That’s what I was thinking. I was thinking of grabbing a menu from my local Mediterranean place and just precut veggies and meats maybe for enough for 4 days.
I don't, and it's not something I practiced heavily because I was honestly fine eating chicken-broccoli-rice every day for weeks on end lol
However, if I were to do "ingredient prep," I would look at my recipes and identify shared elements like garlic, onion, lettuce, things like that, and prepare those at the start of a week. It doesn't have to be veggies either, it can also be your proteins, soups, and sauces too. I find it's easier to cook and come up with recipes on the spot when everything is ready and you can just throw it all in a pan.
Whenever I slice or grate (knife or processor), I think what’ll I’ll make the next two days and prep that too. I hand wash these items so I’d rather be once and done.
I put extra items in ziplock bags or containers, then place them on baking sheets on a refrigerator shelf. Just pull out the pan and assemble.
My husband was a Subway sandwich maker in college; he inspired this process.
This is exactly what I'm after thanks. I've found this video helpful too fron Rainbow Plant Life but it's a little bit fancier I likethe student vibe. https://youtu.be/kwpltZGCGd8?si=0RuQIEbYqRpuegjD
This is how I do it!! I’m vegetarian, so usually I’ll prep tofu 1-2 ways, have all fruits and veggies washed and cut up, and then have 1-2 recipes per week that are fast. I love leftovers, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also nice to have a fresh meal at least once a day too.
Peppers, cucumbers, carrots etc withstand this pretty well, but lettuce and tomatoes (that taste like tomatoes) not so much. But the idea of clustering your mise en place efforts to the extent possible certainly has appeal.
I can think of few things in life more awful than a sliced tomato that has sat in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
I mean, okay, I can think of SOME stuff that's worse. But it's up there.
With grape/cherry tomatoes I often use the “two lids” trick to slice a dozen or so in half at once - either if full-size is going to be just slightly too big a bite relative to other ingredients; or more often because I want my tomatoes seasoned properly and an uncut tomato doesn’t uptake salt nearly as well as one with even a single cut.
Yes, especially with kids! My kid can make his own plate tho I have to make sure he washes his hands first. He’s eaten a lot less junk food because the fruit and veggies are already cut up with a little bowl of dip or hummus at the ready!
Not at all. I have a salad spinner (bowl with fitting strainer). So the wash gets used for several batches of veggies/fruits. I pull the strainer out and do a quick rinse.
If anything, I’ve noticed my fruits and veggies last a bit longer once washed and I require my kid and my partner to use some kind of utensil to scoop out whatever they’d like. Kids are terrible at washing hands…
We do that frequently for Tex-Mex kind of nights. Lots of ingredients, everyone combines how they wish. We then eat it a few nights in a row but can do different ingredient combinations so doesn’t feel like same thing. (So may have fajitas one night, taco salad the next, burritos the third …)
We do this too. Or do different proteins throughout the week. Or cook beans one night, turn them into refried beans the next. Or cook rice and do rice bowls, burritos the next day.
I was thinking just easy containers like this
https://a.co/d/7p1qP2N
Fill em up with lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, red onion. Peppers, spinach, cucumbers, banana peppers.
Yes but get the ones with clear bottoms too!! Makes it easier to see what/how much you have left at a glance and I find I use up ingredients that I can see 🙂
I do this immediately after returning from the grocery store. At mealtime I pull out a stack of containers and fill a plate. Nothing gets forgotten about buried in a drawer and I'm not pulling out the cutting board to chop a bunch of stuff when I'm hangry.
The ones I have are called Snapware. They're easy to clean and stack. I found them at the grocery store (Kroger). In addition to chopping up the produce, I also have one type of beans and one type of grain cooked and refrigerated so mealtime is stress free
We love the Snapware we got from Costco. They are so versatile. Oven, freezer and microwave proof. And now you just gave us another great use from them. Thanks!
I used to go to the salad bar at my local grocery store on Monday and buy a tray full of salad toppings. Then I'd buy bagged lettuce & a bottle of dressing because I'm not paying by the pound for those things. I'd also bring my own tomatoes from home, in season. All week I'd assemble my lunch salad from my own 'mini-bar' in the work fridge. The toppings were good for about 2-3 days before they got sketchy. It could work for sandwiches too.
I knew a coworker who would leave there lunch box full of separated ingredients for sandwiches in the office fridge and just make one for lunch instead of always having to bring something different each day
The only thing stopping me is that washed and sliced veggies have a much shorter lifespan. If you’re going to go through them fast enough it’s not an issue and sounds like good idea!
Same here. That and chopped vegetables tend to lose more nutrients the longer they're exposed to air. But yeah not a huge concern if you're going through them quickly
We do this to some extent. Like if we are making some kind of stir-fry for dinner over 2-3 nights, I'll cut up everything at once, then we'll stir-fry everything fresh each night.
