Easing Into Sunday Prep

on May 23, 2014
in All Posts

Hi, friends. How goes your Friday?

 

I’ve been so inspired by other bloggers’ Sunday Prep Posts.  Tina did a really good round-up on what she cooks on Sunday night.  You can read her post here.

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I’ve been pinning more recipe ideas for make-ahead vegetarian meals to my Vegetarian Food board on Pinterest.  And I’ve been trying to get on the bandwagon for Sunday Prep Day, too, because I can definitely see the value in it.  I’m sick of cooking meals from the bottom up every weeknight!  But – here’s the thing.  I kind of suck at organizing myself to do one big cooking session on Sundays.  So what I’ve been doing instead is, when I do cook something, I just make a GIAAAAAAAAAAAAANT batch.  As in, a triple or quadruple batch.

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Last night, I cooked up eight giant sweet potatoes (side note: oven baked sweet potatoes are VASTLY superior to microwaved ones):

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And six crowns of broccoli:

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And this morning, I made a double batch of  my Perfect Baked Tofu.

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It’s not “true” Sunday prep, but it’s a good way to slowly ease into it… Maybe soon, I’ll be able to rev up for giant baking sessions on the weekend.

 

Something that’s really helped me is getting the right food prep “gear.”  I recently replaced all of our (half mismatched and half topless) plastic Tupperware with glass Pyrex.   I bought two of this set and one of this set.

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Okay… time to get going!

 

We’re headed to the gym for a long run.  I’m also going to do this strength training workout.   Nice and fast – just the way I like strength training workouts.  Hah.

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Thought of the Day:

 

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Have a great one!

Do you do Sunday prep? Did you dive right into the concept or ease in slowly, like me?

{ 19 comments }

 

  • Ali May 23, 2014, 10:55 am

    I can’t quite get into the HUUUGE Sunday prep thing either. I feel like that will occupy my entire day and especially now that the weather is nice, I don’t want to slave away in the kitchen on a weekend day. I do the same thing as you and make giant batches of everything I cook, so hopefully we have it for a while. We usually make dinner and then eat that for lunch and possibly dinner the next day. We are creatures of habit over here and don’t mind eating the same things over and over.

  • Katie @ Live Half Full May 23, 2014, 10:59 am

    I used to spend 1-2 hours prepping on Sundays, but now I go with your approach and make extra food all week long. I like that because it’s not more time consuming that cooking regular weeknight meals, but you end up with prepped food!

    • Sandy May 23, 2014, 12:16 pm

      Same! I find that prepping food all in one day just too daunting of a task to do, especially if I got last minute plans on Sunday then I would not do anything at all. I just make larger portions when I cook dinner, so that the food carries over to the next day. Here’s to leftovers when you feel lazy!

  • Rebecca May 23, 2014, 11:09 am

    Be careful with those Pyrex. We bought a bunch, but some of the covers don’t stay on after a while. I’m not sure if we’ve been washing them wrong and they shrink or what the heck happens, but especially with the smaller round ones, the covers pop off like in the fridge and it gets super annoying.

  • Stephanie @ Whole Health Dork May 23, 2014, 11:28 am

    Like you, I would LOVE to be able to do more of an organized Sunday prep. I usually just end up cutting up most of the veggies we’ll use throughout the week, and while that’s helpful, it doesn’t cut down on as much time as I would like. We usually make enough at dinner to have leftovers for the next day (or two) and that also helps. I’d like to have my smoothies lined up for the week as well as have more concrete meal plans. Maybe some day…

  • Becky@TheSavedRunner May 23, 2014, 11:54 am

    I try to do food prep on the weekends, but sometimes our weekends are so jam packed I don’t have time. When I don’t have time I like to make big batches of things, just like you did, on week days. And oh my goodness, it took me way too long to realize that oven baked sweet potatoes are like a thousand times better than the microwaved ones!

  • Julie May 23, 2014, 1:11 pm

    I’m totally w/ you – I don’t have the desire to spend hours on a Sun. in the kitchen (not that I can’t appreciate the concept behind it). I also ALWAYS double recipes so we will (hopefully!) have leftovers. Some of the stuff is still gone the next day ‘cuz it’s yummy, & we have a teenage boy (‘nuf said… just you wait)! I do try to plan ahead a little bit for what I’m going to cook which night based on how much time I will have that night for the preparation. Sometimes I will assemble a casserole the night before (depending again on availability that night and/or the next evening) so I can just pop it in the oven when I get home from work (especially if the casserole requires a lengthy cook time).

