Meal Prepping to Improve my Relationship with Food

          I have always had an emotional relationship with food. I have a tendency to over eat for a variety of reason. I have an addiction to sugar that makes me sick to my stomach sometimes because I can’t just have one serving. It has been a roller coaster ride to say the least most of my life. I have had seasons of my life where I ate well and cooked great food. The condition of my body reflected these great habits. (Don’t forget exercise too but that is a topic for a different blog post.) Over the past six years my emotional relationship with food has collided with circumstances that have led to the worst eating habits of my entire life. This has negatively impacted my family so I declared 2023 is the year I plan to make some changes to improve our health and the habits my family has with food.

In August 2017 I started graduate school. It was huge undertaking and it meant that I was less available to prepare meals. I also worked full time hours between a couple jobs. As time wore on I became less motivated to cook and convenience foods took more priority. In spring 2019 we decided to renovate our kitchen and bathrooms. Our dining room table sat in the living room and the refrigerator lived in the garage. This was also around the time that apps like Door Dash came to exist. We ate from the microwave and delivery for nearly 6 months. This overlapped with the last year of graduate school. It was such a tough habit to break even though I saw clearly what had happened.

2020 hit and was excited to have graduated in December 2019 and started a new job launching a young non-profit organization into a new bigger trajectory. Enter Covid-19. Our lives ground to a halt as we adjusted to life at home ALL THE TIME. We tried for a while but a number of circumstances during the spring and summer ushered in a ton of stress and anxiety for our family. I did accept a job offer to teach and coach at a local school which gave us something to look forward to and a place to go to get out of the house. That job was a full-time job however. It came with 10 hour days and even longer hours once we were in basketball season. Stopping to “grab some food” on the way home became our norm. Trips to the grocery store were more about what sounded good in the moment and what was convenience to pull out of the freezer.

In the fall of 2022 I started a different job that required less of my time, but we still had plenty of activities that kept us away from home most evenings. Tyrone had discovered a homemade version of the rice bowls we liked to order at Chipotle. Maiesha really liked them so I started making enough for them to carry to work/school through the week. We bought a few meal prep containers and it was nice. I started making baked oatmeal that I could carry with me and making double batches of breakfast food to ensure we had quality breakfast items to start each day.

                If you know our family, you know we love to eat lunch or dinner in the café at Sam’s Club. We desperately missed it when it closed during Covid and we were among the first in line when it reopened. It is cheap which is great for a large family and it was super convenient. We also like the food (judge me if you must). One day around New Year’s Tyrone took Lydia and Chloe there for lunch and came home with a box of food prep containers. There were pretty pastel colors and they came in 1, 2, and 3-compartment sizes. The compartments were measured for 1, 2, and 4 cups. It was just the resource I needed to expand on what we had started in the fall.

                I have been shopping with an exact grocery list. It saves time and money. I also code it for Walmart or Sam’s Club. I am working toward the pick up or delivery services. It keeps our pantry free from as much snack foods. I started with a few recipes that centered around chicken and rice. I have added one or two recipes each week and gave some a break. We are “eaters of habit” so we are fine eating some of the same foods week after week. I also have some staple items around so someone can make a salad or a sandwich or box mac n cheese if they didn’t want a prepped meal. There is little to no temptation to dine out even on a night we are out late because we know there is good food waiting for us at home. The pressure for me to cook and clean the kitchen after a long day is not there throughout the week. My attitude toward food is improving.

My cooking sessions last 4-7 hours depending on what I am prepping. I treat it like I’m on a timed cooking show so it checks my competitive nature box. I get things roasting or baking in the oven while I chop veggies and cook other items on the stove top. Then it’s like an assembly line to get the containers filled and organized in the refrigerator. (We a second refrigerator in our garage.) The family helps a little, but I do see this as a labor of love for my family as well as modeling good behavior around food and financial responsibility.

Start with what your family likes to eat that can be easily eaten as leftovers and made in a large batch. High school cafeterias have microwaves that students can use. My elementary kiddos use a thermos sometimes or we prep cold lunch items. We also keep plastic sandwich bags, plastic forks and spoons, and condiment cups on hand to go with our reusable containers. I don’t trust my kids to take my silverware to school. Keep it simple and add new recipes as you find something interesting. 

Grocery shopping categories

Protein – chicken thighs, ground beef, link sausage, farm fresh pork sausage (my family’s farm), eggs

Starch/grains– rice, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pita bread, French bread or sour dough for French toast, oatmeal, crescent rolls, tortilla shells

Vegetables – onions, peppers, frozen peas/carrots, corn, zucchini, cucumbers, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, asparagus, green onions

Fruit – frozen wild blueberries, cutie oranges, apples, applesauce, (summer will be more berries)

Dairy – milk, butter milk, variety of cheeses (shredded mostly)

Other – chicken broth, salad dressing, butter, oil, flour, sugar, seasonings as needed

I try to primarily shop the perimeter of the store to avoid so much proceed food in the isles.

The following recipes and/or Ingredients are what I have used so far.