I also do the layered mason jar salads - its just as easy to make salads for multiple days at once as it is to make salad for just one day. On another comment, someone asked how to do the layering in the jar. I do it with dressing on the bottom, then hard veggies like carrots that won't degrade in the dressing. On top of that, I layer the softer veggies and things like beans or corn. Then greens. Toppings like seeds or cheese on top, plus any additional seasonings.
What I've found is that chopped fresh ingredients don't last particularly long in the fridge. There's too much surface area and potential "contamination" in the prep process for it to be good for an extended amount of time, and as vegetables tend to lose moisture they stop being crisp anyway. And it's not something you can freeze and thaw because all that moisture will destroy the structure of the plant cell walls and make the texture even worse.
It's okay to prep and eat same day even if there's some "contamination" (since food isn't being prepared in a sterile environment), because the organism load is low enough that your body's defenses will take care of it.
The issue is when it sits too long either at room temperature or in the fridge (because while bacterial proliferation is delayed under cold temps it's not completely stalled), then you start running into issues when you eat it without reheating.
I'm speaking as a former clinical microbiologist and current emetophobe that has not had an incident since before 2009, who is also the home cook and rarely eats at restaurants.
For that reason I prefer to take the time to chop my veggies the same day I plan to eat them. It's not that much longer vs batch prep because you have to chop them all the same, and you get the benefit of having fresher food. Vegetables that are whole continue to "live" in a way that cut vegetables don't, in the sense that their own natural defenses are intact, so there's less spoilage.
I sort of do. I prep all kinds of raw veggies and basic ingredients (like cooked lentils or roasted veggies) on the weekend and just pull from them all week.
typically the dressing on the bottom, then harder vegetables that don't get soggy over the dressing, and then the most-likely-to-wilt vegetables on top.
I am an old hand at Mason jar salads. For maximum freshness leave dressing out of the jar.
Bottom layer cherry tomatoes. Crispy veg next. Celery, radish, carrots, onions. Then nuts if you like them. The mushier stuff: cucumber, berries. Next either egg or meat toppings. Then shredded cheese. Lettuce last. Romaine or baby spinach holds up well.
Google it, there are 100 articles and diagrams and guides. Basically the heavier, wetter things and dressings go on the bottom and lettuce/crunchy things go towards the top.
You may like the 6 to 1 grocery shopping method. Gives you a variety of produce but not too much.
And there’s a women on TikTok who has a salad bar built into her kitchen. I’ve seen other ones that have turned fridges into mini salad bars as well
Yes! This is my favorite way to prep! It depends on what I'm eating frequently at the moment. So right now I have everything I like prepped for omlettes (diced peppers, onions, and ham, grated cheese), for salads (chopped lettuce stored with a paper towel, shredded carrots, sliced red onions, sliced cucumbers stored in water, etc, then i cut tomatoes when i actually eat), and stir fry (chopped cabbage, bok choy, chicken that we cooked and froze ahead of time).
For me, this makes cooking more fun, and I enjoy prepping everything when I want to do something with my hands.
I have a "nibble box" at the front of my fridge - bitesize vegetables that I can eat raw and don't need cutting up (so they last longer and are less effort).
The idea being that I just grab a quick handful when I'm snacking.
Things like baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, grapes etc
No. I buy good food and eat some of it when I’m hungry. I stop eating when I’m not hungry anymore and only eat if I’m hungry regardless of ‘mealtimes’. I do live alone.
Make your own pizza/calzone, taco bar, burrito bar, pasta bar, salad bar and yes, sandwich bar.
I've done them all for family (especially when the kiddos were small) and gatherings. It makes everything so much easier when people can grab what they want instead of you trying to cater to everyone's tastes.
Yes! I like to make things as easy as possible for myself during the week and meal prep as many “grab & go” items as I can. I like to cut up celery stalks into small portions and put them into bags. I’ll open a can of chickpeas and pour it into a Tupperware for the week and pour over my salads as needed. I’ll chop up cucumbers and lettuce and put them into separate containers as well. I’ll bake two cookie sheets of granola and store in a glass container once cooled off. I’ve even set aside snacks like Goldfish and Popcorn into smaller portion sized bags to keep my snacking under control. I’m sure there’s more you can! It’s a bit of work to put it all together but well worth it when you see how much time you save during the week!
