Spending a LOT of time on food prep

[JustJoyce]

I admit to being a bit of a veggie snob; I don't like frozen or many canned vegetables (other than tomatoes for cooking). I am on Day 9 so this past weekend I spent about 2 hours on Saturday and more than 4 hours yesterday to prep veggies and get a jump on breakfast and lunch meals. My husband and I both work, so we need good quick breakfast choices and some take-along lunches.

The amount of produce that 2 people can eat is staggering, to say the least. Don't get me wrong, I love trying new veggies and experimenting with new recipes, but by the time I was done food prep yesterday I was ready to kill all the things, including my poor hubby.

Is it typical to spend this much time on food prep? Is it because I prefer fresh over frozen?

I would be interested to see how much time others devote to prepping for the week.

[LadyM]

I think as times goes on and you grow more comfortable with the program and lifestyle you discover ways to spend less time on food prep--that, or you don't mind it as much. I use all fresh produce, too, except for frozen spinach and things like canned artichoke hearts. I use organic romaine hearts stuffed with protein and a little fat as a lunchtime "burrito" which requires zero peeling and chopping, and I make a pureed vegetable soup chock full of fresh veg with bone broth and a can of coconut milk to have throughout the week. A big egg casserole will last a week, too. Then I usually make fresh greens and roast some winter squash or other veg most days, but that doesn't take long.

 

I actually enjoy cooking, though, and think of it as daily self care. There really is no alternative I'd choose. But I don't give up my weekend to it; I do some large cooking on the weekend--a couple of proteins and bone broth, maybe the soup and egg casserole for the week--but then leave some for every day.

[KayKay]

I'm with you - no frozen or canned veggies when there's so much great fresh stuff available. But I also just started back to work full time and have two kids, so my daily cooking time is really lacking lately. I've started to say "screw it" and try to buy as much pre-cut and washed produce as I can. It's not always the most fresh or local, but that giant bag of pre-washed and chopped broccoli from Costco saves me a ton of time each week! I buy ready-to-eat baby spinach, snap peas, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, rutabaga, mini carrots, etc. when I can, then I only need to wash and chop a few other veggies like my peppers or cauliflower.

[GLC1968]

I also do almost all fresh...at least for most of the year.  I dip into the frozen varieties late in the winter when the fresh stuff looks lame or is only from South America.  To be perfectly honest, I'm kind of glad my CSA ended this past week because I'm a little tired of all the veggie prep work!  I'm looking forward to being able to buy a couple of bags of chopped broccoli from Trader Joes instead of having to do all the work myself.  Veggie prep is time consuming, so when I'm not already inundated with veggies, I purchase short-cuts all the time.  TJ's is my go-to for pre-cut veggies, but I'll also buy stuff from Costco if we have a trip planned there during the week.

 

I hear you on the volume though.  Typically, I do my Whole30's on my own but this time I'm doing this to support my husband in his Whole30 and wow...can that man put away some veggies!  It's exhausting just trying to keep up with his appetite!

[JustJoyce]

GLC1968, I agree - it's not just for me, but for my hubby, too. He does physical labour, and he can pack away those veggies! He bought some monster-sized sweet potatoes yesterday, so if I roast them up with dinner, I may keep him satisfied - for at least a day or two!

[GLC1968]

Yes!  I didn't do any starchy veggies with dinner tonight and he ate everything else leaving nothing for leftovers.  That's a really good idea, I should have baked him a sweet potato so that he didn't eat everything else in sight.  Next time!

[ultrarunnergirl]

Don't be down on frozen - many of them not only save oodles of time, they contain more nutrients than fresh because they are frozen immediately, rather than being shipped for days.

 

I do a lot of prep myself, including many fresh veggies, but have learned to balance it with frozen and pre-cooked (Well Fed's "steam sautee" method as well as Weekly cookup of things like sweet potatoes) in order to not spend as much time in the kitchen. I also shred rutabaga in the food processor for veggie hash, and stock up on baby carrots, sugar snap peas, and cut up bell pepper strips.

 

Frozen broccoli is my top choice. Also enjoy frozen greens - don't defrost, just toss in the hot pan with a little fat, then add more as it defrosts. Better texture, IMO.

[decker_bear]

I'm right there with ya - I prefer fresh to frozen simply because of the texture. What I do is prep twice or three times as many veggies as I need for a meal. So for example, if I'm peeling and chopping sweet potatoes, it doesn't take that much longer to do two or three instead of one. Or I'll do a whole head of broccoli instead of just a cup I need for a recipe. Then I just put them in Tupperware in the fridge. This keeps me from spending an entire day prepping but I still get the benefits of pre-chopped food. The downside is, if I want to use pre-prepped veggies, I'm limited to what I used yesterday. Give and take.

 

And then, of course, you can always save cooked veggies (assuming the fam doesn't eat them all) and they're great to recycle in the next day's meals.

 

Bottom line is that prep just takes time. I've considered buying the pre-chopped and washed stuff, but then I compare cost to time and, well, I'm on a budget like so many of us are. I batch cook and prep where I can, and do it as I go when I can't. Seems to work out okay. We haven't starved yet.

[bonnynancy]

Here is my favorite cheat:  At Target, I buy their Archer Farm brand of "extra fine" frozen green beans.  (I clear the shelf every time I go there.)  They are the best-tasting green bean I have ever had.  I serve them any time I don't feel like chopping veggies or just need something to round out the meal.  They are really good.

 

Every once in a while you just deserve a break.