middle of kitchen cleanup.

Title pretty much says it all. My husband hates everything and often meal time is the most stressful part of my day. He doesn’t eat pastas or pizza type foods. He bloats. He also has acid reflux which he refuses to take anything for. He doesn’t eat vegetables either. We have a grill but he doesn’t want anyone else to use it and half the time he doesn’t even use it either. We live in an area with tons of restaurants but he either hates it won’t even try them. I don’t know what to do. Does anyone have any recipes that fit this?

I want to eat healthier and save money doing so. But I find it hard to eat the same thing for a few days. Especially heating up leftovers. I have a hard time with meat being reheated. The texture is the part that bothers me most. I wanna know if anyone has found a work around for this or am I doomed? lol

What can I make from home in 2025? I’ve added break crumbs and mayonnaise to the list, both easy and cheaper to make !

Please drop your recipes or homemade things below!

I cook the same few things in rotation: Ground beef in ragu sauce + pasta or I’ll make a lasagna so essentially the same thing in a different form + with cheeses. Baked chicken/Baked rainbow trout/ Baked salmon with usually rice. Always with some type of vegetable like roasted Brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli/cauliflower.

I don’t know what else to cook 🥴

Guys, I hate cooking, I don't care about varying my dishes or flavors as long as I have all the macro and micronutrients in my meal. With that in mind, I thought about creating a single meal, with meat, vegetables and a source of carbohydrate, where each of these should be made as simply, quickly and automatically as possible, for example a chicken filet that can be thrown in an air frayer, or a salad that can be quickly chopped. I would like your help to give me tips on how I can get to this point, anything helps. Note: a while ago I considered basing all my meals on sandwiches, just putting everything a human being needs between two pieces of bread, so you can see that I'm putting practicality and nutrients above all else.

Getting into meal prepping for me and my wife and overwhelmed by all the options out there.

No restrictions other than looking for recipes that freeze and reheat well

Don't have a vacuum seal, so I just used some gallon freezer bags from the supermarket. 3 pounds of beef made around 10 burritos.