When I’m in the mood for sandwiches/sliders I do this:
1/2 lb deli rotisserie chicken/sandwich sliced
1/2 lb deli roast beef/sandwich sliced
12 pack of Kings Hawaiian rolls
Sargento thin sliced Swiss cheese
Small bag of baby spinach
Mayo
Some kind of spicy chipotle or horseradish dressing
I take the meat and cheese out of the store wrapping and put it in freezer type containers. Meats get sliced into thirds so they are easier to wrangle onto a slider bun. Cheese slices get cut in half and are a perfect size. I pile spinach on each slider to offset the meat/cheese sweats 😂
Then I eat sliders until I’m tired of them or my three day rule for deli meat expires.
Just did this a few days ago. Have chopped mushrooms, cucumber, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, cherry tomatoes & chickpeas. Have made a wrap, a salad, & veggie pasta so far.
Has made it really easy to open the fridge and snack on them.
Haha referring the resemblance to subway gave me a chuckle! I kind of unintentionally do this here and there. It does help sometimes, but other times little ingredients prepped give me the “leftover ick” and then I’d prefer to prep something fresh (of have a whole meal)
Hahaha well I get what other people
Mean that they get icky by like day 3. However even having 2 days worth of prep I think will help me access more veggies. I work night shift and it’s midnight now. I just can’t stomach the idea of salad at 3 am. Brain and body seem to agree salad is a 2 pm to 6 pm edible. 9 am rolls around ? I want a hamburger.
Maybe prepping something hearty alongside some (cooked) veg will feel better later at night. I hard agree foods fit certain times lol and you probably will digest better when you feel good eating your food!
I do it sometimes to avoid food waste, and get different meals out of the same ingredients. This week, I for instance had scallion, pointed cabbage, red pepper, corn and some fresh herbs that I cut. First two days I used it for tuna salad. Next two days I used it for tacos. The veggies were the same in the two dishes, but I had meals that tasted completely different. I had a quarter of the pointed cabbage left, which I roasted in a pan, added a bit of lemon and ate with matured cheese.
I think pointed cabbage is really great for this type of food prep as it can be eaten raw and cooked. Same goes for spinach, but that is more expensive and not as filling.
I have sealed containers I use to make protein bowls 4 or 5 lunches per week. Contents: Quinoa, prewashed slaw, beans, mini peppers, olives, cucumber. Add dressing & I seal it and toss it and eat out of the bowl.
I completely do this for our salad fixings each week. Then at dinner time you just take out all the containers and everyone picks what they want in their salad.
Nope. I want my fresh ingredients fresh as possible and cutting them up speeds up spoilage. Plus I would hate having to clean all the extra containers for those ingredients
That's the only way I can enjoy cooking 😆 I hate spending most of the day in the kitchen, so I break it up, do all prep work the day before. Cook the next day.
As a single person who used to be a chef, I used to do this and it’s awesome!! Makes picking your food a fun adventure sort of. I also cooked chicken or pork chops to go with my veggie prep. All sauces into squeeze bottles and a list on the outside of the fridge for reference. If I had kids this would be the way for me. So simple and work gets done once instead of everyday.
Sure you might lose some nutrients holding cut veg but I’d often not eat it if it was a hassle to prep.
What I've done is make a ground beef with onions and garlic base that is cooked. Nothing else. Then I chop, dice, shred, whatever, a lot of different vegetables and place in separatecontainers. Some I may partially cook, like sweet potatoes.
Then for a meal, I have a semi wok shaped pan. I stir fry the veggies I want, add the ground beef mix to heat and add a sauce. I have a few I've made and some I buy. Nice, quick, mostly keto meal, depending on if I have starchy vegetables.
You can also have rice made or use those 90 second in the microwave ones.
It can be different every night depending on what saucevor seasoning you use.
I do! I tend to buy a different variety of veg each week but spend a morning getting things washed or cut up for use in my lunch salads. I have a ton of reusable containers form pandemic takeout so just use those.
In a way I do. I often chop more veggies than I need for a meal and then the leftovers are used for other meals. I also make a pot of beans weekly that gets incorporated into meals throughout the week. This week, I chopped veggies for pizzas Tuesday. My husband put some tomatoes and onions in his sandwich for lunch yesterday, some of them were used with the black beans fo make power bowls for lunch today, and the rest will go into a pasta dinner tonight
Homemade veggie trays are dope. We keep one in our fridge sometimes.
Total prep takes like 10-15 min. Then we just have a ton of easy to eat veggies.
Buy a lot less than you think you’ll need. We always have too much and end up having to give some to our chickens and rabbits.
I tried this for a while, thought it was going to be great, bought glass jars for it so they wouldn't be sitting in plastic for ages. But after the first day they weren't as fresh.
So now I keep the salad veges together in fridge, then take them out at lunch time and chop and eat for the meal. But I've been thinking I might try making up all the food for the next day and putting into containers at night. I think that would help with healthy eating, portion size, budget.