  • Sara @ LovingOnTheRun May 23, 2014, 1:39 pm

    This may sound crazy but I had never baked my sweet potatoes in the oven until my mom did it one time. They are SO much better than microwaved sweet potatoes! Will never microwave them again! I need to get back on track with food prep.

  • Polly @ Tasty Food Project May 23, 2014, 3:17 pm

    I love sweet potatoes and I like how you can eat it with so many different things. I usually cut my fruits and veggies on Sunday nights and store them in either Ziploc bags or Tupperware so I can use them during the week.

  • Tess @ Tips on Healthy Living May 23, 2014, 3:58 pm

    Preparing your food for the week ahead is really brilliant, especially after you get home from a long day, and don’t want to cook. I will have to try your baked tofu– looks delicious! I’m curious, though, do you think kids would eat it?

  • Shelly May 23, 2014, 4:15 pm

    I’ve tried prepping before (not on Sundays though), but I always end up prepping way too much food. Then it’s wasted when I don’t feel like eating what I prepped. Now I fly by the seat of my pants with a few planned meals. I eat a lot of frozen veggies… does that count as prepping? 😉

  • Lish May 23, 2014, 5:09 pm

    I always think of doing this and then never do because I worry about how long food is suppose to keep in the fridge and get paranoid that I’ll get sick from eating a 4-5 day old whatever. Is this as big a deal as my brain makes it out to be? haha.

  • Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat May 23, 2014, 6:29 pm

    I could talk about this topic for ages! I’m a huge fan of Sunday meal prep and it’s a pretty imperative part of my week. Typically I prepare my lunches and cook protein rich foods, since I find they’re the biggest time suck during the week. So for example, I’ll make a great big salad with a ton of veggies, as well as some nuts and seeds for lunches, then grill some fish and/or chicken, marinate some tempeh or tofu, cook some beans, or boil some eggs. That way, I can mix up my protein sources throughout the week, and have some left for dinner too. I’ve been doing a series on my blog over the last little while called Speedy Big-Batch Meal Prep, and currently there are 3 really easy to make lunch salads in it that last all week. The link to all is http://eat-spin-run-repeat.com/2014/05/12/meal-prep-middle-eastern-3-bean-salad/ if you’re interested!

  • Nancy May 23, 2014, 8:57 pm

    I find that putting supper leftovers into single serving size containers really helps us. Then they are ready to be thrown into a lunch bag – or eaten as breakfast or snack (teenagers in the house means “suppertime anytime”! Of course it helps that I have a 14 year old who.loves to.come home from school and make a meal from the bottom up.

  • Jillian @ Baby Doodah! May 24, 2014, 4:28 am

    I frequently try to just JUMP in, and I do a great job for the week and then I’m right back to not prepping. I’m thinking I need to try just easing in.

    I’ve heard a lot of people switching to the glass storage containers and it changing their lives. I think I need to consider the switch. 🙂

  • Mary May 24, 2014, 6:35 am

    I’ve been gradually easing into Sunday prep for a while now. I need to buy more containers and a bigger fridge though!

  • Kate @ The Endorphin Junkie May 24, 2014, 9:35 pm

    I sort of prep my meals for the week on Sunday. I’ll chop all of my veges for lunch, and maybe get some overnight oats together. Other than that my husband and I will discuss dinners for the week, but since we don’t have a microwave right now (which I hate…but we’re moving soon to an apartment with a microwave…yay!), it makes it harder to plan and cook dinners ahead of time. I really want to really get into it…but I’m definitely easing into it 🙂

  • Sarah (The Simple Dietitian) May 25, 2014, 7:42 am

    I can’t quite do the whole Sunday prep thing either. Although, like you, I do make large batches of whatever it is that I do make. Especially soups, lentil tacos, stir fries, etc…things that can be easily frozen for a weeknight meal.

    Do you find that the sweet potatoes hold up pretty well?

  • Sarah May 25, 2014, 12:08 pm

    Those are really great plans, Caitlyn! I agree, why cook 7 times if you can cook once? 🙂 What you’re doing is great – you’ve just saved yourself 3 nights of cooking! It’s not all-or-nothing, don’t worry about doing half a week’s worth instead of the entire week.
    I started to do the same. In fact, I bought a 16 qt pot this winter, in order to stock up on soups. It was amazing to cook soup twice a month, and enjoy the soups almost every night!
    I’m writing today to thank you for that amazing quote. (And stunning picture!) Today is another “first day” of many “first days” for me, and although I’m gearing up to go again, I wasn’t quite sure if I really have what it takes to start…. again.
    I printed your picture and pasted it in the front of my food journal. It makes me cry from happiness to think about how I really do have the potential to get fit and healthy.
    Thanks for the reminder.
    Have a great week,
    Sarah

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