Chicken and Rice Bowl (makes 5 servings)

8-10 chicken thighs                                                                        

2 cups uncooked rice                                                                     

1 ¼  cups shredded cheese                                                         

2 tbsp salsa (in condiment cup per bowl)                              

Handful of chopped lettuce per bowl                                      

(add onions, sour cream, etc as desired)                               

Chicken fried rice (makes 5-6 servings)

8-10 chicken thighs                                         1 bag frozen mixed vegetables

2 cups uncooked rice                                      soy sauce

4 tbsp, divided sesame oil                             3 scrambled eggs

Oven roast or air fry chicken. Chop and set aside. Cook rice. Let rest and cool in flat open air pan. (ideally you cook rice the night before to allow it to dry.) Use sesame oil to cook veggies. Cook until moisture is gone then add chicken. In a wok or large skillet, warm remaining 2 tbsp sesame oil then add rice. Stir rice and allow to fry in oil. Add veggies and chicken mixture and combine. Add soy sauce to taste. Add salt and pepper to taste. Finally, scramble the eggs then mix them into rice. Could substitute Asian noodles in place of rice. Could use a variety of veggies fresh or frozen. 

Sausage and Sweet Potato Skillet (makes 6-8 servings)

2 lbs link sausage, halved and sliced (I prefer turkey sausage)

4-5 sweet potatoes, cubed and roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper, could add cinnamon too

1 onion, chopped

2 bell peppers (green is cheapest, but any color works)

Saute onion and pepper in skillet. I air fry the sausage pieces for 6-8 minutes

Combine everything and serve with one cup cooked rice or a side of scrambled eggs

Pepperoni and Salami Crescent Rolls

2 tubes crescent rolls

12-15 slices pepperoni (fresh from deli)

12-15 slices salami (fresh from deli)

Shredded or slices provolone and mozzarella cheese

Roll out one tube crescent rolls in 9x13 pan Layer pepperoni, cheese, salami, cheese

Roll out second tube crescents rolls over the top. Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes until golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce.

Homemade gyros (serves lots so freeze part of the meat and buy fresh veggies another week)

**Meat loaf for slicing the meat strips to mimic the shaved lamb on the vertical spit.

1 lb ground beef                                              2 large cloves garlic or granulated garlic equivalent

1 lb ground lamb (or another beef)          1 spring fresh rosemary of 1 tbsp dried

1 medium onion, chopped                           2 tsp kosher salt and ½ tsp ground black pepper

Run the onion through the food processor and then squeeze all the liquid out. Return to food processor and add all other ingredients. Blend until it looks like a paste. Divide evenly in two loaf pans, patting it flat. Bake at 325 degrees in a water bath for about an hour (reaches internal temp of 165-170). Remove from pans and let cool on a cooling rack. If it’s holding lots of juice put aluminum foil on top and a heavy weight to press out juice. Once cooled, slice into thin strips about 1/8^th inch thick.

Make or purchase Taziki sauce.

 Assembly of gyro – warm the pita bread or pocket. Layer 3-5 meat slices, lettuce, sliced roma tomatoes, sliced purple onion, and Taziki sauce.

 

Prepping Ground Beef

Brown 2-3 lbs ground beef (I use 93/7 lean/fat ratio) with chopped onions. Drain and divide the beef. Use 1 lb for pot of spaghetti. Add taco seasoning and use 1 lb for tacos. Add frozen corn, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper to serve with rice or mashed potatoes for Shepherd’s Pie.

 

Roasted Vegetables with Ramen and a protein (4-5 servings)

Chop 1 bundle asparagus, 3 zucchinis, 1 onion, ½ package cherry or grape tomatoes. Roast at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Boil one package of Ramen noodles per container. I used about half of the chicken seasoning that comes with the noodles and some of the boiled water. Could also use 1 cup cooked rice each.

Add chopped chicken, meatballs (cook frozen ones in the air fryer), or tofu for protein.

 

Other meals or foods I have prepared that work great in single serving containers.

Spaghetti

Homemade macaroni and cheese

Baked sweet potatoes and regular potatoes

Chicken breasts or thighs in air fryer to each with potatoes

Chicken salad with low carb wrap or pita

Applesauce Bread*

Banana Bread*

Zucchini Bread*

*Slice homemade bread and put in single serving Ziploc bags; grab n go for lunches or after school snacks.

 

Breakfast meals (use condiment cup for syrup when on the go)

Blueberry waffle and sausage

2 pancakes and sausage

2-3 slices French toast and sausage

**Could use bacon instead of sausage.

 

Baked Oatmeal (makes 6-8 servings)

4 cups oats                                                          1 tsp Stevia (or similar) plus ½ cup water

2 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce                     2 tsp vanilla

1 cup water                                                         1 egg (or just the white; adds protein and binding)

1 tsp salt                                                             1 cup fresh blueberries (sub other fruits)

Mix all ingredients and pour into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Turn oven off and leave in oven for additional 18 minutes. Cut into squares and serve with fresh fruit and a dollop of whipped cream.