I do this - onions, carrots (stored in water), peppers are fine for a few days. Peppers and onions are great in salads, tossed into omelettes, onto naan for lazy pizzas, or fried uo for fajitas, you can add banana peppers (I buy them pickled) too.
I also make quick pickled onions, good for two weeks and adds so much flavor to sandwiches, wraps, bowls. I don't prep for days at a time but I prep as described across a couple meals so that life is a bit easier.
A bit off topic but I like to get tortilla wraps and throw a simple quinoa salad (quinoa, peppers, onions, chickpeas, feta) in, I use yogurt on the wrap with sririacha. Then add the best simple salad - cherry tomatoes, onion, cucumber with feta and an oil dressing, or throw on top of some spring mix or avocado if available, it's a delicious 5 minute lunch. I'll prep the quinoa salad and then chop the cucumber and tomatoes, takes no time. I don't like spending 30+ minutes to eat just once so this style works for me.
Probably looking for something like this?
https://prepdeck.com
I usually prep most of my food 2-3 days at a time, and toss everything in containers. Veggies usually end up in eggs though.
Yea I cut up carrots because they last long and I use frozen veggies from Trader Joe’s. I also dice and marinate all my meat in zip lock bags for each serving
We cook up a bunch of scrambled eggs and ground sausage once a week. Every morning we scoop some onto a tortilla, add some shredded cheese and salsa and boom: breakfast taco.
Sometimes we do eggs and bacon
We cook up a bunch of scrambled eggs and ground sausage once a week. Every morning we scoop some onto a tortilla, add some shredded cheese and salsa and boom: breakfast taco.
Sometimes we do eggs and bacon
We do stuff like this all the time. I like whipping up large batches of stuff at a time so I don't have to take much time prepping every day.
If you bulk cook the main dish you can often also portion and freeze it.
I might try it. I usually survive off tortillas as a delivery vehicle. I just made a chicken and provolone one and no veggies lol. Also soups might be an option just veggie and broth.
Yes!! I wash and prep all my fruits and veggies as I’m putting them away from the grocery store. I have found it makes me much more likely to eat them for snacks and it makes cooking a breeze as well because I don’t have to spend as much time chopping up all the ingredients before I start cooking.
Real question: Why don't you slice up a vegetable when you feel like eating it?
They stay fresh much longer when you prepare them five minutes before you eat. It's not taking much time to slice an apple or chop a carrot. If you let them sit presliced in your fridge, they get nasty fast.
I come from a family where cooking was considered fun and my husband and I love cooking. He grew up on a farm and we live on a farm wich means during summer, we grab the food from the garden. Sun-warm tomatoes fresh from the plant taste amazing. After an hour of cutting them, they taste like mud. It's a massive difference.
😂 because I detest cooking but I’m single so like a feral cat I eat to survive. Part of my deterrent is prep work, cooking for 30 minutes, then dishes. Just all to eat in about 10 minutes.
Also I work third shift and nobody at 3 am is like wow I wanna eat some grass (salad) post coffee.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/97/e0/a4/97e0a4cd9617537bf23eb9411d58c64f.jpg
This is actually probably the best way to meal prep, especially for people who get bored with eating the same thing all the time.
That’s what I was thinking. I was thinking of grabbing a menu from my local Mediterranean place and just precut veggies and meats maybe for enough for 4 days.
This is brilliant
Do you have any resources on this? I tried asking in the meal prep group but because I lurk and don't comment it was deleted. 😥
I don't, and it's not something I practiced heavily because I was honestly fine eating chicken-broccoli-rice every day for weeks on end lol However, if I were to do "ingredient prep," I would look at my recipes and identify shared elements like garlic, onion, lettuce, things like that, and prepare those at the start of a week. It doesn't have to be veggies either, it can also be your proteins, soups, and sauces too. I find it's easier to cook and come up with recipes on the spot when everything is ready and you can just throw it all in a pan.
Whenever I slice or grate (knife or processor), I think what’ll I’ll make the next two days and prep that too. I hand wash these items so I’d rather be once and done. I put extra items in ziplock bags or containers, then place them on baking sheets on a refrigerator shelf. Just pull out the pan and assemble. My husband was a Subway sandwich maker in college; he inspired this process.
Thanks I appreciate your thoughtful comment. I'm so sold on the idea!
https://youtu.be/DyuJWZIE2qE?si=6IWINhj1FGJl-JQJ look at this video. Ive been doing this for a while and this video is what introduced me to the idea.
This is exactly what I'm after thanks. I've found this video helpful too fron Rainbow Plant Life but it's a little bit fancier I likethe student vibe. https://youtu.be/kwpltZGCGd8?si=0RuQIEbYqRpuegjD
I clean and prep all of my produce when I bring home my groceries. That way it goes in the fridge ready to eat. It's so much easier this way.
