Health & Family Meal Prep anyone?

Discussion in 'Living Room' started by Kassy, 28th Jan, 2018.

Join Australia's most dynamic and respected property investment community
  1. is_don_is_good

    is_don_is_good Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    26th Dec, 2016
    Posts:
    130
    Location:
    Melbourne
    Buy a George Foreman steamer and a multi cooker.

    Cook chicken breast or other white meat by the kg. Tupperware a mountain of cooked veg and the meat separately.

    Either freeze pack it or leave in the fridge. Add any freshly chopped veg, canned fish or other cooked meat you may want.

    Do it on a Sunday night so you're guaranteed a healthy option for the work week. Repeat and alternate with different veg or meat, roasted/grilled/steamed, ect. Avoid ***** cuts and too much red meat, same goes for salmon, tuna and other large fish as too much can mean too much mercury.

    If you want to save cash then get your veg from an Asian grocery. You'll get get a ton of bok choi and all the typical Asian greens for much cheaper than you would at Coles or Woolies.

    Cut out alcohol during the work week or change to a healthier drink (e.g. vodka and soda). Season and flavour food with natural stuff (e.g. lemon, salt, pepper, chilli), walk 30 mins a day and you should lose weight and be healthier.

    Pretty much don't buy anything that's outside the veg and meat section of your supermarket because generally speaking it'll contain a bunch of sugar and crap.
     
    Kassy likes this.
  2. hobartchic

    hobartchic Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    11th Sep, 2017
    Posts:
    1,513
    Location:
    Hobart
    I think it's fair to ask your daughter to cook at least one meal a week. It will do her good to learn how to cook things from scratch. My mum made me learn some basic recipes as I was growing up, particularly as I hit my teenage years. Although I did often enjoy helping out. A little flexibility but few excuses, I managed to help out and study/ work. Sometimes I went to my dad's house but made up work another time. If she's not cooking she should be helping cleaning up too. She will have to cook for herself and perhaps a family in future.

    There's no reason your husband can not do one night a week either. Whole grain sandwiches and pasta can make for easy meals. Batch cook bolognaise sauce and you can have it with pasta, baked spuds, baked beans and cheese etc. Baked spuds make a good base for economical meals too. Keep it simple and nutritious and include protein and fat with carbs to help your husband with his diabetes. Your husband should have spoken to a nutritionist and got some ideas. Vege burgers are easy and economical too and if that's all that's served, if might be just be eaten. Find something you want to save up for to motivate yourself, something for your house? new car? school fees? tafe fees for your daughter (v. expensive now)

    I recommend reading Jamie Oliver's 15 minute meal book, watching his DVD. Probably available at the library.
     
    Kassy likes this.
  3. hobartchic

    hobartchic Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    11th Sep, 2017
    Posts:
    1,513
    Location:
    Hobart
    Oh, and the central cookery book is brilliant for basic recipes, all quite economical. The basic biscuits are highly addictive even made gluten (gf flour) and dairy free (oil)!
     
    Kassy and MTR like this.
  4. Kassy

    Kassy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    21st Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    550
    Location:
    Canberra
    @hobartchic, have no daughter, just a 2year old boy. He offers to help and loves ‘mixing’ so I rope him in to do things he is capable of. DH offers to cook every blue moon or so (yes, last night), his offer came in too late though last night (already done). DH does all the washing and hangs it out and brings it in so he isn’t totally disengaged with household things. Also does most of the grocery shopping if I supply a list.

    We have started small, been eating at home where possible and I have been making lunch to take in for DH and I on work days (already doing this for DS). Plan to eat down the fridge and the cupboard in the next few days and then follow the planned approach.

    @is_don_is_good we have a george foreman grill, didn’t realise he had a steamer as well. Will have to look into it. We would cut down the grog but we hardly drink - 1 or 2 at Christmas... we also don’t drink soft drink unless at a restaurant or something. Tea is our drug of choice lol (I drink decaf coffee too) :p

    Kassy
     
  5. jprops

    jprops Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    24th Sep, 2015
    Posts:
    885
    Location:
    Sydney
    What cost per meal do you get this down to?
     
    Kassy likes this.
  6. HomePage

    HomePage Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    374
    Location:
    Queansbeans, NSW
    We've been meal prepping for years. Meals are taken out the freezer and put in the fridge 2 days before we are going to eat them.

