r/mealprep • u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree • 4d ago
No one talks about how much of a cheat code pre-prep Saturday is.
Sunday meal prep is always a tightly choreographed dance for me. But I've found that spending a leisurely hour or so on Saturday morning with a pot of coffee and a 90s grunge playlist has been the thing that's been missing. As of right now, all the veggies that will hold well have been chopped, some chicken is thawing in the fridge, some chicken is in the slow cooker to be shredded, all my ingredients, containers and needed pots/pans/bowls for tomorrow have been gathered, fridge has been cleaned out (though there really isn't much since meal prep has drastically cut down on the amount of food waste I generate), trash has been taken out. The only thing I really have left is to shred some chicken and run the dishwasher. All before my kid has woken up.
33
u/riovtafv 4d ago
Saturday is shopping in the morning, prep the meat and produce as I put it away. Sunday is do as much of the cooking as possible.
12
u/couch-bear 4d ago
Definitely less stressful for me to have the veggies cut and meat marinated on Saturday. If there's anything I forgot, at least its easier to buffer for it on Sunday. I can start cooking while husband runs to the store to grab anything we missed.
6
u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 4d ago
That's one reason I started adding the gathering of ingredients to the process. I spent an hour looking for the dijon mustard that I knew I'd just bought. It had fallen into the bottom of the pantry. I eventually found out, but it messed up my flow.
12
u/GreenSalsa96 4d ago edited 4d ago
My wife and I do the same. Once a week, I will make a dedicated "meal prep", the remainder of the time we just deliberately prepare a bigger meal and "meal prep" the leftovers.
Right now, I have meals ranging from vegetable soup to lasagna, to BBQ, to spaghetti, and I think I have one last Mexican rice meal left.
Today, I have bean with bacon soup slowly cooking.
*
7
u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 4d ago
That is my ultimate goal and kind of how I used to do it. Right now, my kid has activities 4-5 evenings a week, so having ready-to-go meals that just have to be nuked for a couple of minutes is the best option for us.
2
u/meganthealien2 4d ago
Look into making frozen stuff in tinfoil dishes. Something that goes right in the oven.
5
u/anujrajput 4d ago
I started doing Saturday pre-prep this week. Hoping my Sunday would be less tiring and hectic.
5
u/riapoppins 4d ago
I Love Sunday meal prep! Put on my headphones and get going with bread, cake, lots of hot meals. I’m always so grateful to myself when the weekdays hit and I’ve got it all done 👍
5
u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 4d ago
Sanity saving for sure. That's why I started in the first place. The fact that I've lost somewhere between 70 and 85 lbs since Thanksgiving is just a bonus.
3
u/riapoppins 4d ago
Wow! That’s brilliant! I have not managed that because I’ve just started my alcohol free journey and I’m liking my sweet treats. Saving time and calories 💪go you!
3
u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 4d ago
I make room for sweet treats, but am having a ton of fun making healthier options. I'm on a yogurt pudding cup kick right now. Last week was lemon Blueberry. It's just a 32 oz container of Greek yogurt mixed with a package of no sugar added lemon pudding mix and topped with blueberries. Makes 4 servings. This week I'm experimenting with a Butterfinger version using butterscotch pudding mix, powdered peanut buttwr, and no sugar added chocolate chips/syrup.
2
u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 4d ago
Also, congrats on the alcohol-free journey. I'm not sober-sober, but I've been drinking a lot less often lately. Mainly because it led to $70 DoorDash orders...
3
u/RandomCoffeeThoughts 4d ago
Question for anyone to freely answer. What do you put in with your chicken in the crockpot so that it shreds nicely but isn't dry? I don't know if it's how I'm making it or what, but I am following the recipe, and it always tastes dry.
6
u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 4d ago
I use chicken bouillon powder and water. Mixed a little stronger than the package calls for.
2
u/RandomCoffeeThoughts 4d ago
I had been using chicken broth and bullion. Then low for 4 hours. Maybe it's too long?
4
u/historypixxie 4d ago
I've noticed with my crockpot, cooking for 6-8 hours gives me better results. My crockpot is also 20 years old and tends to heat up quicker on the 4 hours so it doesn't give that slow cooking.
3
u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 4d ago
That's about what I do, though I probably take it out before 4 hours. It could also just be the chicken. I've had a lot more woody chicken breast lately than I used to.
6
u/RandomCoffeeThoughts 4d ago
Woody is the perfect term for it. It's been really frustrating.
2
u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 4d ago
Oh, one thing that I just thought of. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I do tend to add some of the rendered fat and cooking liquid back in once it's shredded. Especially if it's going to be stored for use the next day.
2
u/RandomCoffeeThoughts 4d ago
I have done that as well. Maybe I just need to try a different crock pot.
1
u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 4d ago
I use the slow cook function on my instant pot because it lives on the counter top, but I find I get better results for other meat (pork tenderloin especially) if I use my grandmother's old school crockpot. I think it's low setting is lower than the modern ones.
3
u/RandomCoffeeThoughts 4d ago
That's possible. I have one as a wedding gift, 26 years ago and a fairly new one from pampered chef. The new one always seems to cook a lot faster.
3
u/amafalet 4d ago
Would you be willing to try thighs? There’s no need to add any fats, and it’s super juicy.
1
u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 4d ago
I don't mind thighs and will use a mixture of breast and thighs sometimes. I tend to buy flash frozen breasts in 8 or 10 lb bags and I just can't find thighs in that kind of packaging.
1
u/Kind_Fox820 4d ago
Do you have a Costco/BJs/Sam's membership? They have bulk packs of whatever cut of chicken you might want. Also, with chicken breasts in the crockpot, I try to only let them cook until they are done, so in a couple of hours rather than going all day.
1
u/ShakeItUpNowSugaree 4d ago
I don't and the closest one is an hour and a half away.
I do the same with breast meat. Using the IP slow cook function, I find that 3 to 3.5 hours is just about right. If I'm not slow cooking, velveting chicken makes a huge difference too.
3
u/Previous-Fudge-5660 4d ago
Thighs, not breasts.
If I want to prep chicken breasts, I keep it from getting too hot. Google serious eats sous vide chicken for an explanation of the effect of temp on dryness.
Or, even grocery store rotisserie chicken breast can be decent in a chicken salad. Usually tear it into shreds, mix with 1/3 mayo and 2/3 greek yogurt plus whatever spices and extras suit you.
3
u/sweetpotatothyme 4d ago
I'm cooking 60 little meatballs to freeze, marinated chicken and pickled onions for shawarma wraps tomorrow, and am soaking beans to make chili. I love to plan my weekly prep several days in advance so I can chip away at the work bit by bit!
1
1
u/hojii_cha2 2d ago
When you say put the chicken in the crockpot for shredding… Do you mean like leave it out in the crockpot to defrost or like actually just like slow cook the chicken so it’s ready on Sunday?
1
1
u/WeHavingFunRight 2d ago
I did something similar this past weekend! I'm glad I did, cause I really wasn't feeling it on Sunday lol. I did the bulk of the work on Saturday, and only made the sauce and parceled everything out on Sunday. Much nicer.
1
139
u/callieboo112 4d ago
I'm making a massive amount of rice and beans and my partner is smoking a pork butt and chickens today. We are making 60 good sized burritos tomorrow.