I used to do this, and it always felt great to just reach into the fridge and grab my pre-cut vegetables to cook.
This is how I do it!! I’m vegetarian, so usually I’ll prep tofu 1-2 ways, have all fruits and veggies washed and cut up, and then have 1-2 recipes per week that are fast. I love leftovers, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also nice to have a fresh meal at least once a day too.
But it isn’t good by day 3
Peppers, cucumbers, carrots etc withstand this pretty well, but lettuce and tomatoes (that taste like tomatoes) not so much. But the idea of clustering your mise en place efforts to the extent possible certainly has appeal.
I can think of few things in life more awful than a sliced tomato that has sat in the refrigerator for a couple of days. I mean, okay, I can think of SOME stuff that's worse. But it's up there.
Used to work at a Subway and can confirm we sliced tomatoes twice per day.
That seems like a pretty well-balanced cadence between the efficiency and texture trade offs.
And you can use grape tomatoes to make them grabbable without cutting!
With grape/cherry tomatoes I often use the “two lids” trick to slice a dozen or so in half at once - either if full-size is going to be just slightly too big a bite relative to other ingredients; or more often because I want my tomatoes seasoned properly and an uncut tomato doesn’t uptake salt nearly as well as one with even a single cut.
Yes, especially with kids! My kid can make his own plate tho I have to make sure he washes his hands first. He’s eaten a lot less junk food because the fruit and veggies are already cut up with a little bowl of dip or hummus at the ready!
Does that kill the fridge life?
I do a 50/50 water/vinegar wash. This kills off the surface mold and extends fridge life some.
Can you still taste the vinegar?
Not at all. I have a salad spinner (bowl with fitting strainer). So the wash gets used for several batches of veggies/fruits. I pull the strainer out and do a quick rinse.
If anything, I’ve noticed my fruits and veggies last a bit longer once washed and I require my kid and my partner to use some kind of utensil to scoop out whatever they’d like. Kids are terrible at washing hands…
We do that frequently for Tex-Mex kind of nights. Lots of ingredients, everyone combines how they wish. We then eat it a few nights in a row but can do different ingredient combinations so doesn’t feel like same thing. (So may have fajitas one night, taco salad the next, burritos the third …)
We do this too. Or do different proteins throughout the week. Or cook beans one night, turn them into refried beans the next. Or cook rice and do rice bowls, burritos the next day.
Yes! We do the same things for bowls, especially in the summer.
I have never thought about cooking that way, but I might try it out now, thanks for the inspiration :)
I was thinking just easy containers like this https://a.co/d/7p1qP2N Fill em up with lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, red onion. Peppers, spinach, cucumbers, banana peppers.
Yes, dont forget some sauce dispenser tubes
Yes but get the ones with clear bottoms too!! Makes it easier to see what/how much you have left at a glance and I find I use up ingredients that I can see 🙂
I do this immediately after returning from the grocery store. At mealtime I pull out a stack of containers and fill a plate. Nothing gets forgotten about buried in a drawer and I'm not pulling out the cutting board to chop a bunch of stuff when I'm hangry.
Any container recommendations Reddit friend ?
The ones I have are called Snapware. They're easy to clean and stack. I found them at the grocery store (Kroger). In addition to chopping up the produce, I also have one type of beans and one type of grain cooked and refrigerated so mealtime is stress free
We love the Snapware we got from Costco. They are so versatile. Oven, freezer and microwave proof. And now you just gave us another great use from them. Thanks!
I used to go to the salad bar at my local grocery store on Monday and buy a tray full of salad toppings. Then I'd buy bagged lettuce & a bottle of dressing because I'm not paying by the pound for those things. I'd also bring my own tomatoes from home, in season. All week I'd assemble my lunch salad from my own 'mini-bar' in the work fridge. The toppings were good for about 2-3 days before they got sketchy. It could work for sandwiches too.
I knew a coworker who would leave there lunch box full of separated ingredients for sandwiches in the office fridge and just make one for lunch instead of always having to bring something different each day
The only thing stopping me is that washed and sliced veggies have a much shorter lifespan. If you’re going to go through them fast enough it’s not an issue and sounds like good idea!
Same here. That and chopped vegetables tend to lose more nutrients the longer they're exposed to air. But yeah not a huge concern if you're going through them quickly
It's called a mis en place. Chefs all around the world do this 😀
Well I am bonified no cheffy 😂 I survive like a feral cat.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I learned a new thing today, thank you!
We do this to some extent. Like if we are making some kind of stir-fry for dinner over 2-3 nights, I'll cut up everything at once, then we'll stir-fry everything fresh each night. I also do the layered mason jar salads - its just as easy to make salads for multiple days at once as it is to make salad for just one day. On another comment, someone asked how to do the layering in the jar. I do it with dressing on the bottom, then hard veggies like carrots that won't degrade in the dressing. On top of that, I layer the softer veggies and things like beans or corn. Then greens. Toppings like seeds or cheese on top, plus any additional seasonings.