    The trick to reheating food in a microwave so that it tastes nearly as good as when it was first cooked is to do it very slowly. With two meals in pyrex glass containers, we heat them up about 16 to 20 mins (depending on food density) on medium low in our 700W microwave then stand covered for 5 minutes on before eating. Never reheat on high or medium, lest you nuke the outside and barely heat the inside, especially with more powerful microwaves than our piddly 700 watter.

    Another trick is that you can also reheat crispy pastries (eg. quiche) and even pizza by preheating them in the microwave then transferring them to a fry pan on medium heat to reset the crispiness. It's quick and nearly as good as reheating them in the oven.
     
    Kassy likes this.
  7. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    27,786
    Location:
    My World
    Just did another combo....

    Vietnamese salads, (dressing in separate container), mix it with different proteins one day..... prawns, another day chicken or beef... whatever tickles your fancy.... goes a long way.. and delic

    Green Thai curry, use lite coconut, green thai paste, add chilli, garlic, spring onion, bok choy or whatever veggies you enjoy and with or without protein, great. I also go cauliflower rice, no carbs, don't miss the rice at all

    MTR:)
     
    Kassy likes this.
  8. Scandrew

    Scandrew Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    9th Feb, 2017
    Posts:
    45
    Location:
    Sydney
    A usual batch is usually 2kg chicken/mince which costs about $20-23, misc vegies $8, 3 cups rice $3? which usually nets me 9 servings. Let's say $35/9 =$3.88/meal.
     
    Kassy likes this.
  9. Kassy

    Kassy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    21st Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    550
    Location:
    Canberra
  10. Kat

    Kat Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    8th Aug, 2016
    Posts:
    179
    Location:
    Brisbane
    I can't say I've sat down and analysed our budget when prepping vs non-prepping. But I think our grocery expenses have reduced. If I recall correctly our last grocery bill was ~$60 this was all meals and snacks for a week for 2 people.
     
    Kassy likes this.
  11. Scandrew

    Scandrew Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    9th Feb, 2017
    Posts:
    45
    Location:
    Sydney
    Forgot to mention seasoning (lemon/pepper, etc) or sometimes I like to add a jar of tomato pasta sauce to the mince, though, even if rounded up to $40 it's still $4.44/meal. This is a slightly higher protein meal though (180-200g) so vegetarians could make it even cheaper.
     
    Kassy likes this.
  12. Scandrew

    Scandrew Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    9th Feb, 2017
    Posts:
    45
    Location:
    Sydney
    I believe the process of meal prepping allows for better economies of scale and a reduction in wastage as you generally buy only what you need. It potentially saves you from making unhealthier food choices and saves you the time of having to make those food choices. It also saves time in having to cook more frequently in between meals. Better health + more time = saving money to me.

    Though, some people enjoy or have the luxury to cook fresh meals more frequently which is obviously ideal. I don't have the luxury with two young kids so this is the next best thing, for me.
     
    Kassy likes this.
  13. Kat

    Kat Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    8th Aug, 2016
    Posts:
    179
    Location:
    Brisbane
    Main thing for me is the reduction in home delivery on those nights I just can't be bothered doing any cooking.

    The easiest solution would be to get husband to cook on those nights, but he's never once done that.
     
  14. inertia

    inertia Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,617
    Location:
    Newcastle, NSW
    A sandwich press is also good for this - we have one with interchangeable plates, so put the flat plate on there, and the lid can hover just off the food if you don't want to squish it.

    Cheers,
    Inertia.
     
    Kassy and HomePage like this.
  15. jprops

    jprops Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    24th Sep, 2015
    Posts:
    885
    Location:
    Sydney
    That's pretty good. I buy delivered meals once a fortnight, split each meal in half and supplement it with frozen veggies. Takes 0 prep effort and cost per meal is 6 dollars. ;) The downside is I'm limited to the menu on offer, but I'm super lazy. ;)
     
    Kassy likes this.
  16. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    15th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    11,655
    Location:
    Newcastle
    This does a good job with leftover pizza

    Ours only has a flat plate, but something at the side which allows the height of the upper plate to be held.
     
    Kassy likes this.
  17. Kassy

    Kassy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    21st Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    550
    Location:
    Canberra
    Yes, so does ours. Have to try this :)