I was just curious on how all you other guys prepare your food for the week?
I usually just eat as I go or cook lunch the previous night but am looking to organize it a little more. I was thinking of cooking noodles/rice/boiled eggs and putting frozen meats in the frig to thaw on Sunday night so mostly everything is ready to eat/cook.
What do you guys do to prepare?
Usually buy all my eggs and veg for the week on a Saturday afternoon and tupperware it all up; then on the Sunday make a huge batch of Dr johns chilli or ‘boston beef and baked bean hotpot’ (similar to chilli but BBQ flavour) for my lunch.
Aside from shopping for most stuff in bulk, the most noticeable part of being prepared for me is twice a week I’ll cook a tray of chicken breasts in the oven, and have them in a giant container in my fridge to just grab a few each day to have on hand.
S
That’s a pretty good idea Stu. Perhaps I’ll cook twice a week, that way I’ll only have to cook for ~3 days at a time, instead of for the whole week.
I cook a top round steak (thick 3-4 lb cut) london broil style to about medium / medium rare then cut it up into 6-8 oz portions and store them in a large plastic container in my fridge. I also cook about 6 lbs of chicken breast at a time and do the same. I usually wind up cooking another one of those steaks near the end of the week since I go through just over 1 a week.
I hard boil eggs 8-10 at a time and keep them available in the fridge for easy access as a snack between meals or at night. I usually don’t need to boil more than 2 batches a week.
I usually pre-chop broccoli too and put it in a container that holds enough for about 5 or 6 salads. I’ll make two salads a night (one for next days lunch and dinner) that I store in small containers. Makes it easy to just come home after work, dump it in a bowl, dress it then re-heat a steak in the microwave. Salads consist of spinach leaves, broccoli, tomatoes, feta cheese and olives. Dressing is olive oil, vinegar, pepper, garlic powder and oregano.
I keep natural peanut butter (Jif, not the crappy sugarless kind), almonds, walnuts and peanuts around at home and at work. Usually buy fruits like apples, oranges and bananas to eat with one of the meats in the morning and whole wheat bread.
My wife feeds herself and the kids. Although I usually cook a dinner of fish and stir-fried vegetables once a week and sometimes I supplement with pork that we do in a crock pot or turkey, if I feel like cooking one. Again, cooking large amounts and storing in the fridge works well. If I have enough for beyond a week, I’ll ussually ziplock it and throw it in the freezer as “backup” in case something disrupts the schedule.
15-20 steaks bought on Friday and grilled the same day. Vacuum sealed by the following day and frozen until I need them.
This has saved me a ton of money and time. I don’t even cook at all during the week anymore aside from eggs in the morning and whatever carbs I may eat.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
15-20 steaks bought on Friday and grilled the same day. Vacuum sealed by the following day and frozen until I need them.
This has saved me a ton of money and time. I don’t even cook at all during the week anymore aside from eggs in the morning and whatever carbs I may eat.[/quote]
How long will that many steaks last you?
I’d love to save money while preparing a shit load of food it at all possible.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
15-20 steaks bought on Friday and grilled the same day. Vacuum sealed by the following day and frozen until I need them.
This has saved me a ton of money and time. I don’t even cook at all during the week anymore aside from eggs in the morning and whatever carbs I may eat.[/quote]
Do you microwave or use the oven to reheat?
Is taste important to you with these steaks?
( I know I’m probably setting myself up with that last question but whatever)
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Aside from shopping for most stuff in bulk, the most noticeable part of being prepared for me is twice a week I’ll cook a tray of chicken breasts in the oven, and have them in a giant container in my fridge to just grab a few each day to have on hand.
S
[/quote]
Yeah that’s about the only thing I have prepared, once you have the chicken there’s about 100 things you can do with it. I’ve heard some people will boil a few dozen eggs and have them refigerated – I’ve always prefered mine scrambled.
I’ll do the few dozen eggs hard boiled when I’m dieting as they fill me up much more in that state than if I were to scramble 'em up. Scrambled, I can easily put away a dozen or more, but hard boiled, they take up more space 
S
Over the weekend, I’ll load up on eggs, 2% cottage cheese, fruits, and veggies, and a few staple meats like tuna, chicken, and ground beef. I only eat steak 2-3 times a week, so I don’t buy those as often. Generally though, I cook some eggs each morning and eat them with an orange and 1.5 cups of cottage cheese. Throughout the day I’ll grab a piece of fruit or a carrot or something as I’m hungry.
I’ll usually grill up some chicken or fish in a large batch and refrigerate the rest so I don’t always have to grill. I love steak too much to eat it reheated, so I always grill it fresh though. Plus, if I have some leftovers, that means steak and eggs for breakfast the next morning. Oh hell yes.
I need to hard boil some eggs though… that’s a pretty easy source of quick food.
[quote]Xab wrote:
Over the weekend, I’ll load up on eggs, 2% cottage cheese, fruits, and veggies, and a few staple meats like tuna, chicken, and ground beef. I only eat steak 2-3 times a week, so I don’t buy those as often. Generally though, I cook some eggs each morning and eat them with an orange and 1.5 cups of cottage cheese. Throughout the day I’ll grab a piece of fruit or a carrot or something as I’m hungry.
I’ll usually grill up some chicken or fish in a large batch and refrigerate the rest so I don’t always have to grill. I love steak too much to eat it reheated, so I always grill it fresh though. Plus, if I have some leftovers, that means steak and eggs for breakfast the next morning. Oh hell yes.
I need to hard boil some eggs though… that’s a pretty easy source of quick food. [/quote]
I’m still trying to perfect how much pre cooking, but I’ve managed here and there to get a good steak when partially grilling it then refrigerating it. It won’t last a week but you can do a enough steaks for 3 or so days. I have to get away to freeze them.
[quote]howie424 wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
15-20 steaks bought on Friday and grilled the same day. Vacuum sealed by the following day and frozen until I need them.
This has saved me a ton of money and time. I don’t even cook at all during the week anymore aside from eggs in the morning and whatever carbs I may eat.[/quote]
How long will that many steaks last you?
I’d love to save money while preparing a shit load of food it at all possible.[/quote]
It lasts about a week. I always have a couple left over so over the course of maybe a month or two, there is always a week or more where I don’t even have to worry about grilling more.
Once I get a stand alone freezer, I would like to eventually have enough stored to be able to go a month or more without cooking.
Interesting about the freezing PX. what do you use for vacuum freezing? I’ve seen these before but wasn’t sure what brands are good or not.
I usually cook on Monday and Weds mornings because I go to work late.
cook up 4 burger patties to last a few days.
besides that my prep time for meals isn’t that bad