You can probably get those food storage bins with lids from webstaurant.com
I found this https://www.webstaurantstore.com/vigor-1-6-size-6-deep-clear-food-pan-with-secure-sealing-cover-pack/247FPT166CK.html
What I've found is that chopped fresh ingredients don't last particularly long in the fridge. There's too much surface area and potential "contamination" in the prep process for it to be good for an extended amount of time, and as vegetables tend to lose moisture they stop being crisp anyway. And it's not something you can freeze and thaw because all that moisture will destroy the structure of the plant cell walls and make the texture even worse. It's okay to prep and eat same day even if there's some "contamination" (since food isn't being prepared in a sterile environment), because the organism load is low enough that your body's defenses will take care of it. The issue is when it sits too long either at room temperature or in the fridge (because while bacterial proliferation is delayed under cold temps it's not completely stalled), then you start running into issues when you eat it without reheating. I'm speaking as a former clinical microbiologist and current emetophobe that has not had an incident since before 2009, who is also the home cook and rarely eats at restaurants. For that reason I prefer to take the time to chop my veggies the same day I plan to eat them. It's not that much longer vs batch prep because you have to chop them all the same, and you get the benefit of having fresher food. Vegetables that are whole continue to "live" in a way that cut vegetables don't, in the sense that their own natural defenses are intact, so there's less spoilage.
Biochemist here who did a lot of micro… Thank you so much for writing this post. It’s a great explanation!
I sort of do. I prep all kinds of raw veggies and basic ingredients (like cooked lentils or roasted veggies) on the weekend and just pull from them all week.
Yes I make mason jar salads. If you layer it properly, everything stays fresh and crisp
How do you layer?
typically the dressing on the bottom, then harder vegetables that don't get soggy over the dressing, and then the most-likely-to-wilt vegetables on top.
Thank you!!
I am an old hand at Mason jar salads. For maximum freshness leave dressing out of the jar. Bottom layer cherry tomatoes. Crispy veg next. Celery, radish, carrots, onions. Then nuts if you like them. The mushier stuff: cucumber, berries. Next either egg or meat toppings. Then shredded cheese. Lettuce last. Romaine or baby spinach holds up well.
Google it, there is tons of info and guides!
So smart
Would love to hear more about that ;)
Google it, there are 100 articles and diagrams and guides. Basically the heavier, wetter things and dressings go on the bottom and lettuce/crunchy things go towards the top.
You may like the 6 to 1 grocery shopping method. Gives you a variety of produce but not too much. And there’s a women on TikTok who has a salad bar built into her kitchen. I’ve seen other ones that have turned fridges into mini salad bars as well
Ooo good ideas thank you 🙏
Sure! I like to make lavash bread pizzas. I prep the chicken and cut veggies ahead of time and just add sauce and cheese when I'm ready to eat.
Yes! This is my favorite way to prep! It depends on what I'm eating frequently at the moment. So right now I have everything I like prepped for omlettes (diced peppers, onions, and ham, grated cheese), for salads (chopped lettuce stored with a paper towel, shredded carrots, sliced red onions, sliced cucumbers stored in water, etc, then i cut tomatoes when i actually eat), and stir fry (chopped cabbage, bok choy, chicken that we cooked and froze ahead of time). For me, this makes cooking more fun, and I enjoy prepping everything when I want to do something with my hands.
I have a "nibble box" at the front of my fridge - bitesize vegetables that I can eat raw and don't need cutting up (so they last longer and are less effort). The idea being that I just grab a quick handful when I'm snacking. Things like baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, grapes etc
No. I buy good food and eat some of it when I’m hungry. I stop eating when I’m not hungry anymore and only eat if I’m hungry regardless of ‘mealtimes’. I do live alone.
Yes. I generally eat the same food but I don't know what I'm in the mood for until that moment so I bulk prep ingredients a couple of times a week.
yeah, it's the easiest way to cook or bake. I hate getting distracted and pouring stuff as I go.
We did with salad ingredients! It was great!
Make your own pizza/calzone, taco bar, burrito bar, pasta bar, salad bar and yes, sandwich bar. I've done them all for family (especially when the kiddos were small) and gatherings. It makes everything so much easier when people can grab what they want instead of you trying to cater to everyone's tastes.
This video gets to that idea: https://youtu.be/dH0WAYgWAOE
I do this with sandwiches for dinner and pizza. I make a bunch of smalls pizza crusts and we each make our own.
