Meal Prep Help!

[cmfoster]

Good grief, does anybody else feel like all they're doing these days is cooking?? It's partly because my wonderful fiance is doing this with me for support, but he eats like a racehorse. And I get bored with the same thing several days in below, so I'm trying to keep some variety, but I feel like my life is consumed with cooking and washing dishes!! Any suggestions for short cuts, or things to make ahead? I've already looked at some crockpot meals that I'll throw into the rotation. And some things I'm making extra of and freezing for later. But other suggestions would be very welcome!

[ShannonM816]

Have you seen the weekly cookup concept? (Here's an actual one-week meal plan, if you want a more concrete example.) I know you said you get bored with the same thing for several days, but if you have three or four proteins, a bunch of vegetables, and three or four sauces/dips, maybe that would be enough variety that you wouldn't get bored?

Even if you get bored with the same foods, if he doesn't, it's probably worth always cooking extra of everything. One or the other of you is bound to eat it as leftovers for lunch, or you can chop up leftovers and scramble them into eggs for breakfast or a quick dinner, or add them to a big salad, or make a soup out of them.

[Rebe_J]

I agree with Shannon about the weekly cook up.

In addition to cooking a large protein with leftovers, keeping chicken tenderloins and fish fillets in the freezer has helped me keep it interesting. They are quick to thaw/cook and can be seasoned in a variety of ways.

I always have pre-cooked potatoes in the refrigerator. I steam-bake Russet potatoes in the pressure cooker for DH, and I roast a few sweet potatoes for me. They keep well and can be heated up quickly and turned into oven fries or hash browns for variety.

Since I got my Instant Pot pressure cooker, I have not used my crock pot. Pressure cooking has cut down the time I spend in the kitchen...a lot.