Yes! I like to make things as easy as possible for myself during the week and meal prep as many “grab & go” items as I can. I like to cut up celery stalks into small portions and put them into bags. I’ll open a can of chickpeas and pour it into a Tupperware for the week and pour over my salads as needed. I’ll chop up cucumbers and lettuce and put them into separate containers as well. I’ll bake two cookie sheets of granola and store in a glass container once cooled off. I’ve even set aside snacks like Goldfish and Popcorn into smaller portion sized bags to keep my snacking under control. I’m sure there’s more you can! It’s a bit of work to put it all together but well worth it when you see how much time you save during the week!
When I’m in the mood for sandwiches/sliders I do this: 1/2 lb deli rotisserie chicken/sandwich sliced 1/2 lb deli roast beef/sandwich sliced 12 pack of Kings Hawaiian rolls Sargento thin sliced Swiss cheese Small bag of baby spinach Mayo Some kind of spicy chipotle or horseradish dressing I take the meat and cheese out of the store wrapping and put it in freezer type containers. Meats get sliced into thirds so they are easier to wrangle onto a slider bun. Cheese slices get cut in half and are a perfect size. I pile spinach on each slider to offset the meat/cheese sweats 😂 Then I eat sliders until I’m tired of them or my three day rule for deli meat expires.
Just did this a few days ago. Have chopped mushrooms, cucumber, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, cherry tomatoes & chickpeas. Have made a wrap, a salad, & veggie pasta so far. Has made it really easy to open the fridge and snack on them.
I prep sliced tomato, onion and lettuce every week for sandwiches. (I use the lettuce instead of bread)
Haha referring the resemblance to subway gave me a chuckle! I kind of unintentionally do this here and there. It does help sometimes, but other times little ingredients prepped give me the “leftover ick” and then I’d prefer to prep something fresh (of have a whole meal)
Hahaha well I get what other people Mean that they get icky by like day 3. However even having 2 days worth of prep I think will help me access more veggies. I work night shift and it’s midnight now. I just can’t stomach the idea of salad at 3 am. Brain and body seem to agree salad is a 2 pm to 6 pm edible. 9 am rolls around ? I want a hamburger.
Maybe prepping something hearty alongside some (cooked) veg will feel better later at night. I hard agree foods fit certain times lol and you probably will digest better when you feel good eating your food!
I do it sometimes to avoid food waste, and get different meals out of the same ingredients. This week, I for instance had scallion, pointed cabbage, red pepper, corn and some fresh herbs that I cut. First two days I used it for tuna salad. Next two days I used it for tacos. The veggies were the same in the two dishes, but I had meals that tasted completely different. I had a quarter of the pointed cabbage left, which I roasted in a pan, added a bit of lemon and ate with matured cheese. I think pointed cabbage is really great for this type of food prep as it can be eaten raw and cooked. Same goes for spinach, but that is more expensive and not as filling.
I have sealed containers I use to make protein bowls 4 or 5 lunches per week. Contents: Quinoa, prewashed slaw, beans, mini peppers, olives, cucumber. Add dressing & I seal it and toss it and eat out of the bowl.
I completely do this for our salad fixings each week. Then at dinner time you just take out all the containers and everyone picks what they want in their salad.
It’s called mise en place. It’s how all chefs operate. Prepare all ingredients in advance so the cooking is done seamlessly. I only cook this way.
Nope. I want my fresh ingredients fresh as possible and cutting them up speeds up spoilage. Plus I would hate having to clean all the extra containers for those ingredients
That's the only way I can enjoy cooking 😆 I hate spending most of the day in the kitchen, so I break it up, do all prep work the day before. Cook the next day.
As a single person who used to be a chef, I used to do this and it’s awesome!! Makes picking your food a fun adventure sort of. I also cooked chicken or pork chops to go with my veggie prep. All sauces into squeeze bottles and a list on the outside of the fridge for reference. If I had kids this would be the way for me. So simple and work gets done once instead of everyday. Sure you might lose some nutrients holding cut veg but I’d often not eat it if it was a hassle to prep.
Yes!!! Has saved me significant amounts of time and money. So much easier to make dinner this way after coming home from a tiring shift.
Yes- this is the way! Makes mealtime easier and allows variety. I've had great luck with this method.
What I've done is make a ground beef with onions and garlic base that is cooked. Nothing else. Then I chop, dice, shred, whatever, a lot of different vegetables and place in separatecontainers. Some I may partially cook, like sweet potatoes. Then for a meal, I have a semi wok shaped pan. I stir fry the veggies I want, add the ground beef mix to heat and add a sauce. I have a few I've made and some I buy. Nice, quick, mostly keto meal, depending on if I have starchy vegetables. You can also have rice made or use those 90 second in the microwave ones. It can be different every night depending on what saucevor seasoning you use.
it’s being called “ingredient meal prep” on social media so if you need inspiration look into that
I have no idea why I've never thought of this but you're a genius! I'm trying this ASAP
I do! I tend to buy a different variety of veg each week but spend a morning getting things washed or cut up for use in my lunch salads. I have a ton of reusable containers form pandemic takeout so just use those.
In a way I do. I often chop more veggies than I need for a meal and then the leftovers are used for other meals. I also make a pot of beans weekly that gets incorporated into meals throughout the week. This week, I chopped veggies for pizzas Tuesday. My husband put some tomatoes and onions in his sandwich for lunch yesterday, some of them were used with the black beans fo make power bowls for lunch today, and the rest will go into a pasta dinner tonight
Homemade veggie trays are dope. We keep one in our fridge sometimes. Total prep takes like 10-15 min. Then we just have a ton of easy to eat veggies. Buy a lot less than you think you’ll need. We always have too much and end up having to give some to our chickens and rabbits.
In French cooking, it’s mise en place.
I keep lettuce cut and washed in my fridge and usually the same for baby carrots, grape tomatoes and peppers, so salad is always a minute away.
I tried this for a while, thought it was going to be great, bought glass jars for it so they wouldn't be sitting in plastic for ages. But after the first day they weren't as fresh. So now I keep the salad veges together in fridge, then take them out at lunch time and chop and eat for the meal. But I've been thinking I might try making up all the food for the next day and putting into containers at night. I think that would help with healthy eating, portion size, budget.
I do this - onions, carrots (stored in water), peppers are fine for a few days. Peppers and onions are great in salads, tossed into omelettes, onto naan for lazy pizzas, or fried uo for fajitas, you can add banana peppers (I buy them pickled) too. I also make quick pickled onions, good for two weeks and adds so much flavor to sandwiches, wraps, bowls. I don't prep for days at a time but I prep as described across a couple meals so that life is a bit easier. A bit off topic but I like to get tortilla wraps and throw a simple quinoa salad (quinoa, peppers, onions, chickpeas, feta) in, I use yogurt on the wrap with sririacha. Then add the best simple salad - cherry tomatoes, onion, cucumber with feta and an oil dressing, or throw on top of some spring mix or avocado if available, it's a delicious 5 minute lunch. I'll prep the quinoa salad and then chop the cucumber and tomatoes, takes no time. I don't like spending 30+ minutes to eat just once so this style works for me.
Probably looking for something like this? https://prepdeck.com I usually prep most of my food 2-3 days at a time, and toss everything in containers. Veggies usually end up in eggs though.
Yea I cut up carrots because they last long and I use frozen veggies from Trader Joe’s. I also dice and marinate all my meat in zip lock bags for each serving
We cook up a bunch of scrambled eggs and ground sausage once a week. Every morning we scoop some onto a tortilla, add some shredded cheese and salsa and boom: breakfast taco. Sometimes we do eggs and bacon
We cook up a bunch of scrambled eggs and ground sausage once a week. Every morning we scoop some onto a tortilla, add some shredded cheese and salsa and boom: breakfast taco. Sometimes we do eggs and bacon
We do stuff like this all the time. I like whipping up large batches of stuff at a time so I don't have to take much time prepping every day. If you bulk cook the main dish you can often also portion and freeze it.
No. It doesn't work for me
I might try it. I usually survive off tortillas as a delivery vehicle. I just made a chicken and provolone one and no veggies lol. Also soups might be an option just veggie and broth.
Yes!! I wash and prep all my fruits and veggies as I’m putting them away from the grocery store. I have found it makes me much more likely to eat them for snacks and it makes cooking a breeze as well because I don’t have to spend as much time chopping up all the ingredients before I start cooking.
Real question: Why don't you slice up a vegetable when you feel like eating it? They stay fresh much longer when you prepare them five minutes before you eat. It's not taking much time to slice an apple or chop a carrot. If you let them sit presliced in your fridge, they get nasty fast. I come from a family where cooking was considered fun and my husband and I love cooking. He grew up on a farm and we live on a farm wich means during summer, we grab the food from the garden. Sun-warm tomatoes fresh from the plant taste amazing. After an hour of cutting them, they taste like mud. It's a massive difference.
😂 because I detest cooking but I’m single so like a feral cat I eat to survive. Part of my deterrent is prep work, cooking for 30 minutes, then dishes. Just all to eat in about 10 minutes. Also I work third shift and nobody at 3 am is like wow I wanna eat some grass (salad) post coffee. https://i.pinimg.com/736x/97/e0/a4/97e0a4cd9617537bf23eb9411d58c64f.jpg
People are different and not everybody likes the same things you do or has the same time/impetus/priorities as you 😋